Part 90: Katrina and Erana
Chapter 22: Katrina and Erana
QfG4 Manual posted:
But they arrived too late. Already the cave was altering, mutating into the
awful aspect of Avoozl. The armies met with the maddened monks who too
were changed by the rituals. What were once humans, albeit rather moronic
and hopelessly malleable ones, now had become creatures of such horrible
appearance that even the sturdiest of the stalwart soldiers lost their
lunches and blew chunks.
Hopelessly outnumbered and unmanned, yet did the good guys face the
horrendous odds. The Mage Erana herself battled with the very essence of
Avoozl. On and on into the endless night did the combatants con-tend,
while the world awaited the outcome in flustered frustration.
At long last, the feeble rays of a hesitant sun broke over the eastern
mountains. From the cave mouth of the Dark One, a single man came crawling,
bearing a Wizard's Staff. Piotyr the Paladin returned with all that
remained of Erana.
To this day, when the moon is dark, and the winds are still, strange things
can be seen near the Cave of the Dark One. Forms and shapes of things that
were once human still lurk in the vicinity, whispering in the night strange
tales of a High Priest that did not die, but waits within the dark confines
of the cavern, guarding a ritual that will someday again be used to summon
the very shadows of darkness themselves. For is it not written, "In his
vacation resort at Club Dead, Avoozl lies twitching"?
Nowhere else to go. I guess I’d better climb up.
The Final Ritual
Very good. You have succeeded where many have failed. How’d you guys get up here so fast? Magic. Now begin the final ritual. Soon the Darkness will return to this land, and I shall never lie helpless in my coffin again. You sure I can’t talk you out of this? Absolutely not! Summon Avoozl, and free the Shadows of Darkness!
Enough talk. Let’s get this over with. I do believe you are jealous. Is that because this hero stopped you from summoning Iblis so long ago? You resent the fact that I triumph, while you failed, don’t you? Oh, I only wish to begin your moment of triumph, my dear Dark Master. Very well. Let the final ritual begin. Great. “Yah, Avoozl! We summon thee!”
A cold chill fills you, and you feel as if your blood was being sucked from your veins. Still, you continue. “Oh, Great Dark One! Enter the world of light!” You feel as if your feet were slowly and painfully dissolving into the floor as if by acid. Somehow, you continue the Essence Ritual. “Oh, Shadows of Darkness, enter the land of the living!” Your arms feel as if they were frozen, locked forever holding this paper [I know, he “memorized” it, I’m just transcribing this stuff.]. You continue to speak, because you have no other choice. “Oh, Master of the Forever Night, return to your own body and live again!” Your head aches, and it is getting incredibly difficult to concentrate. You can barely intone the last words of the ritual. “Yah, yah Avoozl! We summon thee!”As of this moment, dying has an additional animation. You know the one, right?
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.
Oh yeah, that’s the stuff.
Yes! Ha, ha, ha! Yes! The spell is completed, and Avoozl awakens! Darkness will fill the land, and we will never flee the sunshine again!
No! How dare you?!
Ah, you have just shattered the bonds which bound me! Now we shall see who is the true Dark Master!
I am still a far greater master of magic than you. I am a far more powerful vampire than you. Do you really think your spells can harm me? Guess again. But my dear Katrina, I do not need to cast spells at you to destroy you. I intend only to destroy my enemy, the one you seem so fond of. Care to watch him die? No! I will not let you kill him!
The fool! I knew that Avoozl would be attracted by that spell. Now Katrina will have all the Darkness she so desired, and much, much more. The first part of my vengeance is complete. Now I can enjoy fully watching you die slowly and painfully. The tendril you clutch so desperately are starting to slip through your numb fingers. You cannot hang on much longer. Still, there is a fire burning inside you as you realize that Katrina truly cared for you. You know you must stop Ad Avis once more and forever, and prevent the Dark One from fully entering this world.
There’s no place you can run to, and no place for you to hide. Soon there won’t even be a place to stand upon. Getting worried, great hero?
You son of a bitch.
What did you do to Katrina?! Nothing at all, really. I merely cast a Dragon Fire spell, and Katrina foolishly decided to stand in front of it. Then Avoozl noticed the spell and decided to absorb the thing it had targeted. You know, I think Avoozl is still watching us, waiting for another spell to go off so he can absorb another mortal. You fucking dick! Ah yes, with you and Katrina out of the way, no one can prevent me from taking over this land. I can easily turn any enemy into my own personal vampire slave, as Katrina did to me. The Darkness will allow me to move freely, no longer bound to stay within travel time of my coffin. And what do you think will happen to the foolish peasants in the village? Now that you have so conveniently removed the protection from the town by taking Erana’s Staff away, they will become my fodder. Erana’s…heh. Heh, heh. Ha, ha, ha. Wa ha ha ha ha ha ha! What? What are you laughing about? Have you gone mad? Stop laughing at me! Oh, I’m not laughing at you. I just figured it all out. Say, have you ever heard the one about the wizard and the farmer’s daughter? You tell the Ultimate Joke. You think to delay your demise by telling stupid jokes? That wasn’t even funny! Heh, turned her into a frog…heh, heh. Despite his protestations, Ad Avis begins to laugh. In a few moments he is doubled over, still laughing uncontrollably. Now’s your chance!
Staff, I sure hope you know what to do.
Sadly, unlike the last two games, there is only one small change in the final confrontation based on class. The fighter/paladin will see the Staff turn into a spear, the thief gets a stake he can use by Acrobatically flipping onto Addy, and the wizard simply summons it and casts a Flame Dart, which calls Avoozl in to absorb Ad Avis.
I know what to do with this. Hey, Addy! Is a Spear of Death “more power than I will ever have?” Ha, ha, ha—shit—ha, ha!
“It is time for you to fulfill my final destiny. You must use me to release my mistress from her imprisonment!”
*Tink*
This part right here is where the final game-breaking bug comes into play. The wizard has to summon the staff one last time to use it on the crystal, and if the game is running too fast, it’ll say “you’re too busy to do that right now.” It doesn’t even crash the game or anything. You just sit there, so close yet so, so far.
Finale. Plays for every last second remaining in the game.
Erana…
You have freed me from my imprisonment by the Dark One. I have now finished my spell and driven Avoozl back to its own dimension forever. I never thought I’d actually see you…do you remember me? Yes. It seems we shared a dream once. You gave me hope while I was trapped in the darkness. You held me in your arms, and showed me your love. Then we can— No. I’m sorry. I cannot hold you now, nor can we kiss. I am only a spirit, a ghost. It will take more magic than I have ever known before we shall ever be together again. I can only thank you for everything you have done. I shall love you forever. Farewell.
Goodbye, Erana. I’m sure I’ll see you again someday.
Two weeks pass from the final encounter in the Dark One’s Cave. Your friends and acquaintances in Mordavia hold a party in your honor at Castle Borgov.
…So even as we speak, the swamp is drying up. Soon the pass will open, and we may trade with the outside world. The king has sent word that I shall be the newly appointed Boyar. Castle Borgov will again protect and guard Mordavia.
He could not have chosen a worthier person for the role. And I mean that in all sincerity. As far as I’m concerned, all the king did was acknowledge the facts. Thank you, all. But we have gathered here to thank Nike von Slartibartfast. He has driven away the Shadows of Darkness from this land. Mordavia will again be the peaceful, beautiful land of our forefathers. The people fill the room with their cheers.
He returned Tanya to us. For that, we shall be forever grateful.
He proved that dreams can be real, if you work to make them so.
He brought me back to my mommy and daddy, and they weren’t even mad at me. Everyone again gives a cheer of happiness.
Igor be in grave if not for Nike friend. Instead of redhead, Igor be deadhead. Ha, ha. Little graveyard humor there.
I would have been burned at the stake only because I am a Roma, if Nike had not befriended me.
That’s because some people whose names we won’t mention—but you know who you are—spread nasty rumors that Gypsies are werewolves. How foolish to believe such things! Mama! What? I’m only speaking my mind. There are many here who owe their lives and happiness to Nike. In a land with a history of great heroes like Piotyr and Erana, he is one of the greatest! Again the hall is filled with cheers. Suddenly, you hear a familiar pair of voices.
What? Let me see…it’s a reward ceremony, of course. He’s probably done some great deed as usual.
So now what? Well, seeing as his adventure in Mordavia is obviously over, we bring him here to Silmaria, of course. Wait, what? Guys? Can you hear me? Suppose he doesn’t want to come here? Ah, you forget. He is a hero. Silmaria needs a hero right now. And everyone knows a hero has to go where a hero has to go. Guys? Seriously, now’s a bad time! Are you talking to someone, Nike? Let’s hope he knows that. Just make sure you use the right spell to Teleport him. The last time you tried this, you brought the clothes and left the person behind. Okay, really, really bad idea, guys! This time, for sure!
Not agai—
As you can see, I found out that training Magic and Intelligence is really, really easy if all you do is cast spells in combat. Overall, I feel pretty satisfied with these stats.
Oh, and I got a perfect score. That’s nice too.
This is the last time I need to do this.
And now the credits. Somewhat less interesting than the last game’s, unless you really like skeleton motifs. But that’s the end, and now there’s only one game to go.