Vital Statistics

Published by Sierra On-Line, Inc. Developed by Sierra On-Line, Inc. Released in 1990

Credits

Executive Producer: Ken Williams Creative Director: William R. Davis Sr. Producer: Guruka Singh Khalsa Game Designers: Lori Ann Cole, Corey Cole Art Designer: Kenn Nishiuye Lead Programmer: Robert Fischbach Composers: Mark Seibert, Chris Braymen

Trial by Fire is the sequel to Hero's Quest: So You Want To Be A Hero. It takes place in the town Shapeir and the desert surrounding it, in a Middle East-like environment. It seems that the powerful elemental spirits have been troubling the Shapeir folk recently. Something, or someone, is behind those troubles. It is the hero's task to find out what is going on, get acquainted with the many inhabitants of Shapeir, and prove once more that he is worthy of his heroic title. Like its predecessor, Trial by Fire is a hybrid game that incorporates elements from adventure and role-playing genres. It has a text-based interface, puzzles to solve, inventory items, characters to talk to, as well as pure RPG elements such as character growth system and battles. Player character can be either a fighter, a thief, or a wizard, and can also become a paladin during the course of the game if he follows a strict moral code. Real-time combat is presented on separate screens and offers more options than the previous title. There are several types of high, mid-level, and low attacks, as well as parrying and dodging. The hero raises his combat proficiency and other skills by fighting enemies, training, and performing various actions that influence the corresponding parameters.

While in interviews the Coles have long claimed that QFG4 is their favorite game in the series, I can understand it is one of my favorite games of all time, fans have always seemed to gravitate towards the this QFG game. Two seems to take the wonderful system found in the first game and make just enough correct tweaks to make the game really, really shine. The most noticeable tweak being a more easily understood and navigable combat system. Sadly, this game is saddled with a terrible maze city and timed puzzles. Despite that we should be okay. Many of you commented at the end of the QFG1 LP that I did not max out Garcon's stats before completing the game. I, incorrectly, stated that was because the game would give us points to catch us up to be speed. I did recall the correct reason though after playing as Garcon for a bit and playing as an old saved perfected character. The reason I don't do that is because a maxed out beginning character makes many of the skill challenges in this game , as well as the combat, trivial. I find its much more enjoyable to play the game without a maxed character. Of course, if that is what the people want I know of some way to do just that. A rare drug that can be found by ingesting the venom of a small tropical blue frog... EDIT: If you want to read the manual you can find it here!

Introductory Videos and Miscellany

Opening Cinematic:

Character Select:

Game Beginning:

Day 1: Exploring Exotic Shapier

First, first things let's see if Ol' Garcon made it to Shapier safe and sound?

*tinkering*

*hackering*

*some of that old time DOS magicking*

What was the very first thing I did after loading in Perseii? Why, delete those three pesky spaces at the end of his name! The very next thing? Well it is the most important thing you can do in QFG2:

I turned Silly Clowns to 'On.' Now we can get started! Jackson was in a new city and that meant all his money was no good here he needed to find a money changer (those people Jesus hated) He asked Abdulla about it

Next was finding out where the Guild hall was:

Danar doesn't think Abdulla is going to be that helpful! Here is hoping Shameen can help!

When asked about the Money Changer:

the Guild Hall:

The Fountain Plaza:

Okay, so not so much help. That is okay though. 'Cause in the promotional material Seepgood got from the Shapier Chamber of Commerce was a map. It wasn't a very good one but it will have to do until he gets a better one. He knows that the Money changer is on Dinar Tarik which is right off of Naufara Darb which is right off the Fountain Plaza which is just north of here! Garcon pats himself down before heading out to make sure he hasn't lost anything:

As soon as Perseii leaves the Katta's Tail he's assailed by street vendors:

Ali Chica seems especially keen to let the hero know about his wares. Annoying as he may be a map and compass would be helpful. Maybe he won't notice the funny money? Gold is gold, right?

These infernal hallways!

buy map

So, we ask Ali Chica where the Money Changer is maybe he'll have easy directions to follow?

Or not. Well, getting to the Fountin Plaza should be easy enough, it's just north of here:

Inviting no? Be grateful. You don't have to stare at endless iterations of this screen. I will, until I map out all the important places in town. Then I can just jump to them (thank the Maker!)

Kinda mesmerizing, no?

Did you like that? Like the POV change there? Me too! I loved it. Nothing like making an already confusing area more confusing by change the players POV! What's that? It'd be easier to navigate this if they always kept the player oriented to looking north? I'm sure that would! But then you wouldn't get lost! MwHahahaah! Die in a fire! excuse me, I got carried away thinking like an adventure game developer. I apologize. Okay, so Jackson is now in the Fountain plaza. It's important cause the apothecary is here and the founatin is. We'll need the medicine the Apothecarist carries and we'll need the fountain for our waterskins.

"And, they're just giving it away for free!" First, in to the Apothecary:

Are you even going to the Money Changers?

ask about pills

Seeing as this guy loves fire so much Danar asks him about it (how convenient):

"good to know, good to know"

ask about incense

Might as well be a thousand of them. I've got nothing but these here stacks of gold and silver! The northen side of fountain plaza has a more street vendors and what I thought was a magic shop:

Nope, just going to talk to this flying idiot endlessly

ask about magic

look around

look shelves

(Did someone mention something about these? I've never bothered with them so fill me in maybe?)

ask about Aziza

You might have noticed that the characters, so far, in QFG2 are a lot more talkative than their counterparts in QFG1... It's a mixed blessing, really. Like I said earlier we just need to find Naufara Darb if we want to get to the Money Changer:

Now picture in your head 15-20 screenshots almost identical to that last one. Imagine Seepgood walking through them. Nothing happening all the while. Did you do it? Good. Now I don't have to put them up here for you to look at!

look woman

I did this next part just for you Talking Time!

look soldier

Never say I don't care! Wow, this is the Money Changers? Sort of a hole in the wall. Get's me thinking, thiefly like

make thief sign

That is what it looks like?! How embarassing!

"Oh, stop you Minx! You're making me blush! What? Oh, you meant actual theiving tools?! uh, yeah me too!"

ask about money

exchange money

Now that Garcon has some actual money he can start kiting himself for desert adventures unlimited! We're going to imagine again! Imagine I tried to get Perseii back to the Fountain or Gate Plazas. Imagine instead I roamed the dark, lonely, empty hallways of Shapier for ten minutes. Then:

A Plaza, at last! Wait, none of this look familiar! Where the hell am I? The Fighter's Plaza? This isn't where I wanted to be! Might as well look around since I'm here...

look around

(so pink!)

look liontaur

Pink Lion Men and Babies

talk liontaur

ask about hero

"That's pretty banal. Not helpful either. Who said you were a hero again?"

ask about magic

ask about aziza

"Oh, fun! Another endless night of horrors being lost in this city looking for someone..."

"What a cute baby! Where's the fath... I mean.. No, I wasn't implying anything! I'm sorry! Look can I just sign my name and ran away in shame, please?"

look around

look emblem

"Isn't that precious! Those brainless shield banging morons got thier own little club!" (EOF is the fighter exclusive quest line in QFG2.)

look moose

read book

sign book

"Damn, that is a fine looking name right there! Though I do believe I will develop carpal tunnel from having to write it out all the time..."

I took their Jorbs!

look board

ask about guild hall

ask about baby

"Nants ingonyama bagithi baba, Sithi uhhmm ingonyama, Siyo Nqoba, Ingonyama Ingonyama nengw' enamabaali uhhmm ingonyama, Ingonyama! Oh, sorry you were saying something?"

ask about liontaur

"I don't know... Seemed to be full of empty platitudes to me..."

ask about paladin

"Enough talk! Have at you!"

A Combat Primer

Combat in QFG2 is done using the numerical keypad (sucks to be you if you have a laptop!) Swings are slow powerful moves. Thrusts are quick weaker moves

7=swing back 8=thrust 9=swing low 4=h parry 4=m parry 5=l parry 1=lft dodge 2=back dodge 3=rgt dodge

Seeing as I have a laptop I think they only moves I can do are back dodge thrust and hi and low parry. Except my parries do nothing because I don't have that skill... Let's see how this goes:

Uhura offers useless advice throughout the practice. Which lasts until Garcon is exhuasted and has depleted his vitality.

But he did gain some stats, especially in Weapon Use and Dodge which he was lacking in from his time in Spielburg:

Next week we finish exploring the city,go into the wilderness, commit some minor felonies, and end Garçon's first day in the magical city of Shapier!

Fighting nothing but the city itself!

Outside in the Fighter's Plaza Perseii stops at the leatherworkers stall to pick up another waterbag, just cause.

Besides the Guild Hall the only other thing in the Plaza is the Weapon shop. (BTW don't I have to steal that bellows, there?):

buy dagggers

"Ten is a nice round number and bodies look so lovely with the hilts of ten daggers sticking out of them..."

We won't be spending a lot of time with Issur, if we were a fighter we might, cause IIRC he's the Eternal Order of Fighters contact in Shapier. After that Danar returns to the lightless corridors of Shapier and once again gets lost (I spent most of day 1 being lost) I wanted to get back to the Gate Plaza so I could pick up a map and compass. Finally, he made it back to the Fountain Plaza and did some shopping:

buy rope

ask about air

Buying your way to happiness

ask about air elemental

ask about whirl

Enough of this airhead! Back to the fiery chemist, Harik Attar:

ask about earth

ask about dispel potion

Why am I asking this? Stop asking questions! Seepgood is precognescent! He doesn't know what he asks these questions, he just trusts them when they come!

ask about fruit of compassion

ask about oil

buy oil

buy healing pills

"Oh thanks, that will be a great help when I'm dead..." Alright now I can grab that map and compass Ali Chica had!

Or not... "We don't need no stinking maps!" Welp, this place is dead let's go outside:

A small excursion into the desert wilds

During the day a Saurus rental shop is right here, but not during the night time... So, we'll have to go by foot...

Those have got to be some ofthe most obvious constellations I've ever seen...

What about Saurus head over on the other side of the sky? first we go east for a few screens:

'til we find:

Despite Garcon's efforts no amount of watering seems to help the barren tree, he heads back to the west, past the city:

look griffin

use rope

climb rope

get feather

On the way back to town I get assulted by a pack of Jackelmen!

Fight for eternal justice, or to save your skin...

That is a lot of Jackelmen! And while I could normally take them I don't have any SP which means every attack I do takes my HP away...

After killing one and getting into the 'danger zone' Perseii runs for it:

After escaping from the Jackelmen Jackson sees how he has improved:

Danar has had enough of the desert, it's boring and full of flea ridden vermin. Besides, didn't the money changer mention something about a job?

"of course I am! Didn't I do that ridiculous dance earlier to show you how interested I am?"

"Fat loot, eh? I'm in! If, of course, I can find my way to this street in this godforsaken labyrinth of a town" With that Seepgood heads off again, somewhat hopeful, that he will find his way to this house of loot before daybreak. And, after that find his way back to the Money Changer... Highlights from Garcon's trip through the city:

That blue lamp? That tells you this is the place to steal from! First things first

sneak

Of course I will...

All for a great cup of tea...

Eventually, Perseii gets inside the house:

"Welp, that's the job! But since I'm here I might as well look around..."

oil hinges

search wardrobe

"What else looks out of place here? That giant rug perhaps?"

roll rug

"Bingo!"

"Crap! What to do, what to do? Eeps!"

Not our thief's finest moment. Thank Erana for booze! Okay back to that trapdoor!

open trapdoor

Of course, he does!

Danar quickly closes the trapdoor, rolls the rug back in place and hides

This is getting ridiculous

Great hiding place Seepgood...

Okay, back to rolling the rug, opening the trapdoor and then picking the chest lock:

This is beginning to seem hardly worth the effort...

"changed my mind totally worth it!"

"new plan, don't get caught!"

Made it, barely. Just

Perseii then meandered through the city until he, again, stumbled upon the Money Changer only to find it closed. =/ Which is fine, cause as you can see from thar last shot Jackson is exhuasted and he's done enough for one day.

Sadly, Danar missed the meals. So, where's my bed?

Seepgood sleeps 'til dawn. Fat lot of good it does him seeing as it was just before dawn when he got to the inn. End of Day One.

*Some notes* QFG2 unlike QFG1 has some very time specific events. The elementals we'll soon be seeing don't pop up til day four and from there our hero has a limited amount of time to kill them before they destroy the city and end the game. So, there will be some days where our hero won't be doing anything more than practicing skills, exploring the city, and venturing out into the desert. I could just get all the supplies I'd need to defeat all four elementals now. If you've been paying attention you might have seen that I've already done some of that. But it'll be more fun to do them as they come up I think. Also, about the heist on Day One. So, as you go through the night the game allows less and less out of place before getting busted. The first guy doesn't notice anything. Even if you leave the rug down and stand out in the open. The second guy will call out if you don't hide but will only comment on misplaced items. The last guy, the guard, will notice anything out of place and will report you unless you are in the wardrobe. Oh, and I forgot to mention there is a silver dagger in that chest, which had a false bottom. If you're a fast typer you can get it before you have to replace everything and hide. Otherwise once the guard goes to bed you have to do everything over again to get it.

Day 2 - Reaping what you sow

Garcon wakes up pretty early and seeing how late he was getting to bed it doesn't appear as if the poor guy got much sleep at all. First things first he rushes to the Money Changers office to sell his hot goods, only to find that she sleeps in late. Well he does have some money still from the exchange so he might as well spend it. He heads to Laffin's Magic Shop and asks hims what spells he is carrying:

Perseii already has three of those spells (he bought Detect in Spielburg, 'Enry gave him trigger, and he won Dazzle by defeating Erasmus at the Mage game, remember?) Force Bolt and Levitate are new though! He picks them up:

Hopefully that burned enough time cause it certainly burned through our Jackson's wallet! Back to the Money Changers:

After we hand over the Tea set she wanted so badly she let's us in on another job, well more like an opportunity:

That is some useful information, Danar also sells her the bowl and silver dagger and finds his wallet restored:

As I said last post. QFG2's main story events happen at set times. So we have the rest of today (and tomorrow) to explore the city somewhat and maybe even venture out into the desert! So Seepgood decides to fill out that map of his so that he won't have to be exploring the maze-like streets of Shapier any longer... He heads back to Laffin to ask about other magic users in the city and just poke around his shelves:

T

his is a hint as to how to find the Wizards' Institute of Technocery which is the Magic User's special quest line in QFG2, we'll see more of it later!

ask about glasses

ask about enterprise

ask about sticks

(see my LP of Space Quest 3 if you don't know what an Orat on a Stick is, see my LP of Space Quest 1 to see what an Orat is)

ask about chickens

ask about magic

Aziza is the magic user that will be dropping mystical knowledge bombs all over us later on. Oh, and if Garcon tries to explore the rest of Laffin's shop he finds that the doors lead to each other and the hallway receding into the distance is deceiving:

Enough talk have at saurii(?)

After his chat with Laffin Garcon leaves and heads out to the front gate, hopeful to purchase his very own saurus:

These saurii sound nothing like the ones we're familiar with in the Spielberg valley... We won't get our own though until the seller shows up. Danar heads back to the Fighter's Plaza to talk to Rakeesh and pick his brain on some topics:

"Being a Paladin sounds like a drag! Who'd ever want to do all that?" Since he's in the fighter's plaza he hits up the blacksmith, you know to scope out his place for a future nocturnal excursion (nocturnal excursion is the name of my next band) and to ask about the EOF (the fighter's special quest line), he doesn't get far at all:

"Oh, I can't wait to rob your dumb muscle-bound brain blind" "What was that?" "Nothing!" At some point Garcon got directions to Aziza's place. She's at the end of a nameless street in the northern part of Shapier. He heads there now. Once he arrives:

(Here is where I ran into trouble with our original name that no matter what I did just would not fit... So I re-booted the game altered the name and played again so)

Meeting Ms. Aziza

You can say Laffin here as well.

Can you guess which element is associated with Aziza? Aziza, if you couldn't tell from the questions, the invitation to enter and everything everyone else has said about her, is a stickler for rules and ritual so the first thing you need to do is:

greet aziza

Then Aziza serves us some tea. Drink the tea don't try to talk to her before that!

ask about Rakeesh

ask about magic

"No REALLY?!"

ask about water

Seeing as I already know what is going to happen in the next few days and we're here anyway I get the elemental asking out of the way

ask about water elementals

The Fundamentals of Elementals

"SPOILERS!"

ask about fire elemental

ask about air elemental

ask about earth elemental

The Fundamentals of Elementals cont'd

ask about WIT

Always mindful of his manners, Danar says goodbye:

On the far east part of the town is the one plaza we haven't yet visited the Palace Plaza:

One more place on the map... Next up is the Astrologer who is in the south-east corner of Shapier. He's pretty easy to find his shop is at the end of 'Star Street':

(I find it a very clever joke that the astrologer wears super thick glasses and can't see a lick but can somehow read the stars...)

What will we learn from this reader of the stars? You'll find out next week, maybe as I'm going to be busy...

Reading the Stars for Something

ask about scorpian

ask about dragon

ask about stars

ask about hand

ask about future

tell about past

Alright! Garcon is going to get his future told! That should be helpful, somehow? Welp, but it's going to take some time so Perseii heads back into Shapier, as he leaves the Astrologer leaves him with one last nugget of wisdom:

What to do now? I suppose we will wander for awhile... We could go to bed but then we'll miss seeing our katta friend do her dance... And my log of pictures here doesn't seem to be making much sense because the next pictures are of me purchasing a Saurus. Before going to sleep again and before seeing the katta dance. So, I must assume that the comments from the city guard re: Suarii must be from Day One and I included them in the second shoot because I didn't on the first day. So, that is what we're going to say. You can't buy a saurus on the first day but you can on the second. Back to the story:

Groucho's Friendly Sales Pitch

(That's two of the Groucho brothers (Chico is Alichica who sold us the map and compass, Where's Harpo?)

Odds and Ends

Despite the sales pitch Seepgood ain't buying yet and heads back into the city to talk to Keepon and Harik the Apothocarist about the jobs they posted in the Guild Hall:

Anyway that's enough wasted time! Let's see if our fortune is ready!

"Yikes! I don't like the sound of that at all... But adventuring is all I know how to do! Maybe there's a loop hole?" I'm sure everything will work out in the end... What Danar needs now is a good distraction, one that helps raise his stats... But where? How about the weaponsmiths...? We've got to scout out his place for some late night burgling anyway...

arm wrestle man

Fighters who have an actual strength stat are encouraged to do this often enough, until they can realiably beat this meathead. Garcon pays the man his money and silently vows to make it back the easy way! Right outside the Weaponsmith's door Jackson runs into a street performer:

This is exactly the kind of thing though that a thief, like Seepgood, excels at! He walks up to the man: "I can do that!"

High Places

Garcon hands over a dinar (what a sucker we're totally going to fleece him!):

The acrobat then leaps up the platform and shows the crowd how it's done:

"I'll show you! ... no good, showboating bastard, get my money back..." "Easy money." "I'd be more than happy to take more of your money!" "Like milking a cow, this guy..." Walking the tight rope is pretty easy with an decent agility. I never bother trying to adjust my balance to the left or the right. Move foward and then stabalize, repeat this until you're across. The acrobat will let you go three times (15 dinars profit) before you clean him out. It doesn't hurt your stats either:

WITless

Remember when we asked Keapon about Magic and he mentioned WIT? That's the Hogwart's of the Quest for Glory universe and it has a branch in Shapier. Perseii heard they have a large collection of precious objects just lying around so he figures it's worth a shot to find. But how? Well, you use magic of course! Casting 'detct magic' in the corridors will reveal a big magic arrow that you can follow to WIT's door: The door only opens if you cast 'open' on it which Danar does: "nice place... A little ostentatious though." Jackson tells them his name. Danar lies to them, something sentimental like wanting to become a wizard and contribute to society... They eat it right up "Hrm... Well who do you got? Let's take a look at these here walls..."

look at Zara

That's the lady who ran the magic shop in Spielburg

look at Erana

That's the lady who's garden you slept in the Speilburg valley, the one with the magic fruit and the openable rock. Genesta is the good fairy from King's Quest 4.

look at Merlin

Still WITless

look at Harry

look at Aziza

look at Erasmus

There's one more portrait on the wall. It's the guy in black next to Aziza. Garcon couldn't read the name on the picture though. Picking one at Random he annouced Harry Houdini as his sponsor: "Zara?" "Whatever happened to 'the customer is always right?' What about Erana?" "What about that Merlin guy?" "Aziza?" "Dammit, I'm running out of people here... Erasmus!" The guy in black's name is Ad Avis and is the big baddie for QFG2, we'll be meeting him in person later. I had forgot his name during this part here. You can ask him to sponsor you though, but like the others he will, rudely, decline to sponsor Garcon.

WITless again

At WIT's end Perseii walks over Erasmus' back and into the first challenge: Okay the challenge here is to, using only magic: 1)find the right bell, 2) put it on the pole and, 3) make it ring It's pretty simple stuff. First, cast 'detect' the correct bell will glow for a second. Second, cast 'fetch' and place it on the pole. Third, cast 'trigger.' Isn't there a test or something? After being congratulated by Erasmus, Jackson finds himself returned to the WIT's great hall:

yes

(turns out I should have said 'no.' These puzzles aren't so difficult I can't solve them but Perseii doesn't have as many magic points as he needs to get through them all, as you'll soon see!) Okay, so the Air Wizard has left a spinning staff in our way.How to get past it? Well, 'fetch't it first: As it approaches you cast 'levitate': Once it's past you can return to the path and continue onward: The wall is too high right now to climb over. Garcon casts 'trigger': then 'calm' and climbs over: WIT's Testing Continues The wall get's angry again once you pass it, to move ahead cast 'trigger' one last time to return it to it's inanimate state" Two down, two to go Cast 'flame dart' to melt the ice Now cast 'forcebolt... "Wait, no! Um!" Before he can say anything Jackson is back out on the streets: Feeling dejected and depressed Garcon engages in some retail therapy and goes and buys himself a saurus: My first Saurus The nice thing about having a saurus is that you can never got lost in the desert! As long as you're riding your big green buddy you can tell him to 'go home' at any time to return to Shapier. If only the guy would stick around and help you out in fights... That's about all we can do in the day and it's close enough to evening that we can head back to the inn and enjoy the "show" (click the above picture) Well, that was something, wasn't it? I try not to think too much about what desperate nerdy adolescent male teens were doing while watching the katta dance too much. I'm going to go out on a limb though and say more than one furry was birthed by that dance... =) After the dance the night is still young and Perseii has a date with the Weaponsmith's strongbox End of Day 2 *grind grind grind* You do have to be careful here. Guards occasionally walk through and if they catch you in the act it's game over. Once inside the Shop. Close and lock the door. Now grease up that anvil!

push anvil

Do some more grinding... With the chest open there's nothing stopping you from robbing the Weaponsmith blind, which we do. After that Jackson returns to the Inn and get's a good night sleep! Stats and inventory after Day 2:

Day 3

This is going to be another slow day because, really, the only thing you want to do is hear the poet Omar. But, he won't be in the Inn until evening... So, what is Garcon's going to do to kill some time? A couple of the guards, not to mention Keapon have mentioned a whirling dervish maybe we should find him, it gives us an excuse to take our Saurus out for a test ride. The dervish is at the oasis but where is that? One of the annoying things this game does is change the POV on you. About four screens into the desert you're no longer watching from the South as your charcter moves south but from the North watching them move south... This confused lil falselogic to no end as a child and it occasionally still messes me up Well, here we are and there's the Dervish... Might as well get a drink while we are here:

look man

We ask him a couple questions, his usual response is: Then he spits out this riddle or puzzle:

ask about puzzle

ask when

Puzzling Answers

ask who

ask how

ask where

This is where I should have used the compass... Anyway, Keapon wants some of this guy's beard so... Then I tried to find the 'where' the Dervish mentioned but got lost, so I gave up and went back to town. Did I ever show you guys the map? There it is! With all the locations found so we never have to walk the streets again. See if you can identify them all by their little icons! First to sell the beard to Keapon: In the fountain square we find this begger and give him a centime: Giving the man a coin doesn't visibly do anything, what it does do is add a single point to the secret paladin score which determines whether or not you become one. After that we practice with Uhura some:

WIT once more

Then I try to complete WIT again. Even if I don't it should raise Perseii's magic score. You have to do it from the beginning again but I'm going to take it up from where we left off (I'm also thinking of doing a video of the WIT challenge because it's so neat)

Cast fire

then

cast force bolt

cast open

cast open

cast calm

cast fetch

cast force bolt

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Back on the street, Jackson heads back to the inn to hear the poet recite his poetry (click above to watch the Poet!)

Day 4 - Trouble Ignites

Garcon wakes on Day Four only to find that things in Shapier have been heating up I'm sure it's nothing but Perseii doesn't want to ember-ass himself and goes out side to investigate: If you've been playing along or plan to play in the future let me enlighten you now. This is the last time you'll be able to buy items from Alichica. So, if you haven't picked up the map or compass by day four you're going to need to do it now or do without them.

ask about fire

ask about fire elemental

Always the joker! Even his stand being burnt down can't stop him from wise-cracking. Remember what Aziza said about Fire Elementals? If not go back and refresh yourself... In the meantime Jackson is going to be filling up his waterskins and prepare for the inevitable encounter with the hot tempered foe:

ask about fire

bargain for incense

And Garcon gets the incense for free! And people say heroics never pay!

Putting out Flames

While he's here he might as well pick up some pills too (he also picks up vigor and health pills):

bargain for mana pills

Perseii has two of the items he'll need to defeat the fire elemental: water and incense. Aziza said we'd need something to contain the firebug and we can find such an item right outside Harik's door:

bargain for lamp

That's everything he needs to defeat the elemental so now he's just got to kill some time, he heads out into the desert to raise his magic skill (attempt three at WIT is coming up) *grind* While he's out in the desert some of the local fauna decides to interact with him: (As I said before when I explained combat, I'm essentialy crippled during fights because I don't have a numpad and that is how combat is set up in QFG2... So, Perseii takes quite a beating everytime he does this... Searching the body is fruitless. Though if you type out 'get stinger' that works, an odd quirk I thought. Not much else Jackson can do in that state, so he heads back to the inn to rest and wait till nightfall:

Day Five

That is as far as he got before having to make a run for it... He is showing marked improvement, though! With nothing more to do he hits the hay The next morning: I'd say Shapier has a problem and so will Garcon if he doesn't do something about it. He has until Day Seven to deal with the Fire Elemental or it will destory the city and it'll be game over for Perseii. As I said before everything is time based in this game... Even Shema seems worried: Confident he has everything he nees he heads out into the city to confront the Flamer: How convenient it's right here! Jackson and bump up against the elemental a few times before he is toast but it is best to keep yoour distance Left to its own devices the elemental will burn things, as you can plainly see here.

Controlled Burn

Once we use the incense to draw the elemental into the corridors we have to quickly neuralize and capture it:

put lamp down

use water on elemental

As you can see from our stat sheet defeating the elemental has raise our honor score. When we return to the city's entranceway the katta's have already set up shop again: Hakir and others also have something to say about the matter: I believe Aziza does too but I forgot to check in on her... Basking in the glow of victory and after grinding some more magic, Garcon returns to WIT, next week.

To WIT!

You all know what happened last time so we're just going to fast forward to that point:

cast fetch

cast force bolt

BONUS: CLICK HERE IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE ENTIRE WIZARD'S TRIAL IN MOVING PICTURE FORM

Wizard's Rewards

"Haha! I already used that pun!" What do we do? Does Garcon stay a hero or become a nerd? Decisions, decisions

yes

"Scrying Spell Expert? Jackson wasn't even a cool kind of nerd" Rewind

no

oh, and lots of puns too Eventually they stop and Perseii finds himself back in Shapier, considering he defeated an elemental and became a Wizard all before lunch he decides to call it a day:

A Good Day to Grind

Well, here it is Day Six and Garcon has a few days for R&R before he'll face the next Elemental. Today seems as good as any other to grind up stats. First stop? The Guild Hall: Not bad, not bad Perseii's stats are slowly raisin, Dodge especially needs to be worked on, but as with all combat skills its not so easy right now... After the practice he takes a quick nap at the Inn to restore his stamina before heading back out: Resting for an hour will fully restore stamina, it takes a bit longer for mana and health to recharge though... Next, Jackson heads into the desert to fight: (Bandits are super easy to kill) You'll also find your saurus where he abandoned you after combat if you leave the screen and come back. While grinding for monsters in the desert we come across the Dervish again, once again he blathers on about a Beast and a Puzzle:

Yet More Grinding

(note: No, no it's not but that is probably because I haven't talked to Aziza about something, I think. I hope...) Back in the desert there are more battles to be fought: Slowly, but surely he's getting better at this sort of thing. We come across a strange site while out in the desert: More fighting: After taking the tail Garcon returns to Shapier to sell it to Harik for a hefty price: And fights Uhura again (Why not?) That seems like enough day grinding time to wait for night time!

Night Travels

Before heading back out into the desert Garcon makes a single stop in town: "Hehehe, by the time I'm done with him Issur won't have a livelihood!" We wander the desert for a while, enjoying the constellations (these are the ones you see in the southern half of the desert) and looking for ghouls: Finally, we enounter some: With the ghoul dead and his pockets bulging with monster parts Perseii goes to bed:

Day Seven

Right outside of the Inn we encounter the begger again and since Jackson is expecting a big pay off at Harik's he gives the begger some dinars: Then to Harik's to sell the tail and claws and pick up more pills: Outside, of Harik's shop we encounter Omar again: After listening to the poem Garcon leaves and comes back only to find nothing(?!) (I thought that Omar left his purse lying around but that didn't seem to happen this time. I don't if it's someone else and I'm recalling incorrectly or it is randomized...The purse thing is all about becoming a Paladin, by the way.) Next, is the Guild to spar again with Uhura. Perseii encounters Rakeesh inside: Sparring: Back to the fountain plaza:

buy dirt

After picking up some dirt Garcon goes back to bed. (You can also get dirt from Keapon as well as buying a cloth sack and going into the desert and filling said sack with sand)

Day Eight

That morning over breakfast Shema informs Jackson that the next elemental has arrived: On his way to the Palace Plaza: What a strange creature! To the Palace Plaza! First, Perseii uses the magic rope and then climbs up it, then? Then he waits:

drop dirt

Full of dirt the Air Elemental is immobilizied

use bellows

End of Day Eight

With the elemental captured before lunch, Garcon rewards himself by making a perfectly superfluous purchase: That night Shema danced again and Perseii enjoyed another fabulous meal: Next week, is another elemental and maybe something else about Beauty and the Beast... Who knows?!

Day 9 Dawns

Bright and beautiful! It seems Shapier can't throw anything at our hero that he can't handle! He would be on top of the world! Garcon ventures forth into the city to collect the praise of its people and then to stab something: If you are asking yourself why am I spending so much time fighting with Uhura it's because when it comes to grinding it's the most exciting picture I could post. Seeing static shots of Perseii running, or throwing rocks or casting spells at nothing or climbing ropes or picking locks on doors that are all barred isn't all that exciting... It does all pay off though: Do you guys remember that tree? The one all by itself to the far east of Shapier? The one that looked like a lady? This one: Jackson is really curious about it and he has decided to do something about it now. Since he doesn't know anything he'll consult the local expert on everything, Aziza. What a tragic story. But, it does look like we can do something about it! Soonish... Back in town Garcon eats his last ration, which means he will now starve. Except, he knows some kattas in the fountain plaza who sell some primo jerky of some sort he bargains with the two of them to get some: After finding out more about the tree, Perseii spends the remainder of the day working on his skills! Then goes to bed.

Day 10 and 11 and 12

*GRIND* *GRIND* *GRIND* *GRIND* *GRIND* *GRIND*

Day 12

Status Update: Hrm, I'm a little rusty on what Harik and Aziza said about the element earth and the monsters one could make with it, guess I better check back in:

bargain powder

Will he buy it?

Earth Elemental

Now to find the damn thing... If I'm hearing the meowlings of the Katta correctly unlike the last two elementals the Earth Elemental can only be found in the maze-like streets of the city. Garcon has the explosive powder (he also has fire bolt...) he just needs something to put the mess in when he is done: "Just the thing!" Perseii blackmails the Katta into giving him a deal on the bag: Into the streets, where Jackson wanders for some time, until: As soon as the elemental approaches him Garcon starts tossing explosive powder as fast as he can it took two doses of the stuff to take the big lug down: The big guy is easy enough to collect into the bag now that it has disincorporated...

Healing the Tree that was a Woman

Aziza said we were missing something we needed to help the tree last time, I think Perseii just got it so let's head back to her and pick up where she left off last time: On his way out to the tree the guard at the gate hands Jackson a note: We'll follow up with the Dervish after we deal with Julanar:

give water

tell about yourself

give earth

tell about earth

"I'm just kidding about that being afraid thing... Seriously!"

The Beast

give hug

Okay, with that done let's go see what the Dervish wants: Unhelpful as always... Okay, I have a confession to make. I forgot how this particular puzzle works so I jumped the gun on it. The note that the guard gives you to see the Dervish is a trigger to get the Dervish to tell you about the 'puzzle' and the 'five W's.' He didn't do that this time though because I've already grilled him on it multiple times. If you need a refresher on what he said go back to early posts. Basically he said to go to a spot in the desert and check it out. We can get the info on where to go before the guard gives us the message but the thing there doesn't actually appear before the guard delivers the message. So, we do and on the way there we meet: Shortly after meeting the terrorSaurus we fill it full of holes: We finally get to the spot in the desert the Dervish was talking about and find:

The Beast, continued

Doesn't seem to be much we can do for the creature every time we get close it attacks the cage. Feeling sorry for the hideous thing Garcon leaves some water out for it and then returns to question the Dervish: "Harik, huh? Check!" Then he asked him about the dispel potion and he told me he needed some rare ingredients, that Perseii just so happened to have on him: Jackson thinks he has everything he needs to help the beast but just to make sure he checks in with Aziza:

Healing the Beast

Garcon wants plenty of time to do this right so he calls it a day and returns to the end to rest. First thing in the morning he returns to the cage: (click to watch) With that over with Perseii spends the rest of the day building up his skills and waiting for the next disaster to strike... He thinks it's going to be water related. Until next week!

Showing Monsters Who's Boss

Later that night while gr.. I mean practicing on his skills Garcoon takes on a pack of Jackalmen: For the first time in the game he finally has enough magic,stamina, and health to kill them all: He also harvests a few ghoul claws that night: After thinning out the wildlife population Perseii returns to Shapier and his bed. The next morning: That doesn't sound good! But, it doesn't sound that difficult either because Jackson has been whooping elementals all week! He heads to the Fountain Plaza:

look

Descriptive! Garcon will put this tart in her place, but first: (fattening his wallet is always the highest priority) Okay! Not let's get that watery minx!

Watery Tart

Uh-oh, looks like Jackson got a little too close! Let's try that again:

put waterskin on ground

use wind elemental

"I'll never be thirsty again!" With the elemental taken care of, and nothing else scheduled for the day Perseii decides to walk the streets of Shapier at random (and to pick some locks) when he camee to the Palace Plaza: (I'm pretty sure that last detail is one we should remember!)

Last Days in Shapier

That evening Shameen has some news for Garcon: "She totally wants me..." After supper he goes to bed. He knows Aziza is dying to see him but before that he does a little practicing... Jackson will have to be ready for anything! After fighting Uhura, casting magic at rocks in the desert, sneaking around the city, and other assorted tasks he heads for Aziza's With the one thing he had to do out of the way. Garcon returns to grinding and sleeping, the next morning, our last in Shapier: Perseii hits the town and the Katta come out in force to thank him for what he has done and what the hope he will do:

Fond Farewells

I'm pretty sure this is where we'd become a Paladin if we had bothered with it... Or maybe Rakeesh would just let us borrow his sword. I don't rightly recall... Anyway, Rakeesh wants to fight us and Garcon is itching to stab the liontaur some: Back at the inn: Are you getting all the subtle hints that we'll be leaving soon? (click the pic above to watch!) Next weekend we explore the terrible city of Rasier!

Dead Parrot Inn

Now that Garçon is in Rasier what is he supposed to do? What does the city even look like? Maybe his trusty map will work here as well? Guess not. (If you had bought the game when it first came out you'd have an actual map of Shapier that you could just flip over and then use because Rasier is the little reverse of Shapier. But, you didn't so we can't...) Seeing as Perseii doesn't want to go exploring the ratty depths of this unsafe town until he has his bearing he steps into the Dead Parrot Inn: "What a fucking pi... I mean lovely place you have here! Thank you so much for welcoming me to your fine city!" This guy looks shady. Not kinda shady, not maybe shady... This guy looks as they say in NorCal "hella" shady. Jackson makes his move: "Yup, hella shady..." Without much choice, Danar takes a seat next to the seedy Signor Ferrari. Big surpise the local crime boss is okay with the current get-up... I'm sure he's making a mint smuggling people out of the city and contraband in to it.

Making New Friends

take drink

That's sure to come back and bite us in the ass... A real update as soon as I can get to it! Promise! This does set us up nicely for diving into Rasier and dealing with the big baddie.

Rasier City of Shitholes

Garcon didn't really have time to get a good look at the Blue Parrot when he came in, besides the overall run-down look that the entire city seems to be sporting, he gives the inn a closer look: Ugh... Hopefully he won't have to spend too much time in this dump within a dump, maybe the rooms are clean? He hopes? Ferrari doesn't seem chatty and so Perseii heads back out into the "friendly" streets of Rasier. The city kind of stinks though so Jackson heads out the gates; hoping the fresh desert air will clear his head: As much as he'd like to just keep riding that isn't what heroes do! It's also no way to get fat loots! Back to the city and into the maze of streets: While in the streets Garçon remembers something: He's got a feeling these will coming in handy real soon... If you recall me saying, somewhere, that Rasier was a flipped version of Shapier. All the streets are the same as are the plazas, just reversed. So, instead of traveling north from the gate plaza to get to the fountain in Rasier you head south: Khaveen has blocked off much of the city though. The only other plaza Garcon can get to is the palace plaza. He heads there now: Lovely idea that. Naming the streets the laws in town... What a charming place Rasier is turning out to be...ws in town... What a charming place Rasier is turning out to be...

I wonder what the night life is like?

Jackson continues wandering through the city's uniquely named streets until he comes upon the Palace Plaza: "Maybe one of these helpful guards will let me in? Let me know what there is to do in town?" "or not..." Back to the maze of streets it is, and hopefully the Blue Parrot Inn, the least this dump can do is provide a good night's rest as Perseii tries to figure out how to save this city from the evil encircling it: Garçon makes it back to the inn right at sunset and heads in, seems Ferrari wants to speak with him, again:

The Moral of the Story is?

What a terrible place to have to spend the night

pay five dinars

On the way to his room, Jackson notices the inn's titular parrot: As he heads down the hall he hears Ferrari's words following him: He finally makes it to his room and disappointment, but heroes got to sleep... With nothing to do at the inn and the city pretty much explored... Garçon decideds to return to the founatin plaza; in the hopes of either discovering something new or inspiration striking. "Why, that's Ugarte, the friendly smuggler, I met last night. And he's surrounded buy angry looking guards!"

Object Lesson

One Person He can Save...

"Poor Ugarte! And I, a hero, could no nothing to save him!" With the Fountain Plaza empty Perseii heads back to the Gate Plaza, he needs to get out of this awful city if only for a few minutes: "What a silly question! Of course I'm a hero! Haven't you seen my hair?" Like an ignorant, naive, trusting dope Garçon follows the stranger into the alley (and a trap, I reckon!) "Ma'am, I would love to help you by taking my clothes off! Finally, someone who appreciates me! Now do you want me to start or wil.. "Wha?! You mean you don't want to have s.. *Cough* I mean, of course I can help you sneak out of the city!" "Paying five dinars for these glasses was totally worth it."

The Hero has a Spare Wig?

Even though he knows giving this stranger his visa means he himself can't leave the city Jackson hands it over to her: While he waits for the young lady to make her escape he chats with her lady in waiting:

ask about Zayishah

Ask about Ad Avis

ask about Khaveen

ask about Rasier

ask about fountain

As he leaves Mayzen offers him her aid, if he ever needs it: What will Garçon discover next in Rasier? Will he be able to save the city? Just what does Signor Ferrari want? How will Perseii defeat Ad Avis? Tune in next weekend to find out!

One Last Heist!

After talking to the maidservant and given the Emir's daughter enough time to make her escape and not arouse suspician about there being Two dashing heroes in this curesed city Garçon hits the mean streets again. . . . Where there is nothing to do. Without his passport Perseii can't even kill time by slaughtering any of the local fauna. With nothing else to do he returns to the Blue Parrot: "That can't be good..." "Oh, I do!" "I'm guessing I don't really have a choice in the matter, do I?" Remember that? The think I told you to remember from the first game? Back in the Bandit Leader's office? You don't? Well, go read that LP again!

Jackson 1

"Oh, yeah. The guards and the curfew... I'm off" Garçon had no trouble sneaking out to the Fountain Plaza and locating the Mark's house. The magic rope makes getting in a cake walk: "And there's the bird, right where that filthy rat Ferrari said it'd be!" As Perseii makes his way over the floor get's chatty: Not only do you have to "sneak" in this section you have to move slowly and stop every time the floor creaks as the guy in bed will toss and turn every time there is a sound and if he tosses and turns twice in a row you're busted. You also can't leave the room through the door, as there is a guard standing watch in the shadows... Jackson oils the hinges and then starts to pick the lock: "All too easy." With the statue in his possession Garçon makes his exit and hastes back to the Blue Parrot:

Now is no Time for Jokes Garçon!

"An unsubtle reference to the most iconic pulp noir story in literature and film?"

Bright Future in Crime Ended by Arrest!

I always thought that it was Ferrari who sells you out to Khaveen but that doesn't really seem to be the case as he is offering you a job right here... After the burglary Perseii goes to bed, maybe tomorrow will reveal how he's supposed to save this city? But, clearly he knew something was up: "Dammit yesterday was Wednesday, wasn't it! Why didn't I water my Saurus?!" I hope it's cozy! Jackson's in quite the fix now! He doesn't even have a lockpick he could use!

Breaking Out with Nothing but a Prayer and... Uhmm, THIS!

So, what does Garçon have on him? Just a pin, huh? That's not much help... Wait, the Katta gave it to me maybe it means something? Perseii shows it to the grumpy imprisoned katta: Jackson goes to check out the lock: "maybe this pin will work?"

use pin

Free, free at last! ... Ah, crap!

Before Garçon makes his exit he picks up all his stuff: "Okay, I think I just turn down "Ignorance..." road and if I follow it I'll be at the Dead Parrot Inn in no time!" "Crap, spotted!" That's not good...

I should have made a video of this...

Blah, blah, blah

We sure are learning a lot though, huh?

Finally, it's Garçon's time to shine!

use mirror

We're finally back in control of ourselves, but exhausted. Find out what lies within the Hidden City next week!

Trials of the Forbidden City!

We last left Garcon trapped in a forbidden city, not quite sure how he got there and why he feels compelled to help Ad-Avis: Well, first thing: this darkness won't do at all!

use lamp

"Magical imbued lamps sure do come in handy!" Now that Perseii can see he moves towards the right: jumping onto small, quickly moving logs makes sense, right? As soon as Jackson is across the river he notices that hole on the far wall: As he get's closer: Weird thing is that this wind prevents Garçon from getting up the stairs; it keeps sucking him back. What is he going to do?

pick rock

(I wish I was kidding...)

Trials of the Forbidden City, cont'd!

Perseii carefully picks his way through the lava field trying to avoid the spurting fire and flames Jackson uses the magic rope to get down to the area below:

Forbidden City?! When do we get to the Forbidden part?

And with that the doors opens! Out of curiousity Garçon grabs for a few coins, no one will notice, right? "OH, GODDESS IT BURNS!" *rewind* "New plan, just get through the room and don't touch anything"

This Can't be a Good Idea...

Welp, that's it thanks for joining me for this Let's Play of QfG2! The Hero dies in a cave and Ad Avis releases the Djinn Iblis who conquers the world! Wait! what's this? Give Me a Ring to Build a Dream On...

get ring

"Hrmm, what should we wish for?"

wish luck

wish honor

wish parry

"Why not, right? I know how to do everything else!"

Rasier or Bust!

teleport to Rasier

Garçon is in the Palace plaza already so he goes into sneak and then heads down to the palace entrance!

throw dagger

(You're just going to have to trust that Perseii and I totally killed that eunuch!

use magic rope

Okay! We're in! Mostly! You'll find out how this game ends next week! Unless something terrible happens!

Palace Infiltration

If you recall the servant of the young daughter of the Emir of Rasier who we helped saved said she'd tie a ribbon on the balcony showing Garcon where the harem is. For some reason she seemed to think Perseii would be safe there... We'll that was the ribbon and so Garçon goes right: (click to watch) These have got to be the worst Eunuchs ever! Jackson's got to get through the room though and through that hall to the north if he is going to have a chance at defeating Ad-Avis. First, we sneak and then hid behind the fountain Nawar will keep the one eunuch distracted, we still have to deal with the guy patrolling the northern end of the room, as soon as he turns around and heads back out of the room Garçon shimmies over to the table: Ah, this djinni comes in handy! Warned me right as the Eunuch showed up, once he is gone: Perseii has got to get across and unlike one of his namesake's he doesn't have access to a flying horse! He does have a magic rope though! Oh, we've done this lots of times, should be easy!

The World is Destroyed

"oh man! What a terrible vision of what will happen if I fail! best climb this rope now!" "I wonder...?"

throw dagger

"He doesn't look happy..." At this point Jackson has to throw daggers at Avis until he dies while ducking to avoid the firebolts the evil wizard will be throwing at him. Thankfully the djinni tells us when to duck. Also, this isn't a good angle to throw from we'll have to maneuver over to the next pillar, too!

Creeping to Victory

throw dagger

"Take that you ugly bastard!" "um, no! I have more daggers!" "AHAHahahaha! Did you see the look on his face as he plummetted to the ground? Priceless!" "What do you mean 'we?' I was the one doing all the work."

The End

Garçon breathes a sigh of relief. It's over he saved the twin cities of Shapier and Rasier! He briefly wonders how that Katta revolt is going? He's about to go back inside the palace, when: That doesn't sound anything like the prophecy everyone else was quoting!? Don't these people write anything down? (click to watch) That is it! Thanks for watching/reading! Now that GOG.com has these games for sale you should all go buy them and have your own adventures! But, don't stop reading these Let's Plays either. Do both! Sometime before the end of the month, Wages of War! (Don't listen to what the end of QfG2 said! What does the game know about its sequels?!)