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 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 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 104 and 105: The Bad Touch and Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

In Which Our Hero burns down a building and meets the gypsies. Is nice!








It is a beautiful Mordavian morning. The sun is out, the birds are singing, the Burgomeister is jolly, and the evil monastery is still standing. But not for long...

After doing Marcus' morning routine, we break into the monastery and find the Bad Place Domovoi that the Hotel's Domovoi told us about last night. With an application of Dr. Cranium's Rehydration Solution the Domovoi comes back to life and (presumably) gets the hell out of Dodge. Which is good, because Marcus is feeling a little left out of the action. So he takes a torch to the monastery and burns the building down.

We quietly slip out of town with no one the wiser (actually, we tell Dmitri about the evil inside and that it had to be done), and make our way to the gypsy camp where we meet Davy and Magda, the fortuneteller. The gypsies tell Marcus a little about themselves and the valley, most of which we already knew but it's helping to put some things in context for the last part of the game.

More importantly, she tells Marcus how to free the Rusalka so we can finally get Piotyr off our ass about it.

The second video is almost a cut scene unto itself (as the fortune-telling well be next video) so there's relatively little in the way of commentary there.

Next time: Marcus' fortune is read, and we come face to face with our oldest enemy.

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Parts Ninety-Eight and Ninety-Nine: Marcus' Pledge and Redeeming Piotyr

In Which Our Hero pledges to help save an innocent man and teaches the Burgomeister what it means to be a Hero.








Picking up where we left off, we walk into the Burgomeister's office and pump him for information about this gypsy business. It seems that the gypsy was just wandering outside of town and happened to be there when people were looking for Igor. So naturally, they brought him in, locked him up and want to burn him. Reason is lost on the mob so unless someone can prove the gypsy's innocence - figure out what happened to Igor - this guy's going to burn for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The second video covers Marcus telling the Burgomeister about finding Piotyr's sword, the battle with the wraith and the ghost in the town square. It turns out that Piotyr was suspected of abandoning Dmitri's grandmother and this sword proves he didn't, that he was killed in battle instead. Dmitri is impressed, so much so that he gives Marcus Piotyr's Paladin shield as well (woohoo!) and tells Marcus that his faith in Heroes and Paladins is restored.

All in a day's work!

The rest of the video is Marcus' morning routine, talking to Olga, looking for Igor, and finally going to Nikolai and telling him about the ghost we saw in the forest. Before we can stop him, he runs off to find her.

Oops.

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Part Eighty-Nine: Boris and Olga

In Which Our Hero starts doing a good deed for extra credit.





This video covers two things: the daily visit to Doctor Cranium and his funny if somewhat repetitive expositions on science, and a trip to the castle to begin reuniting Boris and Olga. Doctor Cranium tells us about something new he's working on: a rehydration solution. Sounds useful. Good thing we have this book of scientific formulae here to help him remember how it went.

Then at the castle, Boris tells us how much Olga used to nag him and how that nagging drove him away. Hmm. It's going to be hard work getting these two back together.

Next video there will be much more action, two new locations and an old, err, friend. I promise.

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Part Eighty-Eight: The Domovoi

In Which Our Hero meets a very ugly house spirit.





Another update that's mostly talking. Marcus kicks off by staying up late, coming down to the Inn's common room after everyone else has gone to sleep. There he meets a strange creature called the Domovoi, a Slavic house spirit. The Domovoi is very sad and says that dark times have befallen Mordavia and the Inn in particular. He gets a little dodgy about details, but says we can speak more later. Fair enough.

The next morning Marcus goes to the store where he tells Olga about Boris. Yes, Boris is her 'departed' husband. It seems he didn't leave this plane of existence, or even this town: he just moved to the castle. Interesting.

After chatting with Olga about this and that, Marcus heads to the Adventurer's Guild for a workout, which is getting 'too easy.' And that's where we pick up next time.

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Part Eighty-Five: Bonsai!

In Which Our Hero gets gooey and saves a tree.





We kick off by bilking the good doctor for a healing and poison cure potion, which we'll need son enough. Then Marcus swings by the adventurer's guild for his morning workout on the stair-stepper before leaving town.

Now then, the Leshy gave us this bush-goo quest. Remember that delicate bonsai tree we saw on the way in? That's our destination. Marcus sizes up the situation, grabs some rocks, and breaks the barrier holding the tree with his elite throwing skills. That spear contest in Tarna paid off.

Now to take the Bush back to the Leshy. Marcus gets a little distracted on the way and finds Erana's Garden - where he could plant the bush now, but he wouldn't get full points. So next time, we take it to the Leshy and will return to the Garden to plant it.

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Part Seventy-Six: Some Backstory

In Which Our Hero learns of the Paladin Piotyr and the battle against the Chernovy Cult.





The last couple of updates have danced around the backstory a bit. This one has it in spades.

Marcus is still in the Guild, where he takes a gander at the logbook. The recent entries talk about the Paladin Piotyr and his struggles against the Dark One or Chernovy cult. The cult has been operating out of a cave, which he and Erana lead an army to attack. The cultists turned into horrible monsters and Erana seems to have died in the cave while trying to banish - something - to - somewhere. Piotyr seems to have made it back to Mordavia to tell the story, and mentions that he is going to go in search of various Dark One rituals and destroy them. That's the last entry.

It seems that perhaps we have a Quest.

We do a little light reading, learning the Climb skill among other things and then buff up on the stairstepper. There's still more of the town to explore, so we're off and find an old man called Nikolai wandering around, looking for someone named 'Anna.' He's in front of a building that belongs to one Dr. Cranium, where we solve (after a little difficulty) a very simple puzzle and gain entry. The inside looks like a wonderous place full of cunning marvels - which we will explore in further detail in the next update.

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Part Seventy-Five: The Locals

In Which Our Hero meets a farmer and an elephant-herder, and breaks the glass because it's an emergency.





We start off at the Inn where we pump the Innkeeper for information, which consists largely of 'avoid trouble' and 'dangers at night.' So the same old song and dance really. It sounds a bit like a scam to drum up business at his Inn if you ask me.

Then we question the three locals sitting at the table, a pumpkin farmer, a garlic farmer and an elephant herder. These guys will be providing some much-needed comic relief throughout the game. Note there was an audio bug right before Ivan's intro which caused me to skip past it, so I've pasted it above.

These guys aren't very helpful (yet) so it's on to the adventurer's guild, stopping quickly to talk to Igor, the town gravedigger. He may have a funny accent and a comically deformed body but he's got a great sense of humor! Really.

The adventurer's guild is a sad, deserted place. One thing catches Marcus' attention: a fine sword in a glass case on the wall. "Break Glass in Emergencies" the plaque reads. Well, if being stuck in Mordavia without my equipment doesn't qualify as an emergency, I don't know what does!

Quest For Glory Epic Let's Play Part Seventy-Three: Mordavia Town

In Which Our Hero finds the town of Mordavia and meets the friendly locals.





We pick up in the swamp and make a run through the nighttime Mordavian forest to the town of Mordavia itself. Marcus has a quick poke around the outside and then walks in, much to the surprise of Dmitri, the Burgomeister.

Most of the rest of the video is Marcus' conversation with Dmitri, which is a bit lengthy but sets up part of the story for this game. Listening to the dialogue does make the game more interesting (and the subtitles slightly less distracting) but takes a little longer - so I anticipate there will be more updates for Shadows of Darkness than the other games.

At any rate, enjoy!