Let's Play Wizardry 6, part 5

Previously on Bane of the Cosmic Forge, Wrath, Alva, Motoko, Shaana, Whisker and Konata were finally hitting their stride as
murderous lootersdaring adventurers. Having ventured forth into the abandoned castle of the Bane King, they have fought vermin and animated flora, discovered a gang of vagrant vagabonds in the basement, and begun systematically looting every room in the castle, starting on the ground level.

It was at this point someone remembered about the fourth tower.

"Um... Mr. Whisker...?"

"Yes my dear?"

"What about the northwest tower?"

[Surprised.] "Hmm? Oh. I suppose we should finish what we started, yes? Come along then."

And so the party headed forth to the last unexplored corner tower of the castle, and a cross-party concussion.

[Steps to one side.]

Suddenly a tower rafter collapses!

[Muffled screams.]

This (unavoidable) incident inflicts random damage on random party members that can easily kill half of a first level party—which is why I 'forgot' to come here until everyone had toughened up a little (and I still had to reload when Whisker died anyway, the stupid squishy cat mage).

Inspecting the rafter, it is unclear whether the falling beam has a booby trap or whether it fell due to decay among the support timbers...

Clearly it was a booby trap set by evil game designers.

[Rubbing her head.] "Would it have killed you to yell a warning Motoko?!"

[Shrugs apologetically.]

On a lighter note, there's a hidden cache in the tower showroom, containing a chest.

Specifically, this chest.

The chest is armed with a cloud of fear trap that Shaana is able to deftly detach. She wanders over to the tower ledge to dispose of the trap out of (her) harm's way.

Plumes of smoke arise from fiery pits far to the west, testament to an era which should have passed long ago...

"Good thing we're not going there!" [Drops the gas cannister off the side of the tower.]

The chest contains naught but a couple of iron keys which won't be used, rendering the whole exercise a bit pointless.

[Scowling.] "Konata my dear, feel free not to remind me of the next detail I miss."

[Sad face.]

And with that, the party descend the last of the four corner towers of the castle and turn their collective attention on the upper floor of the main keep. There are several rooms on the upper floor, mainly rooms for guests and servants, but also the King and the Queen's respective chambers. Shaana starts picking the locks anti-clockwise from the stairway.

[Whistles tunelessly as she works.]

[To Wrath.] "She's a bard. How can she not carry a tune?"

Most rooms are nondescript, with a few encounters of vermin and bandits (who appear to either have locked themselves in the rooms earlier or perhaps have filtered up from upstairs to take advantage of the party's recent successful pillaging). One room sparks an interesting recollection however:

Several rotted cots and an old flower pot are all that remain here. Within these simple quarters, you recall the story of the servant girl, given with a child rumored to be an illegitimate son of the King. Although nothing was ever proved, supposedly the King came to her bed once a week every night of her fourteenth year. Despite the relentless efforts of the Queen, she never could catch him in the act, and soon it was whispered that the King had some kind of secret magical powers that enabled him to walk through walls.

[To Shaana.] "Secret door?"

[To Alva.] "I'm thinking secret door."

However no secret door was to be found on this side of the wall separating the King's chambers from the servant's quarters. It was around this point that Alva and Konata reached level 4 in their respective classes from the experience gathered from dealing with the various vines, bats and rats infesting the keep, valkyries and alchemists needing less experience to level than the other four classes represented in the party.

Shortly afterwards, Shaana defeated the lock to the King's own private chambers.

"Damn I'm good."

Even through the decay of many years, the magnificence of this former suite is still perceptible, and it is clear that this was the master bed chamber. No doubt the lord of the castle made this his personal quarters. The walls are a panorama of hand-painted murals and every nook and edifice shows the handiwork of finely skilled artisans. Even within this darkened ruin, a bit of the wondrous splendour that used to shine here lives.

Spacious.

Adjoining the King's bed chamber is what was once the King's private study, within which molder the remains of his book collection.

The books have totally deteriorated and it is impossible to read them. A few however have legible titles and you look them over:
Ye Histry of ye Wurld... Academia Mathematica... 15 lbs in a Fortnight and How to Keep It Off... Tales of ye Magikals...

"Damn and blast it all! These are so decayed as to be worthless—all that's survived is a recipe for boiled cabbage!"

"Ooh, a cable!" [Yanks on cable, hard.]

Searching one corner of the study reveals a cable that, when tugged, opens up a hidden alcove within which is a small jewellery box.

And yes, it's trapped.

"This one's another 'cloud of fear'. No need to thank me, I just prevented you all wetting yourself in terror."

Opening the jewellery box, you find a key and a small book. The book remains in good condition and appears to be some kind of diary or notebook, written in a strange undecipherable code.

"At last! The insights of the Bane King! And I can't read any of it!"

While Whisker tries fruitlessly to interpret the diary, Shaana takes the gold key that had been nestled beside it. Further exploration reveals that the study also hides a secret passage leading to the servant's quarters encountered earlier.

"Yes!"

On the north side of the King's chambers, away from the study, there is another small room containing a hidden button that opens a passageway leading further back into the castle. A short way into that passage abuts a gated-off room with another chest.

The chest is sitting there behind the gate, mocking me.

"One of these keys we've found ought to work. Is it just me or am I doing all the work around here?"

"Are we not assisting you by dispatching the many enemies that keep assailing us?"

"You know, all those bats and rats and vines and bandits that keep showing up, but are hardly worth mentioning any more?"

In any case, the Key of Ramm does the trick, and Shaana (barely) disarms the prismic missile trap on the chest, the act of which is apparently sufficiently educational to level Shaana and Whisker up to level 4.

"Actually I've no idea what this device does."

"Oh many things, potentially. A prismic missile can harm both body and mind, turn flesh to stone, cause you to evacuate your eyeballs by way of your bowels, and so forth."

[Goes pale.] "Wow, that is educational. Bowels you say? I...need some air..."

You find an odd mask which seems to be made from the head of a goat. It shows signs of decay, but otherwise seems to be fairly well intact. Along with the mask, a very ornate dagger is resting in the chest, apparently made of gold. Mounted into the hilt are several gems and two runes are engraved beneath."

Inside the chest is the goat's mask and the Dagger of Ramm. The dagger is stashed in Whisker's swag bag for later examination, while I have Wrath equip the mask—since it acts as armour, why not?

"Because it's really, really creepy."

Further along the passage is another gate, and once more the Key of Ramm is the, well, key to progressing further. However:

[Indicates to the party to stop.] "Hold on."

"What troubles you?"

"Other than your face? I think we might be getting ahead of ourselves. We should finish checking out the rest of this floor first—there was one more chamber to check, wasn't there?"

[Nods.]

Continuing on anti-clockwise from the entrance to the King's chambers is another locked door, which Shaana duly cracks open with her picks.

You step into a room whose walls are alabaster carvings of cherubs, roses and vines, and though the plaster has long turned dark, the detail of these ornamentations is still an impressive spectacle to behold. The fossil of a bed that spanned a width greater than the length of three men rests in ruin upon the floor, and scattered throughout the room are piles of rotted woodwork that used to be furniture. This suite is most certainly the former chamber of the Queen, and it makes you wonder whether the rumours about her peculiar rituals with young men were true."

[Flushed.] "Judging from the room next door, I'd say it's pretty likely."

Adjoining the Queen's bedroom is the Queen's boudoir, with its festive decor and hordes of rats and bats (which might be more recent additions). During the battle, I notice that Wrath has taken quite a bit of damage, but I couldn't recall him receiving any wounds in battle. It was at that point that I realised what I had done.

[Staggers drunkenly across the room swinging wildly at assorted vermin.]

"Wrath!' [Dives straight into Wrath's face, tugging at the goat mask.]

[Busy fending off three rats at once.] "Konata! What are you doing?!"

[Tears the mask off of Wrath's face.]

[Jerks back, rivulets of blood streaming from his ravaged face.]

As it transpires, the mask of Ramm slowly leeches the health of the wearer, particularly in combat – by the time I had the opportunity to remove the mask from Wrath, he had lost almost all of his hit points, requiring emergency healing from Konata.

[Dribbles healing solution onto Wrath's bleeding face.]

[Chokes back scream.]

Despite this error on my part, the battle provided the experience necessary for Wrath and Motoko to join the rest of the party up on the heady heights of level 4. Meanwhile, Shaana was busy looting the place as usual.

[Flushed.] "Um."

Inside the trunk is a rather shocking article of, well, armour or something. It appears to be a heavy bra made of hard glossy black leather, and lined with sharp pointed metal studs around its edges. Although its use is not quite apparent, it does seem to have the 'potential' for a certain kind of (ahem) appeal, if worn by the right person. Still even more perplexing, along with the strange bra, buried in the bottom of the box you find a long black whip. Hmm, now what would these be doing in the Queen's boudoir?

I couldn't possibly speculate.

[Regards the contents of the trunk solemnly.]

"I... see."

The studded cuirass bra is probably one of the better pieces of armour to be found this early in the game, as it happens. The bullwhip is also quite handy, allowing melee attacks from further back in the party formation.

[Deep breath.] "Okay. I'll wear it."

[Shocked.] "Wh-what?"

"We need all the protective gear we can get; Wrath can take my leather cuirass."

"..."

"Unless you'd like to wear it?"

"I shall take the cuirass."

[Quietly stuffs the bullwhip into his robe.]

And that seems a sufficiently weird moment to end the update. All that remains is to review the party at level 4.

Party review, level 4

For this review, each screenshot was taken right upon the character levelling up, so those characters that levelled earlier (like Alva and Konata) are actually a little more experienced and skilled by the end of the update than indicated here. In future I will likely review each party member at the same time to compare like-to-like, even if some characters levelled earlier.

Sword 24, Oratory 6, Ninjutsu 18, Mythology 5, Thaumaturgy 10, Kirijutsu 6

Wrath, after unequipping the goat's mask. Wrath can now cast energy blast, though in general he is better off simply dicing his enemies with his katana and wakizashi from the shadows.

"Isn't it a bit dishonourable for you to sneak behind your enemies when you attack them?"

[Firmly.] "Only against worthy opponents."

Sword 15, Scouting 3, Oratory 5, Ninjutsu 14, Mythology 5, Theology 15, Kirijutsu 5

Alva's attributes are gradually improving. She can now cast bless, which temporarily boosts the party's general offensive and defensive capabilities by a modest quantity. Note that this screenshot was taken before she acquired the, ahem, Boris Vallejo armour.

Hands & Feet 22, Scouting 2, Oratory 4, Ninjutsu 14, Mythology 3, Theosophy 15, Kirijutsu 10

Motoko's kirijutsu skill should be getting high enough now to make an impact in fights. Like Alva, she has also learned to cast bless.

"You know you don't have to learn the same spells I do, Motoko?"

[Shrugs.]

Sword 4, Music 32, Oratory 5, Skulduggery 30, Ninjutsu 14, Mythology 4, Thaumaturgy 9

Shaana is the keeper of keys. She's also now able to cast terror, which has a chance to make groups of enemies run away, or at least fight less effectively. To be honest though, I think I'll mainly stick with the lute for now.

Throwing 13, Sling 18, Oratory 20, Mythology 6, Scribe 5, Thaumaturgy 37

Whisker can now learn a lot of fun spells, like fireball and blink. In order to start acquiring spell points in the earth pool however, I give him knock-knock, which automatically unlocks doors and chests—it will come in handy if a lock or trap surpasses Shaana's capabilities. I don't actually want to use it if I can avoid it, but what the heck, now he can cast direction from that spellbook we found earlier. Whisker's hit points are still awful.

Bows 24, Artifacts 10, Mythology 3, Alchemy 29

Konata continues to get stronger and now she knows stamina (which restores stamina, oddly enough)—this is really just another investment, this time in the water pool. For primary spellcasters, it's generally a good idea to learn a spell in every spell pool, just because every pool with at least one point in it already will grow every successive level-up. On the other hand, you don't want to fill your spellbook with rubbish you don't use, particularly in lieu of genuinely useful spells, so some care ought to be taken. Fortunately, Whisker has the stamina of a sickly child, so stamina should see some use.

"What was that?!" [Suffers a dizzy spell from standing up too fast.]