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Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Bonus: Dream Outtakes

Merry Christmas from Classic Let's Play! Here's an outtake video of the various dream sequences from Quest for Glory IV that didn't make it into the playthrough.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 176, 177 and 178: The Rite of Justice, Prelude to the End and Dragon Fire

In Which Our Hero unveils the conspiracy in Silmaria, raids Minos' fortress and witnesses the Dragon of Doom waking; is summoned to darkest combat by the woman he loves; and stands by his friends to defeat the Dragon of Doom, saves Silmaria, becomes King, marries the woman he loves and earns the title Hero of Five Lands.







Marcus goes to sleep and wakes up to the sound of the guard knocking on his door. It's time to set the plan in motion.

Minos attends the ceremony for the Rite of Justice, but Elsa is nowhere to be seen. Marcus and Logos confront Minos, who denies the charges - but the Ring of Truth proves otherwise. Like a petulant child, Minos declares he's going to destroy Silmaria if he can't rule it and teleports away. Marcus boards the kingdom's fastest boat and soon makes landfall at Minos' island fortress. He attacks Marcus-style, but instead of killing everything in sight he Awes the goons away.

A couple of doors stand in Marcus' way, but it's no big deal to smash them down. He's an old hand at that. Inside are more goons and two of those horrible centaur wizards, who are luckily vulnerable to Awe as well. Marcus makes his way upstairs, pausing to kill a particularly troublesome goon, then enters Minos' chamber.

Minos makes a little speech about how Marcus might have made a good King, then orders his paltry guards to attack. Elsa's trapped in a cell; Marcus frees her and the two of them make short work of the guards. Didn't Minos know that Marcus defeated Toro like four games ago?

Minos then decides to kill himself and destroy Silmaria if he can't rule it. He childishly throws himself off the balcony, breaking the Prophecy Stone and freeing the Dragon of Doom in a nicely-rendered cutscene. Elsa says that she has a bad feeling about this.

No kidding.

Marcus and Elsa quickly loot the room, stopping only to kick Minos' dead body (seriously.) Erana then shows up and summons them to battle the Dragon. The Dragon is still bound, but only just. Fenrus summons Toro and Gort to help them fight, and the five friends start attacking the beast.

Marcus distributes healing potions and passes Toro the minotaur axe he took off of Minos' guard. He, Toro and Gort restore the Dragon Pillar in the cave, binding the Dragon to the spot. Then it's time to simply hit it until it dies.

The Dragon eventually breaks free of its bindings and flies around vomiting fire on everyone and making a nuisance of itself. The friends continue to beat on it until it finally gives up and dies - and everyone can breathe a sigh of relief. The Dragon of Doom is defeated, Silmaria is saved and there's a ceremony to attend.

Marcus is faced with a choice: to become King or not. Thinking of the life he wants to share with Erana, who has made Silmaria her new home, Marcus decides to take the crown and retire from adventuring. It's been a long road from his time as a beginning hero in Spielburg, but it's been worth it.

The end credits roll - and that's the end of the Let's Play!

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 173, 174 and 175: The Rite of Peace, Marcus and Erana and Beginning of the End

In Which Our Hero journeys to Atlantis and brokers peace with the Tritons; proposes to a woman who's been with him since the beginning - and she says YES!; and discusses Minos with Elsa again, and hears about the Dragon from the Famous Adventurer.





We find Marcus swimming underwater in front of the gates to Atlantis. A little mojo with the magic spear and the gates open; Marcus is instantly attacked by two Tritons. Rather than fighting, he uses his Awe ability to scare them off and swims inside. Once in, he follows the Famous Adventurer's advice to find a couple of secret panels, bypassing and Awe-ing several guards along the way. Then he swims right into the Queen's chambers and discusses peace with Hippolyta.

She hears Marcus out and his Paladin promises resonate with her, so she agrees to a peace treaty, offering Marcus a statue as a symbol of the act. He swims back to the surface and flies back to Marete, but not before stopping off to see Erana.

Before Logos concludes the Rite of Peace, Dr. Praetorus and Gort stand accused of cheating and drugging the Wizards of Silmaria. Praetorus doesn't protest, but goes on a tirade about poppycock (where have we heard that before?) and eventually turns into Dr. Mobius in a strange twist of fate that no one, not even the game's writers, probably saw coming.

Now the game becomes about resolving plot lines before the finale. First, to the apothecary, where Marcus hears about how the Lethe water has cured the Wizards. Nice work. Marcus also stocks up on a bunch of potions, which really makes you wonder where the hell he's keeping all this stuff he's carrying around.

Next, back to Erana's island. Marcus talks with her some more and makes his feelings for her known. He gets down on one knee and presents her with a ring - and Erana says yes. A love across the ages, through all five Quest for Glory games, comes to a happy conclusion. And hey, it's not like it's Marcus' first marriage anyway.

Then it's off to the Dead Parrot Inn, where a rather-smug looking Ferrari takes the Tritons' peace statue in exchange for the deed to Ann's inn. What Ferrari is planning with that statue is anyone's guess - but at least we helped Ann, and she is extremely grateful.

Elsa comes for another visit that evening, where she lays out her plans for proving Minos' guilt. It sounds solid, but Elsa's putting herself in grave danger. Hope she's OK.

Next morning, Marcus heads out to the Famous Adventurer's Correspondence School and speaks to the FA one last time. FA tells Marcus about the Dragon of Doom, which is a far bigger and nastier monster than the little dragonlets Marcus has seen or encountered before.

Marcus kills a bit of time before nightfall and on his walk back to the Inn is trapped by a man in a black cloak. It's the assassin - who turns out to be none other than Bruno, the old thief from Spielburg. What the hell? During the battle Marcus kills Bruno but is stabbed by a poison dagger. Luckily Toro witnesses the whole thing and gets Marcus some much-needed help.

When he wakes, Marcus talks to Logos about how to approach Minos. It is agreed to lay a trap, inviting Minos to the Hall of Kings and using the Ring of Truth on him.

There's no turning back now.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 171 and 172: A Midnight Meeting and Drugs and Dancing

In Which Our Hero learns from Elsa whom she believes is behind the problems in Silmaria; and discovers who drugged the Wizards and engages in some casual crossdressing.





After talking with Erana for a while (and doing a little behind-the-scenes grinding to get his vitality back up to at least early Shadows of Darkness levels), Marcus heads back to Silmaria and crashes at the Inn. Elsa wakes him in the middle of the night to talk to him about her suspicions regarding who is responsible for the problems. She points the finger at Minos, her sponsor, but has no real proof. Guess we'll need to be on the lookout.

Next morning Marcus has a sudden inkling to buy a magic spear, and then discusses Atlantis at length with the Famous Adventurer, who helpfully reveals the sunken city's location and some tricks for getting around once inside. Now all we're missing is some scuba equipment.

Marcus decides to pay Science Island one last visit. But hey, something really strange is going on. It seems Dr. Praetorus admits to being the one who drugged the wizards! A damning confession if ever there was one.

The next step on this disjointed adventure is walking into a trap. Gnome Ann confronts Marcus when he comes in that night and asks him if he'll do her a favor, without telling him what it is. He agrees - what is a Paladin to do? - and finds himself dressed as a woman, performing a belly dance.

Welp.

Next morning, though, it's down to serious business as Marcus takes his balloon and flies to Atlantis, where he discovers an ancient-looking sewer tunnel that may or may not lead to the lost city. We'll find out next time...

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 169 and 170: The Rite of Courage and Courting Erana

In Which Our Hero gets Styx water and must make two very difficult choices, and completes the Rite of Courage and begins courting Erana.





Marcus starts this video quite literally on the highway to Hell - or more appropriately, a highway in Hell. Too bad he needed to take the low way - so there's a little backtracking so he can dip an amphorae into the Styx and grab some water, along with taking the last step to create the Ring of Truth.

After that, it's back to the high way and the Guardian of the Underworld, who informs Marcus that there are two trapped souls who sense his presence and wish to be with him. It's none other than Erana and Katrina, and Marcus can choose to give one of these souls rest and send the other to Oblivion. He chooses Erana. Marcus is then given another choice: to bring Erana back to life, at the cost of his own (or at least, part of it.) Marcus chooses to bring Erana back, and is brutally beaten by two spirits until he passes out. He wakes up with half the vitality with which he started, and Erana tells him that she'll be waiting.

It's time to get the Hell out of Hell. Marcus backtracks until he finds himself aboveground once more, and the gates of Hell close behind him.

Marcus stands around dumbfounded, then activates his mystic magnets back to his room. It's late. Next morning, he's off to the apothecary where he proudly delivers the Lethe water in an awkwardly-acted conversation with Salim. Then it's off to the Hall of Kings where Marcus is declared the winner of the Rite of Courage.

The next Rite should come as no surprise: Marcus is to broker peace between the Tritons of Atlantis and the people of Silmaria. Hey, remember when this was called Quest for Glory 3? Yeah.

After receiving this Rite, Marcus visits Erana and showers her with gifts and affection. She seems somehow distant though, so the key to her heart might be a little more complex than Marcus first thinks...

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 167 and 168: Preparing to Go Down and Marcus Goes To Hell

In Which Our Hero readies himself for a journey into the Underworld, and goes to Hell.





Before we go to Hell, we're going to have to do a little research and prep work. First we warp back to our room and notice a very suspicious-looking box of chocolates sitting on the chair. Hmm. They have a funny smell, too. Maybe Salim would be interested in these?

We hustle them over to the apothecary and hand them to Salim, explaining they are not in fact for 'the munchies.' (Actual in-game quote.) Then Marcus has to waste a little time until the next day. So he goes to sleep.

Back at the apothecary, Salim has used the Black Lotus flower to upgrade Marcus' poison cure pills. He picks up a few more just in case - you never know when they might come in handy.

Marrak's gyros have been going down really well, and Marcus grabs a few more for the road. He also has a stunning premonition that he might need a pepperoni pizza, so he picks one of those up as well.

It's the off to the FACS where FA fills Marcus in on some of the lore of the Underworld; sounds like bribing Cerberus might be our ticket in. After that - to the Dragon Pillar and the gates to Hell.

It really doesn't look much like the gates to Hell, that is until Marcus befouls the water of the stream, recites some ancient cursing poetry and wakes up after the entire landscape has become a blasted wasteland. So far so good. Cerberus lumbers out to meet Marcus and they carry on quite the conversation before Marcus starts with the bribes, which include Chocolate, a Gyro and a Pizza (huh, what a coincidence!) Then it's into the bowels of Hell itself.

Hell looks a lot like it did in Monkey Island, and Marcus does some ghostbusting along the way. It's a lot of 'run down this path, kill ghosts, keep going' until he emerges in front of the River Lethe and scoops up some water to take back to Salim. The he misses the Styx by a mile, so we'll have to come back in the next video... before going even deeper into the burning lake of fire. Or something.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 165 and 166: Dance of the Dryads and The Rite of Destiny

In Which Our Hero gets down in a grove of trees, with some trees; and learns about his future from someone other than a gypsy fortune teller.





We start off running back to tell Wolfie the good news about the balloon. He's thrilled that it actually works and says he wants to give it a spin someday. Why not; he's the inspiration after all.

Marcus swings by the Hippocrene stream to get some more water, which the Famous Adventurer said might be useful in dealing with the Dryads. And a good thing too, since it's just a hop, skip and jump to the next island where Marcus finds the Dryad grove. He waters each of the trees in turn and is then treated to a four-minute cutscene in which he gets funky.

Also on this island is the Oracle he seeks. Floating in a pool near her shrine is a Black Lotus. At the very least it's a valuable card, so he picks it up and puts it away for later. There's a pillar in front of the shrine as well which contains an interesting bit of rhyme. Might come in handy for later.

Then the Oracle (Sibyl) speaks after Marcus drops some gold in her pool as payment. She tells Marcus about his destiny: that he will have to walk through death itself to save the kingdom, and a lot of other metaphorical stuff. It all relates to the next three Rites and the endgame. He leaves not sure if he got his money's worth, but he does have a sigil to show for his troubles. It's a short flight back to the Inn where Marcus catches a few hours of shut-eye.

Next morning, the Inn has... changed. Wolfie's sitting there looking very proud of himself, and the Inn looks like a bunch of Photoshop filters threw up all over a coloring book. Well, it's an.. improvement of sorts.

On his way to the Hall of Kings, Marcus stops by Salim and Julanar's place and learns the Shakra too has been drugged just like Erasmus. Two drugged Wizards. Curious. He gives Salim the Black Lotus, and learns that he needs to seek the waters of the river Lethe - which if memory serves, is somewhere in the Underworld.

Logos is duly impressed that Marcus completed this Rite (was it really that hard? What was Elsa up to while we were running around building a balloon - she has a ship for God's sake.) The next Rite: journey into the Underworld (hey, great timing!) and bring back some Styx water. Not the band, the river.

Guess next time we're going to have to go to Hell.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 163 and 164: Elsa's A Winner and The Balloon

In Which Our Hero does something nice for Elsa and starts making a balloon; and constructs a flying machine.





Back in Marcus' room, he tucks in for the night and is woken the next morning by the city guards. It's time to go to the Hall of Kings.

Elsa stands before Logos and wins the Rite of Valor, although Marcus is named as a kind of co-winner for helping her out. Logos then lays out the next Rite: to journey to Delos and speak to the oracle about destiny. Sounds fun. The main problem is: how the hell do we get to Delos?

With the Icarus wings well and truly busted, it's time to take some alternate opinions. Wolfie talks about flying, and he's got a really nifty painting of a balloon he saw once. Hmm. I wonder if we could make the same?

Marcus shows the painting to Marrak, who agrees to sell Marcus his spare brazier. Marcus then sets off to find some other elements for his puzzle, but not before stopping by Pholus' stall to sell a few unneeded items.

After that it's the Famous Adventurer's place, where Marcus hears about Delos and the Oracle - and more interestingly, the Dryads who also live there. We'll have to stop by and say 'hello.'

Next step: a bag for the balloon. Ann happens to have a sheet that might work, and she's so happy that we helped her with the seeds (and gave her a lead on Wolfie painting the Inn) that she agrees to sew the sheet.

After that, Marcus takes a well-deserved rest, then journeys to Science Island where he fishes the gondola out of the ocean. Applying the various pieces to it results in a workable hot air balloon. Pretty cool! The world is now our oyster - or at least this part of it.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 161 and 162: The Rite of Valor and Drugs and Dragon's Blood

In Which Our Hero defeats the Hydra with a little help from an old friend, and graciously lets her win the Rite; and learns Erasmus has been drugged and begins making the Ring of Truth.





We pick up outside of the Hydra's cave, where Marcus is preparing for combat. He picks up his pre-combat sludge, draws his sword, horses around for a while, and then runs up to the Hydra and starts stabbing it repeatedly. He chops a head off before someone unexpected shows up: Elsa. She offers to help, and Marcus watches as the head he just removed regrows.

Maybe some help isn't a bad idea.

With Marcus on offense and Elsa on point, the two return to the Hydra, systematically chopping off heads and burning the stumps. It's a slog but the beast is eventually vanquished. Marcus runs up and pulls the teeth out of its ugly mug. Elsa protests: what is her reward for helping with this process?

Marcus thinks about this for a second, and then does the right thing and gives Elsa the Hydra's teeth.

A quick search of the cave reveals some good loot, which Elsa takes a part of and vanishes. Marcus loots around and goes back to his room with the Mystic Magnet, then heads to the apothecary to sell some loot. Julanar and Salim tell him a bit about Rakeesh's poisoning, then inform him that Erasmus has been drugged - although it's different from the poison. That's strange.

Marcus sells them the Hydra's scales, which they can use to make fireproofing potion. That will come in very handy, very quickly.

It's off to Shakra's to sell the spell, then off to roam around the island and the Dragon's Cave. Here, in a boiling pool of lava, Marcus dips Justinian's Ring to begin creating the Ring of Truth (yeah, remember that?) And it's back to the inn, where he tells Ann that Ferrari isn't playing - yet. But everyone has their weak spots. Even Signor Ferrari.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 159 and 160: Gnome Ann's Blues and Icarus' Wings

In Which Our Hero learns that Ann paid far too much for the Inn and flies like a bird.





This next Rite is going to be a doozy. No matter who we talk to, they all agree on one thing: getting to Hydra is going to be the hard part. I suppose that's a good thing...

Talking to Ann, we learn that she owes a lot of money to someone for the Inn. Who? None other than Ferrari, our old 'friend.' Very interesting. We'll try to help her of course, but Ferrari being Ferrari we might as well be hitting our head against a wall.

We do however have two very interesting conversations with Pholus and the Famous Adventurer. We're reminded of stories of the hero Icarus, who built a pair of wings. I wonder if we could do the same?

In fact - we can. Marcus gets some beeswax, and then makes his way to science island (after a brief interlude where Ferrari confirms that he is, in fact, a complete asshole.) We make ourselves a pair of Icarus wings with the wooden frames on the wall, take off and arrive safely on Hydra. Well, mostly safely - we have to kill a beast that can't be killed. But we'll take care of that next time...

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 157 and 158: The Rite Of Conquest and Murder Most Foul

In Which Our Hero ahem, kicks a lot of ass and saves his friend's life, and learns of another assassination.





Alright you've waited patiently while Marcus has namby-pambied around. He's brokered peace deals, he's refused to fight or kill his opponents. No longer.

Marcus starts on the shores of the mercenary village. He looks around, calmly draws his sword, and runs at them presumably yelling something extremely badass. Like Lancelot at a wedding he cuts through wave after wave of mercenary invaders, leaving a stack of corpses in his wake.

Finally a centaur wizard appears, and Marcus demonstrates that his lessons with Uhura and Yesufu didn't go to waste as he turns the wizard into a living pincushion with some spears. That's what it takes to get Claudius to show up, and Marcus walks up to him and plants Piotyr's sword in his midsection repeatedly until Claudius will no longer trouble Silmaria ever again.

Then it's a teleport back to his room, collapse into bed, and an early start before it's off to the marketplace. The first stop is the healers to stock up on some much-needed supplies after the little fracas. After that it's off to Pholus and Shakra to ditch the weapons and magical items. Then up to the Hall of Kings, where Marcus proudly presents Claudius' shield.

Of course Marcus wins this Rite as well, and Logos announces that Magnum Opus has been killed offscreen. We're down to three contestants now. Logos then lays out the next Rite: to journey to the island of Hydra and kill the beast that gives the island its name. That's right, we get to kill a Hydra! Awesome!

Rakeesh isn't too keen on it though; he insists that this is an unimportant diversion. He then gets a sense of danger, and Marcus ducks only for a poisoned dagger to hit Rakeesh in the chest. Marcus thinks quickly and gives Rakeesh a poison cure pill, but even that may not be enough to save his old friend. It's a dark time in Silmaria...

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 155 and 156: Overachiever and Come Sail Away

In Which Our Hero wins not only his Rite of Freedom challenge but those of every other contestant, and sells more loot and goes for a sail.





We're getting close now, so it's time to crank this baby up to two videos per update.

We open with Marcus taking a trip to the apothecary, where he restocks his pills for the trip ahead. And it's a good thing too; he's going to need them. Then he runs to the Hall of Kings and tosses the stack of sigils at the guards. The little overachiever then wins the Rite of Freedom easily and handily. Yup, it's good to be Marcus.

The next rite is the Rite of Conquest - Marcus must find the fortress of the Hesparian mercenaries and their leader General Claudius and return with his shield. He speaks at length to Rakeesh about the situation, and learns that Claudius is a ruthless and cunning strategist. Well, that's OK. Marcus has killed more ruthless and cunning strategists before. Khaveen thought he was pretty hot shit too once.

Marcus sells off the rest of his stuff he doesn't need, then charters Andre's boat to take him to Syfnos, where the mercenary base is rumored to be. After a little sailing around trying to find the right pixel, Marcus makes landfall just after dusk and prepares to launch an all-out frontal assault on the mercenary fortress.

Things are about to get bloody!

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 154: The Rite of Freedom

In Which Our Hero frees the last of the five villages.



We find Marcus after a bit of offscreen action where he took care of liberating the other three villages. At the start of this video, he's standing in front of Naxos, night has fallen, he's laden down with loot and ready to kick some more ass.

He runs in Marcus style, hacking and slashing his way through mountains of enemies until he makes his way to the boss house where he makes quick work of the mercenaries inside before grabbing the last sigil and liberating the final fishing village from the clutches of the invaders.

Booyah!

Marcus then swings by the dragon pillar outside of Silmaria. Bad news: Kokeeno is there dead, lying facedown in a pool of his own blood (and without any good loot.) Worse news: the dragon pillar is cracked. I'm guessing that's definitely not a good thing.

Marcus runs back to Silmaria and tells the city guard about Kokeeno's death. They promise to recover the body and investigate. Then Marcus starts the long, arduous and profitable process of selling the giant mountain of loot he's acquired and depositing it in the bank.

A hero's life is hard sometimes.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 153: Viva La Revolution

In Which Our Hero frees the first of the five villages.



After speaking to Andre about his desire to become a healer, it makes sense to go speak quickly with Julanar about it - which Marcus does. She's happy to have the help and says she'll take Andre on as an apprentice, which we run back to Andre and discuss with him. Somehow he knows faster than we do, but hey, that's fine. Honor for us, and the last of our pre-Rites quests are done.

Now for an all-important question: how many people want to kick some ass?? Marcus runs to the first village and sizes up the situation: lots of enemies. All armed. All dangerous. Time to come up with a plan?

Nah. Draw sword, rush in and start fucking shit up. The Marcus way!

A bloody struggle later and the first village has been liberated.

There will be three more off-screen liberations and we'll pick up with the last village in the next update!

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 152: The Rites of Rulership

In Which Our Hero enters the Rites of Rulership to become King of Silmaria.



It's a sunny, beautiful Silmarian day. The birds are singing. The world is a stunningly rendered 640x480. You know what? It's time to become a King.

Marcus takes a nice leisurely walk to the bank, where he transfers a good deal of his loot into the royal treasury to compete in... The Rites of Rulership! Then he ambles up to the Hall of Kings where the official kicking-off ceremony takes place. He meets the other competitors: a lovely German lass named Elsa Von Spielburg, whom Marcus already knows; Kokeeno the guard; Gort the, um, Gort; and Magnum Opus, the Roman. Magnum may have one of the best names in the game, lame as it may be. Together they make five contenders for the throne!

Their first quest, they discover, is to liberate the fishing villages around Silmaria from the Hesparian mercenary invaders. Marcus draws Naxos, a small village to the south. First one back with their village's sigil is the winner. Of course there's nothing preventing Marcus from liberating those other villages while he's at it. And there's probably some good loot in them...

That's for next update.

First, Marcus visits his new friend Andre, who confides in Marcus that he's not happy being a fisherman. He'd rather be a Healer in fact. Marcus scratches his rock-hard noggin for a moment and thinks, hey, I know a Healer!

And we'll pick up there next time!

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 151: The Arena

In Which Our Hero wins his first battle in the Arena.



We kick off this video with Marcus delivering the Pepperoni and Jalapeno pizza to Dr. Mobius, then taking off for his big night: his debut in the Arena. He arrives and a very helpful guard tells him to 'go fight.' Kokeeno, the local champion, wishes Marcus well. Good thing Kokeeno is a good sport.

The fight is over barely after it begins. Ferrari introduces both Kokeenu and Marcus, and they draw and have at it. It takes Marcus about five blows to put Kokeeno on the ground, and a nice bit of money is now his for the taking. Nice work, Marcus.

The rest of the video is the standard go-to-the-inn-and-sleep-and-eat sequence, because tomorrow (and the next update) Marcus begins the Rites of Rulership - to become King of Silmaria!

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 150: Pizza to Go

In Which Our Hero makes and delivers a pair of pies.



We're back! Marcus sets off on his new quest: to make some pizzas. First, the ingredients. Dr. Praetorius wants an anchovy and artichoke pizza, and Dr. Mobius wants Pepperoni and Jalapeno. Where to find those?

Anchovies are easy enough: the fisherman uses them as bait and is happy to share. Jalapenos are a little less intuitive. Remember those big red peppers hanging in Salim and Julanar's shop? Yeah, me neither, but that's where the Jalapenos are. Except you can't click just anywhere - there's only one bunch that lets you pick a pepper. And so we do.

Ingredients in hand, we order two fresh pizzas from the Katta food-seller and return to Science Island. Dr. Praetorius is extremely grateful for our services - which is good, because we'll need to be in his good graces soon enough. While we're here, Marcus stops to take a brief science test and qualifies as a full lab assistant. Hey, good for him.

Next time we'll deliver that other pizza and kick some ass in the arena.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 149: Two Doctors and a Sailor

In Which Our Hero speaks to two scientists and checks in on a reformed Arestes.



In the next installment of Quest for Pizza, err quest for Science, err Quest for Glory we find Marcus poking around science island looking at all the fun toys he'll eventually be able to use: a crane, a really bitchin' slide, and Gort who the good doctor refers to as 'equipment.' Not very nice of him.

We then kill a little time to meet the night watch on Science Island, a guy named Dr. Mobius who is much less nice than the good Dr. Praetorus. We listen to his bitching about the peasantry and ignorance and take down his pizza order, because we have to kiss his ass somehow.

By that point it's late so we head back to the Inn, passing a forlorn-looking Arestes on the way. The sailor has his arm back thanks to Julanar (and our help) and explains that he's being let out of jail to pay off his debt to society through work rather than rotting away in a cell. Another good deed done for Marcus.

Then a whole new day dawns where Marcus will get to play delivery boy and kick some ass in the area - next time.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 148: Science Island

In Which Our Hero passes a test to gain access to Science Island.



Reasonably fast update this time. Marcus grills the Famous Adventurer, who is a hundred times more lively now that he's had the Hippocrene Water but not terribly helpful. He'd rather sing and dance and talk about this new book he's writing, the 'Quest for Glory Story.' Too bad there isn't a dialogue option to tell him you like 'Hero's Quest' better. Or that you expect some royalty money!

Marcus then returns to Science Island where he hunts the correct pixel to make the cart work. On the island, he passes a simple 'scientific' test to gain entry to the labs, where he meets one Dr. Praetorus, the chief researcher on Science Island. Praetorus expounds at length about science and pizza, but luckily we only need to listen to this drivel once.

We're getting close to kicking off the Rites - just a couple of other little quests to go! Woohoo!

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 147: Arestes' Arrest

In Which Our Hero convinces Arestes to turn himself in, is rewarded handsomely, sells some feathers and revives the Famous Adventurer.



We pick up right in the middle of the conversation with Arestes, where Marcus' golden tongue convinces the sailor that turning himself in is better than the alternative - facing an angry Erasmus. Luckily vague threats of magical violence work and Arestes goes quietly, armed (heh) with the loot, all of which is accounted for. Marcus is rewarded handsomely for it: 2000 drachmas, more than enough to cover the entrance fees for the Rites of Rulership and cover any other expenses he might have in Silmaria again. At least it beats grinding for gold.

Marcus then speaks with Arestes, who tells him that the prospects for a one-armed sailor are pretty slim and that's why he's taken up a life of crime. If only he could get his arm back! Well, Marcus was on his way to Salim and Julanar's place anyway, so he asks Julanar about the possibility - and she seems to think regrowing his arm is completely plausible. Cool, good deed done. Salim buys the Pegasus feathers and Marcus scores some Stamina pills for later.

One last stop as we tick off quests: the FACS. Famous Adventurer is his usual morose self until Marcus produces some Hippocrene Water, which perks FA up right away. So much in fact that he gives Marcus a magical helmet, which should help protect his pretty noggin against the blows that are about to come.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 146: The Pegasus

In Which Our Hero finds the legendary winged horse.



Alright, Marcus is starting to get a little bit of wanderlust. He's been in Silmaria just a little too long. Good for him: this means he can start to get some of these quests out of the way. Luckily, we can easily kill two birds with one stone and still be back in time for supper.

Marcus sets off across Marete to an icon shaped like a white horse. I wonder what's in there? First of all, it's the Hippocrene Stream, which the Famous Adventurer would like to drink from one last time. Glad we brought an amphorae along to catch some water. Yum.

Second is a climb up to the plateau and a little Indiana Jones-style swinging to get to the top - and a giant pile of Pegasus feathers. This should be enough for Salim. Marcus grabs a couple (dozen) and uses the Mystic Magnets to get back to town.

The day isn't over yet though - off to the Dead Parrot, where we watch Arestes, the one-armed sailor, take off. One arm huh? Marcus follows closely behind and watched Arestes disappear into a hidden door - then follows him in and confronts him.

Sorry for the strange break in the action, but we'll grab the second half of this exciting saga next time.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 145: The Bank Job

In Which Our Hero investigates a bank robbery.



We're back, and in explosive style! Marcus beats a hasty retreat from the Science Island Pixel Hunt failure and sets off to the marketplace. On a hunch, he stops by the bank where Sam the Banker Man informs him that the impossible has happened - the bank has been robbed! The robber was apparently too busy to notice that he left his toolkit lying in the middle of the bank's floor, so Marcus picks it up and takes it to Shakra for identification.

Shakra says he can't do anything with it, but that Erasmus might be able to help. So it's off to Nob Hill and the teleporting hat which brings us to Erasmus' gorgeous, VGA front door. Inside, Erasmus and Fenrus shoot the shit with Marcus for a while, telling their usual jokes and generally being great comic relief. Erasmus casts a spell on the toolbox and reveals that the previous owner is obsessed with his hand, or his arm, or something. Something about hands. Hmm...

Erasmus also mentions that an item was stolen from his house - that someone actually made it past the cloud guardian and took a stone he was studying, and that it probably has some connection to Atlantis. Sounds like something we should keep our eyes peeled for...

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 143 and 144: A Big Basket and Pegasus Quest

In Which Our Hero returns a basket, gives a cat some flowers and enters the arena; and gets a new quest and tries to make it to Science Island.





After the basket fight (heh) Marcus isn't too keen on getting into another scrap with some monsters, so it's back to town and quickly. There, Marcus gives Sarra the basket and receives his reward: another version of the necklace he bought earlier. Sigh. Maybe he can find someone who appreciates jewelry?

Then it's down to the docks (after giving the young Katta some flowers - aren't we sweet?) Marcus needs to go back to the FACS but it's already closed. Everything closes early in Silmaria, which is strange for a resort town. The Dead Parrot is open for business though, so Marcus nips inside and takes a gander at the arena roster. Rather than betting on someone else, he enters himself on Day 5. Mayhaps we can bet on ourselves later then.

Something strange is afoot in the Dead Parrot. There's this dude in a black cloak in the corner, doing his best Strider impression. But this is no ranger: our danger sense is tingling and he's as silent as the grave. Hmm...

Marcus turns in, gets a delightful good night and good morning from Gnome Ann, and is then back in the saddle the next morning. There's a new guy down at the docks: a friendly young sailor named Andre, who says that he is the only fisherman left in Silmaria and that he's willing to take us to other islands. I bet that's going to come in useful very shortly.

On to the FACS. Our favorite morose friend is whining about being old, and mentions how he'd like to taste the waters of the Hippocrene stream again. Hey, if it will shut him up, why not.

Then Marcus heads off to solve the puzzle of science island. Oddly enough, he's stopped not by his lack of brains (hurr) but his lack of throwing - or that I aimed for the wrong place. Either way, we'll get to science island later.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 142: Fightin' Goons

In Which Our Hero receives a king's ring and takes out a bunch of goons. LOL goons.



Right, that Ring of Truth. The first component is right around the corner in the Hall of Kings. As Rakeesh promised, Logos is expecting us. And somehow Rakeesh has managed to teleport there first. How did he manage that?? It is a mystery.

Logos takes a little convincing but he finally gives up the Ring of Justinian, which we shall reforge into our Ring of Truth after jumping through some other hoops.

Now on to some quests! Some of which may actually involve glory! Remember the quest board? Something about a lost basket? That's the easy (ha) quest so we'll do it first.

Outside of Silmaria Marcus wanders around Marete, looking for a likely beach. While he's wandering he's beset by four Goons - fat ugly people with green skin and long hair. He draws his sword, fights and...

Dies??

Luckily we saved. Whew. A slightly different approach to combat is required here, so Marcus is more cautious on his second go-round and manages to handily defeat the Goons. Then he takes a quick dip in the ocean before swimming back to shore and grabbing the basket, which is where next video picks up.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 141: The Ring of Truth

In Which Our Hero discusses Truth with Rakeesh and plants with some hippies.



Ah Silmaria. A lovely city populated mostly by characters from other Quest for Glory games. This update, we'll spend a lot of time with three such characters.

Marcus starts this movie in the Apothecary with Salim and Julanar. Salim is very, ahem, laid back, but Julanar.. she needs a new scriptwriter. The actress does the best she can but the original material isn't all that great to begin with. Kind of sad.

They talk about how Salim went to Shapeir and met Julanar by camping out in the desert and giving her 'hugs.' Marcus smiles and nods politely, buys some pills and then heads off to Nob Hill to meet Rakeesh.

Rakeesh wants to give Marcus Soulforge, but Marcus has Piotyr's sword so there's no need. Rakeesh also gives Marcus the Katta's pin back, which is pretty cool even if it doesn't really serve a purpose in this game. He then explains to Marcus a little more about the situation in Silmaria and about something called the Ring of Truth, a glorified lie detector that will help Marcus and Rakeesh figure out what the hell is going on here. Lucky us!

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 140: A Hero's Homecoming

In Which Our Hero visits his Alma Mater.



This video opens with one of my least favorite parts of playing any game: running around killing time to get to a timed event. I don't understand why some game designers insist on including painful stuff like this. Timed events I get. But give me a way to skip to them!

Anyway - after running around and getting a nice preview look at Science Island, Marcus finally makes it into the Famous Adventurer's Correspondence School and finds Famous Adventurer - or FA - himself. Who turns out to be slightly less enthusiastic than the literature might lead one to believe. In fact, are there even any other graduates of this school? Is this guy even famous? Does he have a real name? At least we have his autograph and a book about how to swim, which Marcus reads (looks at the pictures) and picks up a new skill from.

Then it's back to the marketplace and specifically the bank to introduce ourselves to the banker, who looks hauntingly familiar. Maybe it's the way he talks about old heroes being forced to work as beggars. Maybe it's his admitting to meeting Marcus in Spielburg. Yes, Sam the Banker Man (ugh) is none other than the beggar Marcus gave money to way back in one of the first updates in this Let's Play. Guess he did pretty well for himself, huh?

After checking out the bank it's on to the last building we haven't been in: the apothecary. Speaking of old characters, here's Salim from Tarna and.. a very human-looking and American-sounding Julanar. We'll talk to them more next update.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 139: Shady Characters

In Which Our Hero is reintroduced to some 'friends' from his past.



Kicking things off in the Dead Parrot Inn again, Marcus chats up Nawar, who explains the Wheel of Fortune and, um, well, lays it on a little thick again. Really thick. Thick and throbbing and..

Sorry.

Marcus then takes a little stroll around the Inn. Who is sitting in the corner but his old 'friend' Signor Ferrari, and his business associate Ugarte. Ferrari recognizes Marcus as well, and the two have a long 'conversation' about things in Silmaria. Seems like Ferrari didn't take kindly to how Zayishah decided to start running things in Raseir after she took over and quietly left town to set up shop here. He claims to be 'highly influential,' but how influential is that? Influential enough to engineer an assassination so that his little criminal empire might flourish? An interesting question, that.

Marcus then chats with Ugarte a bit, who instead of selling water claims to be selling rumors and secrets. Some things never change, it seems. We'll make a mental note of that for later.

Then it's off to the Inn for a bit of jumping on the bed, some sleep and some really really really awful puns courtesy of Ann. At least it's free to sleep there...

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 138: The Rest of Town

In Which Our Hero meets two very interesting young ladies.



Back in the marketplace, Marrak goes on a bit (OK, a lot) more about Silmaria, his family, and his homeland. How is lovely old Raseir? Turns out it's got a new ruler - none other than Zayishah, the hottie we traded clothes with so many years ago. It seems like forever actually. She's doing pretty well for herself. I wonder if she'd like to meet the King of Silmaria?

Moving along to the magic shop Marcus is introduced to Shakra, a new character - and Rakeesh's son. Shakra's a special kind of liontaur since he's the only male to practice magic, because magic is a woman's art. I also don't notice any female liontaurs around Shakra's shop. Hmm... At any rate, Sharka has the mystic magnets, which will prove to be one of the most useful items in the game. So Marcus picks up a pair.

Right anyway, by this time the marketplace is starting to shut down so it's off to the Dead Parrot where Marcus meets Budar and Nawar, two charming if slightly... over the top young ladies. Marcus has never been to a strip club before and hasn't been on the receiving end of the hard sell, but he seems to enjoy himself. Note: it's not a strip club in the game, just way over-the-top innuendo. Also enjoy the dialogue written for the thief character.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 137: Adventure Island

In Which Our Hero meets Toro, who he once killed. Or at least put on death's door. Good thing bygones are bygones!



This update contains three conversations of varying writing quality and informational value. For the first, we join Marcus in the adventurer's guild, where he works out a bit and meets the guildmaster who turns out to be none other than Toro, the minotaur Marcus nearly killed (he was just, um, unconscious) in Hero's Quest. Chatting with Toro for a bit, we learn he came to Silmaria with Elsa and was given the job of guildmaster. Apparently there's also some rich man following Elsa around and Barnard is now the 'Boss' of Spielburg, which makes Marcus wonder what happened to the Baron.

When he's done Marcus heads outside for his second conversation with Pholus, the centaur weaponsmith. Pholus is bad all around: bad attitude, badly written dialogue, bad voice acting. If you can ignore him, do it. Seriously it's painful.

The Marcus comes full circle back to the marketplace (missing the Famous Adventurer's Correspondence School, which we'll do in the future - doh!) to talk to Marrak, the Katta food merchant. Marrak may actually be the most helpful and unbiased character Marcus has spoken to so far, and he gives Marcus some good information about the city - but nothing we didn't already know.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 136: Wolfie and Ann

In Which Our Hero takes a stroll around Silmaria's marketplace.



Silmaria's marketplace is truly a diverse place. You have stereotypes from all over the world! Take Wolfie for example: a Punjabi dog who works so much he can't spend the money he makes! Quite funny!

Seriously though, our video starts out with Marcus discussing the specifics of Silmaria with Wolfie, a Canine merchant who sounds a bit like Apu from the Simpsons. He is also willing to part with some amphorae and a map, for a price. That's fine because we'll need both of those things later.

Next up on our list is Gnome Ann's Inn, where Erasmus booked our room. Gnome Ann seems nice enough and fairly low key for a gnome, all things considering. Didn't Punny Bones say he was on his way here? I wonder where he ended up? Ann gives us the key to our room and tells us the basics: breakfast every morning (a Gnome-cooked meal! HA!) and the door closes at midnight. Fair enough, Marcus is typically an early-to-bed, early-to-rise kind of guy anyway.

After the Inn, it's on to the guild where Marcus reads the guestbook. The last person here - Elsa Von Spielburg. Fascinating. I wonder if she remembers Marcus? She will now - he signs the log with a flourish, and we'll pick up there next time.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 135: The Obligatory Shopping Trip

In Which Our Hero begins the traditional trip around the marketplace.



The first half of this video is Marcus chatting with Logos and Rakeesh about what's going on in Silmaria. Most of this is just backgrounder and flavor information, but there's some pretty important points: the assassin not only took out the king, but some common unnamed merchant by the docks. The assassin's MO: a poisoned dagger. We shall have to be on our guard.

Outside of the Hall of Kings there's a good old quest board, which Marcus gives the once-over. It seems the people of Silmaria are not above advertising for the job of king in the classified ads. You know, maybe we shouldn't rule this country. The adventuring life is kind of fun anyway, and it's only been, what, a few months of time since we first arrived in Spielburg.

Then it's off to the marketplace, where we meet a Katta! Hooray! She doesn't give Marcus as much of a discount as one might think when looking over her wares, but she does have a really really nice ring that would look good on a lady's hand. A kind of, say, engagement ring...

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 134: Arrival in Silmaria

In Which Our Hero talks to Erasmus and is introduced to the 640x480, pre-rendered, 256-color world of Silmaria.



We join Marcus in his new adventure on the Title screen, where we import him to Silmaria flawlessly. He's a trooper like that. You'll note right off there are some big differences here: a couple of stats are missing, Parry and Dodge have been rolled into one stat, and it's just using rounded numbers from the end of Quest for Glory IV rather than Marcus' exact stats. In fact, all it seems to have actually imported was his name and class... but that's OK. We won't tell.

The mechanical bits aside, Marcus finds himself on the other end of Erasmus' teleportation spell, which happens to be Erasmus' living room, which he, um, swims around in for a while. Erasmus fills Marcus in on the situation in Silmaria: an unknown assassin has taken out the old king, and a contest called the Rites of Rulership is about to begin for the throne. He called Marcus here to take part in the Rites... but there are some vague references to something a little darker going on as well.

After this introduction, Marcus is zapped to Silmaria where he wanders around Nob Hill, the upper part of the city. There's a giant Arena here for gladiatorial contests (hmmm!) and the Hall of Kings, which we enter and report for duty. Our old pal Rakeesh is inside along with a fellow named Logos, a centaur and speaker for the Court. Logos fills Marcus in on what the Rites of Rulership will actually entail - not the least of which is a large sum of money - before Marcus starts pumping him for information.

The video kind of cuts off in the middle of the dialogue because I ran out of time, but we'll pick up there next vid.

Hope you guys enjoy yourselves some Dragon Fire!

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 133: Dragon Fire Intro

Voiceovers! 3D graphics! A guy who sounds a little like Sean Connery! It must be the Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire intro!

Legends tell of a Dragon that once ravaged the land of Silmaria, a peaceful Mediterranean island kingdom. The Dragon was defeated and imprisoned, but not destroyed. Five dragon pillars were erected with powerful magic to keep the dragon imprisoned, but if the pillars were broken the spell would weaken and the dragon would fly again.

The old King of Silmaria, who narrates this intro movie, is brutally assassinated - and there is blood on the dragon pillars once more.

This is going to be a job for a Hero. Too bad they got Marcus!

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 130, 131 and 132: Victory From Defeat, Hero of Mordavia and QG4 End Credits

In Which Our Hero defeats Ad Avis once and for all, is saved by a woman who loves him, and finally meets Erana; and becomes Hero of Four Lands, and is summoned to the fifth by an old friend.









Who knew the end of the road would be in a dank, dark cave? Actually if you've played fantasy games before, you probably know that's exactly how many roads end.

I digress.

The Dark One's cave: there's no where else to go but up. Good thing we've got this rope and grapnel. A quick toss and a climb later and we're standing in what could only be described as Avoozl's brain, with a large piece of crystal, Ad Avis and Katrina. There is one final ritual, which we recite.

Katrina starts bragging to Ad Avis about her triumph. He casts a spell at Marcus. She casts one back at him, breaking his bonds. They fight for a while, and Marcus hangs on for dear life. Finally Ad Avis casts a powerful spell at Marcus, Katrina teleports in front of him to save him, and Avoozl.. well.. he eats her. No better way to say it. Chomps her down like a $0.49 Taco Bell bean burrito.

Marcus climbs up as Ad Avis gloats. Just as he's ready to destroy Marcus, we do the only thing we can to delay it: crack the Ultimate Joke. It works, and Marcus tosses Erana's staff through Ad Avis' chest - killing him. The staff then breaks Erana from her prison. She tells Marcus she loves him and they will be together.

After that, it's all downhill. The usual Hero Ceremony stuff (a 'party' in the castle.. sheesh) where Marcus gets a message from none other than Erasmus, who summons him to Silmaria for his next adventure - and the next game!!

The end credits are just a quick bit that plays after you save your Hero for import, so you can enjoy those too. The music and art is kind of nifty.

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 129: Awakening Avoozl

In Which Our Hero summons a Dark One. Oops.






We're close now. So close we can almost smell it - literally. Marcus starts off in the Breath Chamber, where he reads the ritual and its instructions for performing a little ditty on the altar/organ. Marcus gets it right the first time (which is good, since he'd be croaked if he didn't) and after another adventure in pixel-hunting is back in the main chamber. One last sphincter (heh) is pulsating. We step through and into..

Nothing.

At least that's what it appears to be. We wouldn't know. Marcus has completely lost his senses. Not in a 'he needs to spend some time in a padded room' sort of way, but in a 'he can't smell, taste, hear, touch, or see' sort of way. A brief wander around the room brings the senses back, and Marcus reads the appropriate ritual. And then leaves by the way he came.

There is one last ritual left - the Heart Ritual. Standing in this rounded chamber with its four stone valves, it becomes obvious what needs to be done. Soon Avoozl's evil stone heart is beating, and Marcus steps forward towards the altar - and his destiny.

Which we'll cover in the next update, when we complete Quest for Glory 4. See you then!

Quest for Glory Epic Let's Play Part 128: The Summoning Rituals

In Which Our Hero finds himself temporarily working for the wrong side.



So this is it. Helping Katrina and Ad Avis to summon Avoozl and cover the world in Darkness. At least a hero's life is never dull, eh?

We join Marcus in the Dark One's cave. There's a glowing, pulsing sphincter (heh) to his right, which he enters - and he's back in the bone chamber where we started the game. It's time to start the rituals.

The bone ritual isn't so bad: just light the torches, chant a few lines and then break out of the bone cage when it snaps shut around us. Marcus smash indeed.

The next chamber is the blood room. There's a lot of platforms which means pixel-hunting and hopping around, and after pricking our finger (really, is this such a good idea?) the chamber fills with a vile liquid that is.. yup. Avoozl's blood. Gross.

Back to the middle and on to the breath chamber, which is where we pick up next time.

Pay particular attention to John Rhys-Davies' awesome narration in the ending bit. He certainly hams it up but still manages to keep things within the realm of the game - no mean feat. You never get the sense that he's just doing it for a paycheck (and I'd like to think he was having fun with it!)

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 126 and 127: Ad Avis Redux and the Shadows of Darkness

In Which Our Hero meets an old enemy and meets Katrina for real, gets smacked around a little, and defeats a really ugly monster.







Katrina called and it's time to answer. Her note said to meet her outside of the castle at dusk, so we'd better go see what she wants. After all, we don't want to piss off a vampire wizard any more than we already have.

Except, what's this? It's not Katrina at all! Ad Avis! Hey, we killed you once (sorry!) and we can do it again! Oh GOD please not the hounds.

Marcus wakes up in Katrina's dungeon - not the first time he's ended up in the slammer thanks to Ad Avis. Prick. Luckily the chains aren't hard for MARCUS SMASH to break and after grabbing a handy wooden stake and listening to some goons, Marcus locates the secret passage out of the dungeon which dumps him right at..

Katrina's bedroom.

Oh my.

She looks so peaceful when she's passed out and her hair isn't flying everywhere. Too bad that doesn't last, as Marcus hesitates Katrina wakes up and it's back to the dungeon where Dominatrix Katrina whips Marcus and smacks him around for a while until he is Geas-ed to locate the five lost rituals. Well, they aren't lost, because we already did that - so he can just turn around and go back inside.

Then it's off to the Dark One's cave, where we're going to summon Avoozl - but not before Marcus goes toe-to-toe with the pit horror, which turns out to be the last remaining Borgov. Talk about ugly inbred nobility...

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 124 and 125: Punny's Last Show and Last Day

In Which Our Hero attends a fine comedy show and enjoys his last morning in Mordavia Town.







"What do you know about show business?"

"There's no business like it. No business I know."

Ah, showbiz. The glitz and glam of being up on stage and having people pay attention to you. If you're a gnome then it's pretty much the beginning and end of your existence. So it's understandable that Punny Bones wants to do one last show in Mordavia before he moves on. Who wouldn't want these rubes laughing at his jokes?

Punny's in rare form, and his act takes up most of the first video along with the townsfolk's reactions to it. Marcus also pays a visit to Boris, who talks about snuggling with Olga again at night. Good deed done.

Marcus drop in on Piotyr too, who tells him that the way to greater light is to travel the path of Darkness. Very interesting advice. Perhaps the meaning will become more clear soon.

The next morning Marcus gets a note from Katrina asking him to meet her at the castle gate. They have much to discuss. Yeah, like why she's an undead freakshow with giant 1988 hair. There really isn't a hell of a lot to do but wait at this point, so Marcus kicks back and chills - and the next series of videos will be the climax.

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 122 and 123: Mordavian Hero and Marcus' Fourth Fortune

In Which Our Hero is celebrated throughout Mordavia and learns more about his fortune.







There's nothing like the morning after a long night. Marcus stops for some hangover chow (garlic breakfast) with the Innkeeper and his wife, and talks to Tanya a little more. It seems like she's going to be OK.

Then it's time for the daily rounds: the burgomeister wants to congratulate Marcus, and even Olga has something nice to say. Of course, a hero can't let his muscles go to waste, so there's a workout session and an appointment with Dr. Cranium, where we discuss Silmaria.. sounds like such a nice place!

After that, Marcus hustles across the valley to the gypsy camp where his final fortune is read. It is about yet another of the women in his life... there sure seem to be a lot of them, but hardly any, ahem, reward for dealing with them.

Everywhere there are warnings that rescuing Tanya may have angered someone greatly. We'll see how this all plays out...

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 120 and 121: Tanya and Toby and Toby's Sacrifice

In Which Our Hero meets the Innkeeper's daughter and witnesses true sacrifice.







It isn't the finale of the series, or even the game, but this scene is possibly the best-written and most moving in all of Quest for Glory. As such, there isn't a lot of commentary here: I'll let it speak for itself for the most part.

Marcus is back in the castle, basically looting the place. There are a couple of chests, one of which is guarded by a wraith, so there's some fun interior combat. Then Marcus eventually finds what he came for: Tanya, the inkeeper's daughter. She's, um, different.

OK, she's a vampire. And she's guarded by a massive monster.

Showing her the doll from the Domovoi warms her up to Marcus a bit and we're finally able to get her side of the story: overprotective parents and an Aunt Trina who seems to have kidnapped her and kept her as her own child.

Katrina's kind of fucked up, huh?

Marcus then tells Tanya that there's a way to restore her to life: Erana's Staff and the Destiny Spell. He tells her what it entails, and Toby says he understands.

It's off to the Staff, where Toby makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Tanya.

And that's where we pick up next time.

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 118 and 119: Marcus' Third Fortune and Castle Borgov

In Which Our Hero learns a little more about his future and breaks into the castle.







The first video in this update covers Marcus' third fortune, where he learns about the mystery woman from the previous visions. She's a magic user, powerful but interested in more power. Her plans are grandiose but will ultimately fail - which may be good, because they are somehow linked to the Dark One as well. Who is this woman?

Marcus also hears about the Destiny Spell - something Erana's staff still contains. It is said that the staff has the power to bring the dead back to life, and that a loved one will bring a dead person before the staff to trade his (or her) life for the dead person's. Apparently no one has taken the staff up on the offer though, as it still stands in the center of town.

Then Marcus rests up for his big night ahead, then goes to the cemetery where he, ahem, enters the Borgov family crypt. A brief and obvious puzzle later and he's in the castle, where he is privy to a very interesting conversation between someone with crazy hair and..

Oh no...

Can it be?

Ad Avis.

That must be the foreigner in the funny hat.

Shit just got real, yo.

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 116 and 117: A Fine Morning and Hit Me Baba One More Time

In Which Our Hero enjoys the last normal morning in Mordavia and runs into Baba Yaga one last time.







This, ladies and gentlemen, is it: the beginning of the Quest for Glory IV endgame. The first video is really quite normal: it's the last real normal morning Marcus will have in Mordavia. He starts off with brekkie, talks to Bella and Yuri for a bit, then heads out to chat with Dmitri about Piotyr and being a Paladin. Igor has a few graveyard humor jokes too. It's on to the guild for a workout, on to Dr. Cranium's for some pills, and back to Dmitri to tell him about Nikolai. That's it.

There are a couple of loose ends to start wrapping up, the first being the final ritual we need to collect. The one hidden in the Hangman's Tree. Guess who's hanging on to it. Yup. So we get to visit our onetime foe one last time. She's far more cordial this time (probably because she isn't dead-set on having Marcus with a side of cordial), even taking the time to explain the Dark One situation in plain English. Or common, whatever it is.

That's where we leave off. Next time, we've got a fortune, then we're sneaking into Castle Borgov to start the final pieces of the game.

Until then...

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 114 and 115: Bella and The New Quest

In Which Our Hero meets Bella and gives Punny his sensahuma back and he learns what happened to the Innkeeper's daughter.







These next two updates take place almost entirely in the Inn. Marcus climbs over the gate and Piotyr's ghost stops him again, this time to tell him about helping the grieving mother. He also mentions that Erana's staff may have some magic in it yet. Sounds like a hero-ish sort of job.

At the Inn, Marcus takes some time to talk to the locals before sitting down to have a meal. He is approached by a 'new' character, Bella, who up until now has taken a nonspeaking supporting role in the game. She seems to want to talk to Marcus about something, but can't quite say it, and Yuri isn't helping. Her accent also shifts around like a broken clutch.

Marcus bids her adieu and goes upstairs to meet Punny, who is understandably glad to have his humor back. He cracks a few jokes, goes on about dwarves for a bit, then tells Marcus something that may be very useful: The Ultimate Joke. And it's not even an aristocrats set-up.

Staying up late we meet up with the Domovoi, who tells Marcus a story about - yup - a grieving mother. Bella and Yuri once had a daughter, Tanya, who was taken away in the night. Yuri and Bella tried to protect Tanya, but when a mysterious and nice doll showed up from an unknown benefactor they took the doll away and locked it up. The Domovoi says that a big, friendly monster befriended Tanya, and that one night, Tanya was taken out of the house and now lives at the castle.

Looks like we may have to find that secret passage.

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 112 and 113: Marcus' Second Fortune and Freeing the Rusalka

In Which Our Hero learns more about his future and defeats Janos' wraith, frees the Rusalka, gets a little action for his troubles and meets the OTHER girl he likes. What a night!







This update contains one of the most memorable scenes in any Quest for Glory game, and it's only available to the Paladin: freeing the Rusalka.

But first, Marcus starts at the gyspy camp, where Magda tells his fortune. This one is about the man from the original fortune: someone who was once powerful, but is now an angry thrall to a Master. A powerful magic user. I wonder who that could be.

After the reading, Marcus fights a couple of monsters and waits for darkness to fall, which isn't long. Then he heads to the graveyard, combines the Rusalka's hair with the hand broom and sweeps Janos' grave with it. Janos isn't too happy at being disturbed, and it's a bitter fight but Marcus prevails. Barely.

Now it's off to the lake, where Marcus must perform one last task to free Elyssa: give her what she desires, which is a kiss. It's a touching scene. He kisses her, and she disappears, free at last.

Back to town where Marcus meets the other woman in his life. Katrina's waiting for him outside the gates. She flirts a little and tells him very little actual information, except that she lives in the castle and shes afraid of her parents finding out about her and Marcus. Which is where we leave off for next time.

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Parts 110 and 111: Elderberry Pie and Good Humor Bar

In Which Our Hero bakes Baba Yaga a pie and escapes from Baba's clutches with a new sensahuma.







Marcus starts off this series with a set of stunning deaths in the swamp. One of them is mere seconds after I decided to be smart and save, which just goes to show the old adage of adventure games: SAVE OFTEN.

Out of the swamp and it's time to make Baba's pie. We've already got the first ingredient and the second one is right around the corner, so we pick up yet another vial of Grue Goo. Next stop: the Elderberry Bush. It's a bush. With eyes. And tentacles. A veritable Cthulhu bush it is.

It's not hard to get the berries. A couple of well-thrown rocks knock a branch off, and our Monkey Island item acts as a fine bait. Bam, the berries are ours. We've got ourselves a pie.

Back at Babas, we mix the berries, goo and bonemeal together (after remembering where we left it and figuring out how to get it out.) The pie is cooked by the skulls and it's off to present it to Baba.

She's happy to take it, after a brief bout as a hedgehog we're happy to give it and get the hell out of there.

The second video is a little short, as the next update will have another fortune, which is long.