Part 88: Rituals

Chapter 20: Rituals


_{What should I do?!}

She won’t duck away this time! You decide to perform an anatomical survey to prove once and for all whether or not Katrina is in fact a vampire. Squeezing the cold but soft flesh, you have no choice but to conclude that she really is undead.

_{No, Nike! Stop thinking dirty thoughts! I could probably kill her right now and end this entire thing, but is she really all that bad? And she wouldn’t…I mean…I think she wanted…}

Bah. If you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself. First, we’ve got to create…the mood. Percussion!


Strings!


Winds!


Words.
There you see her,
Lying there across the way.
She don't got a lot to say,
But there's something about her.
And you don't know why,
But you're dying to try,
You wanna kiss de girl.

Yes you want her,
Look at her you know you do.
Possible she want you too,
There is one way to ask her.
It don't take a word,
Not a single word,
Go on and kiss de girl.

Sing with me now.


Sha la la la la la
My, oh, my,
Look at the boy too shy,
He ain't gonna kiss de girl.
Sha la la la la la
Ain't that sad?
Ain't it a shame?
Too bad, he gonna miss de girl.

You know, I feel real bad, not knowing what kind of undead you are. Is it...revenant? Ha, ha, ha, okay, no. How about ghost? Wraith?
Vampire, she is a vampire.
Vampire? Vampire? Well, that's kind of awesome. Okay, vampire.

Now's your moment,
ya ya ya
Sitting in her fuchsia tomb,
ya ya ya
Boy you'd better do it soon, No time will be better.
ya ya ya ya ya

She don't say a word,
And she won't say a word
Until ya kiss de girl.


Sha la la la la la
Don't be scared,
You got the mood prepared,
Go on and kiss de girl.
whoa whoa

Sha la la la la la
Don't stop now,
Don't try to hide it how,
You wanna kiss de girl.
whoa whoa

Sha la la la la la
Killing's wrong,
So listen to the song,
The song say kiss de girl.
whoa whoa

Sha la la la la la
Music play,
Do what the music say,
You gotta kiss de girl.
You got to
Kiss de girl.
Why don’t you
Kiss de girl.
Go on and
Kiss de girl.
GO ON AND
Kiss de giiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrl.

Geez, alright already!

Now’s your chance! You lean over the open coffin and kiss Katrina long and hard on the lips.


Suddenly you find yourself totally unable to move.

What? What are you doing here? How did you get in here? You dare to kiss me?
You didn’t hear the musical number?


You know, there are quite a few people out there who wouldn’t exactly call this “punishment.” Especially with that outfit.


I should leave you here to rot! I should let the rats gnaw your bones while you hang there! Give me one reason, one excuse why I should not leave you here to die.




It was her parents, Katrina. They missed her so much, I couldn’t do nothing.
I miss her! You broke into my home and took my child away. Why should I show you any mercy?
It wouldn’t have lasted. I’ve heard stories about it. Tanya would grow up inside and then hate you for taking her adulthood away.




Silence! You do not—cannot understand! I was attracted to you. I have never met anyone like you. I trusted you. Then you destroy the child I loved, and break into my home to destroy me. How could you? Why?
I’m sorry. Ad Avis locked me in the dungeon, and the only way out was through your room. And when I saw you lying there…
Ad Avis, eh? That does sound like him. You know, he came to me many years ago to learn from the one called the “Dark Master.” What he didn’t know was the Dark Master was a woman; he was quite appalled by the fact. He challenged me to a magical duel, and lost. I made him my servant for fifty years until I grew bored with him and turned him loose. But I had bitten him, and he knew that on his death he would rise again as a vampire under my command. He has served me since the night you defeated him. He hates me and is waiting for the opportunity to drive a stake through my heart, but he cannot harm me unless I harm him first. So why did you attempt to destroy me instead of your old enemy Ad Avis? Do you fear me that much?
That’s not it! I admit, I thought about it, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I…I think I’m in love with you.




Liar! You think I am stupid enough to believe you? Love, hah! You stole from me the only one who ever really loved me: Tanya. Is that how you show your love?
I already said—




Quiet! Or perhaps you show your love by breaking into my bedroom and attacking me while I am helpless?
I didn’t want to hurt you. I only kissed you.
You’ve already hurt me. I trusted you. I thought that maybe there was something truly heroic about you. No. You are just like all men—a liar who will say anything to get what you want.
Is that what you really think?



…I have decided that I still have a use for you…alive. I could bite your throat and lick your blood until you are weakened. You would then be alive, but under my complete control. However, you would find it difficult to think clearly, and it would take you a long time to heal. You would be very vulnerable to attack from the monsters of the night. Since I do not want you to die…just yet…I will restrain myself from caressing your very handsome throat with my teeth. For now, anyway. If you help me, you may still manage to leave Mordavia without my Mark upon you.
Fine. What do you need me to do?
I want you to seek out the five missing Dark One rituals, and return to the castle with them. Together, we will summon the Dark One, and bring eternal night to this land.
The Dark One again? I told Ad Avis, the Dark One is too damn big! He’ll kill us all!
Nonsense. I can control anything that bleeds, and the Ritual of Blood makes it obvious that the Dark One is among them. The Dark One will cast the Shadows of Darkness upon this land. Daylight will never come again. Then I will no longer need to sleep helpless in my coffin. I will no longer be vulnerable to any mere human who seeks to drive a stake through my heart. I truly will be the Dark Master. Now, you will help me, won’t you? Or must I take more drastic measures of assuring your obedience?
I’ll do it _{if only because Piotyr agrees with her.}
Very well. But because I can never completely trust you, I will make certain you carry out my bidding.


By my Will, I Geas thee! [In inexplicably singsong voice] Thou shalt seek the Heart Ritual of the Dark One. Thou shalt seek the Blood Ritual of the Dark One. Thou shalt seek the Breath Ritual of the Dark One. Thou shalt seek the Bone Ritual of the Dark One. Thou shalt seek the Sense Ritual of the Dark One. Return with these rituals ere three nights pass, lest ye suffer! Thus is your Geas. So go and return with the rituals soon. I wouldn’t want you to suffer, after all.


Great. That went perfectly. Sigh. Well, the journal in the monastery had locations for all the rituals…oh right, burned it down. Damn. Maybe the Gypsies would know…but it’s too late to talk to them. I need some sleep anyway.


You have another dream.

This time, don’t touch anything. I think I’m starting to see something.
Oh, right. It looks like something really weird.
You’re seeing my reflection on the glass!
Yeah, I know.
I think if I just apply a little magical zap to this wire here…
Uh, actually, that’s not a wire. That’s the tip of your beard.
My beard…Ouch!
A strange voice speaks, “He’s dead, Jim.”
Name that episode!

You start to awaken.


Welcome, I know that you have been through much since we last saw you.
You have no idea.
Oh, I know something about it. I have tried to read your fortune for you while you were gone. All the cards came up black. Then I had a vision. It was a Dark vision. It left me cold and sick, yet I knew the vision was true. Now I will show you my vision, and read your future once more in the Tarot cards. (And this time, I won’t even charge for it.)


The Dark One is not something of which the Roma speak. It was an ill day when our tribe traveled to this valley. We used to trade freely with the people of the castle years ago. We did not know how things had changed here. The influence of the Dark One overshadows this valley. We Roma know better than to get involved with the Dark One.

Unfortunately, you need to deal in some way with the Darkness. And we Roma are bound by honor to aid you however we can. Yet if your actions stir the Darkness and unleash it, our tribe will be destroyed. Still, you are an agent of destiny, and we will serve you as you serve it. The magic of the Dark One overwhelms this area, and the cards cannot override this power.

Last night, though, I had a dream. It was a dark dream, and it frightened me, but it was a dream for you. Let me share with you the images which I saw, and perhaps the cards will aid in the telling.

The first image I saw was that of a bone.
Wait a second, where did you get these cards?
I enchanted some to show what I saw in the dream. Now hush, and pay attention. The first image I saw was that of a bone. I heard in my dreams the words, “Bring me to life!” Let us see what the cards will say of this.

The four of swords. Somehow, I do not think this is a premonition, although it fits this situation. No, rather, I think this is a place. A tomb or cenotaph somewhere. What more can we learn? Oh, the ace of cups? Of all the cards, this is the most watery. The tomb lies in or near some water. The lake, perhaps? No, rather I believe this is the swamp. Somewhere in the swamp lies a tomb. And somewhere at that tomb is a piece of the puzzle that explains or deals with the image of the bones.
They’re rituals, actually. I need to collect rituals.
Rituals, very well. In my dream, I seemed to move deeper into the darkness.


The next image I saw in my dream was that of blood. I felt my own blood go cold as it, too, spoke the words, “Bring me to life.” What do the cards say about this?

The Tower. At all times, this is an ill-omen. I believe it represents a building of some sort. The Dark One! The building is dedicated to the Dark One itself. Somewhere within there lies the ritual for blood. However, I sense that you already have it.

In the dream, I seemed to get colder. I felt the icy breath of something huge behind me. It got louder and stronger, and I seemed to be pulled by it. Before me was the image of breath. I felt myself pounded by the words, “Bring me to life!” I tried to run, but was caught in the wind. I…but the dream is over. Let us discover now what we can. The inverted High Priestess. This one is not a place. No, I believe this is the woman from your past. The self-centered one of power has the ritual of the breath.

Then in my dream, I felt myself blown along. All sound died, and I felt as if I had lost my body. I could not see, hear, smell, or feel anything. Then I saw the symbol of the senses. I was again overwhelmed by the words, “Bring me to life.” Then the image faded. Shall we learn more? The Tower again? It must be another place of Darkness. Some building, or perhaps only a structure. The next card may help us. The six of swords? This is a sign of travel. Could it be a building far away? No, it cannot be. This is also the sign of the Roma. But we have no buildings, particularly ones cursed by the Darkness. I do not understand this.
I have a feeling I can explain this. I am not as mystical as you, Mother, but I am certain as to the meaning of the cards. I heard a Roma story once about Mordavia. It seemed pointless, and yet it was told. I shall tell it to you. Once, long ago, a Roma was hunting. This was a time when the pass to Mordavia was open, and the Borgovs still ruled as boyars in the castle. This Roma saw men walking and chanting through the forest at night. He recognized the leader as the boyar. Curious, he followed them to a place near the Dark One’s cave. They came to a large standing stone, gray and unmarked. One of the men held up a strange light. It was a will o’ wisp trapped in a bottle. The standing stone started to glow, and runes appeared on its sides. The boyar touched a metal disk to the stone pillar, and a section opened. The men continued chanting as the boyar put a piece of paper in the pillar. That is all the story tells.
Very well, then that is your answer. Let us continue with the vision. I soon could hear a tremendous pounding noise. I found myself swept forward, deeper into Darkness. There before me was the symbol of the heart. It, too, commanded, “Bring me to life!” What will the cards tell of this? This is an inverted queen of rods—a jealous and deceitful woman, one who harbors no goodwill towards you. There are many women in your life right now. This one is not to be trusted. The inverted Magician, I see. This woman also has magic, but she is one who is willing to use her skills for bad purposes. She is opposed to you, and will not give this ritual freely. [Another bug, I think. This reading implies the Faerie Queen, but I’m doing this from the paladin’s run, which means it should imply the wraith barrow instead.] I can tell that this part of the puzzle has already been gained by you. Let us continue.

Again, the dream filled me with fear, and I struggled to awaken from its depths. I could not resist against its force, though, and found myself in the center of Darkness.


I saw before me this symbol, and heard the voice demand, “Give me life!” I awoke and lay trembling for the rest of the night. Let us see where the last ritual lies. The Hierophant—the sign of a spiritual leader. This person is one who serves another willingly. There are many possible interpretations here; let us see what the next card will explain. The Dark One. This is a priest of the Dark One, or someone trapped by the Dark One, or perhaps both. You will have to enter into Darkness itself to find this ritual. Yet remember, nothing serves the Dark One and remains unchanged. The one who has what you seek is of the Dark One now. Deal with him carefully. These last cards will reveal the point of all these visions and dreams.

The Dark One. The Lady of Power and Magic. The Dark One is the ultimate source of all the problems here. It drew those with ties to Dark Magic and those with ties to Good. It is a thing not of this world, yet linked to it. My people tell tales of the battle against it. The stories tell of how the Mage Erana—
Mind if we skip this part? I’ve heard it a few times already, and I’m kind of on a time limit here.
Very well, but there is one last thing you should know. We Roma do not speak the names of those with power unless we must. Now I sense that such a time has come. You will know the Dark One by its name, but use it only where you must. The Dark One is called “Avoozl.” Leave now, and we will speak no more on this subject. I am an old wolf, and I cannot stand such a dream as that last night. It would kill me to face it again.
Thanks for all your help, Magda, and you too, Gaston. I think there’s an old witch I need to visit next.


Floor quick, Make him stick! Back so soon? I hope for your sake you brought us something to eat. After all, there’s always room for hero, heh, heh, heh.
I brought some more garlic.
Garlic? I could always use more garlic. I use it to make Garlic Head. So what is it you want?
You’ve got a Dark One Ritual, right? I need it. For…something.
So you heard about that, eh? I found it hidden in the Hangman’s Tree some years ago. You’re asking for trouble, I hope you know. Using that ritual for any purpose will only bring you grief. It can be used in either of two ways. Its main purpose is to bring a Dark One across to this world. However, a very powerful wizard could use it to send the Dark One back to its world. You don’t qualify as a very powerful wizard, as I see it. Still, you want it, you got it.
What about Erana? Is she powerful enough?
I suppose, from what I’ve heard.
But she failed, didn’t she? She lost the duel, then sacrificed her life just to put it in limbo.
Oh? She probably got separated from her staff, then. You know, in spite of what you’ve heard, Life Energy just isn’t that much compared to a good magical staff. Of course, you can get quite a lot of power when you slowly pull it out of your victims. I myself—
Mind if I go now?
Oh, alright. Hero near, Out of here!


The wisps are back. How do I catch those? Wait, didn’t Elyssa say they were dead children’s souls? So…candy?



Cool, it worked. Now I can just scoop them up into a jar.


When you bring the will o’ wisps near the standing stone, glowing runes appear around a six-pointed image. In the center of the runes you can now see a small hole in the stone.

I wonder if I can use the Dark One Sign again?

When you touch the Dark One Sign to its image on the Squid Stone, the Sign locks into place in the small hole. The points of the Sign seem to point to six of the glowing runes.


A, Q, C, O, V, L, Z, E. Hey, I know, I’m supposed to spell out the Dark One’s name, aren’t I?

Sometimes the Sign gets stuck on the wrong letter, so don’t be afraid to click more than once on the right letter. Also, you don’t have to spin the Sign twice to count for the two O's.


As you complete the name of the Dark One, you feel a distant rumble under the earth as if the earth were shifting or some unimaginably huge creature were stirring in its sleep. Part of the Squid Stone opens to reveal a small compartment. You reach in to find a scroll covered with mysterious runes. The symbol of the senses at the top is the only part you can make out. You also retrieve the Dark One Sign, which pulls loose from the stone with a slurping, sucking sensation. The hole in the stone closes as you remove the Sign.


Don’t forget to release the wisps when you’re done with them. You take a pretty massive Honor hit if you keep them trapped until dawn, at which point they dissolve into nothing.


There are three ways to reach the tomb in the swamp. The wizard can quite easily and quickly Glide across the surface of the water, and the thief can use his new Acrobatics skill to hop safely from one dry patch to another. The poor fighter/paladin, however, has to march into the mire and slog his way through the swamp, one slow step at a time. In fact, he can’t even do that much if he didn’t finish practicing with the stair stepper back in the adventurers’ guild.


It’s also the most dangerous of the three ways, since it gives the hands the best opportunity to drag you under.




That is, until you notice that the only reason it’s going so slow is because the game turned down the “speed” while you weren’t looking. Feel free to crank it back up to speed through the swamp, but remember that it resets after each screen.


Finally, after wandering any particular direction for about five screens, you will find the tomb, guarded by a pair of chernovies who will start flinging spells at you. At this point, the wizard can land and cast Reversal to avoid the damage, but the chernovies respond by casting Darkness, which you then dispel with Juggling Lights, only to find out that the two had closed the distance and you now have to fight them in close quarters. Not that a paladin would mind—hey, what the hell?.


This is the second of the big three game-breaking bugs in QfG4. When you try to engage the chernovies in close combat, the game crashes completely. Here, let’s see how you’re supposed to deal with it:

I seem to recall that reinstalling the game in black and white also works somehow. Luckily, forcing DOSBox to run at any reasonable CPU cycle speed seems to be enough to prevent this from happening. As does the Reversal trick, oddly.


Finally, I found the tomb. The circle there must be where I put the Sign.

The Dark One Sign clicks into the depression in the stone. You find that you can now turn the Sign like a dial.


I need to get them in the right order, don’t I? Crap, what was it? She stared with bones, then breath, or was it blood? Plus there was a mouth above the doorway in the monastery…screw it. I’m just going to go clockwise and see where that gets me.

Finally you feel the Dark One Sign settle. You pull on it, opening the tomb, and retrieve a damp but readable scroll from its depths. It is the Dark One’s Bone Ritual.

Wow, I didn’t think that would actually work. Now how do I get out of here?

The swamp isn’t exactly like a maze, though it is harder to get out than to find the tomb. Basically, you can find the tomb by heading south and west from the shore, and you can find the shore by going north and east. If you try to go any other direction, you’ll just end up back at the tomb.


That’s the last of them. I’d better get back to Katrina before the Geas activates.

Actually, I experimented some and didn’t find much reason to hurry. While there is a warning message that pops up three nights after getting enchanted, it’s either not that bad or buggy, because I was able to wander around for several more days without much trouble.




Oh, what a good boy you are. You would never do anything to hurt me, would you? Unlike some others I could name.
Are you petting that necrotaur?
So, you have returned with the rituals. Good! We will journey at once to the Dark One’s Cave. Soon it will be forever night, and I shall never be at anyone’s mercy again!


*Swish*


*Pop*

“Yah, Avoozl! Hear me, Great Dark One. Open thy mouth that we may enter. Open thy mouth that will swallow us all! Open thy mouth of Darkness! Yah, Avoozl!”


That is all I can do for you, Nike. You will need to perform the other rituals yourself.
We will be watching you, so don’t even think of trying to betray us.
The last ritual remains with the high priest. You will need to take it before you begin the other rituals. Please, be careful.
Oh, yes, we would hate for anything…unpleasant to happen to you.
Enter now, and…good luck.
Last chance. Are you sure you want to do this?
Of course I’m sure! Now enter, or do you want another Geas?
I’m going.