Part 11: Update XI - And Now For Something Completely Different

Update XI - And Now For Something Completely Different





♪ BGM: Castle Zharas - hall2.mid ♫



Before you ask - and I'm pretty sure nobody was going to ask, but still - no, Nyria is not Johanna Aires from the first game, who happened to have the same portrait.

There you go... she's awake at last.
What happened?
Well... we found you in front of the castle. You were unconscious.
How did I get here?
I was hoping you could tell us that.
...I can't really remember. I was just... then, there was that bright light... that noise... the ground was shaking...
The ground was shaking? Bright light? Strange. Everything was quiet here in the last few weeks.
...where is this place?
You are inside Castle Zharas. One of the nine castles of the Clan of Holy Warriors. We are the warriors of all good. Our purpose is the destruction of all evil.
The destruction of all evil? Why are you telling me all this?
Well, there is something that absolutely caught my interest. You wear our emblem on your armor. And yet, I have never seen you before.
The emblem on my armor? That is the emblem of King Gerald of Tranak Castle.
Tranak Castle? There is no castle with that name. And who is King Gerald?
You don't know Tranak Castle? Just what is going on here?
Truly very mysterious. How did you get that armor?
This is the armor of all generals of the king.
Hm... I don't know where you're from, but if you wear the armor with the emblem of the Clan of Holy Warriors, then you can only have a pure soul. No evil creature would be able to wear that armor.
But...
Perhaps... hm, come with me, I want to show you something. Are you strong enough to walk?
I think so...
I wish to show you something. It is something... special. In the basement of this castle. The entrance is down the hallway south of this room.
All right...



And off we go.



Nyria starts out at level 20, though level doesn't really mean much of anything when stat curves can be completely different for different characters. For instance, our vampire crew would be a lot stronger at level 20 than Nyria here is - which is actually kind of nicely tying in the whole "vampires are superior in strength, intelligence, etc." thing.



She has some baseline equipment, which I think makes her the first character we get to control that actually has inventory items.



She also gets a skill. And no, I don't know what an "intuitive" skill is, beyond it being something that she didn't have to learn, she just intuitively had the skill.



We also have a separate inventory for Nyria, which means that secrets we find here won't transfer to Valnar and the gang when we switch back to them. Because of this, I fairly quickly give up on searching for secrets here and just do what the game tells me to do.



I am just showing her around the castle.
I hope you're feeling somewhat better, milady.
I'm fine.
That's good. We always need to keep our full strength at times like these. Evil does not sleep.



Especially when it comes to female soldiers! Oh, I see you're already working on that. Excellent.
You better make sure the castle is secured, soldier!
Of course, Sir!



Ah, that's going to improve morale among the soldiers again. Well done, chef.
Thank you, Sir!



Don't be so sure. Perhaps they just want us to think that. Always stay vigilant! And report everything!
Yes, Sir.



Oh, hey, a new item! This thing is an item that can only be used in battle, and it increases all your magical resistances. Useful!



Dunno what this is used for yet. I can presume that we're going to fill it with something, but whether that's water, or some alchemist stuff, or something else entirely, I can't tell.



I decide to take a peek out on the upper level, then immediately decide I can't be arsed to look around further - especially since secrets we find now are secrets we won't be able to find with Valnar when we come around again. I'm just going to assume we're going to come around again, anyway - this is a castle of that holy clan, and therefore has one of those stone things we need. So instead, we head down to the dungeon.



♪ BGM: Dungeons of Zharas - blood001.mid ♫

to destroy all intruders. But don't worry, with someone from the Clan of Holy Warriors at your side, they won't harm you. These are monsters that were created by our mages. From time to time, one of them does get wild, that's why we have guards stationed here. But normally, these creatures are friendly towards us.



Thanks.



As long as you're near me, you don't have to be afraid.
As if such a creature would scare me...

I just looked that thing up, and it would rip you limb from limb, Nyria. It's about 30 levels out of your league.



We find a healing item in a chest, but that's about it for this place apart from the thing we're here to see.



And so down at the bottom of the dungeon, we find this thing.

That's what you're supposed to think. But it is part of a big stone tablet. A very... powerful stone tablet. To be more precise, the text it will read if you combine all 9 pieces is perhaps the most powerful spell that was ever created.
Why is a piece of it down here?
For protection of the whole world. No one must ever possess all pieces. That would be too much of a danger for all life in this world.
What sort of spell is that?
Well, to be honest, I was hoping that YOU might be able to tell me that. Nobody knows this spell.
Who possesses the other pieces of the stone tablet?
We do. The Clan of Holy Warriors. Of course, we have already tried many times to decipher the spell, but we don't understand the language it was engraved in.
Hm, where did this language come from?
*sigh*. That, too, was something I hoped you could tell me. Your appearance is so mysterious, your armor so strange. We tried everything, but without any success. It was worth a try... I think we should go back upstairs now. And please keep this all to yourself. It's dangerous...
Of course. For now, I will find out how I even got here, first, and also find out what happened.
You are free to stay here in the castle for as long as you want.
I thank you. Also, thank you for the great amount of faith you seem to have in me. To tell and show something like this to a stranger...
As I already said, your soul must be good, otherwise you wouldn't be able to wear armor that has the emblem of the Clan of Holy Warriors engraved on it.

And that's it for our little interlude with Nyria.



♪ BGM: A Truth Revealed - WraithTouch.mid ♫

Look around! The world is not destroyed! And yet, I don't recognize it!
Whatever happened, we will set everything right again!
And even if we have to kill Asgar again...
Let us take a look around. Surely, somewhere we can find a few good weapons...

And thus, we are dropped on the overworld map. So next time, we'll start exploring!