Part 96: New Age Old Friends

Chapter 3: New Age Old Friends


On the other side of the bridge from the bank we find Sarra’s mate, as well as a building with a familiar eye symbol on it.


Seriously, the only Katta I’ve seen with a roof over their heads were renting it out.
Excuse me, do I know you?
Sorry, sorry. I’m Nike von Slartibartfast. Oh, and I saved Raseir from an evil wizard last summer.
Really? I had heard that my homeland was freed by a hero, and that the land is now ruled by a wise and gracious woman.
Zayishah, yeah. Arus retired after all the stuff that happened to him. Said his feet were killing him, though I suppose that is kind of my fault.
So you are a friend of my people? It is an honor to meet you, then.
Well, thanks. I do try.
I am Marrak, and this is my stand of food. If you find yourself suffering from the pangs of hunger, or desire just a snack to brighten your day, you have come to the proper place. May I aid you in any way, just let me know, for I am at your service.
Well, if I could get a discount on some of that food…
If you desire food without worry about cost, my fruit is always very cheap to have.
Sweet. So, you know much about the town?
This city can be confusing to those new here. First, Silmaria has four plazas. This is the town center, and the place of merchants. Above us is the plaza called Nob Hill. There are two paths that lead downward from this plaza. The one to my left will take you to the docks, while the other leads westward to the gates of the town. In the town center you may buy things of beauty of my lifemate, enjoy the music of my daughter, or find things of use from Wolfie, the artisan. You can deposit money at the bank, which is the white building with winged lion statues. There is a magic shop directly behind me where you can find things of mystical power. Do not be dismayed by the appearance of the wizard Shakra, though. He is powerful and wise, and has a deep heart.
Hey, don’t worry about that. I’m friends with his dad.
Ah, then I will not worry about it. Just past the path to the docks is the apothecary, which is run by a most interesting human and his lifemate. They are both caring people, and will aid you in any way that they can. If you go up to Nob Hill, you will find the Hall of Kings, center of the leadership of this city. You can also find the arena, where combats are held for recreation. There is also a very strange spinning hat above a gazebo.
Crazy, isn’t it?
I imagine that you have more knowledge of such things than I would. Anyway, if you go down to the docks, you can find the shop of the weaponsmith, Pholus. There is also an inn and tavern there. I have heard that there is also some sort of school located nearby, but I don’t know for certain.
School? Wait…
Is the road by the docks called Aerris Way?
I believe so. Why do you ask?
…I’ll tell you later. You were telling me about the road to the gate?
Ah yes, at the west end of the city, you will find the adventurers’ guild and Gnome Ann’s Inn.
…“Gnome” Ann?
Ann is a very amusing person, and I believe that her inn would be a good place to spend one’s nights.
“Amusing.” Shit. Well, let me see what you’re selling. I’ve still got some stops to make before I find out just how “amusing” my room’s going to be.


Food Themes

Marrak sells fruit, gyros, artichoke and pepperoni pizzas, and a heart-shaped box of chocolates, which is called sokolatak-ya. Sokolata is apparently a word used for Greek chocolate. Oh, and if the pizza reminded you of someone from Quest for Glory 4, you’re right.


We’ll be living off of fruit from this point on. For some reason, 5 doesn’t eat rations automatically, so you have to eat the fruit twice a day manually. Thirty plates should last the hero 15 days. We’ll also grab a pepperoni pizza so I can show you something later.


Salla plays a very familiar tune.


Not that it’s going to stop me from grabbing 5 drachmas out of her urn.



The Magic Shop


Hello? Anyone home? I’m going to bang on this drum until someone shows up.


Ah, you must be Shakra.
And you must be my father’s friend, Prince Nike. I am Shakra sah Tarna, and this is the magic shop of Silmaria. Welcome, wizard.
Well, I don’t really consider myself a wizard…
Nonsense. Erasmus told me about how you passed the WIT exams. My mother also thinks highly of your magical skills. With a few years devoted to the art, you could probably become one of the most powerful of wizards.
It’s still not really my style. So how about you? You learn magic from your mom?
Her and Aziza in Shapeir. I specialize in object enchantment myself. Right now I have several sets of Mystic Magnets, and a Magic Charm Bracelet that enhances a wizard’s skills. I also create mana pills and potions.
What, both? What’s the difference?
Mana pills will restore some of your magical essence, while potions will restore it entirely. It’s more efficient, but also more expensive.
Really? I’ve never seen a potion or pill that could restore magic completely. So what are Mystic Magnets?
Mystic Magnets come in pairs. You set one in a place of safety—a bedroom, for example. You have only to use the other magnet upon yourself to teleport instantly back to the room with the other magnet. As you can tell, this can save your life when you are in danger.
Sounds handy. What about spells? What do you have for those?
This wouldn’t be much of a magic shop without spells! I probably don’t have more than a few spells you didn’t learn elsewhere, however. Take a look.


Shakra also sells magic daggers, which is why the blade is glowing. Juggling Lights, Calm, Dazzle, and Zap we already have, and I don’t want to spend money on the pills or potions (shown at the end there), but I will buy a couple of his new spells.


Much like QfG3, 5 has an overhead map where you can rest anywhere after dark. RIP helps make sure that nothing surprises you in the middle of the night.


While the single-ball spells from the past games aren’t very useful anymore, area attacks like Frostbite and Boom can still have an effect. Just don’t get too close.


Multiple enemies are now able to attack you at once. While Fascination doesn’t work on everything, it can help keep you from getting swamped.


But by far the most important item to get from Shakra are the Mystic Magnets. Not only do they help get you back to town in a pinch, but you actively need them at one point to avoid an unwinnable scenario.


Ah, wingdings.


The Apothecary

Wait a second.


Salim? Is that really you?
In the flesh, man. Hey Julanar, look who it is! I can’t tell you how happy I am that you told me about Julanar back in Tarna, uh, whatever your name is.

Salim happens to be played by the hardest working voice in showbiz, Steve Blum. He’s been in anime, western animation, video games…well, I’ll let his picture speak for itself. Go down to number 267 to see all the other voices he does for this game.

It’s Nike, dear. I believe we’ve met already, though I was in a different form at the time.
Really? …How much do you remember, exactly?
I remember that Snickers wasn’t really your fault. You should really stop beating yourself up about her.
…Crap.
Oh, right, Julanar was a tree when you saw her last, wasn’t she? Well, it’s good to see you again.
I have to ask. What happened after I left?
Well, like I said, I left on the first caravan out, once they started traveling again. I went all the way to Shapeir, then followed your directions, and there I found Julanar all alone in the desert just like you told me. I guess even trees get lonely.
So do maidens transformed into trees, of course.
So I camped out there and talked to her, gave her some hugs, and some really good plant food I brewed. her leaves really perked up with my words. Then I awoke one night, and the tree was gone. There sat the girl of my dreams in her place. I was totally thrilled, even if I did kind of miss the tree. We’ve been together ever since.
It’s good to be human again. As a tree, you can learn great wisdom, but it is the wisdom born of solitude. These days, I love the company of others. I am mastering the arts of healing both the body and the soul.
So what are you doing in Silmaria?
Well, after Julanar could move again, I figured we should head somewhere neither of us had been, like we were starting a new life together, right? And this place is just great for us. We’re doing a good business here, plus the plants just love this place and grow really well. We like making people happy, too. So this is just a wonderfully cosmic place to be.
This land is so much more alive than the deserts I grew up in. It’s so green and lush, it soothes the soul.
Kind of sucks that we showed up in the middle of a war, though. Stuff’s good for absolutely nothing.
You can say that again. So what do you offer here?
If you are ever injured, I will be honored to help you. [In other words, if you enter the apothecary with anything less than full health, she’ll restore both health and stamina to full for you.]
I also got a bunch of potions and pills; healing potions, vigor pills, poison cure pills, that sort of thing.
Wait, vigor pills? I thought you wanted me to exercise regularly and eat right or something.
Oh, right, yeah, that was my bad.
Salim told me about what you asked for, and I explained to him that you were probably asking for energy restoratives, and not a permanent boost to vitality.
Yeah, those kinds of pills’ll mess you up good if you try to cheat the natural process. I totally had some energy boosters when you asked me about them, too.
Well, that’s all right, I found a replacement. Could I get some now?
Sure, I—oh, nuts, I totally forgot about that. Sorry, man, we’re all out of pills and potions, and I can’t make any more without Pegasus feathers.
You need feathers from a pegasus to make vitality potions?
THE Pegasus. It’s a pretty local recipe. It’s okay, though, ‘cause he’s immortal and just a couple feathers will really go a long way. If you end up finding his nest while you’re out and grab some feathers, I’d be glad to brew you up some potions and pills.
Fine, fine. So what else have you got?


What’s the green bottle for?
This oil is something new I thought of after I’d been out in the sun too long one day. I might have gotten a little carried away, though, ‘cause while it’ll help your sunburn for sure, it came out so strong you’d be practically fireproof. Crazy stuff, huh?
Sounds useful.
Oh yeah, I guess a hero like you could use some of this stuff. Unfortunately, I ran out of dragon scales making my test batch. It just won’t work right without them.
Oh well. Do you at least have poison cure pills?
Huh? Oh, sure. Here you go.
Thanks. See you around.
Groovy, man.
Goodbye. It was a pleasure seeing you again.


One final word before we go today. Combining objects is a bit needlessly complicated in QfG5, as you need to drag one item over to the picture of the other, rather than to its icon. It took me far too long to figure it out the first time, although it is explained in the manual. For instance, I can add jalapenos (which you can get from the bunch behind Julanar’s head) to the pepperoni pizza to create:


Flame-flavored pizza. We’ll need this for later.