Running mere errands for petty cash, Balthus Dire's time in Tithebury took a nasty turn as he agreed to help out Beatrice Fletcher, turnip-grower extraordinare. Dowsing Martha Weevil's turnips with some strange potion, Balthus was greeted by their transformation into murderous turnip monsters, which has put him off them for life. Filled with remorse (and hopefully he'd get some snazzy reward) Balthus agreed to help Martha get her own back. To that end, Beatrice is now a giant inanimate turnip, sitting peacefully in her kitchen. Surely now we can get back to something resembling a normal adventure? Let's find out...
Items
Main hand - The apprentice (Sword, +1 brawn)
Feet - Crow's feet (Feet, +1 speed, +1 magic)
Ring - Widow's Band (Ring, +1 magic, Ability: Heal)
Backpack - Grime-coated key
Money Pouch - 3 Gold Crowns
Attributes:
Speed - 1
Brawn - 1
Magic - 2
Armour - 0
Health - 30
Today we move on to the final green quest in Act 1. In theory, after this one they should get more difficult. Gossip travels fast around Tithebury, apparently. It's Valeron's equivalent of Albert Square, clearly. Some young girl has gone missing, so I hear. Turns out she's the daughter of this guy in a wood cabin near the, uh, woods. I seriously hope this quest won't be like that film. The man has a sword and a badly bandaged right leg. It is only too clear to me that he isn't in the best position to help me out here. The girl's poorly grandma, who lives the other side of the woods, is to blame here, if I'm being brutal. Scarlet Sunshine (the girl, as she will now be called unless she is given a proper name later) had taken her brandy and hasn't been seen since. The book once again gives me the option of deciding not to help and just returning to the map, and seeing what happened last time I helped someone out, I take this route. The end.
I don't suppose it's these Goblins who live in the woods? |
Hero Checklist: Saving a damsel in distress - check. |
Who's afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf? ME. |
This quest was longer than my first two, with far more potential for different paths. I can only assume quests become more and more developed as I progress, with whole storylines missable if I take a certain route. Indeed, with a little bit of searching I discovered that it is possible to meet the Huntsman before Liselle gets to him, thus saving him from his cruel fate. This is a promising sign indeed moving forward. My journey through the quest was longer than the first two as well, although not by as many entries as it felt like.
10-23-30-17-149-37-77-21-14-5-129-71-168-184-199-152-240-64-82
I had a few fights, and could've fought more Goblins and even a Crocodile if I'd taken other paths through the quest. The Hobgoblin managed to take me down to 12 health at one point, thanks to what was clearly dodgy dice throwing.
Goblin Poachers - Speed: 0 Brawn: 1 Armour: 0 Health: 20
Hobgoblin - Speed: 0 Brawn: 1 Armour: 1 Health: 12
Big Bad Wolf - Speed: 0 Brawn: 1 Armour: 1 Health: 15
Balthus Dire
Items
Main hand - Goblinhewer (Sword, +1 speed, +1 armour)
Feet - Crow's feet (Feet, +1 speed, +1 magic)
Ring - Widow's Band (Ring, +1 magic, Ability: Heal)
Necklace - Granny's Locket (Necklace, +1 magic)
Backpack - Grime-coated key
Money Pouch - 3 Gold Crowns
Attributes:
Speed - 2
Brawn - 0
Magic - 3
Armour - 1
Health - 30
Ok, so I am now a weed who has no brawn. However, I'm gaining magical strength and will likely be favouring items that help that stat from now on. That extra speed point will likely prove vital as well. I'm woefully poor though, so won't be buying things from the Tavern anytime soon. Time for a review!
I had a few fights, and could've fought more Goblins and even a Crocodile if I'd taken other paths through the quest. The Hobgoblin managed to take me down to 12 health at one point, thanks to what was clearly dodgy dice throwing.
Goblin Poachers - Speed: 0 Brawn: 1 Armour: 0 Health: 20
Hobgoblin - Speed: 0 Brawn: 1 Armour: 1 Health: 12
Big Bad Wolf - Speed: 0 Brawn: 1 Armour: 1 Health: 15
Balthus Dire
Items
Main hand - Goblinhewer (Sword, +1 speed, +1 armour)
Feet - Crow's feet (Feet, +1 speed, +1 magic)
Ring - Widow's Band (Ring, +1 magic, Ability: Heal)
Necklace - Granny's Locket (Necklace, +1 magic)
Backpack - Grime-coated key
Money Pouch - 3 Gold Crowns
Attributes:
Speed - 2
Brawn - 0
Magic - 3
Armour - 1
Health - 30
Ok, so I am now a weed who has no brawn. However, I'm gaining magical strength and will likely be favouring items that help that stat from now on. That extra speed point will likely prove vital as well. I'm woefully poor though, so won't be buying things from the Tavern anytime soon. Time for a review!
HOW MUCH FIGHT WAS IN THIS FANTASY?
Monsters/other NPC encounters: Little Red Ridin.... Liselle was entertaining as a stubborn girl who had allowed herself to be blinded by love and fell right into the Witch's hands for a spot of "fun". The huntsman, for the record, is called Manni and is a pleasant fellow. That is, providing you catch him before he goes all snarly. The better end to the quest is helping him kill the Goblin chief, getting you a better item and some money to go with it. Bugger. Decently fleshed out characters for a short quest I'd say. 7/10
Storyline/Plot: The witch is becoming a real pain in the arse. Classic fool in love story given a real "Grimm" fairytale twist. Poetic licence a plenty but an entertaining little quest. Worth pointing out though - Why the hell do I not tell anyone what had happened to Grandma?!!?!? 7/10
Difficulty: A supposedly easy Hobgoblin reminded me of why it is exactly that the Speed stat is king in Destiny Quest. In terms of what I would deem the best ending of acquiring the best loot, I'd say it's a little tricky to get there, but nothing in the quest is massively challenging. 4/10
Seal of Approval?: This was my favourite of the three quests I've undertaken in Destiny Quest so far, and I'm loving the multiple paths a quest can now take, even if it means I'll end up missing out on some killer loot down the line, most likely very soon. Being rebuked by a fiery teenage girl made me laugh, being nearly killed by a measly hobgoblin did not. All in all, a very positive sign of things to come. Not QUITE a seal-worthy quest though, so have my favourite Little Red Riding Hood picture from DeviantArt I could find that wasn't too risqué to include.
Difficulty: A supposedly easy Hobgoblin reminded me of why it is exactly that the Speed stat is king in Destiny Quest. In terms of what I would deem the best ending of acquiring the best loot, I'd say it's a little tricky to get there, but nothing in the quest is massively challenging. 4/10
Seal of Approval?: This was my favourite of the three quests I've undertaken in Destiny Quest so far, and I'm loving the multiple paths a quest can now take, even if it means I'll end up missing out on some killer loot down the line, most likely very soon. Being rebuked by a fiery teenage girl made me laugh, being nearly killed by a measly hobgoblin did not. All in all, a very positive sign of things to come. Not QUITE a seal-worthy quest though, so have my favourite Little Red Riding Hood picture from DeviantArt I could find that wasn't too risqué to include.
This is cool. 'Nuff said. |
Having now finished all the Green "easy" quests in Act I, we'll be taking a short break from Destiny Quest to do some other gamebooks. But fear not, DQ lovers - we'll be back in Valeron soon enough. I've finally got round to sorting out the Destiny Quest homepage on this blog, so you should be able to catch up on what you've missed far easier now. The moral of this tale is thus:
If you truly want someone to fall in love with you, use your wit and charm, not a potion. Else they'll likely become a bloodthirsty wolf and try and rip your head off.
Apologies as well for the slight delay in getting this post up - my laptop decided to do a full restore mid-week and I had to re-do the first half of the post. Fortunately I've lost no files that were more than 4 days old at the time so we're all good!
NEXT TIME ON
May Your Stamina Never Fail...
Back to Allansia we go, with a visit to a swamp that offers multiple quests to us...