Part 16: Update XIV - Goondalf the G(hostbuster)

Part XIV - Goondalf the G(hostbuster)

Musical accompaniment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynK7PzTGAys

Loading back up, we finish our sale of stuff. Also take a quick stop at our hoard in South Gate level 2 to stash the good stuff. I use the opportunity to see how that red cloak would look on us.





To be honest it's a pretty rad look, but A) it's still missing something key, and B) it goes in the same slot the Giant's Pauldrons do, and we're still not badass enough to completely disregard stats in our equipment yet.

In case you're wondering, yes, there absolutely will be at least one fashion show update at some point.

While we're in the neighborhood of Avalon, we do have a quest to turn in too.





Yes. Your friend is dead. Here is his ring.



I'm sorry it ended this way for your friend, Tristan. I hope you can sleep well tonight.

Tristan: [He sighs.] I should, sir. If not, I hear that the monks have just the brew to help an unnerved soldier sleep.

All right then, Tristan. Take care of yourself. I'll talk to you later.



A nice fat 8 Training Points, giving us enough for more Cynric training!



Sneaksdalf.



:screenwipe:



(Please ignore the slightly un-filled-in area around the middle left... this is actually an important place I completely forgot about until embarrassingly later on.)



Back in Caves 2, with ShadowWyatt ready to go. Just in time, because there are more Sha'ahoul about!





Another nice thing about the Hold spell is that it makes aiming our spells easier.



Curse these narrow passages!



Another ShadowWyatt one-shot.



It's fun being a Magetank. Very hard to miss with spells, plus a lot of them have splash damage, which helps when we get swarmed. I'm extremely glad the only mechanic that punishes melee casters is the thing where we can get stunned if we take too much damage at once. That does interrupt casting, but it interrupts melee and ranged attacks too, so it's not specifically hurting wizards. Plus, with low Restriction and Hit Recovery, that gets less and less likely, so we can pretty much sling spells at will.



Another Caster just hanging out by himself in this corner, with a single bodyguard.



More bright red stuff, plus a very handy ring that will get more and more important as the game goes on.





I'm not even trying to fill out the map at this point, just going where the next group of Sha'ahoul is.





Few stood against many, etc. Or, about equal amounts of people technically, but two of us are wizards so it's kind of the same.



Wyatt gets trapped in the corner and takes quite a bit of damage. Thankfully, Phelic's Apprentice kept him healed and saved him from death. Team G strikes again!



No robe on this Caster, he has to show off his sweet tats.



Not quite as critical as the Ring of protection from fire, but still extremely important.





You won't trap us this time! (Goondalf is using mad Mana to win these, our regeneration can barely keep up.)



Nice. Another Lurker v. Sha'ahoul showdown!



The mage is the most dangerous, but the Lurkers are a close second, so I focus on them.



The dude wears black and loves ice spells. Very edgy.



They fuck up Team G pretty hard. Magetank fail.



But at last, all the enemies fall.





A very disappointing ring. Between the Dried Rose, and two different rings with +2 Charm and +2 Perception, there's no reason to ever use this. I like the idea that this guy had it though, to try to offset his edgy attire.



Much less disappointing are the white pants, and the black cloak.



+1 Stealth because it's black.



The TP is just piling up!



Left at this fork leads us to something odd.



A structure? Also lots of Ahoul.



Lots of Fireballs later...





Somehow this Caster either didn't notice or didn't care about the slaughter going on ten feet away. Good job, guy.



He runs around a lot, but a good Hold puts a stop to that. No good loot on him though.



Stairs!



That lead to the Village, in daytime!



Oh, uh. Hey guys.

[Several minutes of fire]







Fuckin sweet. Much more useful than our current quiver belt. I love how even random grunts can have cool stuff in this game. Makes me wonder how they acquired it.



Another caster who just hung out while his men died. Either these Sha'men are not very nice people, or their Perception stats are pathetic. (Spoilers: It's both.)





Oof. Those stat penalties are rough, but the 25% reduction in elemental damage is pretty tempting. Best to stick it on Phelic's Apprentice since he should never be attacking or stealthing anyway. Now he's got two!

Aside from random herds of Voreworms, which we can and do absolutely kill for TP, that's actually all that's new in the day version of the village. For now. Back down to the caves.



There are a couple different exits we can take... but also one very sneaky treasure to get.



Right where the pointer is.







These are extremely good for a gauntlet slot item, so Goondalf's Bracers of Defense go to Phelic's Apprentice.





Also Wyatt gets one of the Casters' black cloaks. Nice.



We'll spend all this soon, but first we have an interesting area to investigate.







Hey, those almost look like walls.



Wait, it's highlighted yellow? Also, how do we know it's male...? Oh my.



Who I am is unimportant. WHAT you are, however, is.

A Male Lurker: Part of long-dead cult. Terrible curse.

What curse are you speaking of?

A Male Lurker: Used to worship here. Liked. Curse on our people. Sink our temple. Make us dumb. Ugly. Scary.

Who cursed you?

A Male Lurker: Magic-user. We stole Stone of the Earth. Said "Keep stone" and laughed. Cast spell. Life normal for many moons. Then Stone of Earth stolen. Temple sunk. Our people made stupid. Beastly. Scary. Scary.

What did you look like before you, ah, were made dumb and ugly?



Is that what makes you attack us?

A Male Lurker: I not attack. I talk. Some of Others not take change so well. Only think left, think temple their home. Act like animals. Kill any thing they see. Forget goddess. I smartest of all who still can speak.

Is there any way I can help you?

A Male Lurker: Give Stone of Earth back. We put back. Temple come up to sun again. We be normal again.

I can't do that. You see, we built a citadel on top of your temple, and if the temple comes up again, our citadel will be ruined.





Look, I'd like to help, but... There must be some other way.

A Male Lurker: Oh. You find other way and come back. I know.

You know you'll see me again?

A Male Lurker: Yes. Goddess tell me. Still talk to me. Me. Smartest one, especially now. Watch for brothers. They stupid. Will kill anything.

Yes, you've already said that. Very well, I will see you later.



Well, this is quite the conundrum.



There are more non-hostile Lurkers in the area, but they are... not nearly as talkative.









Sorry friends!









They all have variants of messages like this. Poor ugly bois.

One corner has this symbol we've seen before elsewhere. HMM.



There is also a giant, mostly intact structure that actually takes up most of the map.





No Goondalf, don't go in, it's full of skellingtons!



Skellingtons that occasionally walk!



And then go back to acting like they're not. That is very sneaky of you, boney bois.



Worst of all, they know spells!



Don't try to pretend your worst nightmare isn't being held in place by a skeleton wizard.



There is two of them



Goondalf is doing the hunched over animation because the skeleton wizards have a spell that does damage and pushes targets back. The Sha'men will occasionally use it too, and some day so will Goondalf.



As if all that weren't bad enough, because the skeletons are 100% bones, they have no loot.



Through another door in the middle section.





Oh, uh. Hi? Nothing happens when we click this guy. Perhaps he respects a fellow seeker of knowledge too much to attack, but is also too shy to talk?



Or he just doesn't give af because he has a burly ghost lackey to do the killing for him.

All he does is swing his sword really fast, so there's not much to show. He goes down quick, but the Lich still gives zero fucks about us being here. Weird.







The ghost's sword does slightly less damage than the Officer's Sword, but that Coordination bonus can increase both Attack and Defense. Which to use is really a matter of taste. I continue with the Officer's Sword for now.





Hey, we found Black Boots of the Shadows in that house in Chapter One. It's all connected, man! Also, wearing both these and our Elf pants gets us some pretty great adjusted stats.



But that's not all! The temple also has treasure chests.





Is it... gold dust? No? Aww, boo.



At least the other one isn't just dust.





Will definitely switch to this once we get some more Restriction lowering stuff. +8 is still a bit high for now.





Some decent damage, for sure, but since we don't focus on Combat skill, we need Attack bonuses most. Sells for a good price though.







Not sure why this has an Attack Recovery stat since it can only be used as an accessory. It's great to use when not in "town", since Charm penalties don't matter against enemies.

Not a bad haul for clearing an ancient temple! I'm sure that will be the end and none of this will come up again.


RUMORS

Goondalf has his ways.

JOURNAL ENTRIES
Oh snap. The last one was actually the last of the journal entries I had. Will have to retire this feature until we find more!

BOOK CORNER



-Burning of Oriam were left at nature's mercy. Few survived the blizzards that seized the countryside. Though Oriam's Freeze bought the allies in the Seven Kingdoms valuable time to prepare for the coming Sha'ahoul invasion, many innocent lives were lost. To this day, travelers say that the shades of those who perished in that dreadful winter are drawn to a warm fire on a cold night.