Excelsior: Onward and Downward

 

Dungeons are teeming with enemies, items, doors, and clues.

     

We return to Chester the sexless golem paladin, circling the roads of the land Excelsior, picking up various hints and clues. The Council of World Watchers have sent me here to deal with some unspecified evil, but so far the only major quest step I've uncovered is to find the three amulets that will allow me to increase my attributes when leveling up. There are supposedly clues to the red and blue amulets in North Blagsell and Embiscule, and the green amulet is apparently in the Forgotten Pits.

   

I want to visit each town once before committing myself to dungeons, so I press on.

   

Owenfield 

 

• An astrologer reads my fate and says that I'll need four items of fantastic power to fulfill my destiny, and that one man will show me the way when I'm ready for it.

• A graveyard has a bunch of stones but apparently no inscriptions.

• A ranger: When hunting in the Rumbling Range, he encountered a unique baobab tree.

     

Deep into my thirties, I thought that "baobabs" were fictional trees.

       

• The weaponsmith has some unique items, including a Wind Staff and Poseidon's Trident.

• The armory has eramel plate and an eramel shield. I can afford the latter and buy it.

• A guy offers another game of Three Crowns Up. 

• A warrior says that he's served Lord Valkery (of Castle Excelsior) for years, but something is different about him lately. 

     

Owenfield is with Castle Griswald on a southwestern peninsula. I have to retreat across the peninsula, back to an intersection near the city of Hollow, and then take a long road to the southernmost part of the continent.

   

Borinthia 

   

• A mage staying at the inn: A magic fire is the gateway to the netherworld. He does not know where it is.

• A warrior: There are rumors that the king's son, Prince Williamson, has been imprisoned in the royal keep.

• Janell: The only remedy to being land-locked is "not on the land itself."

• Nelver: Used to work for King Valkery but was fired over differences in views, replaced by Peffley. 

• L'lella: A woman volunteering at the clinic asks if I'll stay and help care for wounded people. I say yes, stick around for a while, and learn the "Bandage" skill, which causes my wounds to heal automatically, though slowly enough that I still need "Alleviate Pain" after most battles.

    

After Borinthia, I head back north, up the east coast of the continent. I cross two islands to the next location.

    

The Port City of Farborough 

    

• The weaponsmith has something called a Devil's Pitchfork. I can afford it but don't buy it.

• There are places in the city only reachable by boat. Clearly, I'll have to return with one.

       

Ah, Venice.

     

• Pirate: There's a large sandbar east of here. It keeps the town safe from rough seas. 

• A shipwright offers ships for 5,000 gold.

     

It's going to be a while.

      

Embiscule 

   

• A beggar asks for 2 gold. I give it to him. He says that a baobab tree marks the location of an object of great significance. The sorcerer Cirine in Burroughs can tell me more. 

     

I have no idea why this is the last screenshot for a while. I must have just forgotten that I had to take them.

     

• Pirate: He's heard of a magic lantern that can burn forever, but he doesn't know where it is. 

• Assassin: A man in Heize murdered a man in cold blood and can teach his methods.

• Hollow: A ranger can tell me about "Dark Eyes" (I already have it).

• The weaponsmith has a Thunder Axe and a Speedblade, both too expensive.

 

Widdlenix

   

• The weaponsmith sells an Axe of Doom. Still too much.

• Archer: Fefin in Pibsly will teach me "Marksmanship." 

• Militiaman: There are treasures across the oceans. Janell in Borinthia can help me get there.

• A magic shop. I'd love to buy more spells, but I can't seem to make any serious money.

• Woodsman: Schoenoff's Forest is to the northwest. There's a woodsman named Hote there who may provide assistance. 

    

I'm almost back to Castle Excelsior, but another road branches east and south. 

    

North Blagsell 

    

• Townsman: There's a literate person in Wyckmire who teaches people to read and write. 

• Cleric: A substance called Liquid Light can be found in the Forgotten Pits.  

• Boore: I should find Gerald of the South, kin to one of the greatest knights in the land.

    

I was supposed to get a clue to the red amulet here, but I circled the place several times and didn't find anything. I move on to South Blagsell, which as per last session, is actually north of North Blagsell. 

 

I lose my horse somewhere between North and South Blagsell. I don't know what happened to it. I must have accidentally jumped off and failed to notice.

 

I also find a yellow potion after one battle and a red after another. The yellow heals 10 hit points; the red increases strength (temporarily).

 

There's a keep called Ironthread on the road between North and South Blagsell, but the door is locked.  

      

South Blagsell 

      

• A warrior named Gerald: Excited about his brother having studied under a master warrior in Embiscule.

• Archer: You can sharpen your skills with a bow by seeking out the master archer in Pibsly.

• Archer: A man in Castle Infinitum is an expert in "Survival." 

• Ranger: Boore in North Blagsell knows about the red amulet.

• The healer is inexplicably sequestered behind half a dozen locked doors. 

     

Build a side door?

     

Once you get some dialogue in this game, the same dialogue never comes back even if you speak to the same NPCs. I miss something in the Boore/Gerald thread, so I end up saving the game and creating a new character just for the purposes of re-experiencing those lines of dialogue. I make him a male giant, pump him full of strength, and give him the "Bandage" and "Fist Fighting" skills. This is just enough to keep me alive long enough to visit the two Blagsells and record the lines.

      

"Blah" the giant collects some intelligence.

     

The combination of these leads suggests that the next clue on the path of the red amulet is to be found in Embiscule.

   

I finally finish my road loop back at Castle Excelsior, though I can tell from the map that Matthew Engle provided that I've missed Burroughs, on a lake in the middle of the southern part of the continent, and several cities accessible only by ship.

     

These travels are accompanied by many battles, but they've gotten rather easy.

       

At Excelsior, I level up a couple of times, check my task list, and decide to try to find the green amulet in the Forgotten Pits, on Hugh's Point, south-southwest of Schoenoff's Forest. Before leaving the Excelsior area, and on the way to the forest, I do a few errands:

   

• In Oooblyae, I ask around until a bard tells me that Jad Merlings was recently in the city but has left for South Blagsell. I've been on the trail of Merlings, who can supposedly teach me how to play the lute I've been carrying since Level 1, for several cities now. I don't even know what playing the lute allows me to do, although this is partly answered in the next bullet point.

• In Woodside, I open a door I didn't have a key to open last time I visited. There's a guy who sells lutes and "Slumber Lutes." I note it for later. 

       

All lutes are Slumber Lutes.

        

• I waste a bunch of time in Castle Excelsior opening doors I didn't have keys to open before. I find nothing in any of the rooms, just generic NPCs.

• Wyverns, golems, gargoyles, and sorcerers are among the new enemies I encounter at my higher level. I find a Retribution Sword on the body of a wyvern. It does double the damage of my eramel longsword.

• In Pibsly, a master archer named Fefen teaches me "Marksmanship" for 100 gold. 

    

I haven't shot a bow in this game yet, but I still like acquiring all the skills.

    

• In Stockshire, a guy behind a locked door says that his travels have taken him to a magic flame on a small island near the edge of the world. I also buy a new horse here. 

• In Roaldia, I buy "Instant Elevation" (IE) and "Instant Descent" (ID) spells to facilitate dungeon exploration.

• Schoenoff's Forest is a maze with a hut in the middle. It takes me forever to find my way to it because I've temporarily forgotten that the game allows diagonal movement. The occupant, Hote, at first just tells me to state my business or leave. Since I don't know exactly what I want from him, I just leave.

 

I find the Forgotten Pit right where the cartographer said it would be. My first thought is to use "Instant Descent" to rocket to the bottom of the dungeon and begin hunting for the red amulet. I soon discover that the two spells only work after you've arrived at the levels organically. This turns out to be a good thing.

     

Arriving at the Forgotten Pit.

     

The dungeon levels are large, about 48 x 48, and I nearly have to map. There are plenty of enemies, but also plenty of time to rest and heal between enemies. My backpack soon fills up with valuable items. I leave so much expensive loot on the floor that it starts to physically hurt. There are locked doors to open, treasure to find, and signs to read.

   

On Level 2, a sign tells me: "There is exactly one secret door on this level." I find it in the southeast corner, allowing entry to a long hallway that runs up the entire east side of the dungeon. At the end of the hallway is the green amulet and magic lantern. I didn't expect to find them so soon.

      

Nice of the developers to put them together.

         

As soon as I pick up the magic lantern, the fog of war disappears, and the entire 26 x 18 exploration window fills up with dungeon squares. Being able to see a quarter of the dungeon at one time obviates mapping.

      

Too little, too late.

       

I'm surprised to find a ladder down. Level 3 has a more "cavernous" feel. There are a number of signs that read:

 

• It can't exist in a one-dimensional world.
• It is one-dimensional in a two-dimensional world. 
• It is three-dimensional in a four-dimensional world.

   

There's a final "chattering" signpost that I find I have to talk to instead of reading. It asks me: "What is it that my mute friends are speaking of?" I don't know the answer. While I'm pondering it, I start to question what a "four-dimensional world" would look like and Google it. Google's AI result says right in the description that the "shadow" of a 4D would be 3D. Having thus spoiled it for myself, I try SHADOW, which opens the way to the fourth level.

   

Level 3 also has a little residence belonging to a priest; he asks me to leave him alone, as he "Must spend time deep in prayer [to] produce holy water." I can't figure out anything to do here. The fourth and bottom level has a maze in the top half and a series of rooms in the bottom half that suggest a destroyed castle. 

        

This could be Magincia.

      

Locked doors cut off the southeastern area. I open them and slay a white dragon. There are rivers of lava running through here, but I can't figure anything else to do. I suspect I'll have to return later. 

     

On the bottom level of the Forgotten Pit.

    

Four castings of "Instant Elevation" get me back to the surface. The items I looted sell for so much money that I could certainly buy a ship if I took another dive to get a second batch of loot. Overall, the dungeon was a bit livelier than I expected, closer to Ultima V than Ultima IV and earlier.

  

Instead, I decide to head south to the town that I missed. On the way, I stop at Embiscule and learn from someone named Christoph that Gerald is a liar: far from a great knight, Gerald's brother died a beggar in Owensfield—and was buried with his red amulet.

     

Wait. "One of?"

      

After that, I cross a couple of bridges to the island that hosts:

 

Burroughs 

       

• A thief: Somewhere there is a small hut filled with thieves who can teach "Lockpicking." This must be the least useful skill in the game, since you find so many picks that even someone with no skill (like me) has a surplus of hundreds.

• Cirine the Sorcerer: Once had the blue amulet, lost it under a baobab tree. Hute the Woodsman can assist in its retrieval.

• The weaponsmith sells Death Swords and Holy Blades. 

   

I'm close to Owenfield at this point, so I head southwest to the city and use my shovel on graves until I find a body with the red amulet. 

      

Not the Avatar.

      

Hoping to make it a trifecta before I post this entry at midnight, I race back to Schoenoff's Forest. This time, Hule hears the story of the baobab tree and makes me a Forestry Axe.

   

The ranger in Owenfield said the tree was in the Rumbling Range, which is depicted on the map in the northwest corner of the continent, not far from Schoenoff's Forest. It's a large range and it takes a long time, studying one screen of mountains after another, to find a tree in their midst. When I see it, I use the axe and claim the blue amulet.

      

Definitely not the Avatar.

     

Hule asked me to return the axe, which I do. He says that he's part of an organized group called the Resistance, which is dedicated to the overthrow of King Valkery. He tells me that their headquarters is in the dungeon Intungo, where the password is VICTORY.  

      

That escalated fast.

      

Some miscellaneous notes:

   

• As commenter Scott pointed out, the "Zagha's Banquet" spell trivializes the food system. I've been casting it whenever I think about it.

• The game has a curious mechanic discussed briefly here. Sometimes, slain enemies leave two items behind, and the game pictures them side-by-side. When the player goes to G)et the item in that square, the game asks which one they want. The player has to hit the left arrow or right arrow to pick up the appropriate item.

     

Pile of Gold or Crossbow? would be a great game show.

      

• In my descriptions of the towns, I have been eliding the many generic NPCs with standard lines. There are many of them.  

• Character death comes with a little narrative in which the character finds himself standing before the Great Council, chided for his failure, and passed over for promotion.

      

I love how the game has a backstory that would allow for easy resurrection after death, but instead death is permanent failure.

            

I wrap up this session by visiting the three castles again and touching the various glowing balls, increasing my strength, dexterity, and intelligence. 

      

Re-visiting Castle Griswald.

      

These attribute increases make battles, which had already become fairly easy, even easier. I'm enjoying the exploration and treasure-hunting nature of the quests, but I'm worried that the game is going to become unchallenging as an RPG. We should know by the end of the next session.

   

At Griswald, I speak to the cartographer and learn that "Intungo is in the mountains north of Heize." I haven't found Heize yet, but the map shows it on an island to the west of the continent. As it happens, I've sold enough gear to be able to afford a ship, so my next steps seem obvious. 

     

Time so far: 12 hours 

    

**** 

    

If you're still raw about my recent abandonment of Sandor II, check out the extensive notes file offered by commenter Buck, who got much further than I did but still got stuck.