================================================================================ Title: Eternal Ring Genre: 3D First-Person Adventure RPG Publisher: From Software (Japan) Agetec (North America) Platform: Sony PlayStation 2 Media: PlayStation 2 DVD Release Date: 2000.03.04 (Japan) 2000.10.26 (North America) Catalog #: SLPS-25001 (Japan) ????-????? (North America) Price: 6800yen (Japan) $49.95 (North America) Players: 1 Peripherals: Dual Shock Dual Shock 2 8MB Memory Card (100K) ================================================================================ Document Title: Eternal Ring Walk-through Guide Version: 1.06 Date: Wednesday, 16 May 2001 (Tokyo Time) Author: Joe Monson I wrote this walk-through for the _Japanese_ edition of the game. Because of this, I may use different monster names, character names, area titles, and item names than those appearing in the North American edition. Some of the items in the Japanese version do not appear at all in the North American version. Please do not send me any messages telling me I used incorrect names for the items. I have basically finished the Japanese version walk-through, so I _may_ add info on the North American version, but only _after_ I play it myself. Please don't ask me for information about the North American release; I don't have it! (^_^;; I made complete archive list in Appendix W. The first two URLs always keep the most recent copy of this walk-through. If you find a copy of this walk-through on the net someplace other than the archives listed in Appendix W, please let me know (see Appendix Z for contact info). Thank you for your help. I welcome suggestions, comments, criticism, etc., about this walk-through. If you notice any errors or have suggestions on ways you think this walk-through could be improved, please contact me (see Appendix Z). ================================================================================ Copyright Information Copyright 2000 Joe Monson. Except as specified in Appendix Y, All Rights Reserved. See Appendix Y for full copyright information. ================================================================================ ================================================================================ ================================================================================ === Main Index ================================================================= ================================================================================ Section Title ------- -------------------------------------------------------- NOTES INTRODUCTION i Controller Guide ii Screen Explanation iii Menu Screen THE GAME Chapter Title ------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Introduction Dialogue 2 Arriving at the Island of No Return 3 Dragon Cave 4 Investigation Corps Camp 5 Water Temple 6 Investigation Corps Camp, part 2 7 Place of Ritual 8 Abandoned Place 9 Tree Village 10 Great Looping Cave 11 Sea Cliff Forest 12 Mine Ruins 13 Ironworks 14 Molten River 15 Magic Testing Center 16 Ruins 17 Library 18 Camp on the South Beach: The Underground Lake (walk-through complete, translation incomplete) 19 Hidden Dungeon 20 Tower of Storms 21 Blizzard Field 22 Magic Testing Center, part 2: The Forgotten Altar 23 Eternal Place (walk-through complete, translation incomplete) APPENDICES A Monster List B Item List C Weapon List D Dragon List E Magic Stone List F Magic Ring Description G Magic Ring List - Attack Magic H Magic Ring List - Support Magic I Magic Ring List - Summon Magic J Unique Ring List K Attribute Ring Description L Attribute Ring - Regular M Attribute Ring - Compound N Moving Between Areas in the Game P People List Q Questions That Need Answers S Silly Stats U Useful Tips V Version History W Where Is It Archived? X Acknowledgements Y Copyright Information Z Contact Info ================================================================================ ================================================================================ ================================================================================ === NOTES ====================================================================== ================================================================================ **SPECIAL NOTE #1 **: This walk-through assumes you have *some* Japanese ability. You can try struggling through the story without knowledge of hiragana and katakana, but I don't recommend it if you want to enjoy the game story. All ring names use katakana. 1. View this file using a fixed-width font such as Courier. Use a program such as BBEdit, emacs, Notepad, or any other plain text viewer. 2. This translation/walk-through includes many spoilers. I try to cover everything I can, and I don't miss much (if anything). Consider yourself warned. :-) 3. I made every effort to translate the dialogue accurately, but I make no guarantees. 4. Please thoroughly read the walk-through before sending any questions. I may ignore any questions already answered by the walk-through, so read carefully and read it all first! 5. Please send all questions, comments, criticism, and concerns to the address below in Appendix Z. I welcome feedback. ================================================================================ ================================================================================ ================================================================================ === INTRODUCTION =============================================================== ================================================================================ INDEX i Controller Guide ii Screen Explanation iii Menu Screen -=|| SECTION i: Controller Guide ||=- (taken from the manual) This section explains how to control the game with any compatible PlayStation or PlayStation 2 controller. The vibration function only works with vibration-compatible controllers. Button Function ------ ------------------------------------ Triangle Attack Circle Take item, Talk, Open, Action (confirm commands) X Magic Selection, Cancel Square Use Magic Start Item Shortcut Select Menu L1 Move Right L2 Look Up R1 Move Left R2 Look Down Up Move Forward Down Move Backward Left Look Left Right Look Right The direction pad buttons also move the cursor in the menu screens. The game doesn't use the analog sticks (L3 and R3). All directions in this walk-through assume you use the default controller settings. See SECTION iii, below, for information on changing the controller settings. ================================================================================ -=|| SECTION ii: Screen Explanation ||=- (taken from the manual) On the main screen contains up to five different status indicators: 1. The top left of the screen contains a palette. The top left corner of the palette contains the Compass. The black dot on the small green globe indicates which direction you face at any given moment. If the black dot is at the top, you are facing North. 2. Under the Compass are three indicator bars. The top, darker green gauge is your Magic Gauge. Your magic will be slowly replenished over time. Until you have a Magic Ring equipped, this gauge will be at zero. 3. The yellow gauge (marked "HP") is your Hit Point Gauge. If this falls to zero, you die. You can replenish your HP by using herbs. 4. The lighter green gauge (marked "MP") is your Magic Point Gauge. If it's at zero you can't use any magic, so watch it carefully. You can't use any magic until you get a Magic Ring. This gauge replenishes a little every time you kill a monster. 5. In the top right of the screen is the Magic Ring Selection Window. Using this window, you select which ring you want to equip. ================================================================================ -=|| SECTION iii: Menu Screen ||=- (taken from the manual) The Menu Screen is accessible by pressing the Select button. The Main Menu Screen is divided into four sections. I'll describe the three main boxes first, and then I'll go on to the Menu List. The box on the top left shows a semi-profile 3D bust of the player character. Above the bust is the character's name (Cain Morgan). Next to the character's name is the character's Level. There are two sections below that: the first shows the HP and MP levels; the second shows the total Experience and the experience required to advance to the next level. The box on the top right shows which area you are in at the top of the box. Below that is a multi-colored circle with a highlighted "slice" gradually moving in a clockwise direction, a line indicating the number of days completed in the game so far, and a line below that indicating which magic is most powerful at the moment (as indicated by the "slice" in the circle). The third box (bottom right) shows your ability levels in the various elemental attributes. These can go up and down depending on what you have equipped at any given time. Now on to the Menu List: Property----Items |--Rings |--Magic Stones L--Weapons Equipment----Magic Rings |--Auxiliary Rings L--Weapons Status Settings----Options |--Sound L--Controller Type Load PROPERTY: When you select from the submenu here, you will get a screen with two sides. On the left is a large box listing all the specific items under that submenu (all your items when you select Items, all your rings when you select Rings, etc.). There will be a small icon on the far left, then the name of the item, followed by the number you have of that item. On the right side will be either two boxes (in the Items submenu) or one box (in the other three submenus). The extra box in the Items submenu shows which item is currently selected for the Start button shortcut. This allows you to use one item by pressing the Start button instead of opening all the menus to use it. The large box on the right will contain detailed information about whichever item is highlighted on the left. EQUIPMENT: This shows what items you have equipped. The two Ring submenus will show which rings are equipped on which hand (Magic Rings are on the left hand, but the list of equipped rings is on the right side of the screen; Auxiliary Rings are on the right hand, but the list of equipped rings is on the left side of the screen; go figure...(9_9)...). Above the list of rings is a box showing your current strengths and weaknesses in the various elemental attributes, including STRength. The Weapon submenu shows you which weapon (if any) you have equipped. There are four boxes on this screen, two on each side. On the right side is the attribute box, with the currently-equipped-weapon box underneath that. On the left side is a box where details of the selected weapon are shown, with a listing of all the weapons you have in the box underneath. Your currently-equipped weapon will not appear in this box. STATUS: This screen has two boxes on it. The top box contains the character information: Cain Morgan Level XX HP xxx/xxx EXP XXXXXX MP xxx/xxx NEXT XXXX The bottom box contains information on every item you have equipped and how it affects your various elemental attributes. The attributes, listed along the top of the box, are (in order): Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, Light, Dark, STR. The next row lists your base attribute scores in each category. The next line lists your weapon (if any), and the ten lines under that list the (up to) ten rings you have equipped. The bottom line shows the final attribute scores. SETTINGS: Options-- Walking Effect ON OFF DUAL SHOCK Vibration ON OFF DUAL SHOCK 2 Analog ON OFF Gradation Setting |Weak----------Strong| Ring Selection Indicator |When Changing| |Constant| Status Gauge Transparency xx% Sound-- Output Setting |Stereo| |Mono| BGM Level |Weak----------Strong| SFX Level |Weak----------Strong| Load Memory Card Slot 1 Memory Card Slot 2 That's it for the menus. ================================================================================ ================================================================================ ================================================================================ === THE GAME =================================================================== ================================================================================ INDEX Chapter Title ------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Introduction Dialogue 2 Arriving at the Island of No Return 3 Dragon Cave 4 Investigation Corps Camp 5 Water Temple 6 Investigation Corps Camp, part 2 7 Place of Ritual 8 Abandoned Place 9 Tree Village 10 Great Looping Cave 11 Sea Cliff Forest 12 Mine Ruins 13 Ironworks 14 Molten River 15 Magic Testing Center 16 Ruins 17 Library 18 Camp on the South Beach: The Underground Lake (walk-through complete, translation incomplete) 19 Hidden Dungeon 20 Tower of Storms 21 Blizzard Field 22 Magic Testing Center, part 2: The Forgotten Altar 23 Eternal Place (walk-through complete, translation incomplete) ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 1: Introduction Dialogue ||=- When you select "New Game", the screen goes black. "That night, Cain Morgan had a dream of himself as a very young child." "He was all alone in the ruins of a burned-down house. He couldn't see his parents anywhere." "Now, this was in his country, Sorcia. The neighboring country of Aldine suddenly attacked Sorcia, though Cain was too young to know that." "The only thing Cain remembered was, '...That's right, everyone went to the island...'." "The Elders, who were the actual rulers of Heyngalia (the largest country on the western continent) dispatched a group of knights to a place on the frontier called 'The Island of No Return'." "Ian Martin, the King from the Moderate Party, had some sincere questions. However, the Elders made no effort to answer them even though the King was their equal." "Gliam Morgan, the Captain of the Royal Guard, sorrowed because of the King's divided loyalties. The investigation, which should have revealed the Elder's motives, only revealed one thing (which the Elders allowed him to learn)." "[This is what the Elders allowed him to learn] 'The ring that holds eternal power is sleeping on that island.'" "Cain's adoptive father Gliam advised the King to send Cain to the Island of No Return." "Some days later, while the sun was setting, Gliam set out on a small, plain boat to go after the group of knights from Heyngalia. Gliam secretly brought along Cain and a letter from the King." ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 2: Arriving at the Island of No Return ||=- Monsters: a dragon Items: none Save Points: none Warp Points: none People You Meet: Gliam Morgan Cain and Gliam arrive on the island and Cain gets out of the boat and starts walking toward a cave. He stops and looks up and down the cliff. Gliam also gets out of the boat, walks toward Cain a little, and says: "Well, I'll be leaving now..." "Thanks for bringing me," Cain says as he turns around. Gliam says, "I don't know whether or not they'll accept the letter, but find the Corps before dark." Cain replies, "Yeah, okay...well, see ya." Cain then turns around and walks toward the cave. The camera goes back to Gliam, who says: "We're fishermen, but even fishermen don't get near this island... It's not easy being a servant of the King." "Oh well...guess I better get ready to go," says Gliam as he turns and gets back on the boat. **Fade Out** Gliam is working with some ropes tied to the boat's mast. As the camera slowly zooms in onto his face, you see a dragon fly by in the background. The camera switches to the dragon's point-of-view as the dragon swoops in. Gliam gets ambushed. No more Gliam... :-( ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 3: Dragon Cave ||=- Monsters: Crown Hut, May Fly, Sahagin-1, Shell Hut, Trap Weed Items: Golden Herb, Magic Ore, Ring of Magic, Ring of Magic (True Eye) Save Points: 1 Warp Points: none People You Meet: none You begin at the entrance to the Dragon Cave. First of all, turn around and go back outside the cave. Even though you just entered the cave, there is no trace of Gliam's boat. There are seven Shell Huts on the beach. I suggest you immediately turn east and weave your way through the Shell Huts until you are a ways down the beach. Then turn around and wait for them to come at you. The best tactic is to thrust at one with your short sword and back off. Repeat this until you've dispatched all of them. Be careful not to go too far into the water or you will die immediately (be wary of all the water on this island). If you follow the beach on the west side of the cave entrance, you can go around an outcropping and see another cave. Don't go into this cave right now, though. You need Light or Darkness magic in order to enter the main part of the cave, so we'll come back to this cave later. While you're here, though, you can pick up a Ring of Magic. Turn around so your back is to the cave. Look to the northwest and you'll see where the sand and the water meet along the edge of the rocky cliff. Carefully walk along that edge, looking down, until you see a small golden ring. You can pick it up by facing it, moving your view so the ring is near the bottom of the screen, and pressing Circle. This will cause the ring to be picked up. You can then press Circle again in order to add it to your items. Head back to the first cave and re-enter it. Head south and to the west is a torch stand. You'll find these around in the cave. They are just for decoration and they hide no treasure. Torch stands are very useful for keeping yourself oriented in a chamber. When you first enter a chamber look for a torch stand and remember where it is in relation to where you entered. Not all chambers have torch stands, though, so also learn how to tell where you are without using them. Just past the torch stand and to the east is a tunnel leading to the first Save Point in the game. There are no monsters here. Remember what the Save Point looks like, and be sure to use them whenever you find them. In the northeast corner of the chamber is another Ring of Magic, so be sure to pick it up before you save your game. After using the Save Point, go back out to the main tunnel and continue south. Straight ahead is a drop-off into a cavern with a river flowing through it. Don't get too close to the edge or you will fall off into the river below and die (that's what happened to me the first time I approached it! ^_^;;). Take the tunnel to the west and follow it down into the next chamber. Here's where you'll run into the next monsters. Remember the triangle button - it's your attack button. There are three Sahagin in this chamber. They seem to be slow-moving, but they like to weave back and forth and suddenly jump at you. Their normal attack is a swipe with their very long arms, and they also like to jump backward if they are attacked. One trick to dispatching a Sahagin is to time your sword thrust with their jump attacks. If you time it just right they will jump right onto your sword. After you dispatch a monster, it will often leave a treasure behind (see the Monster List, Appendix A, for a partial list). Sometimes the item is hard to see, so be sure to scan the area where the monster's body disappears. Once you've defeated the three Sahagin and collected any items, head south and then east down the next tunnel toward the sound of rushing water. You come out of the tunnel into the cavern with the river (you saw it before entering the chamber where you fought the three Sahagin). To the east is a wooden bridge. To the south are a large waterfall and another tunnel. To the north the path takes you along the river to the bottom of the cliff where I fell off and died. x_x On the wooden bridge is a Ring of Magic, but you can only see it if you have the True Eye ring equipped. You don't get this ring until Chapter 18, so you'll have to come back and get it after that. TIP: Do not walk into the river or you will die. Cain can't swim, so you will die immediately if you fall into the river. Avoid all the water on this island. There will be a May Fly to the south of the bridge, hovering above the river. If you walk to the water's edge, you will be able to kill the May Fly and pick up any booty it leaves behind. Don't cross the bridge just yet. There is also a strange flower, a Trap Weed, in the middle of the river near the waterfall. I'll come back to it later. Go to the tunnel to the west of the waterfall and walk southwest into the next chamber. There will be a large stalactite hanging from the center of the ceiling and a torch stand next to the west wall, directly behind the stalactite. There are two Sahagin in this chamber, so do your duty and remove them from the gene pool. Then head south into the next chamber where there is another stalactite hanging from the center of the ceiling. Directly south of the stalactite and next to the base of the south wall is a Golden Herb. It's yellowish brown and looks rather dead, but it's useful for restoring HP. There are two monsters here: a Sahagin and a May Fly. The trick to killing May Flies is to Look Up (L2) and stab at them. Sneaking up from behind helps, too, so they don't fly away. They generally stay in one place until you disturb them. May Flies only take one hit to kill. You came into this chamber through the rectangular entrance on the north side, so exit through the oval entrance to the east. This will bring you out into a cavern near the upper part of the river, above the waterfall you saw previously. If you walk to the north you will come to a vantage point above the waterfall. Dispatch the May Fly on the way. If you go to the south, you will pass a broken bridge and find Magic Ore (the small purple stone). There's nothing else in this section, and there is nothing else to get here. You have two ways back down: you can go back the way you came until you get back to where the Trap Weed is, or you can go back to the vantage point mentioned above and drop down to the floor below. You will take a little damage doing this, but it's quicker than going back around. When you cross the bridge, do not step on the plant tendrils to the south, or the Trap Weed will come alive and start shooting poisonous spores at you. The spores take off about half your HP. On top of that, you can't kill the Trap Weed, so just avoid it altogether. Dispatch the Sahagin and enter the tunnel to the east. When you get to the next chamber, be careful. There is a Sahagin approaching from the south that will try to ambush you. Once you dispatch both Sahagin in the chamber, take the north tunnel and you will come to a chamber with five May Flies hovering near the ceiling in the middle of the chamber. Dispatch them and walk out through the west tunnel. There is nothing out here except a view of the first waterfall chamber (the one with the Trap Weed), but this is a walk-through so I had to mention it. ^_^ Go back through the previous chamber and take the southwest tunnel (bypassing the tunnel through which you originally entered), and you will come to a torch stand next to a waterfall. To northwest is the top of the first waterfall (the one by the Trap Weed). Walk over there until you are right near the edge and look down. You should see a small ledge with a Magic Ore on it. Drop down (you won't take any damage) and pick it up. Then drop down to the floor, being careful to avoid the Trap Weed tendrils. Go back up into the tunnel to the west, and follow that back into the chamber with the three tunnels. Take the southwest tunnel and you will be back at the torch stand by the waterfall. To the southeast, past the torch stand, is another tunnel and a path leading along the edge of the water. Enter the tunnel. This tunnel will take you to a chamber containing four May Flies. After dispatching them, exit the chamber the same way you entered and turn southwest, following the path along the water's edge. Be sure to pick up the two Golden Herbs just after turning southwest. Follow the path along the water to the exit just past the broken wooden bridge. If you want to build your levels up a bit, you can re-enter the Dragon Cave and fight all the monsters again. The items won't be around for you to collect again, but you can always collect more items from the monsters. ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 4: Investigation Corps Camp ||=- Monsters: none Items: none Save Points: none Warp Points: none People You Meet: Graham Evans, Marie Fowler, Wallace Frasier, Dennis Marks, Leo Randall, Ernest Reilly, Darrell Stone Storehouse: Cost Item Name ---- ----------------- 1 Golden Herb 3 Golden Herb Flower 1 Magic Ore 4 Magic Crystal 1 Magic Grass Seed 1 Rat's Tail 1 Sahagin Spine 1 Cockatrice Plume 8 Small Sword When you exit the cave, you will see a small camp to the south of the cave. To the southwest is a mill (the building with the water wheel), a set of three gravestones, and a small canyon leading to a clearing with a house on the southwest and a locked gate (the Blue Gate/Door) on the southeast. The man in this house (Darrell Stone) won't talk to you, so don't bother trying unless you really want to. Ahead to the south is a bridge, and a man (Leo Randall) sitting by the bridge. To the southeast are two houses up on a hill, the entrance gate to a small canyon that leads to the Water Temple, and a storehouse. Feel free to explore the camp. Starting with the two buildings on the hill, there is a man sleeping (Dennis Marks) inside the first building. You can try to talk to him, but I wasn't able to get a response from him. In the second building is another man, Graham Evans, sitting behind a table. When you talk to him, he says: "Ah, you came from the mainland, didn't you? Listen to what I have to say." "I'm Evans, the acting Deputy Captain. Please give me the letter." He reaches out and you give him the letter. He opens it, looks at it briefly, then sets it aside. ".........it's something about you joining the corps..." "This is a bit weak...the Captain didn't leave any instructions..." "That's so like the Captain...I wonder what I should do about you..." "Well....I guess it can't be helped, eh? It's the King's personal order. The Captain won't be back anytime soon..." "That's true...Now, give me your sword. I take care of the company equipment" He then reaches out and you give him your sword. "Instead of your sword, get something from Wallace in the Storehouse. He's in charge of taking care of the goods." Evans then hands you a paper. "This is a note. Give this to Wallace in the Storehouse, please." Talk to Evans again: "At present, we're investigating the temple ruins in the neighboring town." "Deep within the temple, something mysterious is sunken partway in the water. No one knows what it is." "The Water Gate inside the temple is easily moved, but..." "There's a wheel-like control, but it's kinda broken now, y'see, so it doesn't even respond!" Talk to Evans again: "There was someone else who could have been vice- director...he just disappeared the other day..." "I just want go back to being a plain old member... you be careful now, you hear?" There's nothing to pick up in the building, so go ahead and leave. Wander down to the man sitting by the bridge (Leo Randall) and talk to him. He replies, "Whaddya want?" He continues, "If you've got business talk to me later because I'm sleepy." If you continue trying to talk to him, he doesn't respond. Go across the bridge and northwest down some steps toward the mill. You can enter the front door or the door on the side next to the waterwheel. I chose the door by the waterwheel. When you enter the side-building, you will see a bed, a door across from the bed, and what looks like a door to the east. It's not a door, so don't bother with it. Go to the door across from the bed and go through it into the back area of the main building. You will see a woman fiddling around with some pots and generally ignoring the rude person who is wandering through her building. ^_^ Go talk to her. "Oh! Oh, you're..." "You're wounded, aren't you? Please wait a moment." She turns around and takes something out of one of the pots, then turns back to you and pats it onto you. At this point, your HP and MP gauges should be fully restored. "There, now you're all better!" "I heard from the Deputy Captain that you're from the mainland, aren't you" "I'm Marie Fowler. I'm in charge of the medicines here. It's very nice to meet you." "If you get wounded again, please come see me right away. Within limits, I have medicines prepared." If you talk to her again, she says: "If you go into that little room over there, please be quiet. Mr. Marks is sleeping in there." "Ever since the Captain was attacked by a monster in his quarters, he's been asleep." "He's always sleeping, and sometimes he raves in his sleep...it looks like he's having some kind of nightmare." "This has happened before, but those soldiers suddenly died..." "After their wounds should have been healed, they were still in terrible pain...I hope it's not some bad sickness, but..." If you talk to her again, she asks: "Umm, have you met the Captain yet?" "He's in the small detached room over there." "I don't know if it's okay to tell you this, but... ...isn't it strange?" "Everyone grumbles because they say the investigation isn't moving forward, but..." "Even when I talk to them they don't answer me. I'm ...kind of scared..." "I'm really a civilian employee of the military." If you talk to her again, she says: "I'd heard about this island before, but I wanted to come no matter what..." "There's a pretty old temple somewhere around here, you know." "Considering that temple, it would seem that those stories about an ancient civilization here on this island are really true." "It's a monster's den now, but I wonder what happened to the people who used to be there." If you talk to her again, she says: "Please take good care of yourself, okay?" She'll just repeat herself now, so there's no need to talk to anymore right now. Go ahead and leave the building by either door. There's nothing else here. You can wander south under the bridge if you want, but there's nothing there, either. Go back up and east across the bridge and ahead to the southeast to the storehouse. The doors are really big (since it's a storehouse), and inside you'll find a ponderous man (Wallace Frasier) near the back end. Talk to him. "Hey, you're the guy from the mainland right?" "Welcome to this god-forsaken island, heh-heh-heh-heh..." He then folds his arms and turns back to his thinking box. Talk to him again. "I've heard you've joined our corps, but what did you _really_ come to do?" "So you're the King's servant looking for 'Eternal Power'? Really?" "Heh-heh-heh...You had me worried there for a sec. So, you're wondering if I know anything, eh? The Captain told me to keep my mouth shut." "Why don't you go over to the temple? They might have something for you there." "It'd also be good if we could open the sluice gate a little more." If you talk to him anymore, he says, "Hey, how're ya doin'?" If you want to get your new weapon now, make sure you are standing right next to Wallace and press Select to enter the menu, press Circle twice to take you to your Item List, and select the first item--the note from Evans--by pressing Circle again. Confirm you want to use it by pressing Circle one more time, and Wallace will turn around and take the note from you. Wallace clears his throat, "You want a sword, eh?" He turns around, reaches into the grey box and hands you a dagger. "Okay, okay, umm...this one oughtta do." "By the way, people have been finding these crystals lately here on this island..." "If you take them back to the mainland, they look like they'd be valuable." "Considering the number of people left here, we have more than enough resources." "You're going to need lots of different things now, aren't you?" The Storehouse inventory screen pops up and you can buy things from Wallace. On this screen there are three boxes.In the top right corner is a box listing how many Magic Stones you have and how many you've spent on buying items. The other two boxes are actually one box split into two parts. The top part lists the name of the item, the type of item (in yellow below the item name), and a short description of the item. The bottom part lists what items are available from Wallace. There are five columns in this box: Icon, Item Name, Item Cost, # You're Buying, and # You Have. I suggest you buy back the short sword. It will be far more useful than the dagger in the Water Temple because of it's longer range of attack. It might be possible to beat the Water Temple with just the dagger, but I kept dying. It's up to you. There's nothing else in the storehouse, so go ahead and leave once you've bought what you want. Go to the east when you exit and talk to Ernest Reilly. He's the guy in blue holding the polearm who is standing by the temple gate. "That crest...I heard that somebody from the mainland came--would that be you?" "Hmph, can't say much for the king's tastes..." Talk to him again and he says: "There's a temple in here. The purpose of our corps here is to research inside the temple." "Most people who go into there sink into the water and we can't find them." "Some mechanism that would let us move the sluice gate sure would be nice." "Well, if you're a Royal Guard, how about a match before breakfast?" "Did you see the graves over there?" "We used to have more people around here, but now they're all buried." "We can't get messages from the other side of the island..." "They say something's here..." If you talk to him any more, he says: "Whaddya want?" Turn around and go west across the bridge and up the stairs. On the north are three large rocks half-buried in the ground. Investigate them. You are told they are "gravestones". If you wait around long enough, Ernest changes watches (guarding the Water Temple gate) with Leo. Ernest then enters the building where your sword was taken. You can then talk to Leo. If you talk to him, he tells you: "Don't get in the way." If you have him open the gate (by trying to open it), he will open it for you and say, "For the sake of your own well-being, don't go too far in." Then he goes back to his "Don't get in the way" speech. At this point, I suggest you go back to the Dragon Cave and go through it a couple more times in order to collect more Magic Stones (especially if you bought the short sword) and to raise your level a little more. Before going into the Water Temple, be sure to visit Marie for free healing and chit-chat. ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 5: Water Temple ||=- Monsters: Crown Hut, Sahagin-2, Shell Hut, Trap Weed, Water Devil (BOSS) Items: Fireball ring, Magic Crystal, Magic Ore, Ring of Magic Save Points: 3 (1st Floor, B1 Floor, and B2 Floor) Warp Points: none People You Meet: none Once the gate is open, follow the canyon to the cave entrance and enter the cave. Follow the cave until you get to a door, and enter the door. You will find a room containing a Save Point, so use it and proceed through the south door. NOTE: When you open doors it is a good idea to back away from them in case there are any monsters immediately on the other side. That way you will have a little space to defend yourself. The first thing you'll notice when fighting monsters here is that the knife doesn't do as much damage (you bought and equipped the short sword as I recommended, right?). It will take about twice as many hits with the knife to dispatch a monster as it did with the short sword. You also have to get a lot closer, so you'll probably get damaged more often, and you may even die. Be sure to use the Save Point! :-) There are three Shell Huts in the next room, so dispatch them and you'll get a Golden Herb (sometimes two). Exit the room through the door in the southeast corner, and go east. You'll find a door on the north side of hallway labeled "Red Door" (it has a red rune on it). You can't open it right now. You also can't go any further since your path is blocked by rubble. Turn around and go back toward the door through which you entered this room. Turn south when you get to the door and continue south until you reach more rubble. You'll be next to a wooden door. Turn east and go across the bridge until you reach another wooden door. This door is sealed by some weird purplish ice seeping through the crack, and you can't open it. The paths to the north and south are both blocked by rubble, so go back across the bridge to the other wooden door and go through it. You'll see a hallway stretching off into the darkness and a door on your north side of the hallway. There is a Sahagin-2 lurking in this hallway, so be careful. Go through the door on the north into the next room. There are two Shell Huts and one Crown Hut in this room, so dispatch them. Once you've gotten all of them you will get a Magic Ore. Go back out the door through which you entered and turn west. If you haven't already dispatched the Sahagin-2, go ahead and do so. Then follow the hallway to the end and go through the door. There are two Shell Huts and a Sahagin-2 in this room, so dispatch them quickly and exit through the door on the southeast side of the room. This will take you to a short hallway leading to another door. Go through the next door. There is nothing in this room except a pile of rubble keeping you from the other half of the room and a stairway leading down to Basement Level 1. Go down the stairs slowly. As you are walking down the stairs, scan the room you are entering and watch for the Sahagin-2 and the three Shell Huts. There is a door to the west of the bottom of the stairs as well as another Blue Door in the northeast corner. Go through the door at the bottom of the stairs. This leads to a fairly long hallway with another door at the end of it. Here you'll find the first Trap Weed you can exterminate. Apply your trusty weed whacker liberally to the Trap Weed while avoiding the tendrils on the ground. No matter which side you attack from, the Trap Weed will turn and follow your moves. The best defense against its poisonous spore attack is to keep attacking it until it dies (four hits). It's safe to enter the light blue water to pick up any items it leaves behind. Once you are finished pulling the weed, exit through the north door. You will be in a hallway that opens to a cavern on the west side. The hallway will lead you north to another Red Door and then turn east. Just before you reach the Red Door, turn and look northwest into the cavern and you'll see someone playing with a switch on the wall. There's nothing you can do right now, so follow the passageway as it continues toward another wooden door. It also opens into another room on the north a little before the wooden door. There are two Shell Huts and one Sahagin-2 in this room. This room has an open doorway into another room containing a bronze chest in the southwest corner. Open the chest to receive a Magic Ore. Then go back through the other room and to the wooden door just outside. There is a Save Point on the other side, and I suggest you use it. Once you are done saving, exit through the door north of the Save Point. When you enter this room, go immediately to one of the north corners opposite the door and turn around. There are two Sahagin-2 here, one on either side of the door you entered, so you want to get as far from them as possible so you have time to turn around and defend yourself. Once you have dispatched them, exit through the north door and you will be in an underground tunnel similar to the one through which you entered the Water Temple. Follow the tunnel until you exit into a small room. There will be a bronze chest to the southwest and a terrace to the east (which you should recognize as having walked through a few minutes ago). To the west of tunnel you just exited will be a switch set into the wall. Activate it. The two sluice gates next to the switch will open and you'll see a cut-scene of the water level going down elsewhere in the temple. Next, open the bronze chest to obtain a Fireball Ring. I suggest you equip it, but don't use it just yet. If you equip it you'll notice your Magic Gauge fill up. Be careful to not fall into the water. :-) Go back to the Save Point and use it again if you want to. Once you're done saving, exit through the door to the east of the Save Point. You'll be in another hallway. You can either continue east or turn north. If you turn north you will come to a door with the weird purple ice sealing it. In order to get through the door, press Square to use your Fireball Ring (if it's equipped). This will melt the ice sealing the door and you'll be able to go through. As soon as you open the door one to five Shell Huts will attack you. There are five total in the room. In the back of the room is another bronze chest. Open it for a Ring of Magic. Exit the room the same way you came in and go to the intersection in the hallway, turn east and follow the hallway to the Red Door. Since you can't open the Red Door yet, turn south and go open the wooden door. There's another Trap Weed in this room. Go ahead and dispatch it, collect any treasure, and exit through the south door. Follow the hallway until you come to another ice-sealed door. Use your Fireball Ring to open it. Go through the door into the next room with a balcony opening into the darkness on one side and room on the other. If you act quickly, you can dispatch the Trap Weed before the Shell Hut awakens it. Once you have taken care both monsters, follow the balcony north until you come to another room with a Trap Weed. This room also contains a Sahagin-2, so dispatch both and exit through the wooden door on the northwest. You will be in another balcony-hallway that leads to a wooden door to the west and a set of stairs descending to the south into the darkness below. You should be able to see into the room on the other side of the wooden door, and you may notice a Sahagin-2 stalking you. Go through the wooden door and take care of the Sahagin-2 and the Trap Weed. Follow the balcony south into the next room and dispatch the Shell Hut and the Trap Weed. Go back to the stairs and head down to Basement Level 2, being careful not to fall off the side into the water. There is a pool of water directly south of the base of the stairs, so watch out for that. There is a staircase going back upstairs to the southeast, and a walkway leading south between two pools of water, like this: (You need to view this in a fixed-width font, such as Courier, in order for it to look right.) -----------|DOOR|------------. |SAVE | | | '-----. .----' | | Blue Door | | | \| .---------. | w | | North |---------| | a | | |---------| | l | | |---------| | k | | |---------| water | w | water | |-stairs--| | a | | |---------| | y | | |---------|---------' '----------| | | | | | you came | | down here| |----------------------------|---------| | |---------| | |---------| | |---------| | water |--stairs-| | |---------| | |---------| '----------------------------|---------| Go across the walkway, heal yourself up, and use the Save Point. You may also want to equip the Golden Herbs by highlighting them in the Item list and pressing Start once. Then, if you need to heal during the coming battle, just press Start once and you will be completely healed. Once you've done that, open the door. The screen will go black and a new scene will load. You will be at the end of a long hallway, and there will be a door at the south end of it. As you get closer to the door, you will notice there are hallways to the east and west of the door. Take the west hallway first. After curving around to the southwest for a while you will find a Magic Crystal at the end of the hallway. Head back to the door and take the east hallway. At the end you will find two Golden Herb Flowers. Collect them and head back to the door. Open the door, and the screen will go black. The computer will take over, and you'll see Cain walk toward the middle of an arena covered with a shallow pool of water. The camera will cut to an alcove up on the wall where you'll see an overgrown Sahagin with an attitude. It will jump down into the arena and charge you. BOSS: Water Devil HP: 390 MPr: 80 Weakness: Fire Items: Power of Move (Ring) The most effective weapon against this guy is the Fireball ring you found earlier. At first it will be hard to hit the Water Devil as it will keep jumping out of the way. You have to time it so it either jumps into your attacks or you just get lucky. After it's been hit a few times you can pretty much just blast away at it. It's really not hard to beat. Once you beat it, it will drop a ring: Power of Move. This ring allows you to Dash when moving and holding down the Circle Button--a very useful ring to have. Exit the arena through the ornamental doors to the south. You will be in a short hallway with another set of ornamental doors to the south. Go through that set, too, and you will see a small pedestal with a glowing purple key on top of it. If you try to take the key it will start steadily glowing and levitating above the pedestal. The camera will cut to under the water, and you will see a very large, very awesome and cool-looking Water Dragon swim up through the water toward the pedestal. As Cain stands there staring at the dragon, it speaks. "....wh...o......what person...art...thou..." "...the key....magical......sunlight....person..." "...Sorci...a...?" "........." "....tho...u...also......eter...nal...desir..ing...?" "........." "....alread..y......the...foretold........ring...." "...Ly..la...already...is...searching..." "....my.......bro...thers..." The Water Dragon then turns and swims back into the depths of the water and the computer returns control to you. Go ahead and work your way back to the Save Point and use it. You now have the Water Key which will unlock any Blue Door for you. Once you've saved, go up the stairs to the Blue Door. Go to your item list and use the Water Key (it should be the first item on the list). There will be three Shell Huts and a Sahagin-2 waiting on the other side (regenerated from when you were here before). Go up the stairs and through the wooden door in the room at the top of the stairs. Go through the short hallway and into the next room, and take care of the two Shell Huts. Go through the wooden door into the long hallway and take care of the Sahagin-2. You can also take out the two Shell Huts in the side room if you want the experience and possible treasure. Continue out the door at the end of the hallway and go east across the bridge to the door sealed by the ice. Use your Fireball ring to melt it and open the door. There are two Sahagin-2 in the room, so take care of them. There is also a bronze chest in the room, so open it to obtain the Ring of Magic inside. Since you don't have the Fire Key yet, you can't access anything else in the Water Temple, so go ahead make your way back out (if you can't remember how: exit the room you're in right now, cross the bridge, turn north, go straight through the door you come to, take care of the two Shell Huts in the next room, exit to the Save Point Room, save, and then exit the Water Temple). ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 6: Investigation Corps Camp, part 2 ||=- Monsters: Werewolf-1 (BOSS) Items: none Save Points: 1 (after the boss fight) Warp Points: 1 (after the boss fight) People You Meet: Marie Fowler, Leo Randall, Darrell Stone As soon as you exit the Water Temple, you will see a cut sequence. All the buildings in the camp seem to be burning or burned; everyone in the camp seems to be dead or dying, except Leo and Darrell. Leo is backing up from behind the storehouse, and Darrell is walking slowly toward him. Leo is wounded on his shoulder. After looking down at his bloody hand, Leo stands up and looks back at Darrell. Darrell isn't there anymore. When the camera goes back to Leo, Darrell is now standing behind him. Darrell has changed...a lot: He now has large black "angel" wings, and the left side of his face has a horrible purplish scar. His arm is greyish-black and is deformed into a large, terrible claw. Darrell smacks Leo from behind, slamming him into the side of the storehouse. As Leo slumps into a bent sitting position, Darrell says: "Is this the best those untrustworthy Elders can do...?" "The Eternal Rings belong to the dragons." He then takes to the air and flies toward his cabin in the back canyon by the Blue Gate and the scene cuts back to you outside the entrance to the Water Temple. Walk back to the Water Temple Gate (the one that Ernest and Leo took turns guarding) and open it. A horrible scene of destruction fills your view as you look out over the camp. Smoke fills the air, and you can see the body of Ernest prostrate on the ground near the gate. If you investigate his body (by looking down at it and pressing Circle), you will be told he is dead. I also tried to pick up the polearm but that didn't work. Wallace, inside the burning storehouse, is also dead. If you talk to Leo, who is leaning against the outside of the storehouse, he says: "It was magic...everyone...murdered" "That was the Captain's....the power of the ring...?" "Hurry up already...if you don't go after the Eternal Ring...." He then slumps down again. If you talk to him again, he says: "Damnit...I failed to stop..." He'll just keep repeating the same thing over and over if you keep talking to him. The north building up on the hill (the one that had the sleeping guy in it) no longer has anyone in it. The south building (with Evans in it) still has Evans in it, though he's dead now. There's nothing to be had in any of the buildings on this side of the river, so go west across the burning bridge to the mill. Marie is on the floor, barely alive. When you talk to her, she says: "Mo...monster..." She then collapses and dies. [She was my favorite character so far, too! (;_;)/~ ] Go back outside, up the stairs, and west and then south toward Darrell's house in the back canyon. Make sure you still have your Fireball Ring, the Power of Move Ring, and the Golden Herbs equipped. Then go all the way back toward Darrell's house. As you approach, you'll notice that Darrell's house is engulfed in flames, as are the trees. If you look toward the far left side of the screen you'll notice something that looks like a large wolf resting alertly on the ground next to a pile of burning logs. Head toward it. As you go past the tree near the entrance to the small valley, a large burning tree will fall behind you, blocking the escape route. You'll also notice that the wolf-like shape on the left isn't anything but rubble. Suddenly, a wolf-like creature leaps out from behind the southeast side of Darrell's burning house. BOSS: Werewolf-1 HP: 350 MPr: 80 Weakness: Fire Items: none The most effective weapon against the Werewolf is the Fireball Ring. Be very careful of the Werewolf's jumping attacks. It's like a very fast-moving Sahagin that only jumps at you. The best way to defeat it is to shoot fireballs at it from a distance, and then thrust upward at it with your short sword when it jumps at you. If you get below 50 HP, be sure to use a Golden Herb. The Werewolf's attacks can do 20-40 damage, so you want to make sure you don't get too low. If you can do it, try to get the wolf to go behind the torch stand on the northwest side of the clearing (near Darrell's house). If you can get it to stay behind there, you can just shoot fireballs at it until it dies. After you defeat the Werewolf (a pretty easy task, actually, once you get the hang of the way it attacks), you will see a short scene where Cain has just finished burying everyone in the camp. Then you will be facing Darrell's canyon, so follow the canyon back to the clearing. Since there is nothing left to do here (you can't even get into Darrell's burned-out house), head to the Blue Gate in the southeast corner opposite Darrell's former residence. Use your Water Key to unlock the door, open it, and enter. The screen will fade to black, and then you'll be inside a long tunnel. Follow the tunnel until you come to a room with a Save Point in it. Use the Save Point. You'll also notice a small rounded platform to the south of the Save Point. This is a Warp Point. When you walk onto the Warp Point, you are Warped to a very peaceful room. There is a person on a floating pedestal in the middle of a raised platform at the end of a short walkway. When you approach and talk to the person, the floating platform moves away from you and the person speaks: "I will impart of my ancient wisdom" "Now, O Seeker of the Great Forgotten Magic Power," "Here is the vessel of my wisdom and power!" "Now, O Seeker, receive the ring that holds the consecrated power of the Magic Stones." The room will undergo a slight transformation as six pillars rise from the center of the platform on which you stand. A menu will then pop up: Making Magic Rings Making Attribute Rings Collection End *Making Magic Rings* Choosing this option will take you to a list of available rings you can use to make new rings. This may include rings you've already created or found (such as Fireball). The controls for this section are: Circle: Select Triangle: Reset Square: Create X: Cancel If you choose an "empty" ring (Ring of Magic) then you are taken to a screen with six place holders, with three light blue holders on one side and three light green holders on the other. You can place different Magic Stones in the place holders. When you select a place holder, press Circle and a list of your available Magic Stones will appear. Select the stone you want from the list and press Circle to place that stone in the place holder. Press X to cancel. You need to have at least one stone on each side in order to create the ring. Once you have the stones placed, press Square to create the ring. You will be presented with two options: Create, and Go Back. If you have the ring the way you want it, then Create it. There will be a small animation sequence where the stones are melded with the ring, creating whichever ring you chose. The first one I created was Heal Water. I suggest you create at least a Heal Water and a Wind Cutter. Then create anything else you choose. See Appendix E for a list of Magic Rings. *Making Attribute Rings* Basically the same procedure as above. These rings will affect your stats (Speed, etc.). These rings do not require a Magic Ring to make. Just choose which stones you want to use and they are melded into a ring. I suggest Water Breeze and any of the other rings that raise your elemental attributes. See Appendix K for a list of Attribute Rings. *Collection* Shows your collection of rings, sorted by element (Fire, Water, etc.) *End* This one is pretty obvious... ;-) Once you are done creating your magic rings, choose Exit from the menu, walk back along the walkway to the Warp Point, and go through the south tunnel once you are back in the room with the Save Point. ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 7: Place of Ritual ||=- Monsters: Giant Moth, Ogre (club), Twin Tail Items: Golden Herb, Magic Crystal, Rat's Tail, Ring of Magic Ring of Magic (True Eye) Save Points: none Warp Points: none People You Meet: Turban Man Once you make your way through the rather long and winding tunnel, you will come out into a misty valley with funky music playing in the background--it can't seem to figure out if it's Spanish music or techno-industrial. :-) If you look around, you'll see a bunch of small islets connected by broken-down bridges. The water will kill you here, too, so avoid falling into it. When you exited the cave you were facing west. Go down the stairs. When you get to the bottom, you'll notice the bridge is broken, so go ahead and jump down to the ground (you'll take a small amount of damage) or walk down the stone on the right side, being careful to not go into the water. Go south once you're at the bottom and you'll run into two Twin Tails. If you made a Wind Cutter ring, you can shoot them once you get close enough, though it does use a bit of your MP. It is safer to attack them this way, though, since they can cause Paralyze (lasts 30 seconds), and they can shoot you with energy balls from a distance. It takes 3-4 shots from the Wind Cutter to defeat each Twin Tail. Once you defeat them, go up the ramp and you'll find an Ogre. These have 150 HP, so they take a little longer to kill. They're pretty stupid, though, so dispatching them shouldn't be too difficult. Step into the gazebo and you'll find a Rat's Tail on the ground. You can go look around on the ledge to the southeast of the gazebo, but there is nothing there. Be careful not to fall off. Go to the southwest corner on the other side of the gazebo. Carefully look down over the edge and you'll see a rubble walkway going down to the ground. Go down and you'll find a Ring of Magic. Climb back up and turn west onto the raised walkway. You'll see a Twin Tail down at the crossways. Defeat the Twin Tail and follow the walkway to the top of the stairs. If you look down and to the south of the stairs you will see a Golden Herb. When you get to the bottom of the stairs, an Ogre will rush at you. Dispatch it and get the Golden Herb before continuing. Follow the path and you'll run into another Twin Tail. If you look at the raised walkway, you'll also notice three Giant Moths hanging on the sides of it. If you shoot them with the Wind Cutter you won't have to fight them--you'll just knock them down. Once you've taken care of the last Giant Moth, be sure to pick up the two Golden Herbs to the west of the last one. Then head up the rubble ramp to the overhead walkway. If you turn around when you get to the top and go west while staying up on the walkway, you'll run into another Twin Tail. Defeat it, then turn around head east. Turn south onto the next walkway and you'll see a man off in the distance. Walk toward him and the Turban Man will start walking toward you, and he'll start talking as he's walking: "You opened the sluice gate, didn't you?" "I owe you for this...that's right, you've definitely set things in motion..." When he stops in front of you, he'll continue: "As for that matter, you could use that ring." "Since that ring is useless to me, it'll be good for you to take it" He hands you a ring (Protect). Then he continues: "It contains a magic that will block poison. Well, you should be very careful in the next valley, you know." "On the other side of that valley there's a camp from the mainland. Those guys have weapons if you need them." "???" "mu.....!?" As he's talking, the ground starts shaking. He looks around, and then tells you: "It's settled...? Well, it will be soon....." "The valley's not really safe either, so use the ring. It's a better place than the forest." "It's really dangerous right now in that forest over past the suspension bridge." "When next we meet, we'll be more evenly matched. Until then, take care of yourself." If you talk to him again, he says: "The Eternal Ring...those are your words for 'The Eternal Power'." "There are many things sleeping on this island." "Magical power, magic items, dragons. Not to mention...your ???" "Your coming to this island was by no means an accident. You'll understand someday..." If you talk to him again he will just repeat himself. You can wander around behind Turban man, but you won't find anything. Once you are done looking around, go north until you get to the intersection. Turn east, walk to the edge, and drop down to the land below. You'll take a little damage. Pick up the Magic Crystal and go up the stairs. You'll see a Twin Tail down the walkway a bit, so go ahead and dispatch it. If you shoot the Twin Tail with the Wind Cutter while it is standing next to the edge (with two feet hanging off the edge), you might be able to knock the Twin Tail into the walkway. Then you'll just see a "shadow circle" moving around on the walkway. You can't kill it anymore and it can't hurt you, but it's kinda fun to do. I did it accidentally. :-) Walk east to the broken edge past where the Twin Tail was wandering and you'll find another Magic Crystal. If you look around, you'll notice you're at the point where you originally entered this valley. Turn around, walk back to the intersection, and turn south. Walk to the broken edge and drop off onto the ground below. You'll be at the point just before where you encountered the first two Twin Tails. Make your way back to the walkway where Turban Man is standing. Go west, then south until you get to some stairs. Go up the stairs to the gazebo. You'll find a Ring of Magic in the gazebo, but it requires you to have the True Eye ring equipped in order to be visible. Go up the next set of stairs to the upper walkway which leads to a rocky canyon. Follow the path through the canyon until you are in front of the suspension bridge (rope bridge). To the east is a cave (the Abandoned Place), and south across the suspension bridge is another cave leading to the Sea Cliff Forest. The Sea Cliff Forest is much more difficult than the Abandoned Place. You can do them in whichever order you like, but this walk-through will do them in the order listed above. ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 8: Abandoned Place ||=- Monsters: Giant Moth, Catoblepas, Lizard Man (dying), Twin Tail Items: Bracelet, Cloud Stone, Cockatrice Feather, Magic Ore, Ring of Magic, Ring of Magic (True Eye) Save Points: 2 Warp Points: 2 (one doesn't work yet) People You Meet: a dead man When you first enter the cave, you will notice a strange greenish- yellow mist in the air. This is poisonous, so be sure to equip your Protect ring (you'll know it's working when a series of fuzzy yellow bars is pulsing up the screen in front of you). You can switch which ring you have equipped by using the X button on the main screen. When the pulsing fuzzy yellow bars disappear, reactivate them by pressing Square when the Protect ring is equipped. You must do this within a few seconds of when they disappear or you will become poisoned. You can use a Sahagin Spine to cure poisoning. I had the Fireball, Ice Needle, Wind Cutter, Heal Water, and Protect rings on my left hand (on the screen it shows the list on the right... go figure...:-p), and Power of Move, Water Breeze, Ring of Rain, Ring of Breeze, and Ring of Stone on my right hand (on the screen it shows the list on the left). That's what I suggest, but if you choose other rings make sure you have at least Power of Move, Protect, and Wind Cutter. Follow the tunnel down until it levels out. You'll notice the floor seems to be moving. Just ignore that and turn south and follow the right-hand wall, watching the base of the wall until you see a Magic Ore. Then follow the left-hand wall until you find a tunnel. Enter and you'll find a Save Point and a Warp Point. Exit the chamber and turn south again. Watch for the three Giant Moths. After you've taken care of them, you should notice a very large stone monolith blocking the path into another side chamber to the east. You can't move the stone now, so you'll have to come back later. I wonder what could be behind it? :-) Continue south and you'll find several piles of large bones. Search them for two Magic Ores. Continue along the path and you'll notice another monolith to the north. Go past it and you'll come to an intersection. If you continue east, you will come to a large pile of bones blocking the path. Search them for a Cockatrice Plume. Then go down the north path. You'll see two Twin Tails here. Make sure you have just restarted your Protect, and then switch to Wind Cutter and take them out. Switch back Protect for when you need to restart it. Make sure you do this after every fight. Protect seems to last from 15-30 seconds (I haven't timed it yet). Once you're done with the Twin Tails, you'll see a row of 5 monoliths to the west, a path continuing past the monoliths to the northwest, and a path to the northeast. Go northeast and you'll encounter a Giant Moth and a Dying Lizardman. You can either kill the Lizardman or leave him there. You get nothing (except for 1 experience point) from him if you kill him. After you're done with these two monsters, you will see a row of four monoliths blocking your path to the north. Go back to the five monoliths and follow the northwest path. Here you will find a dead body. Search the body to find a bracelet you'll need later. To the east is a dead end on the other side of the four monoliths you saw previously. To the northeast is another dead end blocked by two monoliths. To the west are three paths: one to the south, one to the west, and one to the north. Follow the path to the south and you will encounter your first Catoblepas (if anyone knows what this is, please let me know). The dangerous part of this beast is the tail. The tail shoots a ball of energy at you that does quite a bit of damage. You can dodge it if you are quick. You can dispatch the Catoblepas by shooting it with your Wind Cutter ring. Once you are done with that, continue south and you will be in the chamber on the other side of the 5 monoliths. Open the large chest to get a Ring of Magic. If you continue south you will come to the backside of the second single monolith you found when entering this place. Turn around and head north to the intersection, then go west. There are three Giant Moths here, so dispatch them. Go back to the intersection and head north. You will encounter another Dying Lizardman who is only worth 1 experience point. Past him you'll come to a large open chamber containing a Giant Moth and three Twin Tails. Dispatch them, then examine the bone piles to find two Magic Ores. On the west wall you will find a tunnel entrance. Follow the tunnel and you'll find a Save Point. On the west wall of this chamber you will find another tunnel leading to a Warp Point that doesn't seem to work. On the south wall will be a tunnel leading out into the main chamber where the three Giant Moths were. Go back through the Save Point chamber and through the tunnel through which you originally entered. Near the southeast side of the chamber is another Catoblepas, so be careful of it. There is a large chest near that beast, containing a Cloud Stone. If you go south from the large chest, you will come to the back side of the two monoliths you saw earlier. Just before you get to the monoliths, turn east and you'll see a tunnel. Follow the tunnel until you get near an opening. There are three Giant Moths outside the tunnel, and you can shoot them with your Wind Cutter while still inside the tunnel. Once you've taken care of them, exit into the small chamber. There are two other exits from this chamber: one on the south side, and one in the northeast corner. Go into the northeast tunnel and follow it into another chamber. There are two Giant Moths here as well as two Magic Ores along the north wall. Go back to the previous chamber and go through the south exit. This tunnel has three turns in it. Before the fourth turn, make sure you have just started another Protect, and then switch to the Wind Cutter. When you round the corner, there will be a Catoblepas at the end of the tunnel that will start shooting at you. Take care of it, then proceed to the mouth of the tunnel. Outside are two Twin Tails. Directly east and a little north of the mouth of the tunnel, along the east wall, is a Cockatrice Plume. South of the tunnel is tunnel entrance on the west wall. This leads to a hole in the ground which takes you to the lair of the Earth Dragon (part of the Great Looping Cave--Chapter 10). Don't go down the hole just yet, though, because there is no way back up here if you do. Right next to the hole in the ground (just a little to the north of it) is a Ring of Magic which requires the True Eye ring to be visible. Come back after acquiring the True Eye ring to pick it up. Southeast of the Earth Dragon entrance tunnel is a pile of bones with a Magic Ore and a Catoblepas. If you continue past that pile of bones you will come to the back of the pile of bones where you found the first Cockatrice Plume. Turn around and follow the tunnel north, past the Earth Dragon tunnel and the tunnel where you entered. There will be a steep path leading north up into another chamber. Climb up and get the Ring of Magic from the chest. Exit that chamber up another steep climb to the east. Follow the path around until you enter a large rounded chamber. On the north side will be a tunnel entrance. Enter the tunnel ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 9: Tree Village ||=- Monsters: none Items: Rapier, Ring of Magic, Ring of Magic (True Eye), Stilleto Save Points: 1 Warp Points: 1 People You Meet: Den Cutter, Royce Regan Storeroom: Cost Item Name ---- ----------------- 1 Golden Herb 3 Golden Herb Flower 6 Golden Herb Fruit 1 Magic Ore 4 Magic Crystal 8 Magic Gem 1 Magic Grass Seed 1 Rat's Tail 1 Sahagin Spine 1 Cockatrice Plume 8 Small Sword 15 Chinkuedia When you enter the tunnel you will notice the walls and floor look very much like wood grain. You are walking inside a large tree. Follow the tunnel around the corner and up to the next level. At the top of the ramp, on the north side of the tunnel wall, there will be two rooms. The first contains a Warp Point and the second contains a Save Point. Since you have some new types of stones, you might want to try making some newer, more powerful rings. Follow the tunnel until you reach a very green room. This is the Tree Village (more like a Tree House, given how small it is). There are three floors to the Village, and you're on the first floor. There are two exits and a ramp on this floor: the exit through which you entered, an exit leading to the Great Looping Cave, and a ramp leading up to the second floor. Royce Regan is also standing by the wall between the two exits. On the second floor are a ramp leading up to the third floor and a storeroom. Den Cutter is in the storeroom, and you can buy supplies from him. On the third floor there is an observation branch (the entrance is covered by a couple flaps of cloth or animal skin) as well as an exit leading to the Sea Cliff Forest (this entrance is NOT covered). If you go out onto the observation branch and very carefully work your way to the tip, you'll find another Ring of Magic which requires the True Eye ring to be visible. Come back after you acquire the True Eye ring and pick it up. If you come around nightfall, you might catch one sleeping. They alternate (sort of), so if one is awake the other will sometimes be sleeping. If the one you want to talk to is sleeping, just wander around the tree until he wakes up. If you go out on the observation branch, be careful not to fall off the edge. It's the quick way down, though it's a bit painful... :-) Talk to Royce. "Hey, who're you?" "Heyngalia's crest... you're one of those bodyguard knights, aren'tcha." "It was definitely the Elder's troops on the beach, wasn't it?" "I wonder where His Majesty's troops came from, anyway?" "This region is dangerous, especially over by the forest..." If you talk to him again, he says: "There used to be three of us here, but one guy fell off a cliff in the forest and died." "I think his body is somewhere in the valley, but...I feel kinda sorry for him..." "I wish I could at least give his family on the mainland some token to remember him by..." "That place (pointing to where you just came out) is full of poison so I couldn't even get close to him" "Not even the knights can handle the poison, Y'know..." If you talk to Royce again, he says: "Sometimes I take things across to the mainland and sell them for high prices" "We made the town into a nest so it would be easy to guard..." "Lately, poison's been coming into the valley, so we don't have any way of going back." "Because of the troublesome monsters in the forest, you can't go from the beach to here." "I wonder if it's a good idea to stay here...?" If you talk to him again, he says: "I think there was a big war on this island a long time ago. You can see the evidence of it all over the place. The remains are everywhere." "Then again, It could have been a natural disaster, I guess" "There were definitely some pretty big monsters. Kinda scary..." If you talk to him again, he says: "I wonder if I'll ever be able to go back to my homeland..." He'll just keep saying the last thing over and over now if you talk to him again. If you give him the bracelet you found on that body in the Abandoned Place, he says: "Oh, Sir Knight, thank you very much." You then hand it to him and he continues: "With this he'll be able to rest in peace." "This is a 'thank you' gift. Please accept it." He then hands you a Ring of Magic and continues: "There's a cave just after a sharp turn in the mountain road on the way to the hills." "If you descend there you can get to the hills. You'll have to find another way back, but..." "Oh, that's right. I told the same thing to a fellow who was through here a while ago. He looked like a warrior, too." "Heh heh...but even considering that, this is still a good deal, huh?" If you talk to him again he says: "That warrior fellow, he had grey hair and was wearing leather armor." "He was asking about the state of the island's hills, but right after that he left." "You look like you're worried about him. Do you know him?" "Then again, he wasn't using a Heyngalian crest. Didn't have one, nope..." If you talk to him again, he says: "I wonder if I'll ever be able to go back to my homeland..." He'll just keep saying the last thing over and over now if you talk to him again. Once you're done talking to Royce, go up to the storeroom on the second floor. Den Cutter will be sitting on one of the crates. If you try investigating the crates before talking to him, he says: "Hey, quit messin' with that." The camera then pans up and over to where Den is sitting. When you talk to him he says: "You're a pretty good guy, ain't ya, picking up that bracelet for us." "Here's a little somethin' to show our thanks to ya." He reaches behind himself and grabs the rapier sitting on the boxes, then turns and hands it to you. He continues: "Must be pretty rough, followin' your country's orders. Hang in there, though...and if you get the chance, help us out, too." "If there's anythin' you need, you just let us know, 'kay? Don't know as we can do much, but..." "So, whaddya want?" The storeroom menu pops up and you can buy whatever you need or want. The items are listed above in the order in which they appear on the screen. When you're done, Den will say: "Do y'know a lady named Lyla? If you do, I'd sure like you to bring her by." "I've met her a bunch of times--seems she's livin' on this island." "All this talk must seem pretty strange to someone like you, but I wanna learn all about things off this island." "More than that, though, I want you to tell me how to get outta this cursed place." If you talk to him again he says: "Whaddya want?" The storeroom menu comes up again. When you're done with it, Den says: "Oh yeah, that reminds me. A little while ago, there was this monster with wings went flyin' toward that volcano." "It looked almost human, too...I ain't never seen nothin' like it." "'Course, this place's full of critters I ain't never seen before." If you talk to him again he says: "Whaddya want?" The storeroom menu comes up again. When you're done with it, Den says: "There used to be another guy here, too, but he went and fell off a cliff in the forest and died." "You be careful, now, and don't do nothin' stupid." If you talk to him again he says: "Whaddya want?" The storeroom menu comes up again. When you're done with it, Den says: "To get to the beach from here, go through the forest or the valley down below." "Through the valley's easier, but we don't go down there now on account of the poison." "Besides, you got through the forest just fine." If you talk to him again, he just repeats himself. Before you leave, equip the rapier, as it does more damage and is quicker than the small sword. You can get the Stilleto if you catch Den when he's asleep. It's in the long, short box to the left of him (if you're facing him with your back to the doorway). It's not always there, so keep checking back if you don't get it the first time. When you're all done stocking up on supplies (I suggest a lot of Magic Ore), you have two choices: 1. Head for the first floor and exit back to the Abandoned Place, being sure to save and/or make new rings along the way. If you do this, then go on to Chapter 10: Great Looping Cave. 2. Head for the third floor and exit through the non-covered door. If you do this, then go to Chapter 11: Sea Cliff Forest. I suggest you do the Great Looping Cave first because the Sea Cliff Forest has some really tough beasties in it, and having the extra HP, MP, and experience levels you earn by going through the Great Looping Cave first will help you a lot. ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 10: Great Looping Cave ||=- Monsters: Ghost 1, Golem, Ogre (club), Ogre (sling) Items: Golden Herb Flower, Magic Grass Seed, Magic Ore, Phoenix Stone, Power of Branch, Ring of Magic Save Points: 1 Warp Points: 1 People You Meet: Leo Randall In order to get into the Great Looping Cave you need to go back into the Abandoned Place to the entrance mentioned above in the Abandoned Place chapter. Once you're down the hole, follow it until you come to an open chamber with a very large, heavily-breathing dragon in a sunken section of the chamber. This is the Earth Dragon. You can look at it for a bit, and then continue along around the outer edge of the cavern, being careful not to fall down into the sunken area (you die if you do). Nothing you do will wake up the dragon. Once you are past the cavern a new screen will load and you'll be in the first section of the Great Looping Cave. There are a lot of twists and turns here, so it's easy to get lost if you don't pay attention to your direction indicator (compass) in the top left of the screen. When you appear in the first section, you will be facing north. Aren't the walls and floor gorgeous? :-) I like the music in this section, too. It's very pleasant. There's no one in this chamber and there aren't any items to find, so go ahead and exit into the passageway on the west side. Follow it around a bend and you will find a steep slope leading up, so follow it up. When you get to the top you find another little bend and another slope leading up again. Follow that up, go through the next jog and go up yet again. As you near the top of this slope, you will see a monster waiting around in the chamber. This is a Ghost 1. Make sure you have your Rapier equipped (it's your best weapon right now), as well as any rings you want to have handy (Sonic is a useful one here in this cave), and head into the fray. If it starts waving its arm around, that means it's going to cast a spell (most likely a cursed lightning spell). If you time it right (its arm will complete two circles before the spell fires), you can dodge right or left just before it casts the spell, and he'll miss you. If it hits you there is a chance you will be cursed. This can be remedied by using a Magic Grass Seed. You can also wait about 30 seconds for it to wear off. I'm not sure what Curse does to you, though. Your rapier works fine on Ghosts, though you have to look up to hit them. Any of your magic should work fine, too, and Sonic knocks them off in two hits! When you're attacking it, the Ghost 1 will tend to float backward to avoid you. Just move backward yourself and the Ghost-1 will eventually start coming back toward you. Once you've taken care of the Ghost 1, slowly advance into the next chamber until the two Ogres start advancing on you. Watch out for the next Ghost 1, who is around the corner just waiting to cast Curse on you. Once you've taken care of all of those guys, exit through the far east door and you will come to a fork. It doesn't really matter which way you go since the north fork loops back to the path continuing east. If you go east first you might be able to pick up a Phoenix Stone before the Golem and the Ghost 1 notice you are there, but you'll have to fight them anyway in order to get the Magic Grass Seed on the north side of the loop. If you take the north fork, the Magic Grass Seed is along the base of the north wall. Take your pick. If you work it right, you can lure the Ghost 1 out before the Golem notices you. That way you can take care of them one at a time. Considering the Golem is twice as tough as the Ghost 1, this is a very good idea. I suggest using Sonic on the Golem and doing your best to avoid its attacks. Five blasts of Sonic should take care of it. If you have the space just keep backing up to avoid it since it doesn't move very quickly. Also, you have to wait for it to get fairly close to you before firing Sonic. Otherwise it will cross its arms and block the attack. Once you've taken care of these two, get the Phoenix Stone from the large chest. Then go back to the main passageway and continue east. When you round the corner you will see a Ghost 1 off in the distance to the northeast. Slowly advance toward it (without getting too close), and you'll notice another Ghost 1 trying to sneak up on you from the north (there's a bulge in the wall that somewhat hides its advance). Back up and take care of that Ghost 1. Once you're done with it, take care of the other and continue to the next fork. One fork leads north, the other west. Take the west fork. The tunnel goes straight for a bit, then jogs to the northwest a bit. There are two Ogres here, so take care of them. The tunnel then takes you through an S-curve, and you'll find yourself confronted by two more Ghost 1 annoyances. After taking care of them, you'll notice a passageway leading northwest and one leading southwest. At the end of the southwest passage is a chest containing the Power of Branch ring. At the end of the northwest passage is a Magic Ore. Once you're done there, head back to the last fork and go north. There will be a Ghost 1 and an Ogre to deal with. Once you've taken care of them, pick up the Magic Grass Seed in the small alcove to the east. Then head north again. You will come to another fork: a passageway leading west and one leading east. Take the west passageway. Make sure your MP gauge is maxxed--you're going to be taking on three Golems just around the corner. Try to take them one at a time so they don't overwhelm you. Again, Sonic works the best on these egotistical rock piles. Once you are through with the three Golems, pick up the Ring of Magic in the large chest, as well as the Magic Ore next to the chest, and then head back to the fork and go east. On the south wall there will be a doorway leading to Save Point and a Warp Point room. Use them. :-) When you're done with that, exit the chamber and continue east. As soon as you enter the eastern passageway a Golem will start stomping after you. Take care of it, then head north, being careful not to fall off the edge of the drop-off at the end of the passage. If you go down here you will be in the Tree Village. If you really need some items, go to the Tree Village, buy what you need, and follow this section from the top to get back to this location. Go back to where the Golem was and continue east into the next chamber. Here you'll run into your first sling-wielding Ogres. They have a range longer than any of your magic, so the best thing to do is to rush them and kill them as fast as you can. You can also equip your Power of Branch ring so you can have your magic attack in two directions at once. This also uses up twice as many MP, but that's to be expected. This ain't no discount dungeon. This set of Ogres is spaced too far apart for this to work effectively, so I don't advise equipping it here. If you do decide to rush them, watch out for their arm-flailing attack. It does a lot of damage, has a long reach, and can kill you with 2-4 hits if you aren't careful. Try to get rid of one as fast as possible, then take care of the other. Use the Start button to access your Golden Herbs (you still have them equipped, right?) or use Earth Heal or Cure Water. Once you've taken care of the sling brothers, equip the Power of Branch ring, go up the small step and follow the passage to the next set of slingin' Ogres. As you come out of the passage, you should see that they are spaced fairly closely, so the Power of Branch ring will help here. You should also look up and to the east of the two on the main floor: there's another slingin' Ogre up in an alcove, so watch out for his rocks, too. Also, don't go to the north of the slingin' Ogre in the alcove--there's a Golem there. Save it until after you take care of the two on the floor, and then try to lure it away from the range of the alcove Ogre. Once you've taken care of the Golem, head to the north of the alcove Ogre and you'll find a Golden Herb Flower at the end of the passage. Then go back past the alcove Ogre and take the south exit from this chamber. If you keep moving when passing the alcove Ogre, it won't be able to hit you. Once into the south exit, make sure your HP and MP are maxxed: you're about to run a gauntlet. If you move slowly west to the entrance of the next chamber, you'll see two large stalagmites growing up from the middle of the chamber. There's a club Ogre between them. On either side of the club Ogre are raised alcoves, each containing a slingin' Ogre. I suggest you run through this chamber to just inside the exit on the west side, then take care of the club Ogre that follows you once you are out of range of the two slingin' Ogres. You can run along one side of the chamber so one of the slingin' Ogres will have a difficult time hitting you. Just keep moving and the slingin' Ogres shouldn't hit you. In the next chamber are three slingin' Ogres, a club Ogre, and a Golem, all on the same level as you. Just inside the chamber is a large stalagmite, and on the other side is the club Ogre. Slowly move forward until it notices you, then back up a bit to stay out of the range of awareness of any other monsters. Once you've taken care of it, you'll notice two slingin' Ogres up on the first raised area of the floor, and one on the next-higher raised level. They are spaced too far apart to use the Power of Branch ring, so don't equip it here. If you move west along the south wall you will be able to stay out of the range of the three slingin' Ogres and take out the Golem hiding around that corner. Once you've taken care of the Golem you can handle the three slingin' Ogres without worrying about anything else sneaking up on you. The easiest way to take them out is to do it one at a time. The first one to knock off is the west-most Ogre on the first raised area. If you move out into the chamber on the west side of the stalagmite then you should be able to move close enough to take care of it with Sonic while side-stepping the rocks it's slinging at you. Then take care of the one on the east side of that same stalagmite, and finally the one on the second raised area. Wasn't that fun? ;-p Once you've taken care of those three go up into the southwest section of the chamber and you'll find two Golden Herb Flowers and a large chest containing a Ring of Magic. You'll also notice another passageway up and to the east of the area containing the chest. We'll come back to that in just a minute. Instead, go back down to the northeast corner of the chamber. There you'll find a tunnel entrance behind another large stalagmite. Follow the tunnel up into the next room where you'll find two club Ogres. Take care of them, then follow the tunnel west and up until you find one of the annoying slingin' alcove Ogres. Take pleasure in dispatching the uncouth beast, and pick up the Magic Ore near the base of the west wall of the alcove. Head back down to the large chamber where you opened the chest and exit through the tunnel just east of the chest. The club Ogre that was in the room might have regenerated, so watch out for it. You will probably encounter a Ghost 1 in the east tunnel. Make your way through the tunnel into the next large chamber. As you enter the chamber you will see another tunnel entrance just to the north. Enter and follow that tunnel until you come to the slingin' Ogre in the alcove just across from the one you were in a minute ago. Dispatch that Ogre as well as the club Ogre waiting in the tunnel entrance to the northeast. Follow the tunnel, taking care of the Golem along the way. At the end of the tunnel, you'll find the first slingin' alcove Ogre you encountered, as well as another Magic Ore. Once you're done with them, head back to the large chamber where you entered this tunnel (where you can go back through the other tunnel that leads back to the large chest). In the northeast corner is another tunnel and just inside you'll find Leo Randall sitting against the east wall. Talk to him. "It's been a while, eh? I'm glad to see you're okay..." "I'm pursuing that Captain. I'll capture him if I can, or kill him if I can't." "I can figure you out, though. You came to figure out the intentions of the Investigation Corps." "I owe you one for helping me, so I'll tell you everything I know." If you talk to him again, he says: "The Captain was searching for something called the 'Eternal Ring'." "Twenty years ago, the people of Sorcia were destroyed on this island. It seems they had a ring called the 'Eternal Ring'." "Hearing about this ring's marvelous power, the Elders called forth this 'Eternal Power'." "I wonder if this has anything to do with Heyngalia's expansion or their own ambitions... I don't know what they're scheming to do with this power." If you talk to him again, he says: "Most of the guys in the Corps didn't even know what the heck we were investigating." "The Elders didn't trust this Captain either, so they hired me and concealed me in the ranks." "If the Captain got too ambitious, I was to kill him and take the ring back to the Elders." "But that guy might've found the ring. It's possible that's what caused him to take that shape." If you talk to him again, he says: "You should be able to use your new power here, huh?" "If it's magical, then it might draw on the blood of Sorcia." "...one other thing, I've seen a strange woman who uses the same powers you do." "She was with a man wearing a disguise, and when they noticed me, they ran away..." "I'm certain her name was Lyla." If you talk to him again, he stands up and says: "I told you everything I know, so I'm outta here." "There's an old institution near here. I'm gonna go check it out. Maybe I'll learn something there." He then turns and starts walking away. As he's walking away he says: "Whether you're a knight or a mercenary, the most important order is to return alive...I wish you luck." If you continue after him you will come to the Mine Ruins. At this point I suggest you go back and complete the Sea Cliff Forest (Chapter 11) now that you have more experience and higher levels. If you already did the Sea Cliff Forest, then go on to Chapter 12: Mine Ruins. To get back to the Sea Cliff Forest, you just need to go halfway back through the Great Looping Cave to the chamber just before the Save Point (just before the first set of slingin' Ogres you came to on your way through). Remember the drop off I mentioned before? Drop off this time, re-enter the Tree Village, buy any supplies you may need, and head up to the non-covered door on the third floor. ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 11: Sea Cliff Forest ||=- Monsters: Hornet (7-10 per nest), Hornet Nest, Catoblepas, Lizardman, Lizardman (w/ club), Queen Hornet (one per nest) Items: Power of Grow, Power of Time, Ring of Magic Save Points: 2 Warp Points: 1 People You Meet: none You appear in a mottled rock passageway. Turn east and you'll see the air turning a bit misty bluish-grey. As you walk toward the cloudy air, you'll notice it thinning out--good! No more poisonous air! :-) Turn south and walk toward the exit. You'll see a weird-looking bush off in the distance. You'll exit the cave onto a raised area. You can't see very far due to the misty air. Turn west and walk toward the stand of three tall trees. In the tree farthest to the east you'll notice a bulbous thing with hovering creatures around it. That's a Hornet Nest. Go ahead and take care of all the Hornets buzzing around the nest. However, unless you want to have to deal with the Queen Hornet, do not hit or destroy the nest. The nest has 500 HP, and the Queen has 700. She's got a really nasty long stinger, too, with a long reach. If you practice, you can get good at dodging left and right while attacking the Queen (Material Arrow works really well), and you get a Dragon Egg if you defeat the Nest. It's up to you, though. Once you've taken care of all that, go ahead and drop down on the east side near the wall north cliff wall to the lower levels where you'll run into your first active Lizardmen. If you can work it out so you only have to deal with one at a time, then that will work better for you. They have high HP, they are fast, and they have a long reach with their swords. They are weak against Wind magic, so use Sonic on them, though it still takes a while. Here's the best way I've found of dealing with them: Try to slowly sneak up on one and hit it with Sonic. This will get it to come toward you so you don't enter the range of awareness for the other one (they are usually in groups of 2-3). Quickly switch to your Earth Heal ring while it is running toward you; then you can use Earth Heal while you are attacking if you need it. Time your hits with the Rapier (you did equip the Rapier, right?) so you hit the Lizardman right after they swing at you. It's like a little dance of death. :-) It takes 8-10 hits to kill a Lizardman with a Rapier. It only takes 2-3 hits from a Lizardman to kill you (I had 228 HP at this point), so don't forget to heal yourself (using Earth Heal). The monsters here do a lot more damage than any of the previous monsters (including bosses), so it's very important to keep yourself healed completely. Keep the Golden Herbs (or something similar) equipped to the Start button for quick access. Also be careful not to fall off any of the cliff edges here (you fall down into the Abandoned Place and die, just like that poor guy you found). Once you're done with the first four Lizardmen, go to the east and you'll see a torch pillar next to a stone bridge. Cross the bridge and go south. You'll come across a Lizardman. After you take care of him, continue south, staying close to the edge (but not too close), and you'll encounter another Lizardman. Just after that, along the south cliff edge, you'll find an unlit torch pillar. Light it using Fireball and you'll hear a grinding sound in the distance. Go back north the same way you came, and head east from the stone bridge. Watch to the southeast and you'll encounter another Lizardman. To the north, you'll notice a drop-off with a tree and a torch pillar down below. Just east of the torch pillar is a ramp leading down to the lower area. Before you go down, inspect the tree branch that's overhanging the ground where you are and you'll find a Ring of Magic. Go down the ramp and light the torch pillar. Inside the cave near the torch pillar is a Save Point. Back at the top of the ramp, carefully go south and you'll encounter a trio of Lizardmen in a triangle formation. This makes it very hard to sneak up on just one at a time. However, if you do your best to come at them from one point at a time, then you should be able to take care of them one at a time. Just to the east of this Lizardman trio is a lone Lizardman. This one has a club instead of a sword, and a few hundred more HP, too. When you defeat it, you should get a Celestial Dragon Fang, a very nice and rare item. Now go back toward the ramp leading down to the Save Point and the torch pillar. Just before you get to the ramp you'll see a new stone bridge on the east cliff edge. Just across this bridge is a Hornet Nest. Before you go across I suggest you use the Save Point again. No use wasting all the time you just spent. You can either take out the Hornet Nest, or quickly go by it. You need to go east past it, then south. You'll be in a small ravine, so follow it until you get back out in the open. Just to the southwest is a Lizardman, and just past it, along the edge of the cliff, is another torch pillar. Be sure to light it. Search this end of the hill in the middle and you'll find a Ring of Magic. It's next to a clump of weeds. Just south of the torch pillar is another Lizardman next to a tree with a Hornet Nest. This Lizardman seemed to last a lot longer than any of the others, and he defended, too. Just east of the Hornet Nest, up on the hill, is another Hornet Nest with a large chest underneath it. The chest contains a Ring of Magic. Just to the west of that is another Lizardman and a torch pillar. Just southwest of the torch pillar is a clump of weeds next to a tree. Search the ground there for a Ring of Magic. On the south side of the hill in the middle is a torch pillar, so light it. Then search the ground to the west of the pillar (on the other side of the hill near the top) for another Ring of Magic. There are also three Lizardmen near there, so be careful. Directly west of the three Lizardmen is another torch pillar. Go north from there and you'll be back at the first Hornet Nest I mentioned this side of the ravine. There may be two Lizardmen there, as well. Cross over the stone bridge and light the torch pillar on the small island, being careful not to fall off. You'll see a set of monoliths rise to form a stone bridge to the southwest of the island you're on. Maybe now you can get into that area in the Abandoned Place that was blocked off? Now go back to the mainland and to the northeast corner, along the edge of the cliff, is a narrow path leading northeast. There will be four Lizardmen here and a large chest containing the Power of Time ring. The last three Lizardmen are hard to see through the tall weeds, and if you aren't careful you'll startle at least two at the same time. Here's a fun thing I did: after defeating the first Lizardman, go to the western cliff edge, and get just close enough that you can see the shadow of one of the other Lizardmen. If you do it just right, it will notice you, come running at you, and fall off the cliff. You don't get anything for doing it, but it's kinda fun. It also reduces the remaining three to only two! :-) The chest containing Power of Time is on the north side of the tall weeds. Now head back to the Save Point in the cave on the lower level and use it. Then head back toward that first Hornet Nest. On the west side of the Hornet Nest you will see a tunnel entrance, which leads to room containing a Save Point and a Warp Point. The south exit takes you to that suspended bridge you found after the Place of Ritual and before you entered the Abandoned Place. There's a Hornet Nest just outside the tunnel exit, too. The east exit takes you to a medium-sized ledge. Go out the east exit and you'll see a torch pillar (light it!) on the east edge across from another Hornet Nest. Cross the monolith bridge and take out the Catoblepas (Sonic will do it in two hits), then the Lizardman. Head southeast until you see another torch pillar. Just south and a little west of the torch pillar is a Catoblepas hiding in the tall weeds. Get close enough to get a clear shot with Sonic, and take it out. Just a little southwest of that one is another one, though it's harder to see because it's farther inside the tall weeds. A little farther southwest, just at the edge of all the tall weeds is a Lizardman. Try to get a clear view of it before it notices you, and don't be too close to a cliff edge, either. To the east of the Lizardman is a Hornet Nest. Southeast of that is a cliff edge across from a torch pillar. Get close enough to the edge so you can light it with Fireball. If you want to, go southwest and then north once you come to a cliff edge. You'll see a monolith bridge and across it you'll find two more Lizardmen. Once you take care of them, you can go northeast and you'll be back where that first Catoblepas was. Otherwise, go to the southeast and cross the stone bridge, then walk east and then north and cross another stone bridge. On this island you'll find a large chest with the Power of Grow ring. Head back to the last Save Point, use it, and then you have two choices: 1. Go out the south exit to the suspension bridge, cross it and go down into the Abandoned Place to get that Ring of Magic. Then go back to the Tree Village. 2. Go back to the Tree Village. When you get back to the Tree Village, stock up on items you need. At this point I suggest you go back and complete the Great Looping Cave (Chapter 10) if you haven't already done so. If you already completed the Great Looping Cave, then go on to Chapter 12: Mine Ruins (you have to go back through the Great Looping Cave to get to it--Yay! more experience and Magic Stones!) Feel free to build experience for a bit by going back and forth in the Great Looping Cave. ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 12: Mine Ruins ||=- Monsters: Flame Rat, Golem, Witch Items: Golden Herb, Magic Ore, Ring of Magic Save Points: 1 Warp Points: 1 People You Meet: none The Mine Ruins have six levels and three shafts. You are on level one of the west shaft. In the west shaft there are four floors (from level one through four); in the middle shaft there are three floors (from level four through six); in the east shaft there are four floors (from level two through five). It looks something like this: (You need to view this in a fixed-width font, such as Courier, in order for it to look right.) West Shaft Middle Shaft East Shaft X | Level Six | Level Five-----Level Five | | Level Four----Level Four-----Level Four | | Level Three Level Three | | Level Two Level Two | E--Level One The "E" marks where you entered the ruins, and the "X" marks the exit. The dashes and pipes indicate access between the levels. What ominous music! When you enter the Mine Ruins, walk forward and you will see a path to the north and a path to the south. Take the south path and you'll find a Save Point room. When you're done there, head north into the mine. The tunnel will curve around until you're headed east and you'll enter a room with a large greyish-blue raised area in the northwest corner of the room. This is a transport block. Step onto the transport block and look at the north wall to see the activation switch for it. Activate the transport block to move up to Level Two. When you reach Level Two you will see two Flame Rats running around. Sonic kills them in one hit. There's nothing else on this level, so go up to Level Three. Head east from where you get off and you'll find the one Flame Rat on this level. On Level Four are two Witches. If you move very slowly toward them, you can get close enough to hit them with Sonic without them attacking you. Otherwise, they shoot a strange, slow-moving yellowish ball of energy at you. If this hits you it will paralyse you. In the southwest corner are two Golden Herb Flowers. On the east wall is a large opening leading to another part of the room containing two Flame Rats. In the northwest corner of this room is another large opening, this one leading to Level Four of the Middle Shaft. There are two Golems, two Witches and one Flame Rat in this room. The Witches sometimes leave a Wizard's Secret Potion! There's a secret to killing one of these Golems, too, because it has no HP itself: you need to kill the Witch that is controlling it. Usually the Witch will be directly behind the Golem, so just use Sonic. The Golem will get red highlights whenever you hit the Witch. Against the north wall of the room is a stack of three large stones. On top of one of them is a Ring of Magic. You can't get to it just yet, so we'll come back to it later. In the northeast corner are two Golden Herb Flowers and in the southwest corner is a large chest containing a Ring of Magic. Exit the large room through the large opening in the southeast corner and you will enter Level Four of the East Shaft. There are two Flame Rats here. Exit through the large opening on the northeast side of the room and you will come to the main East Shaft. If you look around you'll see five Witches, three on your level and two down below. There are four platforms on this level, one in each corner: (You need to view this in a fixed-width font, such as Courier, in order for it to look right.) North .-------------------------------------. |XXX | | | |XXX | | | | 4 | | 3 | | W | | | | W | | | |-----------' '-----------| | XXX| | XXX| West | | East |XXX | |XXX | |-----------. .-----------| | | | | --' | | W | 1 | | 2 | E | XXX| | | XXX| | ----------------------------------------' South The "E" indicates where you entered. The "W" indicates where a Witch is located. The grouped "X" shows where a transport platform is located. The numbers are for convenience. Get on the transport block and activate it. The block will move to the east, toward platform 2 (the one with one Witch). You will need to quickly get off the transport block and zap the Witch with Sonic (when you are close enough) before it can hit you with its really powerful fireball cluster spell (not sure what else to call it). Go to the southwest corner of platform 2 and activate that transport block. This will take you to platform 3. Go to the southeast corner and activate that platform. This one will take you Level Three: (You need to view this in a fixed-width font, such as Courier, in order for it to look right.) North .-------------. |XXX | |XXX 4 | |-------------| | | | | .-----------' '-----------. | |XXX W | E | | |XXX | | West | 2 | W | 1 | East | | XXX| | | | XXX| | '-----------. .-----------' |XXX | |XXX | |-------------| | 3 | | | '-------------' South The "E" indicates where you entered. The "W" indicates where a Witch is located. The grouped "X" shows where a transport platform is located. The numbers are for convenience. The transport block next to platform 1 will take you to platform 2. On the way are two Witches floating in midair. Just avoid their attacks as you go by. When you get to platform 2, take the next transport block down to Level Two: (You need to view this in a fixed-width font, such as Courier, in order for it to look right.) North .-------------. | | | | .------' '------. | E | | | West | | East | | | | '------. .------' | XXX| | XXX| '-------------' South The "E" indicates where you entered. The grouped "X" shows where the transport platform is located. Once you're down here, use Material Arrow to get rid of the annoying Witches--just shoot them down from below. Here on Level Two are four Magic Ores plus whatever the Witches drop. Head to the transport block on the southeast side and go back up to Level Three: (You need to view this in a fixed-width font, such as Courier, in order for it to look right.) North .-------------. |XXX | |XXX 4 | |-------------| | | | | .-----------' '-----------. | |XXX | | | |XXX | | West | 2 | | 1 | East | | XXX| | | | XXX| | '-----------. .-----------' |XXX | |XXX | |-------------| | 3 E | | | '-------------' South The "E" indicates where you entered. The grouped "X" shows where a transport platform is located. The numbers are for convenience. You arrive on platform 3. Take the next transport block to platform 4 and board the next transport block. There is a Ring of Magic in the center of this transport block. This will take you back up to Level Four: (You need to view this in a fixed-width font, such as Courier, in order for it to look right.) North .-------------------------------------. |XXX E | | | |XXX | | | | 4 | | 3 | | W | | | | W | | | |-----------' '-----------| | XXX| | XXX| West | | East |XXX | |XXX | |-----------. .-----------| | | | | --' | | | 1 | | 2 | | XXX| | | XXX| | ----------------------------------------' South The "E" indicates where you entered. The "W" indicates where a Witch is located. The grouped "X" shows where a transport platform is located. The numbers are for convenience. Use Sonic or Material Arrow to quickly dispatch the Witches before they do anything to you. Then board the transport block in the northwest corner. This will take you to Level Five of the East Shaft, which is just a long narrow ledge with a large opening near the middle of the west wall. There are three Flame Rats in this passageway. When you get through the passageway, you'll be on another long narrow ledge (Level Five of the Middle Shaft), this time above the large room with the stacked blocks. Go to the northwest corner of the ledge and activate the transport block to go up to Level Six. There are two Witches here. Once you've taken care of the Witches, walk along the south edge of the ledge until you are lined up with those three stacked blocks I mentioned before. There's a Ring of Magic on top of one of them. If you go to get the ring, then you'll have to wander all the way back up here, so it's up to you. If you go through the doorway in the center of the north wall, you enter the Ironworks. ================================================================================ ================================================================================ -=|| Chapter 13: Ironworks ||=- Monsters: Berserker, Berserker Witch, Captain of the Guard-1 (BOSS), Flame Rat, Golem-2, Witch Items: Amplify ring, Ring of Magic Save Points: 1 Warp Points: 1 People You Meet: Leo Randall There is a Save Point and Warp Point room to the west as you head into the Ironworks. Continue north and the hallway will start curving east, snaking along until you reach a doorway into a large room. as you enter, look to the north side of the room and you will see two Witches floating there. Along the south wall is a pit containing molten iron. Don't fall into it! :-) (You need to view this in a fixed-width font, such as Courier, in order for it to look right.) North .-------------@@---------------@@-------------. | || || | | || || | | || W W || | | || || | | \:===============:/ | | || | | || | | || | | || | | || | | || | --' ## | ## | East --. ## | | || | | || | | || | | || XXXXX| | || XXXXX| | || XXXXX| |----------------------''---------------------| | | | | | Molten Iron | | | | | '---------------------------------------------' The "W" indicates a Witch, "X" indicates the transport block elevator, "#" indicates the small bridge, and "@" indicates a small gateway through which molten iron enters the channels. Near the center of the room, there is a small bridge over the channel for molten metal. On the north side you'll see a small bar in the center extending from the bottom of the bridge to the bottom of the channel. After you activate a lever on the third floor of the Ironworks, you'll be able to get the Fire Key here. We'll come back to this later. Go to the transport block elevator and activate it. It will rise up into another room. To the north you'll notice a sitting Golem-2. There's another one to the southwest on the other side of a fast-moving conveyor belt. These Golems just sit there right now. To the northwest is a Berserker. If you get too close, it will cast Seal Magic on you, which makes it so you can't use any magic rings, and the effect lasts for 1 minute. If you time your attacks between its spell casting, you can down it with about 6 hits from Material Arrow. Tornado also works really well. On the northwest side of the room, near the edge where the conveyor belt is headed, is a Witch next to a Red Door. Near the middle of the west wall is another sitting Golem-2 (you'll notice that these three Golems have green eyes instead of red eyes) and a wooden door. Go through the wooden door. There are three Flame Rats here. To the south is another wooden door. Through that wooden door is a larger room. On the west wall near the southwest corner is a wooden door. On the east wall, near the center, is another wooden door inside a small alcove. To the south you'll find a body on the ground: it's Leo Randall! To the west of his body are a Ring of Magic (near his hand) and a wooden table. On the table is a diary. If you read it, it says: "Regarding the army of Aldine, of which I am a member: The Sorcia invasion was a complete failure" "All those fearsome dragons are all that is left after the invasion of Sorcia. I still don't believe it." "My body is gradually changing into something evil. It's the curse of Sorcia." "Either that, or it's the power of the Eternal Ring the King was after." "I've hung a key in this bu