Part 10: Ikaemos

Ikaemos



In it's golden age, Ikaemos had been a prosperous realm. But, the glory of the empire came at a terrible price.



To Ikaemos, the river god, the empire sacrificed its children. Drowning them in dark waters swollen with rain.



Until Armun, the last of the Priest-Kings, wore the Ring of Stone. Born with the mark of the summoner, Armun made war against the river god.



And so, the vengeful Ikaemos destroyed Armun's empire. Sinking the realm below a vast swamp.



To save his people from the eternal torment of the drown, Armun changed them into stone.

Soundtrack - Ikaemos Swamp



Here we are in wonderful Ikaemos Swamp. Population 1.5 million bacites.



Seriously there are so many bacites. That puff of smoke behind Flece here is the Mist Elemental from the Ring of Light.



It casts light and lightning, the silence from the Darkfire Elemental is far more useful in this area though.
So, bye Mist elemental.



After wading through the initial areas of the swamp we get to the larger ruins, and the statues of the former citizens of the empire start turning up.



Lots of them.



We even find some priests frozen mid-ritual.



There are gargoyles, like the lantern maker said. They are really durable and deal a good amount of damage.



Thankfully, they are not immune to backstabs, and get taken out instantly. They also drop some nice equipment for us.






This is why it is not necessary to put points into sneak or hide for Flece, all of her equipment gives it to her.



This must be the symbol of the empire, reminds me of Unreal Tournament maps.

Soundtrack - Ikaemos Palace



Moving inside we are greeted by yet more bacites.



I also finally remember to show off Rosalinds assess skill. Gives a detailed read out of anything you use it on, bosses too, maybe.
I haven't put enough points in yet so it always fails for me, but it might work?



Joseph, how many dagger slots can you count in the puzzle statue?



We need to find FOUR, FOUR DAGGERS to open the chamber of Armun. Ah, ah, ah.



The daggers are scattered throughout the upper and lower levels of the dungeon, they don't get very interesting beyond the names.
Auric, Argent, Brazen, and Cupric. Or in more common terms Gold, Silver, Brass, and Copper.




Going through the various rooms we find more statues and wade through oceans of bacites.



There are some new enemies in here though, this is a gorgonne. They can petrify with a bite, turning the victim into stone.



These grey stone golems are pretty tough too, they hit hard but can be bodied by backstab. Backstab rules.



There is also an ugly ass ghost with something to say.



Why are you still here?

Munorus: I must haunt my place of death until my soul's pain is eased.

What pains your soul?

Munorus: I failed at a task and was put to death by Apaset. The king had commissioned a jeweled necklace as a wedding present for his soon-to-be queen, Vaesura, and entrusted it to my care. The day of the wedding, the necklace vanished.

What happened when the king found out?

Munorus: The king flew into a rage and had me killed!

He sounds like an unpleasant man.

Munorus: Aye. He then had my body chopped to pieces and fed to his dogs.

Very unpleasant.

How can I help you?

Munorus: Recover Queen Vaesura's necklace and bring it to me. The queen had hidden it to discredit me, for she feared my influence over the Priest-King. It lies in a garden long since gone wild.

By this, he means it is outside the palace around a corner.



The lower level of the palace has this boat building / river access area. Filled with bacites, of course.



We find Armun's party barge. For sacrifices on the go.



Upstairs in the lower section we run into a gargoyle and his cohorts, things get a bit dicey, then I have Rosalind try out blizzard.
It kills Joseph and the Darkfire Elemental goes rabid but is also taken out by the blizzard. All of these were positive things.



It also gives me an excuse to use one of our revive scrolls.



This chamber contains the final dagger, and an assload of monsters that all come at once.



Pictured here: Flece and Rosalind statues. Luckily, this form of petrify also makes them immune to damage, but the AI will still attack them.



This entire place is like an Unreal Tournament map, I like it.



We ventured back outside to get the necklace after clearing the lower level. Note: Everytime you zone in this dungeon everything respawns. Too many bacites.

I found the necklace.

Munorus: At last! After centuries of anguish, honor shall be restored to my name. All will speak of Munorus with sorrow in their hearts.

We got 1000xp. So 2 bacite kills. The quest rewards have ceased to scale well at all by this point.



Once we place the daggers into the statue, the door beyond opens up.



Armun is also a statue.



A pissed off statue that can move. Look at his eyes... He is so... tired.



We are unfazed.



He tries to spook us, but we just draw our weapons nonchalantly.
Poor Armun, he was probably waiting for this chance for centuries.



He is facing us alone. Poor guy.



His basic attacks can turn people to stone, he can be tough.



Pictured here: he is immune to backstabs. We are undone.



However, he is not immune to trips. Fight report: Flece tripped him, Jekhar clubbed him to death, forever.



Bosses die with style in this game at least.



A neat throne room. He knocked over his royal guards, probably a century or two into being a statue.




He dropped this sword I will never use, and the Ring of Stone.



The earth poops out our latest summon, the stone golem.



Once he cools off he looks like this. He moves very slowly, has only physical attacks, and can take some damage.
But, he moves so slowly you quickly run beyond his summon range and he disappears. Only good when summoned at the battle, if that.



We finally get the hell out of here. Final bacite tail count: 128. We can still get 50 gold a piece for these back in old city. That is better than nothing.



Soundtrack - Boss Luminar

On our way with our covered wagon full of bacite tails, we are intercepted by another of the four horsemen.



This is the serpent rider.




Every single hit applies a status effect. He is a real pain to fight when Joseph and Rosalind's AI is stuck in a constant chain of cure spells or getting paralyzed themselves.





Jekhar does his job though and he eventually dismounts.



A mistake he soon regrets.