Part 7: Chapter 8

At last, the long-awaited update is here!

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The party finds themselves standing at the closed gates of Skara Brae. Sadly, they're still on the inside, as opposed to outside as they might prefer.

Costello: What happened...? Weren't we fighting a dragon?

Skarn: The last thing I remember is being crushed in a manner more ridiculously easy than I might have liked to imagine.

Leif: Uhh... same here, actually. Was it all a dream?

Kymas: I doubt it. Archmage Warren Angelus is still here, and Sir Runsa Lott is not.

Unable to reconcile this mystery, the party decides to return to the Guild. On the way, however, Flamesack stops the group.

Flamesack: Guys, let's stop for a second.

Costello: What's wrong?

Flamesack: Look, we all know that whatever happened down there, it was too vivid to be a dream. To say nothing of us all having the same recollection of it. I'm going to try and become a Sorcerer.

Kymas: But you have not mastered all of the conjurer spells, have you? It's dangerous to attempt another form of magic without stabilizing your own.

Flamesack: Screw that. All my powers counted for almost nothing in that hellhole. We're going to need real firepower in there, and the ability to conjure up monsters sounds pretty buzz-worthy to me. If we encounter Sphynx again, I'm not going to let it take me down like last time.

Kymas: Very well... but I am coming with you. We have stood together for all of this time; let us master the powers of the sorcerer.

Costello: Are you guys sure about this?

Warren: They have decided their paths, it would seem. We should wait and see what happens.

Flamesack: Let's go.

The group enters the Review Board.





After selecting a magic user with at least three spell levels in their current class, you have the option of changing them to another spellcasting class. You can either pick whatever class they didn't start out in, or sorcerer.



The process is decidedly less dramatic than it sounds.

Costello: Guys? How do you feel?





Kymas: In a word?

Flamesack: Badass.

Leif: Uhh... are they supposed to look like identical twins?



Fortunately, experience is reset to level 1 but stats are kept the same. Hence, it's quite easy at this point in the game to advance in sorcerer. And since spell levels also haven't changed their prices, it's cost effective too.



It isn't long until we go from this...



To this.

Oh, and just to get all the level-ups involved out of the way, here they are in abstract form:

Leif gained 1 IQ and 1 Luck.
Skarn also gained 1 IQ and 1 Luck.
Costello gained 1 Strength and 1 IQ.
Flamesack gained 1 Strength, 2 Dexterity, and 1 Constitution.
Kymas Turan gained 1 Strength and 3 Constitution.
Warren Angelus gained 1 IQ.

And then our party returns to the depths of the Catacombs...

Since you've all seen the first two floors already, we'll skip to the most relevant part. Where it turns out Miketopus made a grievous mistake.

Costello: You know, this hallway is full of doors, and we already know what's behind one of the biggest... why don't we try a few others?

It turns out that I missed one door in this huge hallway. A door, I might add, that leads further into the Catacombs and bypasses Bashar and Sphynx entirely.

Can I get a up in here?



Behind this door lies a monster that every single source on the internet has cautioned me to avoid. So, we'll come back later.









This place gets very confusing sometimes. Especially since I literally had to walk through a wall to find these stairs.



Kymas: Harkyn... sounds familiar.

Skarn: Remind me why we would ever want to do this?

Leif: For the sake of saving the innocent people of Skara Brae and driving Mangar's evil from the world?

Skarn: ...No, really, why?







More twists and turns...



And then all magical effects go out and the party is plunged into magical darkness. You know, because that never gets old.

Leif: Just a moment, I'll take out a lamp.





All: GAHH!

Leif: Holy f-!

Costello: Undo! Undo!



And so we come face to face with the true boss of the Catacombs.





Guess what? His touch drains levels!





Guess what? He's nearly impossible to hit with attacks or spells!



And yet... this happens.



A lackluster amount of experience and gold are my reward...



As well as this.

Leif: What an odd jewel.

Warren: Keep that stone with you, young Leif. We will need it later.

Costello: Don't suppose you can tell us what we'll need it for?

Warren: I'm sorry, but I don't remember.

Costello: Wonderful. Let's get out of here.



Flamesack: Gah! Another monster!

Stone Giant: What, you think I'm going to try and fight you when your pet dog killed King Aildrek? No way, I'm going to stick with you like glue, strong ones!

Costello: Uhh... yes, do that. Very wise move.

Flamesack: You couldn't have made a better choice, really. We would've just had to waste our unlimited powers destroying you.

Skarn: It's not like the imaginary wolf got a lucky hit and killed him off through pure chance and we're just marveled at still being alive.

Everyone else: ...

Skarn: What?



Flamesack: Can we keep him?!



Costello: Yes! The stairs back into the temple! We've survived!



Costello: ...Kill me.



Leif: What evil mystery lies beyond this strange jewel?

Costello: Forget that for now, we have a very important destination!

Kymas: Harkyn's castle?

Costello: Even more important than that!



Costello: Ahh...

Join us next time on The Bard's Tale!

BONUS FEATURE

The following are a few interesting screenshots that didn't quite fit into the main LP. Enjoy.



The Eye is quite the windfall if you really want to sell it, but since it's plot-related, I don't recommend doing so. You can always go back and fight the Spectre again, but really, why would you want to put yourself through that?



Ooooh, a mysterious item!







And finally, the ultimate fate of our friendly stone giant.

See you all next time!