Fun fun fun! I got all my Kirkus books done, all my baking done, and was just cruisin', so after a day off I went back to my game. At first I was kind of lost. I have a goal to get the dispel barrier spell, which requires me to conquer an Empire outpost (I know where it is from previous games). However, I had accumulated an extremely long list of quests, and there were major places I hadn't visited, so I thought I'd just wander around for awhile and do some minor quests.
I took care of the Rakshisai--magical tiger cats--who, sadly, are enemies (I mean, obviously, I like cats). Their boss actually was a decent fight. I wandered around the rest of the Great Cave because I hadn't been to the edges. Founds lots of equipment dumps (little round piles of soil) that hide some really nifty loot. Visited some areas that are major fights in the previous game but are peaceful, although not always completely welcoming, now.
Wandered into the honeycomb (that is a maze-like collection of tunnels west of Mertis). There is a bandit lair there with a seriously difficult puzzle. There are four entrances. No matter which way you go in, you wind up outside again. One of the entrances has a couple of hidden buttons. That way clearly is going to be the choice, but I'm betting that I'll need to speak with a character somewhere who will give me a clue I'll need to trigger something that will let me through. It's one of the quests for Mertis. The other is the spiral cave. I've finished that except for the final fight, which is behind a barrier I can't as yet dispel.
I went up into giant lands and tackled several giant lairs there. Not difficult fights. I'm supposed to collect three stone icons from them, and I was sure I got all three, but the game says I have only two. Hmmm. I picked one up during a fight, but it seems not to have registered. Either that, or one of the three was not one of the target statues. Well. whenever Jeff has a quest that requires a certain number of items, he usually puts more than the final number into the game. Because I KNOW I picked up three of 'em. So, more exploration will be required into giant territory.
I decided to tackle the ruins of Cotra, which in this game has been destroyed by the Empire and eye beasts. Now then, eye beasts often are toughies. In this game they cast lightening, which is survivable if they get healed up quickly enough. I fought three of 'em, with their accompanying ghosts, and knocked 'em off. Also took care of the large Empire force that was camped out there. Dragged off LOTS of loot! However, the boss eye beast fight was one I just couldn't pull off. Will have to return to that later.
Finally, thought I'd do a seemingly simple quest for lost boats. Ah. I remember this one. It's far from simple. You have to destroy a coven of three witches, and they're all spread out, and they have a whole army of minions to help them. Because you're basically inside the circle, it's difficult to protect your spellcasters. However, I managed to take 'em down, and got some nice loot.
In fact, I now have over 20,000 coins! Yay! But I need to find those upper level spells to buy with all my nice money. I haven't yet made it to Crown Clearance, so parts of the game are still closed off to me. No doubt that's where I'll find the spells I want. For example, Starcap has a hidden lab in Dharmon. I know where it is, but I can't get in yet because of the clearance problem.
Anyway, I just was having so much fun last night that I kept on playing! That's what these games to do me. Complete entertainment. I mean, I don't think I'm learning any true life skills here, but fun is a goal in itself!
I think it's time to go back to the Vahnatai lands. I'm pretty sure I can take out those bandits now.
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