Or: The Unnecessarily Long March Of The
Heroes
It just wouldn't be an RPG without at
least “Fifty-Three Steps To Success” chapter, would it? Might as
well get on with it, though. Can't finish the game without it.
Guess I should say that the Blue Jade
is in the basement of the Red Tower, as well as another Dragon Egg.
I've got two now. I can't remember where I got the first one or if I
even mentioned it before.
Anyway, with two of the three gems in
hand now, it's time to make the million-mile march back to Medan to
get the Ruby. Fortunately, the mine isn't particularly big. There's
an old guy at the far end who says he's been there for 70 years,
quite a few of which were after the mine was played out. He says
he'll give you the one Ruby he's been holding onto since you need it
to at least try to stop the Sinistrals from coming back.
Funny thing about the old guy in the
mine. Given what the Heroes of Doom Island, or HoDIs for short did
at the beginning of the game, it's no surprise that people still know
their names a century after the actual event. What's really coming
as a surprise to me is that this guy says he's old enough to have
seen those events unfolding in person. So that means that this miner
dude is at least a hundred years old, and very likely closer to 110.
Guy, the one HoDI that was living near Lorbinea before, was well over
100 years old as well, and I think we've met at least one other
person so far who's made it to at least a century old. Artea's gonna
be real old, too, but at least they explain that by saying that Elves
live for a really long time. I'm just saying that it makes a guy
think, seeing as how many old folks there are in this game,
considering how there's rarely anything like what we'd call “modern
medicine” in a world full of vicious monsters.
It actually took me two play sessions
to write this, simply because even though what I've got to write
about here isn't particularly hard to do, it takes forever to do.
It's a fifty-three mile hike from where the towers are to Medan to
get the Ruby and then another fifty-three mile hike back to start
putting the gems in the proper towers. Fortunately they are color
coded and automatically placed.
The Blue Tower is once again the
easiest, but like the old man from before said, the monsters are
harder now. At the top of the tower, there's a pedestal for the Blue
Jade from the Red Tower. The Green Tower wasn't so bad, either. Of
course, having that Inn there was a big help. Get the Green Jade
placed and all that's left is to put the Ruby in the Red Tower.
Naturally, the Red Tower's a real bitch
again, and it took me a couple tries to get through. Fortunately, I
had the good sense to save at Ruan again, so I could just reset after
I died and try again without losing any progress or gold. Once I got
to the top and put the Ruby in the altar, the party is automatically
beamed away to Elfrea.
Some of the Elves there are mistrustful
of humans, but the ones running the shops are happy to see us. The
one running the Inn even lets us stay for free. There are a few good
items to be had in the Weapons and Armor shop, and a chance to
restock as best I can at the Item shop as well. And then it's off to
meet Artea, who can be found at the top of the biggest building in
town. His assistant gets all upset, questioning if we know who Artea
is. The Elf himself invites us in, thinking that the Hero is Maxim
at first, because our energy patterns are similar.
Once the appropriate introductions are
made, Artea explains that he wants to help but can't because, well,
he's old now, and even if he weren't, he was blinded in the first
battle at Doom Island a hundred years ago. And considering that it
was indeed a hundred years ago, it stands to reason that yes, he's
old now, too.
Instead, he explains that we need to
find Maxim's ultimate weapon, a sword called Dual Blade, which almost
certainly rests at the bottom of the sea with Doom Island and Maxim's
remains. To get there, we're going to have to find that Professor
Railey Shaia guy we heard about way back in Lorbinea, because he
might have a submarine or something. It's never really explained how
Artea knows about Professor Shaia, though he does somehow, and knows
that he's a genius, because his ancestor Lexus was a brilliant
scientist a hundred years ago who had helped him and Maxim beat the
Sinistrals. Makes perfect sense, right?
Anyway, Shaia is in a town called Odel,
working on an experiment in the basement of the castle. Artea tells
us that to get there, we'll need to pass through another shrine and
go south through some mountains and a town called Ranqs. We're
really getting into the long part of the game here, folks.
On the way out, Artea hands over his
old bow, which Jerin can use as a much-needed weapons upgrade. There
may be more later, but I'm not sure. We may need to use this one in
the final battle, but we'll see.
I had wanted to stop right there, but
naturally, there's no save point in Elfrea, so it's right off Ranqs
instead. I just ran from most of the battles I got into because I
didn't want to lose any of my progress.
We'll pick up there next time, folks.
See you then, and DFTBA!
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