Quest for Glory III: What in Tarna-Nation

Good to see that Rakeesh is doing all he can to forestall the crisis.

       

Despite the fact that in this stage of the game, the character is supposed to be searching for the Leopardmen village and finding a way to convince the Simbani and Leopardmen not to go to war, there's still a lot to do back in Tarna. Last time, I related how I finished the ritual of the staff and returned the potion reagents to Salim.

Rakeesh, despite pledging his honor to bring peace, spends the entirety of this game session canoodling his wife. For her part, Kreesha admits that she can find no real evidence of demons, but something far to the east is "drawing her power." She suggests this might be something called a Gate Orb, which would allow demons to cross into our world. She also feels like she's being watched when she steps out of her shop.

In the bazaar, I rectified my previous failure to give some coins to the drummer. More important, I found the thief Harami lurking around. He begged me to meet him at nighttime. When I did, he talked about how awful it is to live in Tarna after being declared honorless. No one will sell anything to him, he can't get a job, and he can't leave. I took pity on him and gave him some of my food, which caused my "Honor" score to increase. He was there the next night, and the night after.

            

I love the thief's logic here.

          

In the tavern, I finally got to speak with Khatib Mukar'ram, the survivor of the peace mission that had been ambushed on the way to the Leopardmen. Withered, haunted, and insane, he related being attacked by beasts with claws and red eyes. He also dropped the bomb that Leopardmen aren't really animals--they're people who warg into half-leopard form.

          

Yikes. This is heavy for a light adventure game.

                  

The most important event--perhaps--still remaining in Tarna was the judging of my soul. It happened when I returned the Gem of the Guardian to the Temple of Sekhmet. I'm not sure I really understand the ritual. It began when the priestess forced me to drink something.

           

Any chance the Feather of Truth weighs 188 pounds?

            

I found myself floating in a void with various symbols in front of me: a heart, a key, an ankh, a pentagram, a sword, and a cup. A voice demanded that I "choose that which I was." I'm not sure that any of the symbols described what I "was," but I chose the pentagram, which was closest.

            

I was a mage. I still am, but I was, too.

             

I then had a couple of hypothetical situations thrown at me:

           

You are aiding an old wizard to cast a ritual which will bind the rushing waters of a river and prevent the flooding of the village below. Suddenly, the old mage clutches his heart and cannot speak. What do you do?

     

There were five options:

         

1. Grab the old Wizard's spell book and continue the incantation.
2. Help the old Wizard, knowing that his life and wisdom are more important to you than the huts of a village.
3. Finish the spell for the Wizard, figuring that you will get to keep the spell book if he dies while you are saving the village.
4. Do what you can to help the old Wizard quickly, then try to complete the spell yourself in time to save the village.
5. Watch the flood waters flow past the barriers of the spell as the old man dies while you ponder the ironies of the universe.

       

Obviously, only the first, second, and fourth are remotely defensible. The third is basically the same as the first except for the character's motives. I feel that the real conundrum here is whether you put yourself fully towards helping one or the other or increase the risk of losing both the wizard and the village by spreading yourself too thin with the fourth option. If the fourth option had said something like "knowing that by trying to help both, you may doom both," it would have been harder. That's the one I chose.

Another group of symbols appeared: an hourglass, a key, a yin-yang, a fist, a ring, and an infinity symbol. "Choose what you are," the voice said. I chose the infinity symbol for no particular reason.

The next question had me in a hall of mirrors where each image reflected a different possibility. The options:

       

1. Find the image which looks the strongest and toughest and touch it.
2. Look for the most beautiful image and reach out to embrace it.
3. Close your eyes and choose an image by chance.
4. Walk away from the mirrors, knowing that physical appearance is nothing more than vanity and illusion.
5. Smash the mirrors with a rock because you really don't want to be reminded of how you look.

                 

Do you have any questions about bigger kids demanding my sweetroll? I'd ace that one.

                

It's too bad that the last option continued past "with a rock" because otherwise it might have been a valid, counter-intuitive option. In my case, since none of the images showed anything that a wizard would prize in particular, I chose option 4.

Finally, I got another set of symbols chosen from the first two sets: an ankh, a candle, a pentagram, a sword, and a ring. "Choose what you will become." A candle, I guess. I'll be a candle in the wind. This led to the final puzzle:

          

Darkness surround three burning candles. Engraved in the stone floor are the words. You must choose one. The yellow candle burns the brightest, the green candle burns the steadiest, and the brown candle burns dim, but long. Which do you choose?

           

I guess the middle path? I choose green. After this, the voice interpreted my various selections. By choosing the pentagram as my past, I will be "grounded" in magic and knowledge. By choosing the infinity in the middle, I show that I "refuse to accept limitations on myself." Finally, by choosing the candle, I have shown that I desire glory. I am "drawn like a moth to the candle, and may be consumed by its brilliance."

In the end, the voice proclaimed that my "skills are in harmony with my nature." Ultimately, I am "judged worthy."

           

This text changes, it turns out, depending on your selections. But as long as you don't choose stupid or evil options, you're fine.

         

Then there was a lot more about the future:

              

Thou hast unleashed the Darkness. And the Darkness now encircles thee. Ye must walk a narrow path to bring back the light.

Let the first part of the path be guided by friendship. Thy feet already walk upon this path. Two thou hast known before. Three thou shalt free. One thou has brought low, then helped to rise again. One shall stand thy rival and thy friend. The Sword shall cross thy path, and bonds shall be cut asunder. Seek thou the least of these guides to lead thee to the depths of darkness.

Now thou art Opener of the Way and all thy heart has called shall draw near to thee. Two shall stand and five shall follow to face their greatest foe in a battle they cannot win. For thou must walk alone to free them all. Seek thee now the highest tower to find the Door to Darkness. There thy powers shall be as naught, until thy greatest spell is broken. Then thou must close the Demon's Gate.

This is that which might yet be. The path is thine own to follow or not. Go forth now, bringer of the light.

       

I don't know exactly how I "unleashed the darkness," but I assume it has something to do with killing Ad Avis. The two friends I've known before must be Rakeesh and Uhura. The one brought low, then helped to rise again might be Harami? The rest is all in the future, I guess. Anyway, after the vision I woke up in my room in the tavern.

Naturally, I couldn't let it end there. I reloaded and messed around a bit. First, I chose the same symbols but with the stupid answers to the questions. I was told that my soul was "not in balance with truth" and thus I was "not worthy for the future to be revealed." As before, I woke up in my bed.

In subsequent reloads, I tried different combinations of symbols. Each one resulted in a different scenario, all with some selections that were obviously consistent with the theme of the object, and some at odds. As long as I chose the consistent options, I was judged "worthy" and the future was revealed. However, if I didn't select the pentagram in the first or third selection, I got a message that I was denying my own nature as a wizard. I assume the thief has to choose a key first or third and a fighter has to choose a sword. I don't think the middle selections make any difference except in how you respond to the scenario.

The meaning of "three thou shalt free" became clearer--or, at least, two-thirds of it did--during the rest of the session. While exploring the eastern reaches, I freed a monkey from a cage in the middle of a path. Surprisingly, the monkey could speak--after a fashion. He introduced himself as "Manu" and called me "man-friend." There wasn't much else to do in this conversation, but I suspect we'll be seeing Manu again.

           

I was going to ask who was trying to trap a talking monkey, but then I realized that the real question is who wouldn't try to trap a talking monkey?

           

Later, I returned to the Simbani village at night and found a storyteller giving a presentation in the middle of the village. He was simply relating the theft of the Spear of Death and the current plight of the village. Alex apparently had an encounter with the same storyteller hanging out by the awari board, but I missed this. I also missed an option to ask Yesufu, the awari-player, to be my friend. Also, while I'm thinking of it, Yesufu turns out to be the son of the Laibon.

              

When you put it like that, things sound bleak.

            

The Simbani had captured a Leopardman! He had been caught spying on the village. When I arrived, he was locked in the cage, unable to escape because of its anti-magic protection.

               

I don't know. "Simbani be too smart" is a phrase that sets my alarm bells ringing.

         

I knew I'd have to free him eventually, but there were different guards on him at different times of day. He wouldn't talk with me. Lacking other ideas, I messed around with my inventory and decided to try a "dispel" potion. It worked--boy did it.

         

That she was a leopard-woman wasn't discernible in leopard form?

           

The beast turned into a woman that would give Princess Aiela a run for the title of "Miss Lost World." Everyone in the village was excited about the development, thinking we could now get from her the location of the secret Leopardman village. The Laibon was convinced she'd talk--"as a prisoner or as a wife." Say what now?

From further conversations--and I'm a little confused how we got here--it became clear that I'm expected to marry the Leopardwoman to secure her freedom and the intelligence about her village. I think there might be slightly something off with the logic that forcing a captured enemy into marriage is going to make her betray her people to her enslaver-husband, but what do I know about tribal cultures? The Laibon made it clear that he doesn't want Yesufu to wed the woman, but he set a high "bride price" for her: a fine robe, a fine spear, and five zebra skins.

              

I wish Uhura was here to hear this.

             

Well, I've got the robe and spear, but only one zebra skin, so I'll have to hike back to Tarna for the other four, maybe check in on Harami, see if Rakeesh or Kreesha have any advice, and flirt with Janna one more time before the ball and chain gets shackled around my ankle.

       

Miscellaneous notes:

• At the advice of a commenter, I returned to the Pool of Peace and cast "Detect Magic." One of the rocks sparkled and glowed and displayed the letter "E," almost certainly for "Erana." I thought there might be something to do with the rock, like there was back in the first game, but "Trigger," "Open," and "Fetch" produced no results.

             

I want to meet this Erana someday.

           

• Also in the Pool of Peace area, you can pet the cheetah.

        

Fun fact: cheetahs can purr but not roar. Lions can roar but not purr.

           

• I forgot to mention last time that Uhura's story got some more depth and clarification as I spoke to her. Apparently, in Simbani society, women can be warriors, but only if they're unmarried. No Simbani man would willingly father a child with a woman who was not his wife. Uhura wanted to have a child but remain a warrior, so she sneaked off to Shapeir, where she had a child with a city guard--who could apparently care less about his lover's marital status--stayed for a while, and then returned home. No one seems to mind her little loophole. I have to give the Coles a lot of credit here: this series has featured some of the best-fleshed-out NPCs of any RPG so far in my chronology.

• Alex titled one of his sections "The Mighty Jungle," and it made me realize that we've completely missed the boat on subtitles. We should have been mining "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." I could have made the winning entry "Quest for Glory III: Weeee-eee-ee-ee-ee-kaleo-mum-a-way."

• For some reason, Alex got a lot more flying cobras than I did. I literally have only fought one. I wonder if certain monsters favor certain classes. My constant annoyance is dinosaurs.

          

I haven't said a lot about my character development so far, but it's been steady enough. My attributes are comfortably approaching 250, as are my most-used skills. I still can't get "Parry" to budge. "Climbing"--which isn't a mage skill anyway--doesn't respond to the ropes in the Simbani village. My combat spell skills are nearing 200, but I may need to practice my non-combat spells just for the heck of it.

             

My character at the end of this session.

      

No battle is very dangerous for me, and I haven't had to use a pill in forever. Again, we find that "challenge" isn't really the watchword for the Quest for Glory series. Both combat and puzzles remain relatively, almost trivially, easy--but the story is interesting enough that it doesn't bother me that much. The NPCs are fun to talk with and the locations are fun to explore. I'm not sure why this entry developed a reputation as a weak point of the series: already I think I'm liking it more than II, if only for its comparative nonlinearity.

Hopefully, I didn't give Alex too much to jump over this time. Make sure to check out his coverage at "The Adventure Gamer" from a paladin's perspective.

Time so far: 9 hours