Quest for Glory III: Ball and Chain

After failing with a centaur girl, a baroness, a Katta, a tree, and a tavern hostess, the protagonist finally finds some love.

         

Things are moving pretty fast now. As I closed last time, my wizard was returning to Tarna to purchase another 4 zebra skins to pay the Leopardwoman's "bride price." The idea was that once she was married to me, she'd do her wifely duty and tell me the location of her hidden village. There, once I hear the Leopardmen's side of the story, perhaps I can forestall a war between them, the Simbani, and the Liontaurs.

              

A close reading of Uhura's words suggests doubts about the plan.

            

I took the time to visit Rakeesh and Kreesha, both of whom encouraged me to go through with the plan but warned me that I might be serving as someone's pawn. Rakeesh, meanwhile, is suffering from some self-doubt.

       

Wow, spooning your wife all day hasn't solved the problem? Who would have guessed?

         

After buying the zebra skins, I hung around until dark, but Harami didn't re-appear. Maybe he got out somehow. I did the rest of the rounds but couldn't find anything else to do in the city. From Alex's playthrough at the Adventure Gamer, it appears that if I'd sat town in the tavern, I would have learned of the death of Khatib Makar'ram, the haunted survivor of the peace mission.

             

I returned to the Simbani village and gave the robe, zebra skins, and spear to the chief. (From Alex's experience, it appears that a warrior accomplishes this by becoming a Simbani warrior and then giving the Laibon the horn from a dinosaur.) He declared the Leopardwoman my wife--no ceremony or anything. The Leopardwoman's reaction was predictable.

         

We couldn't have had a fake ceremony in which I clamped my hand over her mouth and said, "Yes, of course she does"?

         
As a side note,  Alex points out correctly that there are conflicting stories about how the Leopardwoman was captured. Yesufu says she was spying on the village; the Laibon claims it happened "on the edge of the savanna," and the Elder Mnjoje, who hangs around outside the village, says she was captured in a trap all the way in the jungle! I feel like if I asked one more person, he'd say that she was kidnapped directly from the Leopardmen village.
            

Anyway, Uhura, in apparent defiance of her chief's declaration, said that I "will not really be married until she agrees to such a thing," to which the Leopardwoman snarled a defiant "no!" However, Uhura suggested that I try to ply her with gifts. Looking through my inventory, I found a few things that she might like, including some beads, the Katta's carved statue of a leopard, and one of my fine daggers. (In truth, I tried just about everything in my inventory, but these were the only things she took. If you didn't just buy everything at the bazaar at the beginning of the game, like I did, there are dialogue options that suggest what items she might like.) She took each one gratefully but cautioned me not to make too much of it, commenting later that she "certainly [does] not want a stupid, magic-less cow person or a stringy haired foreigner for [her] husband." Ouch.

               

Not at all. I come from a more enlightened culture.

              

At last, there was nothing to do but to open the cage and watch her run to the wall and vault over it to her freedom.

          

The gate is actually right over . . . okay, do it your way.

          

Unsure what to do next, I wandered east for a while. It wasn't long before a random encounter stopped me in the jungle, with a note that I could sense someone watching me. I called out to the unseen spy, and she revealed herself as the Leopardwoman.

This happened three times. The first time, she simply mocked me for thinking that I could marry her that easy. She also mocked my stealth abilities in the jungle. However, she finally gave me her name: Johari. I told her that I was just trying to bring peace to her people, but that didn't go over well.

             

I'm just really not into fur.

             

In further conversation, she said that the Leopardmen didn't steal the Simbani's Spear of Death: they found it shortly after their Drum of Magic was stolen. She also had no knowledge of any peace mission sent to her people. She said that because of the theft of their Drum and the insult of her capture and sale, there would definitely be war.

On the second encounter, we spoke more, and I brought her around to my point of view.

          

It will be a heart-breaker; a friend only to the undertaker.

                

She taught me the "Lightning Ball" spell but dashed any thought of romantic prospects, as she clearly has a crush on Yesufu.

        

I don't suppose it would impress you to know that I beat Yesufu three times at awari.

          

On the third encounter, she agreed to take me to her village so I could try to convince their leader, her father, to keep the peace. On the way, she warned me that to prove myself to the Leopardmen, I would have to make "a strong show of big magic." Then she insulted me some more.

                

Hey, I didn't choose to be a blonde white boy. That was the Coles' fault.

           

But oddly, when we arrived at her village, it simply took a dialogue option--"Talk About Romance"--to prompt the screen at the top of this entry. Great, now I have to kill Yesufu or something.

Although it was forbidden by thousands of years of culture, Johari allowed me to witness the Leopardmen's Change Ritual, which was a nice piece of animation.

                

Are Katta really regular humans underneath? Are liontaurs?

                

Afterwards, we sneaked back out of the village and then entered it "legitimately," with Johari telling the gate guards that I was her prisoner. Before long, I was agreeing to challenge the Leopardmen shaman to a magical duel.

       

Did you graduate from W.I.T.? I didn't think so.

            

The duel was classic Quest for Glory: relatively easy, but in a way that still makes you feel clever. I had to reload twice, but once was for a stupid reason.

           

Johari explained the rules: I couldn't attack the shaman directly, and I could only use each spell once. Then the contest began with me making the first move. I didn't know how long we'd be casting or whether I'd be able to take pills during the contest, so I summoned my staff first. This turned out to be the right choice. The shaman also summoned one, and, well . . .

              

I don't think this needs additional comment.

              

The next round began with my again having the first move. I wasn't sure what to do, so I cast "Dazzle." This was the wrong choice, as the shaman soon blasted me in the head with a "Flame Dart." I guess the rules about not attacking him directly don't apply to him. On a reload, I cast "Reversal" first and won the round. (If you fail, incidentally, the game just lets you challenge the shaman again, so the stakes aren't that high.)

The shaman then surrounded me with a ring of fire, which I knew from previous games would respond to "Calm." However, I forgot which symbol went with "Calm" and accidentally cast "Dazzle" again, occasioning another reload. I got it right the second time.

         

Or I could just stand here until the fire abates on its own.

             

Next, the shaman imprisoned me in a cage, which I countered with "Open." Then he cast a pall of darkness over the area, which was lifted with my "Juggling Lights."

            

No other class gets a screenshot this cool.

             

The shaman made a hole open up underneath me, but I used "Levitate" to get out of it. Finally, the shaman, enraged, summoned and allowed himself to become possessed by a demon.

            

I suspect it's going to be the other way around.

      

Horrified, the Leopardmen immediately removed the restrictions on the contest and encouraged me to "kill it!" But in a moment of inspiration, I decided to try my other "dispel" potion first. It worked! The demon fled and the shaman thanked me for saving him from his own brashness.

             

This makes it sound like I won a spelling bee, which would admittedly be a cool RPG contest.

               

Finally accepted into the tribe, I was able to talk about peace and convince the shaman to give me the Spear of Death. (I was a little annoyed to read in Alex's experience that all he had to do was show up, "talk about peace," and get the Spear. Then again, I had a much easier time in the Simbani village.) In a scripted sequence, I brought the Spear back to the Simbani, who received it gratefully.

         

No, I brought actual peace.

                

Maybe not calling them "cow people" would be Step 1.

               

The Simbani gave me the Drum of Magic to return to the Leopardmen. Meanwhile, Rakeesh--who for some reason was in the Simbani village despite his leg--told me he'd prepare for the peace conference in Tarna. Once Kreesha sensed I'd returned the Drum, she'd open a portal to let me travel to Tarna. The peace conference seems a bit redundant now, but whatever.

          

The conference began in the Hall of Judgement, but things began to go awry when the Laibon of the Simbani insulted the Leopardmen and accused them of stealing the Spear of Death despite my explanations of what had happened. Rakeesh made a worried comment. 

Then the Leopardmen leader cast a spell that killed the Laibon! In revenge, one of the Simbani--I think it was Yesufu--nailed the leader through the throat with a spear. A spirit escaped the leader's body as it died, and Rakeesh identified it as a Demon.

               

I don't know. I've never seen a Demon.

As Rajah began to rant, Rakeesh implored me to flee the city before the liontaurs closed the gates in preparation for war. The scripted animation showed me running out of the gates, after which I could no longer enter.              

        

That sure is a pretty gate, though.

              

After a day's hike through the savanna, I found that I was equally barred from the Simbani village. However, Manu the Monkey soon appeared and offered to take me to the monkey village. When we got there, it seemed to be a regular patch of forest, but Manu encouraged me to "go up." I cast "Levitate" and soon found myself in a charming village of thatched platforms high in the trees.

            

Yet another scene you will find in no other RPG.

               

In conversation with Manu, it transpired that the monkeys know of a secret passage behind the waterfall that will take me to the Lost City--the furthest-east landmark, where the Demons are probably hanging out. It turns out that the monkeys used to be slaves to long-armed "bad men" in the Lost City.

Eventually, I convinced Manu to lead me to the Lost City, which he did in a scripted scene. For the first time, it occurred to me that the little trails that the character leaves as he crosses the open ground have a Indiana Jones-like quality. In fact, the entire game does a great job evoking classic adventure stories and serials.

               

The final overland map.

             

The monkeys lightly leaped over a gap in the path behind a waterfall, but Manu questioned how I would cross. That was a good question. "Levitate" only works up and down. There was no dead tree to knock over with a "Force Bolt." No vine responded to "Fetch." I had a rope, but clicking on it did nothing for me.

                      

Monkeys leap across

            
I'm sure I'll solve it, but I leave you here at the waterfall, which will probably allow Alex to win the game before me.

        

Random notes: 

         

• One more visit to the pill-pusher confirmed that Erana created the Pool of Peace.

              

Can anyone remember what the W.I.T. said had happened to Erana?

            

• In the middle of a conversation with Uhura about the Leopardwoman, Uhura suddenly forgot how to communicate.

            

You've been talking to me for hours!

                                 

•  Using the balance beam like monkey bars builds strength fast.

             

As a mage, I don't really need biceps, but it's always nice to have a backup.

           
The game is clearly coming to an end, which is a bit sad. Just like Quest for Glory II, now that I know exactly what to do in what order, I feel like a replay will only take an hour or so. Although I want to see the thief's experience in particular, I'm also curious to replay as a wizard and do everything wrong this time. I particularly wonder what happens if you don't free Manu in the earlier encounter.

Time so far: 12 hours