Welcome back tropers! It’s been a busy week for me, so I haven’t had time to update lately, but TGIF! Now where were we?
You’ll recall, in the last update, that I wished to replace my Witch hunters with Gaurdsmen, but lacked the finances to do so. Well, with Richard the Cruel defeat, I now have that money, so I do so! After doing that, I restocking on all the rest of my troops, I am now broke again. /sigh this is going to be a fairly common thing until about 1/3 of the way through, at which point we begin our trek towards Money for Nothing territory.
At any rate, lets continue our exploration of Scarlet Wind. Before, we headed up the eastern side of the island, so now, lets head east along the southern coast. We soon come across a fellow called Harry the Axe, a smuggler.
◊ We, of course, ask if he has any work for us, and sure enough, he does! He has some goods buried around the island for safekeeping, and he wants us to dig them up and take them to an associate of his on Rusty Anchor Island, a place we do not yet have a chart to. He also has Sea Dogs and Thorn Warriors for hire, but who cares about that?
Well, that’s as far east as we can go, so I backtrack about and head up north, into the heart of the island, and I spy a navigational chart, completely unguarded! I get it, but since it’s a chart to an Island we already know the way to, we instead get a Wanderer magic scroll, Call Death!
Wanderer magic is spells that you cast outside of battle. Some of them, like the Call Death spell we just got, summon units into your army. Specifically, our Call Death spell summon an undead troop into our army. Seeing as undead don’t play well with our current army setup, or with our future army setup, we won’t be using it. Other Wanderer scrolls do things like boost your stats for X number of battles. The best Wanderer scroll, however, boosts your XP gained by 50% for X battles. Wanderer scrolls are quire rare, only available from navigational charts you don’t need, or rarely available for purchase in some buildings. Well, with that explanation out of the way, more exploring!
After a few more battles, one of which paints a good picture of the usefulness of summoned units and walls
◊(my own troops don't have a scratch on them!), we find ourselves back where we started. If we want to explore the rest of the isle, it seems we’ll have to get back on the boat! Which means that I’ll have to fight pirates!
◊ This is the setup
◊ for all shipboard battles. Losses on my side are minimal, and both Enlong
◊ and I got up a level up!
◊ I get Holy Anger(-5 defense for enemy undead/demon troops, and I get 1 mana/rage everytime one of my guys hits an undead/demon troop) and Trohpies( more gold from battles). Enlong upgrades his wall ability. Now that this portion of the seas around Scarlet Wind are clear, more exploring!
We come across some flotsam, and see signs of something lurking down below.
◊ Sounds dangerous, best to leave it alone for now. We also see a lone house out on the water. Now who would live out here all by themselves? We find one Master Lothar. He apparently used to be one of the greatest blacksmiths in the land, until he lost a bet
◊ and was forced to give up the hammer forever. I remark that can’t you use something besides a hammer
◊, and he proceeds to smack himself upside the head for being such an ijit. I then ask if there’s anything else I can do, and he tells me that he wishes he could go back in time to stop himself from making that bet. I remark that a wizard could probably do that, but, being a dwarf of science, he brushes me off saying that time doesn’t work that way…but if I did find something in my travels, that I should let him know.
Anyway, we now see what he has for sale. He has Engineers, Alchemists, range units that throw dangerous potions around, and Guard Droids, tough melee units with a grappling hook. You’ll be seeing a lot of those last two guys before too long. He also has some very nice artifacts, but, strapped for cash as I am, I can’t get any. Moving on then.
I spy what appears to be some sort of chape and land to investigate, but it clearly seems to be abandoned.
◊ Except it’s not abandoned, the undead have moved in!
◊ Why can’t abandoned building stay abandoned?! We, of course, eliminate the undead threat and are now able to recruit some undead troops. We can get Skeletons, Ghosts, Ancient Vampires, and Ghost Pirates. I’m a paladin, I have no need for such things! Lets go.
Landing at another beach, I find a sad young man.
◊ I talk to him, and he gives me some deal about isn’t his scar ugly
◊? I tell him that it’s what’s on the inside that matters, and ask him about the scar. He says he got it saving his former girlfriend from sharks
◊, and now nobody loves him. Remarking that he was very courageous for fighting of those sharks, he gives me his sharktooth necklace in thanks. Surely, I can’t just leave such a fine, upstanding young man to wallow in self pity like this! I ask if he wants to come with me, and he gives an ecstatic YES!
◊ We now have our first companion!
There’s a decent selection of possibly companions in the game, though we won’t be seeing any of the other for quite a while. Each of them has some sort of effect on or against certain troops, and also the ability to do something else. Jimmy here
◊ helps out all humans(and some ghosts) of questionable morals, and also is able to train upstanding human units into pirates and robbers. More importantly, however, companions give you more gear slots. As you can see
◊, I’ve already given Jimmy some stuff to hold for me, including his own sharktooth necklace that he gave me.
Moving on, defeating random armies as usual, Enlong levels up and I upgrade his Tail Slam ability. I spy a chest up on a hill and IT’S A TRAP!
◊ The rogue Robin Goodman
◊ was lying in wait for us! Well you can’t have my loot, HAVE AT THEE!
◊ After an uneventful fight, victory is ours!
◊
Moving on, I find a odd looking door
...which seems to be looking at me...and talking to me!
◊ How curious! It wants a password, but I haven’t slightest idea what it could be, so I rub it instead. Apparently, doors are ticklish.
◊ Note to self, find password for door.
At the northern end of the island, we come across an ominous sign.
◊ Sure enough, around the next bend we find Hector.
◊ He’d do a number on us at this point, so we just gonna leave him alone and come back another day with a bigger sword.
That’s all for this update! I leave with an upclose shot of our heroine both on
◊ and off
◊ her horse.
See you next time, fellow tropers!
