RGR009 - Eastern Influence

As we sailed along the southern shore of the continent, past Baharata and points eastward, we started noticing some similarities between the shape of this world and that of the real world. When we finally reached Jipang, it became certain, so I finally pulled out my map (yes, the game comes with the map, so it's not cheating) to confirm:

The World of Dragon Warrior III

This also brings to light the references to actual locations in the names of towns (like Romaly and Isis), and I think that's just swell. But I digress...

The sun rises where I live too...

Ooh, do you guys have Gundam manga?

Omigosh! A generic boy!

Maybe she'll tell my fortune...

Who? What?

Relax, we'll kill it for you.

What, you think you're special?

Then why don't you move?

The village in Jipang was, as you might expect, in a state of turmoil, as the people are under the constant threat of a many-headed serpent monster called Orochi. Every so often, this beast apparently demands an offering in the form of a girl from the village, or so the people are told by their spiritual leader, a woman named Himiko. It isn't made clear whether Orochi makes this demand directly to the people, or if this is just what Himiko tells them. I honestly don't think she's up to much good.

A girl named Yayoi has just been chosen as the next offering to Orochi, and so the people are all in a state of early mourning (Yayoi herself is in hiding in the village). But we're not about to stand idly by and watch an innocent girl be sacrificed to some mythological Japanese monster, so we've offered to hunt down and destroy the Orochi to bring peace to the village. That's just the kind of guys we are.

The entrance to Orochi's cave is conveniently just a few steps away from the village gates, so we'll be heading out at once. It'll probably take a few trips, since I like to make complete maps of caves and towers. That, and it'll give us a good chance to do some leveling-up.

Jeez, you startled us!

How'd you sneak through?

She doesn't seem very nice.

We're not doing it for her.

And the crow flies at midnight.

So have we. It's called magic.

We're actually nice guys.

No one said it'd be this hot.

Besides, there's a chance Himiko has one of the Orbs, and if we can get her to hand it over to us, that would be awesome.

And maybe she'll stop being so mean if we help the village.

RGR009 - The Village of the Dead

Night had already fallen by the time we reached Tedanki, but it didn't seem to matter to the people there. The shops were open, and everyone was still out and about. We checked out the weapon shop, which had some nice stuff we couldn't afford, and we were given a tip as to the whereabouts of the Final Key, which can open prison doors. But we were a bit low on HP, so we went to the inn and turned in for the night.

I can't say we were prepared for what we woke up to...

Isn't it past your bedtime?

Sounds menacing.

?

Dark gaping hole? Eww.

Oh boy, again with the keys!

I could've sworn you were alive last night...

The town was completely deserted, save for one skeleton where a prisoner stood the night before. And that's when it dawned on us: there wasn't a single person alive in this town. Everyone we had met the night before was a ghost, and they had no idea they were dead. It's kind of like The Sixth Sense, only with everyone instead of just Bruce Willis.

Where... is...

...everyone?

I hear Jipang's nice this time of year. Yeah, I think we'll go there next.

And by next, I mean now. This place is just creeping me out.

RGR009 - I'm on a Boat

With our newly-acquired pepper, we warped back to Portoga and went straight to see the king. He was happy to see... well, maybe not us, but certainly the pepper, and immediately ordered a ship to be given to us. So we set out in our brand new boat, and soon found someone to give us an idea where to go next. We learned of the Cape of Tedanki, as well as directions on how to get to Jipang, which we first heard about at the Shrine of Dhama.

The guy who showed us the way also told us about some sort of magical set of six orbs. If we can gather those orbs, scattered around the world, we'll apparently be able to "travel anywhere without a ship." Sounds to me like we'll be able to fly!

I shall indeed behold.

You ate it by itself? Gross.

I got my broad sword, and my
flippie-floppies...

Ooh, that sounds like a BIG adventure!

I guess that means the ship is really just a stop-gap travel solution, but I don't care. The world is my oyster now!

RGR009 - A Familiar Face

Getting back on track, we made our way to the nearby cave where the kidnappers are said to be hiding out. The cave is confusing, as most of the rooms are identical, but it's really just a big grid, so it's easily mapped. The outer chambers were lined with treasure chests, but some of them were actually Man-Eating Chests, so there was plenty of risk involved in gathering the treasures. We had to make a few trips, since Man-Eating Chests are powerful enough to bring down a full-powered Brindar in one attack, but we were able to collect everything.

The lower level of the cave had one last treasure room, along with a big door. On the other side of the big door, we ran right into the kidnappers, who looked a bit familiar. They asked if we were looking to join them, but weren't about to actually take us in, not that we'd actually want to be part of their gang. When we refused, they started talking like '50s movie gangsters, and that's when it occurred to us who they were.

Fine, let's go where we're supposed to.

I wonder what that could mean...

"Wow?" Don't you mean "Crap?"

I am NOT wearing that.

I think we might be lost.

Hey, have we met before?

That's right; Kandar was behind these kidnappings. I knew it was a bad idea to let him go after we beat him in the Tower of Shanpane. After dispatching his men, we found Tania and Galen (yeah, go figure) locked in separate cells. Luckily, they saw how the cell locks work, and were able to instruct us to go press the obvious button at the end of the hall.

On the way out, though, we found our passage blocked, as Kandar had returned with two of his henchmen. So we had no choice but to fight our way through. Kandar was decked out in a new red/blue/green color scheme, along with increased HP and strength, but he only had the two henchmen, and they were grouped together, so they were easily wiped out. Theron didn't quite manage to survive the fight, but that's like saying the sun rises in the morning.

With the path clear, we returned to Baharata along with Tania and Galen. Everyone was delighted with our heroism, and Galen was so happy that he gave us some pepper for free.

Ah, now I remember.

Do I get my pepper now?

Really? You wanna go again?

Hmm, you look different.

We're letting him go AGAIN?

Sweet, now let's go get our boat!

Now that we've finally got some pepper, it's time to go back to Portoga and pick up that boat the king promised us!

RGR009 - Procrastination Fun

Prone as I am in these games to wander in the wrong direction, we decided to temporarily ignore our current quest (rescuing the kidnapped girl from Baharata, and most likely her boyfriend as well) and do a little exploring. So, based on information we got from someone in town, we headed north into the mountains looking for the Shrine of Dhama, which we've been hearing about for a little while now. The shrine is the only place in the entire world where a person can officially change his or her profession. After trekking for a while through several battles on mountainous terrain (not that terrain affects battles in any way), we came upon what looked from the outside to be a castle. As we went inside, however, we were welcomed to the Shrine of Dhama!

The profession-changing system seems a bit complex; when a person changes professions, they start over at level 1, but with a portion of their original stats retained. So if a soldier becomes a wizard, that wizard is stronger than a "natural" wizard. Likewise, if a wizard becomes a soldier, that soldier retains some MP, as well as all of his or her spells learned up to that point. So it's possible to create hybrid characters with high strength and magical abilities.

But all of that means nothing at the moment, since the guy in the shrine who handles these things won't let us change professions. He says we haven't achieved full soldier/wizard/pilgrim status yet, and a hero can't stop being a hero. Phooey. I guess that means we've got nothing more to do in the shrine for now.

Road trip!

That doesn't look like a shrine...

But I guess it is!

Wow, you're uptight.

Good for you, guys!

You, not so much.

For example?

Keen!

That sounds familiar.

Oh. Yay. A tower.

With its cheap inn and quick access to saving, along with more powerful enemies outside, the shrine will make an excellent level-grinding spot. But for now, we're not done wandering, and so we continued north until we finally reached the edge of a lake. And right next to the water stood yet another tower, called the Tower of Garuna.

Inside the tower, we found people standing, amidst all the dangerous monsters, meditating and waxing philosophical. One of them told us about the Book of Satori, a special book that allows its holder to access a special profession at the shrine called the Sage. Sages are super-magicians who can master the spells of both wizards and pilgrims simultaneously, as well as wield weapons much more powerful than those of the lesser magic users. It sounds interesting, but I find the prospect of starting someone over at level 1 a little scary, so I don't know if I'll be doing it just yet.

As we climbed the tower, we encountered silly obstacles like tightropes and pits, and as the enemies became more powerful, we were eventually overpowered and forced to retreat to the shrine (I'm also a big fan of the Outside spell, which gets you out of dungeons, caves and towers instantly).

A bold color choice!

They're cute, but we're going to die.

Thanks for the tip, Yoda!

We're just here to kill stuff.

Don't the monsters interrupt you?

Life is like a tightrope walk.

Ooh, too many stairs.

This is not a boss. Really.

I think it's safe to say we're a little out of our league up here for now, so I think we'll stifle our wanderlust for the moment and concentrate on finding that girl.