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Beyond the Beyond: Update 86: Depths of the Earth (Pity Island)
Having claimed Bandore's Ancient Tablet, which Shutat and his gang somehow managed to completely miss, leaves just one to find. That one tablet rests somewhere on the island known as Pity. Unfortunately the shrine-like structure in the center of Pity actually leads to a dungeon.
1st Floor
Mere steps inside is a huge red mushroon. If Finn walks into it he bounces back as the following animated GIF shows.
Not included is the loud PRANG! sound effect that plays each and every time this happens.
What just happened?
It is magical but the magic within wasn't triggered. It just repelled you.
So I've been rejected by a mushroom? Lovely.
Finn and company don't get long to contemplate the mushroom or it's rejection before a Pyrohydra and an Evil Shaman threaten them. They've seen Pyrohydras before but seeing them on Pity is a bit... unusual. When I think of fire-elemental multi-headed beasts picturing them in dark, damp caves filled with fungi is not what comes up.
Too bad about the Evil Shaman. They lived for about three seconds before Annie charged out with a deadly critical hit.
Uh, sis, are you feeling okay?
Pretty good actually. Let's find that tablet and get out of here.
So how does Edward's new Magic Staff hold up in his first battle post equipping it? Well he dealt 22 damage to a Pyrohydra from the back row so I'd say it's doing pretty well! For comparison Samson attacked and dealt 29 damage.
The interior of the shrine? cavern? mountain? is a series of passages dotted with more mushrooms. They're everywhere.
In other news there are some familiar faces like this Dark Elf and their Black Aerial friend.
Elves live on this island too? Must be an isolated bunch.
I had to go back over the footage of this dungeon crawl with a fine toothed comb because of an oddity with the Dark Elves. I'm not referring to this Confusion 2 spell that hit everyone but Samson. Instead I'm referring to a large change in their place in the turn order. In this fight the Dark Elf acted after Annie. Later however they always acted after Annie, Samson, and Edward and right before Finn's turn. It turns out that Dark Elves have a Speed of 31. (One of the few times I've bothered to look up enemy stats.) When the team went in Finn had 29 Speed while Samson and Edward had 30 Speed. This was the second random encounter in the dungeon and afterwards there was a lengthy roll of encounters that lacked Dark Elves. By the time any more appeared Samson and Edward had both leveled up and pushed up to 31 Speed. The player apparently wins ties for initiative.
Anyway, that digression out of the way, most of the team has just been confused! Yikes!
Edward has his eyes on the prize though as he kills the Dark Elf.
Finn's aim is a bit more suspect. Confusion is more effective when used on the player (because of course it is - thanks game) but the effects are more random.
Finn what are you doing?
Ow! Why did you hit me?! Wait, what? Why is the coconut talking to me?
With Annie groggied Finn stares off into space. This is one of several turn-wasting actions Confusion can invoke.
But... where DO coconuts come from?
Finn pull yourself together. We're in danger!
Grandpa Rutabaga what are you doing on the island?
The moment Annie recovers from groggy status turn about apparently becomes fair play. Luckily for Finn a Vital Recover kicked in at just the right moment. The funny thing is how evenly matched they are. (If you're wondering where the rest of Finn's VP went, Lorele punched him in the back of the head in the previous round.)
You... you hit me! I think. Did I? Who are you again?
Seconds later Samson kills the Black Aerial and separates the kids before they do any more damage to one another.
Ugh, my head. What happened?
Magic.
Is that why I have blood in my mouth? Ow!
You and Miss Annie had a bit of a quarrel there.
I take it I lost then.
No point in having this spell if I never use it, I guess.
Even with Annie's Healing Rain and Finn healing himself with Heal 1 he still can't get near his VP max.
Just to the south is a chest with a Mage's Jewel inside. Such jewels completely restore one character's MP.
I've heard of these!
You have? Where?
Master Myrrdin told me about them. They are phylacteries in which mana is stored.
Soooo, it's magical. Is it dangerous?
Not if handled properly.
What happens if you handle one improperly?
The mana inside could escape with explosive force.
And we're just going to carry it around while monsters attack us.
If we didn't break the Vase of Life while it was full of water we should be fine with this.
Moments later an Evil Shaman dares to challenge the team by themselves. Annie easily knocks such shamans into healing mode but since they only have basic herbs they never heal enough to cover the next attack in the team's line-up. Annie's the only team member fast enough to act before they do but it's still a bit random. Sometimes they don't get hurt enough.
2nd Floor
Lots of rocks and rubble on the floor. What a mess!
This place is very old and decrepit. I doubt anyone from Marion has been here since it split off from the mainland.
Where are we climbing to anyway? Don't caves usually go down?
Maybe up into that rocky slope outside?
Dang it! We could have just gone in through the ceiling and saved ourselves a lot of trouble.
Just down the corridor is a small gap in the wall. It is too small for anyone in the group to fit through.
Did we miss something?
Hmm, Finn let's go back to those mushrooms we passed.
Oh no. We're not going to have to eat them are we?
I, er, hope not.
Near the red mushroom is a curious green variety. When Finn touches it instead of being bounced back he is shrunk into a mini-Finn.
Noooo! I'm tiny! Help!
A test of balanced magics. Hmm, interesting.
I don't care if it's interesting. I care if I'm going to be stuck like this!
We have to use this to get through that gap, don't we?
Well, there's no going back. If this be Arawn's design then we must move forward.
*sighs* It won't be the dumbest thing we've ever done.
And suddenly I am reminded of Ogre Battle! Terrible unit formation for that game though what with the mages up front. Actually it's still terrible because the mages are in the front row where they take full damage rather than hiding behind the line of Griffins.
So the team is tiny and their enemies are not. Will this have any combat effect on them?
Were they always so tall? I feel like I could drown in their beards.
Short Answer: not at all.
Bearded or not I can still reach their kneecaps. Have at thee! I think you broke his leg. Nah, he's still standing.
One Evil Shaman heals their wounded ally thus allowing the wounded Shaman to conjure up some Titan magic.
See? He's summoning an earth elemental to smite us. You're awfully chipper about us being crushed by falling rocks, sis.
There's nothing I can do to stop him. I might as well have a laugh before the pain starts.
In retaliation Edward unleashes a blast of Fire 3. The highly flammable Griffins take boosted damage and one dies outright to a critical magic roll. Go Edward!
Raining fire upon your enemies. Is that a common thing for Marion's nobility?
I don't think so. My father is not a magician. I'm not complaining. You keep doing what you do best, Edward.
One of the two surviving Griffins makes the foolish mistake of attacking Annie.
Just because I'm tiny doesn't mean I'm lunch. Back off bird brain!
Grinding Lorele up to level 20 here in Pity would have been viable. After all this group awarded 1440 experience. I have done that in the past but I don't really consider it that optimal. Getting back to an inn to rest takes more steps, the encounter rate is sky high so getting out of Pity is more difficult if Finn's out of MP and you forgot to bring a Guiding Branch, and there are a lot more caster types in the formations so the team ends up getting hit with a lot of nukes.
With the quintet of enemies dealt with the team slips through the opening in the wall and finds themselves in another room with a rickety ladder leading up.
Being tiny is so weird. Is this what ants feel like?
If we get out of here alive maybe we should ask Steiner what it was like being surrounded by giants all the time.
Directly in front of the opening is a pile of rocks or rubble. It isn't possible to move over such tiles while tiny. I strongly suspect the placement of this particular pile was to teach the player exactly that since it's on the direct path from the opening to the ladder. Also, they play a loud HGUH! sound effect every time the player tries which is way too amusing to me.
Some things never change, not even when the team is tiny. With so many Black Aerials in the mix it was inevitable a Wind 2 would get through.
3rd Floor
Upstairs is a whole bunch of red mushrooms and rocks everywhere.
Where to now?
Just to the northeast is another gap in a wall.
I think it's over there. I can just barely see it. These rocks might as well be a cave in for us. We can't climb over them like this!
As they ponder what to do a trio of Black Aerials and an Evil Shaman emerge from the shadows to attack.
Not again! How do these things keep finding us? We are on their home turf.
You know what? I'm tired of this! Steiner where are you when I need you?!
Right here, Finn! WHAT?!
That actually worked? And since when can you breath fire?
Enlightenment is AWESOME!
Should we be worried that Finn just tore open a rift and called a dragon's head through it?
I did what?
Some sort of magical bond, Finn. You wished for Steiner to be here so much that the mana within your body made it so. I... don't understand any of that but okay.
Here's a little something the game never bothers to mention and which I've been hiding by not showing the team's updated spell lists with their stat sheets. When Finn classes up to Hero the game quietly adds the Steiner spell to his spell list. At 9 MP per use Finn can only cast it twice. When cast it summons Steiner to breath fire all over the enemy for a respectable amount of damage. Just don't think too hard about how Steiner's long neck clips right through the floor or the scale involved.
There are two "models" of red mushroom but they both do the same thing: restore the team to their original size. Getting through that crack in the wall requires shrinking back down though.
We're going to be doing a lot of bouncing back and forth between sizes aren't we?
It's kind of fun, actually! I wonder if these mushrooms will grow around Barbaros?
There's nothing natural about this arrangement. I'm not even sure these mushrooms are actually alive.
Aww, what a pity. I'm kind of surprised there are no tiny monsters walking around. How do they get around in here?
That's one of those questions that it's probably best not to think too long on.
One random encounter later Lorele hits Master Monk level 2 and picks up the Healing Rain spell. That'll take some of the load off of Annie for this dungeon but doesn't make Lorele a competent stand-alone healer. At least, not without plenty of Mage Potions to refuel her low max MP.
Like the Labyrinth it is easy to take a wrong step and mess up. Just take it one step at a time and don't get in a big rush.
Of course when random encounters come every few steps it's often impossible to rush anywhere.
OW!
Why do so many elves hate us?
I wish I knew, sis.
Another random encounter while trying to navigate the same room results brings up a new duo: a Manticore and a Poltergeist. I did mention the encounter rate is sky high in Pity, right? Because it is. Neither of these monsters did anything particularly dangerous or noteworthy.
I knew I shouldn't have joked about there being no cats in here! Technically that's a manticore, not a cat, Finn.
It's close enough. Maybe we can tame one and fly around on it?
That sounds like something Tont would suggest.
For all we know that's what he's trying to do right now.
Just past the crevice the kids find a common feature. There's a red grow-shroom, a green shrink-shroom, and a ladder. Pity is usually pretty generous with providing both options.
4th Floor
Just upstairs though they find their way barred because they're all tiny. This is why Pity offers so many chances to grow or shrink side by side. To go forward they need to be big. To go back through the crevice they have to be small. This way the player can't accidentally get stuck. There's no way to know what size they need to be on a new floor without going up and looking. Trial and error all the way!
Floor four is dominated by a large patch of mushrooms. Most are green but there's one lonely red shroom way in the back.
With such a high encounter rate and so much experience flying about the level ups were all but inevitable. With them came some new spells. They were a mix of bleh and meh. Awaken 2 will probably never be used since any group-wide sleeping spell would likely also knock Annie out. As for Fire 3 Finn doesn't have much MP to work with and his Steiner spell does more damage for slightly more mana.
There's one new enemy in these dank tunnels. Meet the Burial. It's green, it flies (and isn't always in the back row!), and it's mostly face.
What in the name of Arawn is that thing? It looks so weird! I've never heard of anything like it, Finn.
Weird or not don't let your guard down.
Samson got double-attacked by the Burial but the Poltergeist and Evil Shaman died without getting turns.
At this scale it's nearly impossible to miss.
And no matter where you punch you're practically assured to hit its face.
I usually aim for the chin. Snaps the head back and sends my opponent reeling.
Up and around the corner is a curious crack in the floor. To the south is a ladder leading upward (always up in this strange cave) but Finn and company double back to see where the crack leads. In order to fall through they have to be small.
It is well worth falling however for just below is an otherwise unreachable chest. It presents another reason to wait until the class-ups have been finished before heading to Pity. Lorele gets a new weapon, Power Knuckles, but she has to be a Master Monk in order to equip them. (I did check!)
Hmm, excellent craftsmanship! Whoever made this should be proud.
On their way back up the team runs into more Burials and learns they can breath fire. Or rather they can "cast" Fire Breath level 1 because the game is limited to treating breath weapons as spells.
This is revenge for siccing Steiner on your buddies, isn't it?
Wouldn't they have to breath fire on all of us to really get even? Don't give them any ideas!
5th Floor
On the fifth floor comes a choice of going north up a staircase that requires being large or shrinking down to fit through another crevice.
If it weren't for all the monsters this place would be almost pleasant.
Maybe Tont will make this his evil lair. Probably too damp in here for his tastes.
6th Floor
Opting to go north the team ascends to the sixth floor. Despite what it might look like these are small floors with rather simple layouts. It's the high random encounter rate that takes up most of the game clock.
Circling around Finn doesn't see a large hole in the floor until it is too late to avoid.
AAAAHHHH!
Predictably it dumps him and the rest of the team back on the fifth floor.
Everyone okay?
Ow, ow, ow! A little shaken but nothing permanent.
I've had more graceful landings.
Just surprised. Finn what were you doing walking into a hole?
And why did we all follow him into it?
Sorry. It sort of blended in with the floor.
Just because the layouts are simple doesn't mean the developers didn't find novel ways to screw with players.
As they retrace their steps a flurry of heads shuffle into view! The two Wights almost fade into the background against those huge, brightly colored Pyrohydras.
Six, seven, eight... dang it, I think I counted some of them twice!
Hrmph! There are fewer now.
Oh, hey, I didn't even notice there were zombies too.
Pyrohydras were once fearsome opponents but those days are long gone. The team has moved on, gained experience, and acquired better weapons. Two die before Finn's turn even comes up. I suppose it's a good benchmark for how far they've progressed since Bandore despite the fact that the plot has barely budged.
Back up on the sixth floor a pond is ringed with impassable shrooms. Floating on the lefthand side is what appears to be a green leaf.
We could just swim. It doesn't look very deep. I wonder where that leaf came from. There are no leafy plants in here.
It reminds me of the leaves of the beanstalk. Now that you mention it, Annie, there's the same sort of magic in it.
It's already wet and not growing. What else could we do with it?
I'll see if I can ride it while small. Why do I suspect this is something you've always wanted to do? Sorry sis, can't hear ya! I'm off to shrink myself!
And so Tiny Finn avoids the cracks in the ground that exist solely as traps and rides a leaf across a pond. He could probably wade across or climb over the mushrooms or just sort of step around them but nope, leaf boats it is! On the other side are more mushrooms and a large pit.
Should we unshrink ourselves first?
Nope! I'm goin' in!
*sighs* My brother's being reckless again. *calling up from below* Come on down. It's safe!
Because I chose to jump down without unshrinking the team is forced to backtrack. It's not all bad though. In this chest is a Throwing Knife for Domino. Domino throws all of his weapons but now he has official sanction to do so. To the left is the crevice on the fifth floor that I earlier bypassed.
On the way back to the ladder more Black Aerials appear. Annie continues her cavalcade of critical hits.
Enough with the wind. NO MORE!
Then Edward levels up, gains another point of Speed, and upgrades his Thunder spell to level 2. This is another spell I probably won't use unless Fire 3 spontaneously stops working.
Falling back down the pit it becomes obvious why it is necessary to use a grow-shroom before falling. There aren't any in the small chamber the hole leads to and there is rubble blocking the only way to the next ladder.
That leads to a patch of sixth floor that is walled off by mushrooms. The only way to go from there is straight up.
This used to be part of Marion. Hard to believe. A glimpse into the past, perhaps. Of a wilder land that wasn't the Marion we now know.
And to think, Finn, we could have grown up in a place like this.
*shudders* No thanks!
7th Floor
The seventh floor has a large pool and three directions one may go from the ladder. To the north is a crevice while the left and right paths can be traversed while large. The only shrink-shroom is on the far right hand side.
The northern crevice leads only to another shrink-shroom and a leaf to ride over to the western section. If, like me, you didn't notice that pile of rubble blocking the path you might wonder what the point of this leaf is and end up forcing yourself through more random-encounter filled backtracking. Don't do that.
Also, yellow nuclear dogs, er, I mean Fenrils!
Those are dogs. Those are definitely dogs! Steady yourself, Finn.
They're kind of cute actually.
To the far left is another crevice and some leaves floating in the water. There's no shrink-shroom south of the gap either so if the team had stumbled into that grow-shroom they would have been forced to walk all the way to the other side of the chamber.
8th Floor
Just upstairs is more rubble that punishes the player for coming up the ladder while small.
Of course the only way to advance is to shrink again and ride a leaf to get around some shrooms. In the distance the tablet they're searching for comes into camera view.
Unfortunately this is the wrong way to approach it. There are rocks in the way that bar tiny people so using a grow-shroom is required. But to reach the tablet requires riding a leaf and there are no shrink-shrooms within reach.
Maybe I can just jump it! It doesn't look that wide.
I don't trust your luck.
Aww, come on, sis! Let's at least try. That doesn't seem to be the intended solution. We should look around for whatever we've missed.
The team has no choice but to fall down this hole.
As I circle around though I realize I've missed this treasure chest. It can't be seen from the north where the other side of that crack is but can be seen from the room on the right. The Battle Gi is a five point defense boost for Lorele but unlike the Power Knuckles she can equip it as a regular Monk.
The path the team needs to take (and which only took me a couple of circuits around this floor to figure out) is this leaf right here. Hopping on causes it to slowly meander its way across the pond to the crevice on the far right side.
Up another ladder is more path-blocking rubble and a narrow path. If the player comes up this ladder while tiny and tries to move south they automatically get bumped back down the ladder to the floor below. Because we just had to add that extra minute or so of padding to the dungeon.
From there the team takes a leaf up to the main part of the floor with the pit directly north of their landing spot just in case they weren't paying attention. By not blundering into a grow-shroom they are able to take another leaf to where the tablet is.
Key Item Ancient Tablet got!
Umph, I always forget how heavy these are!
It would probably help if we weren't still shrunk.
Oh yeah! I was wondering why this one was so much bigger than the others.
*facepalm*
Finn casts Escape to make a quick exit from Pity. The team could have walked back down but they had already gathered all the treasure. It isn't necessary to unshrink before leaving Pity. The Escape spell or a Guiding Branch would teleport them to the entrance at their original size or they could just walk out and be quietly unshrunk in the transition to the overworld map. Technically the first shrink-shroom is on the second floor and there are rocks in front of the ladder down to prevent the player from doing that but I'm a rebel with cheat codes and I just had to put it to the test.
I distinctly remember parking my dragon differently.
Next time on Beyond the Beyond - all four tablets have been found so I guess we should go turn them in.
