The Let's Play Archive

Unterwegs in Düsterburg

by TheMcD

Part 4: Update IV - The Reaper Is The Riddler?

Update IV - The Reaper Is The Riddler?



Well... last time, we totally didn't just murder an entire family, and then made our way to whatever the hell this place is - some sort of frost palace where the guardians are some seriously badass motherfuckers. So instead of screwing with those guys, let's head down these stairs.



I see some frozen dwarves that actually move around, four statues, and four switches. I think we can put two and two together here...



...yeah, that's the way to do it. But first, let's clear out those enemies for the XP and the ability to push statues around in peace.



Well, these guys don't exactly look as fresh as they can be!

Yeah, these dwarves aren't exactly the most alive-looking fellows. But being undead doesn't stop them from getting beaten up.



After that, we can push the statues onto the switches, and surprise, surprise, a staircase appears! I mean, I would have also accepted "rocks falls, everybody dies", if just for being a neat subversion, but a staircase is neat too.



A treasure chest in an important looking position? Is this where "rocks falls, everybody dies" comes into play? Well, nothing ventured...



In the chest we find a healing potion, a revival item, and a dwarven set of armor. I think I have an idea how that armor is going to come into play, but let's explore further first...



...is what I would say if we weren't set upon by more undead dwarves right the fuck outta nowhere we have to deal with first.



These guys are in the majority! No matter - charge!

This time we've got some sort of super-dwarf to deal with, who has an even bigger axe than the regular ones.



They deal so much damage I have to use a healing item, but they're nothing special and go down regardless.



Of course, we're still beat to shit afterwards, but a trip to the inn fixes everything!



And one trip back later, we're ready to head upstairs.



A chest, a lever, some more dwarves, a dead guy, and a set of stairs leading up. Let's start with the dead guy.

His body is coated in a thin layer of ice.
Otherwise, there's no wounds to be found... wait a minute, what's that?



And we find a fake beard on the guy, for some reason!

I wonder why he had that with him.

So do I, but I have a suspicion, and I'm pretty sure you've all got the same idea I've got. Next up, let's check that lever out.



Holy fuck, the area around the lever is scattered with ice mines! And they hurt! All the lever does is disable the mines, so I guess that was worth it, because we can now open the chest without getting murdered. Well, without getting murdered by the ice mines, at least. We've got a 50% murder rate on chests in here so far, so I'm not exactly confident.



But no, there's no more traps on the chest, and we find another revival item, an MP-restoring item, and a dwarven axe. The pieces are starting to fall into place more and more.



And just for reference, walking up to the lever got me nailed by two ice mines, which took off about 50% of Grandy's HP. After a bit of healing up, it's time to clean up the enemies.



He's small, he's strong... and as opposed to me he's already dead!

We've dealt with worse before, and he goes down without much of a fight.



And so do these guys. A bit more experienced and a bit richer, we make our way up the stairs.



Another dwarf that goes down without any incident, the pentagram is a save point which comes in handy, and then we have that reaper guarding that chest.



What?! Somebody actually made it down here to steal the treasure I'm supposed to guard after all these years?
1) You got it! 2) I don't want your treasure.

It actually doesn't matter what you pick here, but let's go with the first option here, because we do want that treasure.

Now get out of here, you bag of bones, or I'll whip your boney butt!
Oh my, somebody's in a hurry to die... listen here, sonny, I haven't been waiting here for generations for somebody to free me just to go and kill you... they just told me to wait here, you know? Fifty years ago. Told me I have to guard this box... sadly, nobody survived the traps they installed in the room down the stairs. You're the first... do you have any idea, how boring it is to sit in this cave for fifty years without any hope to get out of here?! No, of course you don't! So, sonny, if I kill you here, I'll probably have to wait another fifty years until somebody else comes along... but I still just can't let you get to this box... you see, a real dilemma. But I think I found a good compromise...
And that compromise is?
Riddles, sonny! I prepared a few riddles to test you! Are you ready?
1) Let's go! 2) I prefer battle.

Basically, if you tell the guy you don't want his treasure, he'll just go "now listen here, I've been here for ages, so you better try and get me out of here". No real reason to not try the riddles, so let's try these on for size.



The more it eats - the hungrier it becomes - once it eats everything - it dies.

We get a few different options here. The first three are "dog", "war" and "fire", and if those aren't enough, we can see three more, but the answer here is obvious - it's fire, since the more it burns, the more it can burn, but once it runs out of things to burn, it dies out.

Hah! Not bad, sonny! Here's the second one:



I'm often compared with glass - but I'm more like light - where I've left only hate remains - but you shouldn't fear me.

Options here are "water", "ice", "war", "bottle", "love" and "contract". The correct answer is love, which I mostly got out of the third and fourth lines. Not exactly sure how the first two play into that, though, I'm not good with riddles like this.

Jippee! You're smarter than you look, boy. Let's get to the last riddle.



My first isn't few - my second isn't heavy - together it lets you hope - but don't hope too much.

Ugh, this riddle... it went completely over my head when I was playing, and because of that, this whole segment was more of a pain than it should be. Options here are "Umm...", "Maybe...", "What do I know...", and if you want more options...

You idiot! You're only guessing! I suppose it has to be this way then!



And then you have to fight the guy.



And he can drain a good amount of health.



It goes about as well as you'd expect. Now, back to the riddle - the solution is actually rather easy if you take it literally. "My first isn't few", so that's "a lot". "My second isn't heavy", so that's "light". "A lot" in German is "viel". "Light" in German is "leicht". Stick them together, and you've got "vielleicht", which means "maybe". So there's that, but I couldn't figure that out while I was playing, so now we get to fight this guy.




This time, I'll be better prepared! Fully healed, stocked up on healing items and my secret weapon - exploding fire flasks! Those will surely give me an edge in this fight!



...they do about half as much damage as the guy can drain from me.



Shit.



Eventually, through determination and good use of healing items, he goes down. This guy is a pretty damn hard nut to crack, because whenever a boss can drain health, it's bound to be a hard battle.



Oh yes! I'm free! Ah! Aaahh! AAAAHHHH!!! That's like that tickling behind your earlobes! That's good! Yeeeees! Moooooore!!!

After this guy has some sort of orgasmic experience while being freed from this plane of existence and then disappears, we're free to check out that chest.



More healing items and a dwarven helmet. Now that we've explored everything but the part where the guardians won't let us through, we move on...



...after some healing, of course...



...to whatever's behind this door.

Only the servants of King Asgard may pass through here.

Well, this time, let's just back off, since forcing it only leads to death.

Wait a minute! These guys only allow dwarves to go into the mines... I've got everything I need to look like a dwarf!



And now we're a dwarf! Don't ask me about the size problem, it doesn't get addressed. Anyway, now that we're all dwarved up...

Hello guys, I've just got to head to the king real quick...
You may pass.

Well, that was easy.



Now to get out of this stuff.



The fake beard fell apart.

Not sure what the point of that is. I guess the game is now forcing you to head up, since you don't have the fake beard anymore, you can't fool the guardians anymore.



Phew! Just then I was in the frozen cold and now I feel like I'm in a sauna!

I'm not going to question the logistics of having lava right next to ice. They're dwarves - those guys can be hardcore when it comes to breaking the laws of physics, mechanics and whatnot.

Holy smokes! The dwarves must have smelted their gold here!



And who is that? Could that be the redhead we've been looking for?



That's... LIBRA!
What kind of decaying guy is she talking with?

You still don't get it, you skunk! Either you give me the Amulet or I'll knock you silly!
Ah, yes, that's her... that's my Libra!
What am I talking about again...
I fear you are mistaken, milady! But try your best - I'm very much looking forward to snacking on you!
Keep your stinking paws off me, ruffian!
About time I step in!

Yes, about time we step in...



...after saving first, of course. Now, let's give that dragon what for!



Would you take a look at that, the dessert has also arrived!
Please step back. This battle...

Grandy!
Libra!
How wonderful, we've finally found each other...
You certainly took your time! I almost had to take care of this dragon without you!
Umm... I got held up. There was this family, they had a problem...
And who are you to criticize me anyway! We don't even know each other...
Of course we know each other, silly.
I lost my memory, Libra. I can kind of remember you, but that's about it.
But now that I finally found you, everything will become clear.
It's not all that easy, Grandy. I can't remember anything either.
But I know we belong together. And now that we found each other, everything will clear up...
Hey, you two lovebirds! Could you do your sweet-talking a bit later? We've still got something to finish here, after all!
Oh, right, this smelly, half decayed dragon has the Holy Amulet of the family Dengelbrack.
Now, don't get insulting, milady. I know I've seen better days, but that's still no reason to...
Ummm, mister dragon, before you eat us up, we'd like to talk about a few things. Please allow us to step aside for a moment.
Well, I guess I don't want to be like that. Talk about whatever you want to talk about, but please hurry up.



He doesn't want to tell me how he got the Amulet, but that doesn't matter, really. He doesn't want to give it to me, either. And he claims he hasn't had anything good to eat for years, and I'd be just the thing for him!
Exactly, fresh and juicy... heh...
That guy is just as dead and rotting as everything else in this mine.
Isn't that right, little dragon? You don't need anything to... um, stay alive, don't you?
Well, I'm not exactly hungry... but I still have an immense appetite!
There's no negotiating with this guy. We should work together.
Of course, Grandy.
Since we both seem to have the same fate anyway.



And with that, Libra joins our party!



She's a battle mage, which means that she's technically supposed to be able to fight in melee, but you're usually better off not doing so and just focusing on magic. She can also equip some decent armor compared to what the average mage can wear. Speaking of magic...



Her loadout of magic is very nice. Six spells - two fire, two ice, two lightning, one attacks a single enemy, one attacks all of them. A very solid setup that comes in handy a lot of times. Now, let's save one more time, and let's take on that dragon!

Let's get this over and done with.



And here we have our first true boss of the game, the undead dragon. This guy, much like the reaper, is a tough son of a bitch that will whoop your ass given half a chance. So let's give Libra's magic a shot - this guy is a dragon in a fiery cavern, clearly I should be using ice!



9 damage? Damn, that's not a lot. Fire clearly can't be the right answer, so let's try lightning instead.



23 damage, that's more like it. We beat up on this guy a bit more...

His nose is already in tatters, this guy isn't going to stand much longer!
Oh, I didn't need those parts anyway, they already died off ages ago!

Some more fighting ensues, until...



...the dragon spits out a ring of fire. And it burns, burns, burns... and deals a hell of a lot of damage to boot!

I can't take this much longer, do we still have some healing herbs with us?

Thankfully, we still have a lot of healing items, so keeping everybody alive wouldn't be a problem, but the fight goes a bit in a different direction. After Libra shoots another bolt of lightning in the dragon's face...

Onwards, Grandy! One more hit and we're done with this!



And so it is written, and so it has been - he goes down without much fanfare. Next stop, exploring the part of the cavern behind him, which has treasure chests!



...a heavy crossbow? What am I going to do with a crossbow? Libra uses staves, Grandy uses swords, and I'm certain Julie can't use a crossbow (although that'd be really impressive). Guess I'll hang on to this.



This throne is too small for me... dwarf size! And it smells burnt to boot!



Another longsword gives Grandy a hefty attack boost, so that's always welcome.



In fact, it pushes his attack power into the triple digits! Not that that means he'll be pulling triple digit damage numbers now, but still, it's a nice little milestone.



And there it is! We found the Holy Amulet!

Finally we have the Amulet. Let's get it to Dankwart quickly.

Not so fast, we still have one chest left!




A light helmet. Gives a small boost to Libra's defense. It's OK I guess, but I'd have put some gold here instead of a weak armor upgrade. It seems more fitting. But now, let's leave.

Time to leave. I've had enough of snow for now!
It's a long way back, but we've got a lot of things to talk about...



...and there was one more thing I could remember. As Dankwart was telling me his story...
Yes?
The name Wahnfried! The dark lord of Düsterburg. As he mentioned the name a chill ran down my spine.
Yes, now that you mention it, I felt the same way. He must have something to do with our past.
Our path leads to Düsterburg! I'm sure that the answers to all of our questions lie in that city!



And with that, we're back in the Eastern Marches. Let's head back to Dankwart and give him back the Amulet.



Dankwart! We're back!
Miss Libra, how glad I am to see you! And you found your friend as well, as I can see!
Yes... everything will be fine now! And we managed to find your Amulet as well!
...the Amulet...? ...the Holy Amulet of the family?
Yes, Dankwart... what's the matter? Aren't you happy at all?
Oh, yes, I am, Miss Libra... incredibly so... I'm just so overwhelmed... after twenty years of waiting...
Then the day when the rightful duke returns to Falkenburg has finally come! Harkon can end his guard duty.
We would be happy if you allowed us to accompany you. Our fates lead us to Düsterburg as well.
It would be a pleasure and an honor, Grandy. Just wait one moment, and I'll be ready to travel!



Oooh, spiffy new gear for Dankwart!

Let us go!



And with that, our party is full with four members! Let's see what Dankwart brings to the group:



Dankwart is an occultist, as was shown in the flashback where he was living out his inner Frankenstein. And what does that translate to in gameplay?



Holy spells and healing spells. So yeah, Dankwart is pretty much the cleric of the group. We have a single healing spell, a party healing spell, a status recovery spell, a revival spell, a single holy damage spell and a group holy damage spell - once again, we're given a wide range of magic right from the start, which is very welcome.



Dankwart originally attacks with a dagger, but you can swap that out for the Holy Amulet. It deals kick-ass damage against any sort of dark creature, but doesn't do shit against anything else. While you might think that swapping out makes sense, his regular attack is so weak it rarely ever makes sense to equip a dagger or the like. Just have him stick to healing if that is the case.



So with that, we're done with the Eastern Marches and will be moving on to Düsterburg! Except not, because we've still got a few loose ends to deal with - for instance, we never dealt with the ghost and his problem, and that's not something we need to put off until later, we can solve that now. Plus, having Dankwart in our party makes a few changes. So next time, we'll be tying up some loose ends.