Quest For Glory 3: Liaison with the Laibon

Last time we had barely made it into the city of Tarna and had only just begun to take a look around. There's so many people to meet and so little time before I have to make the journey to the Simbani village to the east. The city is comprised of three sections: the upper with the temple, throne room and council chambers; the middle with the inn, the apothecary and Kreesha's house; the lower level has the market.

The conversations with the citizens of Tarna mainly lead me to more quests, after all being on a quest for peace is not enough to keep a true hero busy. The trip to the Temple leads to a call for judgement, but that requires a Gem of the Guardian. The Apothecary needs reagents to help me out, but at least the inn is a place of calm to which I can retreat at night.

The only other place to venture is to the market, but to actually buy anything I'll need to get my money changed. Trouble is, there's a hold-up going on! The thief tries to run off, but a quick "Calm" gets him to stop. Isn't being a Wizard useful? Of course the Liontaur guards are less than pleased about my use of magic, even if they do appreciate my help in apprehending the thief.

A quick trial leaves the thief, Harami, "Honorless". This seems like an easy deal to him, and I get told to keep my magic using to authorised locations (or outside the city). Such minor heroics can't get in the way of a shopping trip, so I return to the marketplace to get some local currency and meet the various traders.

One pair that attracts attention to themselves are the junk dealers, a comedic duo from whom you can buy a tinderbox. Their double-act is a reference to Sandford & Son, a U.S. sitcom itself based on a UK one called Steptoe & Son. I can't hang around with these two jokers, so I also help myself to some food, some beads, and some extra waterskins. Of special extra note is the honey seller, who gives me a hint on how to acquire the feather needed for healing pills, and the Katta woodcarver.

This Katta is related to Shema, one of my Katta friends from the previous two games. Talking to him about Shapeir and giving him a letter from Shema gets me a free leopard carving. I'm sure this will come in handy in future. After giving a few coins to the drummer, I decide to take a bit of time to practice my magic in an appropriate location.

A little trip out of the city helps, and I begin to see the sort of fauna I'll have to deal with during my stay. Giant Ants, Dinosaurs... how much worse can it get? What's worse, neither of these carries anything of value. At least I'm honing my skills (slowly), and thanks to importing my character from a previous game I pack a lot of a punch.

I can't tarry too long, because I have to meet the council and talk about war and peace. After a good nights sleep, I stand before the council and pledge my honour to bring peace to this land. What sort of a hero would I be if I didn't? And with that, our whistle-stop tour heads to the Simbani. The trip takes the best part of two days, with Rakeesh telling me about being a Paladin, and warning me again about my use of magic. It seems everyone here apart from the Leopardmen hates magic, and they're considered enemy number one.

The Simbani have set up a village in the plains for the dry season, but fear the Leopardmen hiding in the jungles to the east. After a quick chat with Uhura, we have a little chat with the Laibon. The ruler of the Simbani has had enough of peace, and is quick to talk about war. He talks about how the Spear of Death has been stolen, and how the Leopardmen can't be trusted. Nothing I say makes much of an impression. It seems actions will have to speak louder than words.

After a grand meal, a final chat with Uhura and Rakeesh, I sleep for the night. In the morning, Rakeesh has gone back to Tarna, and left me seemingly in charge. Well, this isn't my first rodeo, and I know with a little exploration and persistence I'll be unlocking all the secrets this land has to hold, and bring a little peace to the party.

Quest For Glory 3: Wages of War - A Trip to Tarna

My previous posts on Quest For Glory were some time ago now (and I'm not great at keeping on writing on this blog), but it's time for the third part of this epic saga! To recap, our hero, the Hero who saved Spielburg and Shapeir, is now Prince of Shapeir. Our newly acquired title does not affect our ongoing quest to be the best hero we can be though, and after a wonderful introduction which recaps the second game we get our setup for QFG3.

There's trouble brewing in the land of Tarna, where there are talks of war between the Simbani and the mysterious Leopardmen. A peace envoy to seek out the Leopardmen was attacked, and what's more, the leader of the expedition was our friend Rakeesh's daughter. As he is from Tarna, a paladin, and a hero in his own right, he must go back home.

Joining him are Uhura, keen to return to her homeland with the Simbani to raise her son, and of course ourselves, always eager to insert ourselves into a mystery and be a hero. A new land, full of new challenges and experiences awaits. Perhaps somewhere along the way we will save the day, broker peace between warring peoples, discover evils and defeat them and make a bunch of cool new friends.

As before, my personal challenge is to get all my stats to 300 (the max. for this game). I return with a character who has 200 in all stats thanks to my previous work in the past game (having had 100 in all stats in that game because of the first game, you get the picture!). Certain events happen at certain times, but there's plenty of time to practice and make myself a super-hero!

The opening section involves a lot of talking, as we explore the city of Tarna and find out about the various people and places we might be visiting. In three days, Rakeesh and I will head out to visit Uhura at the Simbani village and then things will get a bit more open for me.

My first quests: Talk to absolutely everyone, stick my nose in to other people's business and generally be an adventure game protagonist. As part of this, I'll need to change all my money into the local currency (as is now normal for this series), as well as explore the city and surrounding area. I even have a little present from one of the wizards of Shapeir, although with Keapon Laffin it's more of a gag than a gift, as it explodes in my face.