Heading north, we travel to Bootleg Bay...and once again, find ourselves surrounded by enemies.
The local tribes of cannibals don't like us. Their leaders, the fearsome Head Hunters and the mysterious Witch Doctors, like us even less. And just to top this all off...they brought some familiar scaly faces. Yep, lizard men again.
The cannibals, weirdly enough, have their own version of gender discrimination going. There are an equal number of female and male cannibals, and they all have roughly the same stats. The main difference, though, is that the male witch doctors toss Fire Bolt spells, while the female witch doctors summon Insect Swarms (Earth Magic, for those wondering) to sting us.
Fight time. Healing magic plus arrows makes short work of them, although Huaryu loses his cool after taking a couple of nasty hits, calling for a healer.
Look in the mirror, genius.
Once done, we get to see what was nearby. A group of abandoned circus tents sit to the east...we'll learn more of those later. Amid the hills east of that, there's a crate. Time to open it and...damn it, Toblerone! What the heck happened to your Expert training?
After healing up again after the exploding box, we loot it. Nothing fancy inside. Also in the hills are a strange building (we'll be back to this one later), and...the Bootleg Bay obelisk. Gee, that was easy.
Having read the obelisk, we head down the western road, to a small town. What, you ask, is the name of this town? Good question. I'll let you know when I find out. Anyway, my psychic powers tell me to check out the local temple, so I do.
A side room there, one of two, reveals a bald monk. He tells us he used to belong to a monastic group called the Order of the Fist, but he left when they acquired an supposedly evil crystal. Now they want to give the crystal to the Baa people (yay), and he wants the crystal destroyed. Another quest on our to-do list for later.
Next, we go to rest at the inn...which is run by a goblin? Khagul is his name, and innkeeping is his game. Despite the ownership, this inn is fairly well kept (middling service, but still...), and despite us massacring his cousins way back when, he gives us a room at a good rate.
After resting, my psychic powers tell me to check out the fountain northeast of the town, along the coast. Guess what? It's the Fountain of Magic! As soon as we get back to the Misty Islands, we get honorary Wizard status! Sadly, the rest of the promotion quests will not be nearly so easy.
Now, we take the road to the west, coming up on the Temple of the Fist (where the monk wanted us to go). Nearby, angry cannibals charge us, while a pair of scaly paragons await...Lizard Wizards! I kid you not.
After they are dead, it's time to move on. Wait, you thought I would stick around in Bootleg Bay? Well, we'll be back here soon enough...but first, time to go to the big city!
Five days of travel later, we arrive in the region of Free Haven, which is pretty much going to be the hub for the rest of the game. The city, also named Free Haven, has a lot of things that everyone wants. Guilds, Expert trainers, and even a few Master trainers! This will be fun!
