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Beyond the Beyond: Update 38: Fear of Heights (Arawn's Tower)
So the team made it to Arawn's Tower at long last. They've seen it and heard about it for months so I guess they're going to find out if it lives up to the hype. Of course it could all be an elaborate trap since the beanstalk was swarming with deadly monsters and places with Arawn's name attached to them have not, in the past, been particularly friendly.
First thing's first. The team turns around and goes back down the beanstalk. They are getting low~ish on MP and the encounter rate in the tower is a bit worse than the beanstalk. That and I wasn't sure if I missed something so I wanted to look around again.
A couple of notable monsters popped up who hadn't shown themselves until this point. The first was a lone Mystic Fungus which did nothing of note and was easily dispatched.
The second was an Illusionist who was also easily killed because 5 on 1 are pretty good odds in our favor. I'm mostly including this because the developers thought we were a bit short on enemies who could nuke the entire party and helpfully included one more. They don't want us getting used to having VP, after all.
So you really have no idea what will appear until the gate opens?
Yup. I feel like I'm playing roulette with this spell yet against my better judgment I keep trying.
Hmm, maybe if I adjust a couple of phrases I might get more a more stable gate. 
Uh, just don't summon a dragon or something that you can't handle, ok?
Eh, I'm not worried. I could just dismiss it.
Tont upgrades his Summon line on the way back down but it won't see much use, at least not right now. Summon level 3 costs 8 MP per cast but if I really want that sort of firepower I'll just caste Firedrake 1 instead for 6 MP.
Then it was back down the pyramid to cross the desert again. Thankfully it is a short trip in terms of in-game time.
The first thing to take care of in Ophera is a trip to the item shop to repair the Ring of Defense.
Well, which item should I repair?
Prr. That is a big crack there.
Did you drop it or something, sis?
No. It cracked from the magic.
Hmm. I'm not surprised. This ring looks like it's seen better days.
You can repair it though? You're sure?
Yeah. No problem. It won't be cheap though. The band will have to be replaced. Lucky for you I've got some enchanted metal on hand for just this sort of job.
Enchanted? There are mages here?
Not really. Some of the smiths know a bit of old magic for their craft. *thinks for a minute* I can fix it for 3333 gold. Deal?
Y - you're kidding, right? Three thousand gold?
I said it wouldn't be cheap.
*exasperated breath* Ok. Here's the money.
Excellent! Give me a second!
The man takes the ring and goes to work while the team waits.
I guess we should have expected a ring found on a tombstone might be a little messed up.
It seemed fine until I activated the enchantment. You found it on a tombstone?
Yeah, back in Marion. Does that happen often in your country?
Not that I know of.
It's fixed! That ought to do it! Please use it with care!
You work fast. It goes quick once you know what you're doing. Now, is there anything else I can do for you kids?
Spending 3333 gold to repair a cracked ring is pricey but the Ring of Defense is irreplaceable. We're not going to need money for buying new equipment for some time so we should still have sufficient funds when we get that far. While in the shop I sell the Heavy Mail and restock herbs. The next morning the team heads back out into the desert.
The climb back up isn't as tedious as it might sound. I didn't mention it earlier but random encounters are disabled while carrying water. All the puzzles stay completed so it's easy to sprint up with minimal risk.
Of course minimal risk doesn't mean zero risk, as the Nagas keep reminding me. At least Annie has Healing Rain now to make recovery quick and relatively painless.
1st floor
Alright, back to the Tower of Arawn. Hopefully there won't be an annoying gimmick to whatever set of puzzles are here. (And there will be puzzles because that's what Beyond the Beyond does.)
Already one staircase up. Okay, I guess the game is handing us a freebie - probably to lull us into a false sense of security.
What exactly did you expect to find, Finn?
I don't know. I just figured we should look around.
You sure love to set things on fire, Tont. What? It works! Kill or be killed and all that.
The enemies in the tower are the same as those found out on the beanstalk except they come in larger groups. That makes Tont's Firedrake spell all the more useful. We'll need it.
We're... not going up the stairs?
Like I said, we should look around. I want to know what's on the other side of the loop.
Huh. Strange.
There are weird track marks on this block like the wall in the pyramid below.
Edward, do you think it's magical? Yes. Definitely.
Prr. So you have a lot more walking to do, Finn, if you want to know why it's here.
Great. Just great. Everyone keep your eyes open for a switch or switch-like thingy-ma-jig.
While the team can't see what's behind the purple block we can thanks to the (almost) all-seeing eye of the game camera. It might be just one treasure chest but treasure is definitely worth backtracking for.
YETI!
Don't just stand there, Finn, it's...
TYRGH!
Finn! I see I'm going to have my work cut out for me today.
Have I mentioned that enemy criticals can hurt because, well, they can and do and OUCH that smarts. Beyond the Beyond really, really doesn't want us getting comfortable with having VP. Or LP. Or just being alive in general.
Okay, okay, stairs... that way, as soon as I can figure out which set to go up.
Uh, do you need to sit down for a bit, Finn? No! ...Yes. Ow, I think I have a Yeti hand-shaped indention on my skull now.
2nd floor
I'm not still seeing double, am I?
Nope. There really are a whole lot of purple blocks here.
Lovely.
Sunlight!
It's blocked off though.
Must be a door or something back there. I mean, why bother sealing off a window?
Again thanks to the game camera we can see what's behind the obstacle and this time it is an open passage.
Orange squares with sun symbols on them. This one's a little loose. I think I'm starting to understand what's going on here. What I read is making some sense now.
Well while you guys work on that I'll be over here killing this Imp who keeps hissing at me.
Excuse you! GO AWAY!
With the way clear the team heads out the passage to the south.
Whoa! Oh, ho, ho, ho, we are really high up!
Careful, Finn. There's nothing to stop you from falling if you lose your balance.
Yeah no kidding.
Hmm? Oh, look at that. *points up to the sun symbol* It's like the floor tiles.
Uh, ok?
Hmm, follow me, everyone.
Up there! A moon, just like I suspected.
You suspected this would happen?
Why did it get so dark all of a sudden?
Yes I did. To answer your question, Finn, it is because this tower is enchanted with two opposing fields of equal strength.
A night and day thing?
Yes, in balance but the fields are allowed to shift slightly. I felt something when we walked out the other door but nothing changed.
Ok. So what does that mean?
When we walk through this door something should change.
Oh, hey, we're back here again.
Those were moon blocks. I take it the sun ones are up now. They should be.
Arawn has a very strange home.
The walkways concept isn't actually new to Beyond the Beyond. Shining in the Darkness has them. They aren't actual areas in the game, just screens that auto-animate, but they are used to connect points on the northern side of the labyrinth so that there can be separate wings in the mazes (by making it so that there doesn't have to be an interior hallway connecting them).
Shining Force 2 and Final Conflict had stages that took place on the exterior of a tower - the same tower, although for some reason the design of said tower changed radically between games (there are reasons why I don't like Final Conflict). There was no attempt to create a curved space though since they were flat stage maps. The first Shining Force also had a tower stage but it was even less of an attempt to mimic an actual tower structure.
Arawn's Tower has a mercifully straightforward puzzle design. It has two states, sun and moon, and the team will have to toggle them periodically to open paths. The southern door is always sun while the northern door is always moon.
We're going back downstairs?
Yup, my treasure senses are tingling.
I'd ask what exactly that feels like but I'm not sure I want to hear the answer.
See? It's open.
You know I didn't doubt it was, Finn. Prrr! I did!
Gee, thanks, Steiner.
No problem!
Less arguing with Steiner, more paying attention to the monsters around us, Finn!
When I said the tower has the same enemies as the beanstalk that of course includes Nagas - lots and lots of Nagas who are still annoyingly flame resistant. I still spam Firedrake and Fire 2 when there's more than one of them because I'd rather not eat multiple Ice 2 spells. (We still get hit with a whole bunch of ice spells though due to sheer enemy numbers or blocked attacks.)
But it does translate into lots of experience for the team resulting in Edward picking up a brand new spell: Confusion. It does exactly what it sounds like it would and I have plans for this spell. Oh yes...
Oh dear. Steiner, I think we broke Finn.
Finn? Finn!
It's... it's beautiful. Aaaand now he's crying. It is a nice sword, Finn.
It's so light!
You'd better hope Arawn doesn't mind you robbing his house.
*flustered* What?! I don't rob anyone. I told you, Steiner, I pick up things others have abandoned. Sure, sure, Finn. Whatever helps you sleep at night.
I doubt Arawn cares. I don't think he has any use for a sword anyway.
As I have stated before backtracking in Beyond the Beyond to gather treasure is usually a good idea. There are a few treasures that aren't worth the trouble but this definitely is. Not only does the Tempest Sword bump up Finn's attack power another 8 points but it also grants him +3 Speed. That means that even when I do find a sword with more attack power I'll keep this one because there are spots where attack power is irrelevant but speed is priceless.
3rd floor
Treasure in tow the team ascends the tower and immediately sees there are a few options of where they might go next.
A golem! Yeah! ...What's a golem?
OW! I'll explain when we kill it, Finn.
The Clay Golem has no tricks up its sleeves. It just has higher health and defense than most of the other enemies in the area and a big pile of attack power for this point in the game. That 15 damage was just a run of the mill attack, not a critical hit so if one of those golems does get a critical hit in it would instantly groggy any of our frontliners even from full health.
With the moon blocks down it is a quick walk to the next staircase up. There's actually no way to reach this otherwise. Just offscreen to the south is a wall.
4th floor
I wonder how far up this tower goes. Well it does look pretty big from below.
Let's hope those looks are deceiving.
We must be near another door. I can feel warm air from outside. At least this place is well ventilated. I can't say the same for the palace below.
Uh, hello puppy. Are you going to be friendly?
Ow! It bit me! You did club it over the head with your staff.
Yeah well I'm not taking any chances with snarling wolves who appear out of nowhere. So far they've all been bad news.
I think Hell Hounds can breath fire but with 5 on 1 this particular Hell Hound only lived long enough to counterattack Annie.
Heading out the moon door because there's literally no other way to go the team stops so Tont and Edward can each use a Mage Potion. They've been a bit trigger-happy with their magic and we've still got a considerable bit of dungeon to go. The sad thing is that the 20 MP they restore seems so pathetic compared to the cost of their spells. That's 3 Firedrake 1s for Tont and 4 Fire 2s for Edward. With the encounter rate in the tower they'll burn through that in five minutes.
There sure are a lot of statues. I wonder who they're based on.
Probably some big shot from a long, long time ago.
It would help if we could actually see their faces. What is the point of putting a bunch of outward-facing statues on a floating tower?
It can't be for intimidation because this place is crawling with monsters.
This floor looks weak, doesn't it?
Can you break through, Sir Samson?
*struggles for a minute* No. It's not weak enough for me to pry up with my bare hands.
And we don't have a sledgehammer or anything like that. Darn.
Back on the moon side the team finds a curious sign of structural damage. Also, again with the rubble that the team inexplicably can't climb over or clear. This doesn't even rise to the level of Waist High Insurmountable Fence. This is more like an ankle high fence but for some reason it still bars our path. I mean come on there are five of you and you're on a tower with no wall or railing or anything whatsoever to stop you from just picking up rubble and chucking it off the side. RAILROADING! *shakes an angry fist at the game*
As a small consolation prize there are no random encounters while outside.
What we need to do is make sure the moon blocks are down so we can return to this staircase.
Then the team walks right on past it to reach this doorway on the 3rd floor that I ignored earlier.
Uh, we're going out here... because?
There's no other way. We must have missed something.
Ok. Well, I guess I'll keep my eyes open then.
Pryaa. Finn out here are just two dead ends.
Hmm. Is that something in the rubble over there?
Hmm. Let me see. *moves some stones away* It's a hammer. So it is. What's a hammer doing out here? Did someone or something take it to that statue over there? Oh! This must be the Holy Hammer.
The what?
There was a book in Ophera. "The Holy Hammer is only a guide. You must open the road on your own." Do you remember, Finn?
Uh, vaguely. Wow. Then that book was being literal.
So, wait! That means this hammer has been here for centuries or since whenever the tower was built or when that book was originally written.
It was a book of legends about this tower so the tale must be far older than the book.
Does that mean someone planned this all out way, way long ago?
Uh, you know that's a very good question and, uh, one that is frankly very uncomfortable to think about.
Then let us press on. We have no idea how much time we actually have left.
Ah, uh, yeah, of course.
As Steiner said there really are only dead ends on this walkway. We cannot reach the sun door because of the Ankle High Insurmountable Wall in our way. Also, it's probably not wise to think too hard on the structural implications of losing one of the support columns.
Then it's back to the crack in the walkway on the 4th floor.
I don't know how much good this will do.
The hammer is magical so it should do something helpful.
Ok! Hyah!
The hammer smashes right through the crack creating a perfectly circular hole. Amazingly this does not break or even damage the hammer.
Damn! We should have brought some rope with us. I knew we were forgetting something.
I think we can climb down part of it. Steiner can you fly down and make sure it's safe down there?
I think I can manage that.
After a couple of minutes Steiner returns.
It's safe but there's quite a drop.
I'll go down first then.
The hole lets us drop down to the sun side of the 3rd floor. It is quite a drop though. If Finn is about 5 feet tall and the scale is to be believed that's a 15 to 16 foot ceiling there although it's impossible to be sure because of how the tilemap is being warped to create the illusion of a curved surface. Still, that's not a nice fall and straight onto stone to boot. Good thing the team has legs of iron!
Now that the sun blocks are down on the 3rd floor the team can go east.
That's because just like the west staircase is blocked off if the moon blocks are up the east staircase is blocked by sun blocks. This is a general rule in Arawn's Tower. The west and north are moon areas. The east and south are sun areas. As is visible in this screenshot it isn't possible to reach an opposing door on this floor because each side is completely walled off by its own blocks.
Anyway the team heads up this set of stairs.
Then on the 4th floor it is a quick jog to another staircase. That hallway to the west is a bit of a red herring. There's no way to ever walk through there since it has both block types.
5th floor
This place sure is giving us the run around. I wonder who designed it.
I still don't understand how the tower could have ever stood on top of the pyramid. Maybe that's how it was originally built, before it became a piece of floating architecture?
I suppose the tower and the pyramid are more alike than they are different, aren't they?
Ya know if it weren't for the maze and the hordes of monsters this would make a decent house.
Would you actually want to live here though?
I'd seriously consider it.
You're certainly braver than I am in that regard.
I'll take a house that's firmly rooted on the ground, thank you.
*laughs* What, you don't want a roost where Steiner can be king?
Prraa! I like the sound of that!
It's not happening so forget it!
Aww, Finn, you never let me have any fun!
Let you have fun?! As if you needed my permission. As if you cared about getting my permission! As if I weren't the brunt of most of your fun!
*chuckles* And let's hope it stays that way.
Aww not you too! What did I do to deserve this?
You mean other than all those thefts?
Ugh, moving on. I hope we're almost at the top.
Walking around to the moon side is necessary to get anywhere on this floor.
Once the moon blocks are down, though, it is a linear path to the next staircase.
Wait! There's a barrier of some sort ahead. What kind of barrier?
Like the one in the pyramid. Once we go up the stairs we'll enter a protected area.
Uh...
Well if it's like the pyramid and monsters are down here then there aren't any up there, right?
Oh, uh, yeah I guess that makes sense.
6th floor
It's... so peaceful up here.
Let's just hope that means nothing up here wants to chew our faces off.
Next time on Beyond the Beyond - The team has suddenly hit a smaller floor in the Tower of Arawn. That might be good news because we might be at the top or it might be bad if the game is simply changing up the gimmick it wants to put us through.
