Beyond the Beyond: Update 92: Hypothermia (Ice Mine pt. 2)

[ladyabaxa]

Beyond the Beyond: Update 92: Hypothermia (Ice Mine pt. 2)

The last time we saw them the team spent entirely too much time stuck on a single ice puzzle. This time they're going to spend entirely too much time stuck on a different ice puzzle. Progress!

4th Floor - the real way down!

Are we there yet?
Doesn't look like it.
You're not going to ask that every floor are you?
I hadn't planned on it but I can if you want, sis.
No thanks.

From this staircase it's just a straight shot south to the next floor.

Yet I still manage to eat a Thunder 2 from an Ekidona. Uh, progress?

5th Floor

At first sight is something new. Not the staircase or the ice patch. I'm talking about the ice ramp.

Do we really want to slide down this, Finn? Maybe we can walk across the ice.
Aww, come on, sis! Where's that adventurous spirit?
I think I left it back in Isla.
So that means Steiner's stolen it!
Ugh!
Don't worry. I'm sure we'll be fine.

Warning! Animated GIF ahead!

AAAAAAHHHHHH!
YOU ARE SO DEAD, FINN!

While not strictly necessary to slide down this ramp it is faster than tiptoeing across the ice. We'd have to take the same path we slid across anyway and this way we don't risk random encounters. Anyway, ice ramps cause the party to slide in a straight line. There are no random encounters while sliding, only upon stopping, so it's better to slide rather than walk if said encounters are a problem. Of course there's no way to control the party while it's sliding so there's no way to avoid pits if they happen to be in the way.

Just to the northwest of the staircase, situated on a big patch of ice, are several rock structures. On top of one is a treasure chest that the team cannot reach at the moment.

Are you calmed down now?
I'm cold, actually, which isn't the same thing but which I'm going to pretend is for the moment because I really need to get my blood pressure down.
There's another ramp right there!
No stairs though.
We didn't miss a vital pit up above did we?
No. I'm pretty sure we fell into every last one of them.
Dang it! We really should have brought some rope with us. Maybe Sir Samson can throw me up there?
Let's just keep looking. We're probably missing the obvious.

Moments later a trio of Liches appear.

I'm kind of surprised Tont hasn't tried to ask the monsters how to find all the treasure.
Why would dead people need treasure?
To better inflict vengeance on the living?

They collectively pummel Domino into a daze.

OW!
Like that!
Can we stop rooting for the undead for a moment and focus on the fact that we're getting thrashed here?

Don't worry, Miss Annie! Tont to the rescue. Take that! And that!
This is better than him summoning demons... isn't it?
I will admit that his flailing around amuses me.

Given how much it takes to fully heal any team member from low health and how much LP the front liners have I was a bit more lax on healing than I have been. I figured I could stretch Annie's limited mana reserves by letting a groggy get through here and there as long as I was careful to stall so they could recover before ending the fight. A gamble to be sure. As the dungeon dragged on I got more careful about healing including this use of a Healing Herb. They've been sitting in my inventory for who knows how long. Now they get their fifteen seconds of fame!

In a chest in the northwest corner is a Storm Bandanna for Domino. Disregard the fact that his promoted sprite clearly wears a pirate hat. He must double-up or something.

This is a straight trade-off. Domino loses the +2 Speed of his Wind Bandanna to gain +2 Defense from the Storm Bandanna. Given the fact that he was already acting dead last every round I'm not terribly upset at this trade.

How do you keep that hat on no matter what?
Trade secret.
Really?
Nah. I use a pair of hatpins to keep it in place.

My wandering around in loops does have one benefit: the higher level front liners manage to secure some level ups. Finn hits level 9 and gains a few more points scattered across his stats.

Finn even manages to upgrade his Thunder spell to level 2. He's never going to cast it but he has it. For the curious, promoted Domino doesn't jump during the victory sequence. Pre-promotion he was the same way. Maybe Domino just has bad knees. Or maybe someone on the dev team just didn't want to bother with it.

An astute observer might notice that there are holes in the ice floor which are suspiciously aligned with some of the curved walls. Eh, I'm sure that's just an aesthetic choice. Nothing to worry about, right?

I know, Tont. I know. There's gotta be something interesting up there.
Sir Samson could still toss me up there. I wouldn't mind if it's for a good cause.
No. Just, no.
Bad aim?
Perhaps I just have more of a conscience than you do.
Funny, I don't see it anywhere.
*eye roll*
I told you I could get a reaction out of him, kid.
And now he's going back to angry silence.
I'm annoyed. Not angry.
Our silent giant speaks again!

As the team heads south to check the other side of this large chamber I decide to go ahead and drop through a hole. It's not always a bad idea. Besides, I'd like to know what lies below before the team gets forced to fall.

6th Floor

There's a staircase up, a path of ice bisecting the floor, and just barely visible at the edges of the screen are three ice ramps. There's no way to climb up onto the platform those ramps are connected to. The team can only slide across the ice and go back upstairs.

This place is really a mine? People used to work down here?
It might not have been a frozen over hellhole back then.

Back upstairs the team starts trying the ice ramps by just going to the first one they find and sliding down.

The curved walls cause them to turn and change directions. Talk about some serious momentum!

How long are we going to keep sliding?

I had to ask, didn't I?
Crap! Brace for impact.

That ramp ends up turning the team several times right into this pit.

Things aren't all bad though. The team falls onto rock on the 6th floor which means they're some place they couldn't reach from the stairs.

They're able to walk south and find themselves staring at the tops of the ramps they saw but couldn't climb earlier. This is the only way up. One ramp leads to somewhere interesting. The other goes to the stairs up. Without being able to see the other side of the ice patch it thus becomes a 50/50 chance of picking the right one.

I manage to choose wisely. (It was bound to happen eventually!)

Down one ramp and up another. I never would have guessed that.
I feel sick.
You never got seasick on the boat.
I'd take a boat ride over this any day.

Then a lone Snow Wolf roaming aimlessly on the rock manages to find the team.

Puppy! It's all alone. Maybe this puppy wants to be friends?
You'll lose a hand that way, kid.
Hmm, if I didn't need both hands for casting spells that would be awfully tempting.

Hey, treasure!
Looks like something Lorele wears.

The Battle Scarf will have to wait until Lorele's back in the party to see any use.

On the way back to the ramps a trio of Snow Wolves and a Manticore appear to avenge their fallen canine friend.

Uh, Tont. Do you still want to try to tame the dogs?
Still very tempting but I think this calls for some magic!

Snow Wolves are vulnerable to Firedrake but the Manticore in back isn't. Liches and Ekidona also aren't weak to fire damage and they're common opponents. For an ice-themed dungeon fire isn't particularly useful. Well, not particularly useful outside of the fact that Firedrake continues to be Tont's most mana-efficient spell to cast versus groups.

Burning a group of dogs helps Tont understand how to burn them even better. The elemental summon spells only have two power levels. If you've played Shining Force 2 it has the same thing (thankfully Beyond the Beyond doesn't have the splitting damage on multiple targets mechanic). Tont won't be using Firedrake 2 any time soon due to its MP cost. I find myself saying that a lot with his spells. He can crank out damage to groups quickly but it drains his mana in a hurry.

Discussions about spell costs aside it doesn't take the team long to climb back up to the 5th floor to try the other ice slide.

Please no pit. Please no pit.

Please no pit!
We slid right by one back there.
I don't think Finn can hear you right now.

The route doesn't lead to a pit. It leads to the platform in the northwestern corner the team saw earlier. The opened chest that once contained the Storm Bandanna is a surefire landmark. The top ramp was their entry point which means they again have to choose between two other ramps not knowing where either leads.

I guess... this one?
Go in order? Sounds fine to me!
Why do I suspect you like falling in pits?
Eh, I'm not a fan. I just take whatever change of pace comes along.

The second ramp dumps the team in the northeastern corner of the chamber. A staircase down to the 6th floor is there for the taking but with treasure still unclaimed the kids turn back.

I hope this is the last ramp we ever have to slide down.
Aww, but...
EVER.

Rather than leading to danger the slide goes to another platform on the east side with more ramps.

DAMNIT! WHY?!
You can just wait here while we check things out, sis.
No. The sooner we get moving the sooner we can get out of here.

I choose the middle ramp. It's a bad choice.

A pit ahead! Wheeee!
I would be mad if I hadn't expected exactly that.

I haven't gotten a chance to use this spell yet and it's just a pair of Manticores but what the hell. Let's roll!

With Tont still sitting pretty on MP I decided to use Summon level 4 to at least see what appears. Strangely enough it doesn't use the spell animation. Instead the game uses the "use item" animation and sound effect.

Tont summons a Nightmare Queen who blasts the two Manticores with Blizzard breath 3. I guess that's worth the 10 MP Tont spent.

Did... we just unleash a powerful ice-spewing demon lady on the mines?
Maybe she answered because she likes this place.
As long as she doesn't stab us in the back she can have it.

There's one ramp left and it leads to treasure. Key item Flint Stone got!

That's it? The secret treasure? Phoeey!
This is for starting a fire.
But we have magic for that! Why do we need this?
For the miners.
Uh, yeah. I knew that!
It seems like someone went to a lot of trouble to hide it up here.
Maybe monsters put it here so the miners couldn't find it.
That makes a strange amount of sense, Finn.

With nothing else to find the team is finished with the 5th floor. They head downstairs.

6th Floor

There's a bit of ice and some sliding but there's no puzzle. It's just short of a straight shot down that serves to take up a bit of time. I suppose that because the floor is actually two separate parts to make the falling gimmick work it's size is inherently limited.

7th Floor

There's no slidey ice on the seventh floor. All the team has to do is walk south, go down some stairs, and turn into a small chamber where they discover what looks like a fire pit.

Is that oil?
Looks like an ice wall ahead.
Stand back! My magic will make quick work of this!

Alas doing practical things like unleashing some of the myriad fire spells the team has is not what the game wants. Instead Finn has to use the Flint Stone.

Why didn't it work? This is bullshit!
Magic, I guess.
Someone didn't want anyone getting through here.
But why?
Protecting treasure I hope!
Me too. Now if I can just get this to light. Wait...

There we go.

For some reason lighting the fire causes the wall of ice several feet away to instantly melt. Magic!

Then an Ice Dragon and two Liches attack the party. I suppose they don't approve of lighting fires in the mine.

So Tont summons a big fire drake to light up their worlds. The Ice Dragon isn't a particularly remarkable monster. It can use Blizzard Breath 2 like Snow Wolves and appears in the back row. They're weak to fire but this one survives to the next round.

I might not be able to melt ice but I can still set monsters on fire!
Consolation prize?
Damn right it is!

In a small room is the last treasure chest of the dungeon. Key item Mithril Silver got!

Is this shiny ore what we came here for?
Knowing our luck we'll take it back and be told we got the wrong thing.

That's a chance I'm willing to take.

Finn queues up an Escape spell in order to make a hasty escape. Walking back up through the ice and pits is only slightly less annoying then going down.

Next time on Beyond the Beyond - we have Mithril! Let's go turn it in and see what we can make with it.

Update Ninety-one | Index | Update Ninety-three