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2/23/2015

Spoony Plays Ultima VII: The Black Gate, Part 6

We visit the destroyed island of Skara Brae and get a bit more than we bargained for...




Mysteries Solved


  • We now have an idea of what the Guardian is and what his ultimate goals are- namely, he's a conqueror who has his sights on Britannia and is manipulating the people (via the Fellowship) to prepare for his arrival.
  • The Time Lord was the one who called the Avatar to Britannia in an attempt to foil the Guardian's plans.  He was imprisoned in the Shrine of Spirituality by the Guardian, and we ended up in Trinsic after his moongate went awry.

Stuff Done Off-Camera

There's a hidden secret in Skara Brae to point out.  Head to the graveyard, specifically the statue just west of the crypt.  On the left side of the statue you'll be able to just barely spot a switch...


Flip that switch and a door will open in the side of the crypt, revealing naught but a nightstand.  Inside, however...


...You will locate several magical rings, a Death Scythe, and a full set of magic armor, as well as several plot-relevant items for Skara Brae.  Namely the Soul Cage, Rowena's wedding ring and the fully-mixed potion you need to destroy Horance the Lich. Using these messes up the plot sequence and can potentially disrupt some story flags, hence why I didn't show it off during the video.  Definitely worth burgling once you've completed the story events in Skara Brae though.  (If you don't have the Forge of Virtue add-on or simply choose not to complete it, the Death Scythe makes a fine weapon for the Avatar!)



We'll do New Magincia's lone sidequest too.  Might as well since we never really visit there again.


Speak to Henry in his house on the south end of town to learn that he has lost a locket he wanted to give to Constance.  He gives us a clue, saying that he remembers having it until he spoke to "three strangers."


Wouldn't you know it, the three strangers he speaks of are three pirates who have been stranded here since their ship wrecked (its maker was our old friend Owen).  They usually hang out just north of Henry's house.  Speak to their leader, Robin, and he'll mention that he came across a locket, but misplaced it.  Speak to his comrade Battles to learn that the last time he saw it was at the local pub, the Modest Damsel.


Visit the pub and speak to Boris about the locket (you may have to pay off Dupre's tab first).  He confesses to having taken the locket, but finds it missing from his hiding place in the bar.  Ask his wife, Magnenta, about it, and tell her the story.  She will return it to you.  Now you can return it to Henry for 25 experience and his gratitude (and if Constance is onscreen at the time, some reconciliation between them).


Speaking to Robin after getting the locket back (but before returning it to Henry) reveals a more sinister plot on his part - he had stolen the locket in an attempt to win over Constance so that he could sell her as a slave once he returned to Buccaneer's Den.  He'll try to threaten you into giving him your ship after revealing this; refuse and he and his men will attack you.

(Incidentally, if you agree to ferry him to Buccaneer's Den, he'll try to murder you anyway, so the end result is the same.)



Serpent's Hold also has two quests for us to undertake.


You may have noticed that one of the statues outside of the Hold has been defaced.  Talk to Lord John Paul about it and agree to search for the vandal.  He'll point you toward Denton, so be sure to speak to him first.  Then talk to Richter to get some stone chips, and talk to Leigh to discover that the chips to discover that the blood on them is gargoyle blood.


That points us to Horffe (the only Gargoyle on the island), who claims that he was injured protecting the statue from the vandal.  Next, speak to Lady Tory (who will have another quest for you, but we'll get to that shortly).  She'll tell you to speak to Sir Jordan.


Jordan claims he heard a woman's scream during the night in question, believing it to be Lady Jehanne.  Speak to her to finally figure out who the culprit is.



Finally, speak to Pendaran and he will confess, then report back to John Paul for 50 experience and his gratitude.





Lady Tory has another quest for you as well.  Her child Riky was stolen from her by harpies who have made off for the Shrine of Honor.  Teleport to Trinsic, seek them out (at coordinates 151 South by 9 West) and slay them, then return Riky to Tory for 25 exp and her gratitude.




Remember those coordinates the parrots mention when you whack them with a gavel?  Following them will put you at a small island just off the northwest coast of Serpent's Hold which contains quite a bit of neat swag.  This includes about 500 gold coins, a Lightning Whip, some magic rings, boots and gauntlets, as well as some gold bars, serpent venom and two glass swords.  Not bad at all!

(Note that the invisible caltrops just inside the entrance are marked as "owned" property, so your comrades will complain about you moving them and may leave if you fiddle with them too much.  Of course, you can always just set them in your backpack first to make them "your" property and then move them around as much as you like...)



You may also be asking about two very prominent locks in Serpent's Hold - Namely a mysterious locked chest in the meeting hall and the door to the armory that contains several awesome magical weapons.


For the armory door, search the up-facing fish in the kitchen (it will read "body" when you click it) to find a key.  Take this key to coordinates 177 South by 36 East to locate a cave (it's on the south end of Serpent's Hold, but you need a ship to reach it).  Follow the linear path around the lake inside to find two dead bodies and a chest.  Unlock that chest with the key you found to find another key.


 Now you can return to the armory and help yourself to those weapons if you're feeling unvirtuous today (the Magebane in particular is quite handy against magically inclined enemies, and the Juggernaut Hammer is a powerful ranged weapon).

As for the chest in the meeting hall, travel to 48 North by 138 East (far northeast of Vesper) to find a big "X" with a chest in the middle (and two glass swords nearby).




(If you're wondering what the Guardian is saying when you get here, it's "I am the Pagan Lord!" played backwards.)

Root through all the garbage to find the key, then take it back to Serpent's Hold and unlock the chest to find...



...A small handful of spellcasting reagents.  Well, that's a disappointing payoff to such an obscure puzzle.


There is also another key buried under some clothes in a west room of Serpent's Hold, but I have no idea what (if anything) it unlocks...



On the way to finding the X, you may also discover a small fort with some continually respawning pirates.  (You may also get put here if you take a wrong teleporter in Dungeon Despise.) Inside is a locked chest.


The key can be found under a bucket on the shore just east of the hut here.  Inside is some gold and lockpicks.  Not much, but it's something.

2/20/2015

Spoony Plays Illusion of Gaia, Part 6 (Finale)

The Pyramids, the Tower of Babel and the most pointless optional dungeon and boss in video game history await us!

2/15/2015

Spoony Plays Illusion of Gaia, Part 5

After a trip to Wonderland, Neil resolves to reform the Rolek company as we take a trip to An(g)kor Wat.

2/10/2015

Spoony Plays Ultima VII: The Black Gate, Part 5

In which we fruitlessly attempt to find Liz and Abe for a while, then give up on that and decide to advance the plot a bit.



Mysteries Solved
  • Nastassia's father Julius was revered as a hero among the Emps and saved many of their lives, dying of smoke inhalation in the process.
Stuff done off-camera

Lots of it this time.  We learned what became of Nastassia's father from the Emps, and we might as well do the Vesper and Terfin stuff since there's no real reason for us to visit there again.  Yew also has a couple of small quests in store, and since we're in that general area...

First of all, here's the payoff for returning to Nastassia with news of her father's fate.


That also earns everyone in your party 25 experience.

There are two small subplots to deal with in Vesper as well.


Talking to the tavern owner will earn you some info about Blorn, an avid Gargoyle hater.  Talk to him about it and he'll state that one of them, Lap-Lem attacked him.


Confront Lap-Lem in the Vesper mines about the incident and he'll state that just the opposite happened, and Blorn stole something from him.  Return to Blorn and ask him to return the amulet, which he (reluctantly) will.  Return it to Lap-Lem for a bit of experience.


Speaking to Yvella reveals that she suspects her daughter is visiting the Gargoyles every day at noon.  Following up on that (by visiting For-Lem's house) will reveal it to be true, with Catherine asking you to keep her secret.  If you don't, her father, Cador, will murder For-Lem.

On the other hand, if you speak to Cador at the tavern and tell him you are the Avatar, he'll attack you instead.  So the only happy outcome to this scenario is to not finish it...

There is one small subplot in Terfin as well.


Speak to Teregus at the shrines and he'll say that there are rumors that someone is planning to destroy them.  Do some investigation at Sarpling's house to find a note, then confront him about it to reveal that he's being blackmailed by Runeb of the Fellowship.  Return to Teregus with the evidence and he'll ask you to confront Runeb.


Runeb will then attack.  Quan has no involvement in the plot, though, suggesting that he's simply unaware that the Fellowship isn't really on the level...

As for Yew...


At Empath Abbey you'll find a monk named Kreg, claiming that he wants an invisibility potion for research purposes.  However, the other two monks in the abbey deny that they have a third member and have no knowledge of the vow of silence he speaks of.


Checking the courthouse's records reveals that Kreg is just an alias for a thief named Kellin.  Confront him with this knowledge and he will attack you.



Speaking to Reyna at the healer's will cause her to tell you the story of her mother and her grave nearby.  Speak to Aimi at the abbey and buy some flowers, telling her they're for Reyna's mother, then give them to Reyna.  In exchange for this, you'll get 45 experience and she'll only charge half price for her healing services.  Neat.

And finally, a little optional thing that can be handy if you have bad luck with lockpicking.


On a small island west of Trinsic at 109 South by 28 west, you can find this little shack. Inside is a large golden key.  This is the "skeleton key" so to speak; it will open any chest or door that does not require a specific key.  Useful.


2/03/2015

Spoony Plays Illusion of Gaia, Part 4

Great wall of China? Sure, why not.

2/01/2015

Spoony Plays Ultima VII: The Black Gate, Part 4

We join the Fellowship, draft Dupre and then do the Isle of Fire thing.




Mysteries to solve
  • No new ones this time

Mysteries Solved
  • The Isle of Fire has risen again due to the machinations of one Erethian, who planned to return Exodus' spirit to Britannia.  Thankfully we stopped his plans...

Stuff done off-camera


As mentioned before, you're supposed to find a Serpentine Dagger at the murder scene in Minoc.  If it doesn't show up owing to a bug, you can still trigger this event by picking one up off the table (or anywhere, really) and talking to De Snel.  He'll state that the murder scene dagger was stolen and deny any further knowledge, though he will try to goad you into accepting a "demonstration" from him.  If you do that, he'll attack (and you can kill him without any repercussions).



There's also another quest in Minoc that we can take part in, that being of Sprellic's dilemma.




If you talk to him, you learn that he was conned (by the impostor Avatar) into taking the Honor Flag of the Library of Scars, and that its students have all challenged him to a duel to the death to avenge this insult.  If you agree to help him, there are two ways to resolve the quest.




The first is to visit Kliftin at his shop and tell him Sprellic's story.  He'll agree to make a replacement flag and tell you to return in a few hours.  Come back roughly three hours later and he'll have completed it; just turn that in to Syria at the Library and the three will call off the duel.

The other option is to duke it out.  Talk to the fighters and tell them you've agreed to become Sprellic's champion, then show up at noon in the town square the next day and have at it.  Optionally, you can also place a bet on Sprellic at the bar, then cash in your vouchers for a sizable amount of money once you've won.



I also went ahead and got some training and extra armor, and marked two stones for Serpent's Hold and Buccaneer's Den.


Buccaneer's Den is home to probably the most famous exploit in Ultima VII - that being the gambling hall.  Once you're a member of the Fellowship, the odds on the games here drastically tip in your favor, paying out 6-to-1 on the Rat Race and 14-to-1 on the Virtue Wheel.  This means you can bet on every lane/square on the games and still make money.


So effectively, you can come in with as few as four coins and leave with a small fortune.  I wouldn't recommend getting too much cash though, as that can cause the game to run out of memory and crash back to DOS.  Capping it at about 3000 and coming back when you need more (not a problem if you have a marked stone) is generally pretty safe.



And as a bonus, here's a hidden secret in the game.



On a small island north of Jhelom, you can find an area that looks like this.  Walk left into the mountain to find a hidden room with lots of gold and a few other goodies.  The key to the chest in here is found in the desk.