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!