#kqvii

Introduction:

It's time for King's Quest VII, the last game I'll be doing in this series, at least for a while.

A couple of notes:

ScummVM allows for subtitles. Unfortunately, the game's subtitles were never completed and were taken out but ScummVM adds them back in. Except it warns of errors, not always matching and that they're not complete, so I left them off. They were also quite ugly. Definitely a let down after VI! It would have been nice if they'd learned from VI and kept it up…

No dead ends! At least not intentional ones. There are apparently a couple spots you can glitch and get stuck, but otherwise far more forgiving. No point system either as far as I can tell.

As for other changes, well: there have been some shifts in the series from text parser to point and click with verbs and of course graphical changes. VII brings another shift as quite a lot has changed.

We now have a very cartoony, Disney inspired style. It's still a point and click, but a lot more streamlined (too much so in my opinion) which I'll get into more when we get into the game proper.

This game alternates between two protagonists! We get Rosella back, but now it's finally time for Valanice to get her time too. It's funny: shortly before I decided to get King's Quest VII I was grumbling a bit that all the Daventry family get their time except for Valanice and lo and behold I just needed to wait for VII.

The game is split into chapters each one focusing on one of our pair. And, well, I'll let the intro speak for itself. I apologise for the sound quality. That's just how it was and I don't know if there was something I could have tweaked, or just. old. And not the best quality. The actual game is better.

Rosella laments the possibilities of incoming marriage and wants more adventure. She and Valanice discuss suitors - "Prince Throckmorton!" Boring! Rosella gets distracted by an odd winged seahorse critter and lured into a pool. Valanice takes the plunge and dives after leading them both into some kind of portal tunnel until they get separated.

And so we begin with Chapter 1.

Chapter One - "Where in the blazes am I?"

It's Valanice time! Okay, so interface stuff:

It can't be seen here because a scene was still playing but when you're playing the cursor is a wand. When you're at a hot spot it sparkles. There are no verbs to select, you just click and she'll take the appropriate action.

Got our inventory in the black box there. The eye is for looking. You drag an item over and you get an image that you can rotate around to see it all from angles. Like so:

The red gem is the menu. The slider above lets you pan the scene side to side but I mostly ignored that. It also slides as you're moving so I think it may be meant to give you an idea of when you're hitting an exit of that particular scene? Maybe? The cursor also turns into an arrow at exits too.

Tech talk aside before I get back into the game proper.

Now, I would like to say I set off for adventure! Except I ran into a hiccup of my own making. I've been using ScummVM for a long time now mostly to run Monkey Island. Then after the special editions of the first two games came out it essentially became my Curse of Monkey Island launcher. So, while I've been using it for ages I had a set up that worked for me and (almost, this almost being key) never looked back. All that to say I don't really have a good understanding of how things work. Going through King's Quest has taught me a little, but still very much a total amateur.

A while back I got the OpenGL + xBRZ scaler for Curse of Monkey Island and it's great for it! Cleans things up nicely without making a smoodgy mess or anything like that. So, I thought in my infinite wisdom of not knowing what I'm doing, it might be good with another cartoon-y 2D game like KQ VII and switched to it.

That was a terrible idea. I didn't see much if any difference and I've rarely if ever heard my computer fans go that loud. After some panicky and baffled moments of wondering how the hell a game from the 90s could be making my computer sound like it wants to explode I realized I had that shader going. I switched back to 2x and all was well again.

There might be better shaders to use for it. After having some issues with recording the intro and then that, I just wanted to get on with actually playing the game and left things at that. Live and learn.

Back to the game!

So Valanice appears in this desert in a whirlwind, but there's no sign of Rosella. She calls for her. She walks around looking around and gets her petticoat caught on a cactus which tears it because it's really not Valanice's day. On the other hand that petticoat piece became an inventory item so that's always good! She now has Rosella's comb and a piece of ripped fabric. Right after the tearing a jackalope bounds by being very annoying and obnoxiously laughing because again, it's not her day.

I wandered off to the left first and found a giant statue and a pool.

There were several points of interest here. I grabbed the stick. The sparkles were salt crystals and I took some of those. Looking into the pool shows a scene of another little statue holding a shallow bowl with two pieces of something in it. And you also get a view of the stairs going down.

Checking the pool again leads Valanice to trying a little and discovering it's salty.

As for the statue itself there's an inscription at the base that gives some clues.

The blue beads around the statue's neck can be moved around and the head itself can be twirled to create either the current head which I guess is the moon? Because the other is definitely a sun.

There wasn't anything else I could do there so I carried on. I briefly dipped into full blown desert dunes and noped out of that.

Going the other way I found a stone temple or shrine. However, I didn't get to explore before a giant scorpion showed up and I got my first death.

Deaths work a little differently in this game. They're more forgiving. Not much of a message by text but Valanice (or later Rosella) will make some comment related to the death and sometimes a vague sort of nudge about what to do. When you try again it puts you back right before you did whatever you shouldn't have done.

Also in this case there's a small window of time where you can run away back outside. Which I did on the retry.

From there I found another screen with two holes and a little door in a house built into stone with a sign saying Rare Curiosities the proprietor of which is Ricardo Eduardo Rodriguez Roo Rat.

Knocking on the door let me meet Mr. Roo Rat himself! But the poor little fellow has lost his glasses and can't see so he wasn't willing to converse much, but it didn't stop him from speaking in rhyme. After he disappears inside, the darned jackalope pops out of the holes and what a shock, he has the glasses.

I caught this mid-jump for quite the shot... Jerk also kicked up a bunch of sand at Valanice and laughed some more before disappearing back down its burrow. What a jerk.

I continued to explore finding an area with a cave, damp sand where water was dripping down and a gourd. There were also more paintings with clues on the one wall. I couldn't do much here yet.

And going further to left leads to another statue.

There's an arrow-like indent that can be looked at more closely.

So clearly I needed something to fit in there.

Further exploration outside led me to another patch of desert area against stone walls, very similar to a spot in KQV actually. There I met a ghostly man.

This fellow died and is wandering the desert in perpetual thirst. He warns Valanice away after she asks if there's anything she can do, but he also mentions a portal out of this land through mountains--the mouth of a great statue that was closed by an evil enchantress. That we've seen! Valanice protests leaving him, but the thirst drives him mad and he doesn't know what he might do, so go, go. Then he leaves.

I had a collection of things to do by now:

Get water for the spirit

Find a way past the scorpion

Get the glasses back for roo rat

Find the piece for the closed statue door

First thing's first was the water. I knew that inscription that was on the statue by the pool would help.

I went back to the area where the wet sand and cave was. I entered the cave where I found a basket inside of which was a corn kernel. There was also a row of pots. The first few kept breaking leading to a very annoyed Valanice.

But I was able to pick up the final pot.

Outside I planted the corn kernel in the wet sand and it grew into a full plant and I was able to pick an ear of corn.

I had everything I needed for the pool statue. I used the pot to get salt water from the pool and poured that into the statue's basin. Using Rosella's comb on Valanice causes her to think of Rosella and cry, so then you use the comb on the basin and Valanice cries into the basin. Put the corn in the statue's hand and twirl the head and voila. The water is purified.

I went back out to the desert, this time into the dunes, which I started to regret, but thankfully found the thirsty spirit very quickly and gave him the water.

In thanks for the water he led me to his remains and gifted me with the choice of a rope or bug reducing powder.

I took the powder. Then he faded, now at peace.

There was also a hunting horn which I took too.

Had to blow the sand out of it. Valanice comments on the usefulness of being long-winded sometimes.

All going well! ...except I got lost in the desert trying to get back and stayed long enough to die of thirst. And I must make it clear that it's a lot more generous than KQ V about that, but I just could not find my way back. Retrying brought me back to the remains and I then found my back very quickly... Oops.

I went back to the temple-y place where I could fearlessly confront that scorpion. Bug reducing powder go!

Who's a cute a little itty bitty fellow. Off it scampered.

I then went to examine that statue? Structure? Altar? There was also a carving of a face on the wall with one eye partly opened letting in some light.

And I didn't know what to do with it yet so I left it for now.

Instead I went back to the curiosities shop and the jackalope and got my revenge.

Blew the horn into the burrow. The jackalope flung himself out, the glasses were tossed and he dived back into his hole though not without losing a little fur to the cactus (which I of course grabbed too). Valanice seemed satisfied and I sure don't blame her.

I returned the glasses to Ricardo Eduardo and he was willing to start trading with me. For most of my stuff he only offered junk, junk that rhymes mind you, but still junk, that Valanice refuses in various ways. However, offering the comb leads to some information, if not a trade because Valanice doesn't want to part with it and the return trade was more junk. However, information: he heard of a princess in the west and that the troll king lost his heart and plans to wed a princess, a foreign princess. Valanice thinks that could be Rosella and he says she'll have to go beyond the woods and far below. There was much rhyming here.

While I was around this area, I ended up back near the corn and discovered the gourd had split open revealing a gourd seed. I took the seed and was able to trade it to Ricardo for a turquoise bead.

I knew there had to be something I could do with that shrine place so I went back to try again and realized I could have pressed the big water droplet in the centre. That caused the orbs to rise and I could move them around until I got the correct configuration.

This was the final configuration that gave me a piece that looked just like the indentation on the sealed door statue. I gotta be honest: I don't understand this puzzle. The beam colours change depending on where the orbs are based on colour mixing but otherwise I got nothing. I just fiddled until something worked. I'm sure there is a logic here with all the symbols but I'm just not really seeing it.

I got my key piece anyway! Except it was too small to fit in the indent, so I was missing another piece.

All I had left was the pool. I got stuck here for a bit. I had the clue painted on the wall:

I figured the blue circles probably corresponded to the beads on the statue neck and I knew needed to empty the pool.

There was wandering and fiddling until I found out you could click on the statue's wrist and it flips the bowl upside down. I didn't wave my cursor around enough! Missed that hot spot. With the beads aligned correctly and the bowl flipped the water was drained.

I went down the steps to another statue.

Once again I'm glad to have stairs I don't have to do myself.

Got an offering bowl here holding two turquoise pieces. If you just take one water floods in and drowns you. So that was another death. I put in the turquoise bead and took one of the pieces that looked like my piece and all was well until I tried taking the other piece too. Hello flood waters and death 4. So you gotta pick the right piece and that piece only. Combine with it the piece I already had and presto, one complete piece that fits in the statue.

And the statue's mouth opened into a door leading into a tunnel. Nothing can be so simple however, and a creature comes out and menaces Valanice

So ends this chapter.

And chapter 2 begins.

Next time: Chapter Two - "A troll is as a troll does."

--

Deaths: 4 Time: 1:15

The tune needed to be played on the next screen on a harp. I struggled... as turned out only the first four notes were needed thankfully, but there was some definite trial and error and going back and forth to the fairies to listen again before I finally got it. It would have helped to know I only needed the first four. I was feeling kind of overwhelmed which wasn't helping.

Once I succeeded, the orb on the harp activated and I was able to interact with it to get sucked into a new area...

I met the Fates and from them discovered that Oberon and Titania would be able to help, but they were missing as they searched for their own missing son. Instead they advised going to see Mab, the Queen of Dreamland though she couldn't be sought out in waking reality. So, I needed to find somewhere to sleep.

That place was Dr. Cadaver's. He was happy to help Valanice--he's a good dude!--and offered the coffin bed, which Valanice was understandably unnerved by, but with reassurance she agreed.

The spare parts in the box were arms and legs in preparation for the upcoming volcanic eruption... can't say he's not prepared!

I appeared in a dreamy place but didn't have time to do anything before a shadowy creature, a nightmare, showed up and chased Valanice away where she plunged into water and had to swim to shore, but despite all that we made it to Mab's place.

Unfortunately nothing can be so simple naturally, and on entering I discovered that Mab was frozen in ice.

Kinda creepy, I gotta say.

Valanice woke up in horror and now we needed a way to unfreeze Mab. I went back to the Fates who advised going to the Lady of Nature, aka Lady Ceres, so off to her I went. Those rainbow roads and the fife were sure coming in handy.

Ceres recalled a legend in which a crystal shaft could be filled with pure sunlight and that should be able to break the curse on Mab. However, physical objects can't be brought into Dreamland so I would need to find a way to go there while awake.

Back to the Fates I went! This time they suggested going to see their nephew, the Dreamweaver, who could make a magic tapestry that could take me to Dreamland. However, he likes to surround himself with nightmares. They gave me a dream-catcher and sent Valanice on her way.

I figured the cave with the scary monster that ate me last time was the place to go and I was correct. I was able to use the dream-catcher and suck the beast in.

And then I was free to go inside where I found the Dreamweaver.

He really wanted nothing to do with me and kept brushing me off until I showed him the dream-catcher with his captured nightmare. That caught his attention enough for Valanice to explain the situation and he was horrified Titania, his sister, was missing. He made me a magic tapestry that would allow travel to Dreamland. He also mused that he should have made a second nightmare, but nightmares can't get along and will kill each other instantly.

I still needed a crystal full of sunlight however. I realized I could possibly get the sunlight from the temple sort of place in the desert. It took me a bit to figure out what to do about the crystal, but I realized I hadn't tried going to Malicia's home with Valanice at all yet.

You can only safely enter when she's not home, so you have to listen for Cuddles' barking alongside the house where the hole Rosella made was. It took me several tries going back and forth before I finally got that needed quiet. Unfortunately, I messed up a couple times inside as you hear her outside talking to Cuddles, and if you don't duck back under the floorboard in time she comes inside and kills you. I did manage after the couple failures and got a little scene with her and Cuddles before they left to go watch the fireworks as it were. She was very eager for the volcano to go boom and wipe out Etheria and possibly the rest of the world, cackle cackle.

She had a lamp decorated with a bunch of dangly crystals. I snagged a crystal, went back to the desert to get some sunlight in it and then it was time to return to Mab with the magic tapestry.

I showed up in the same place as before when the nightmare chased Valanice away. This time I used the dream-catcher to release the previously caught nightmare and they wiped each other out. That said the route I took still plunged Valanice into the ocean and she still swum to Mab's place, so the end result was really no different. Still, I was able to use the crystal and release Mab.

She told me to harness the winds to send them out to find Oberon and Titania. She gave me a magic bridle to capture one of the wind horses--not a ghost horse after all, whoops--that would take me to Levantar, the King of Wind.

Much like Count Tsepish I got knocked around attempting this, but not killed at least! Then I learned you had to go up to the top of the spiral path and hide behind the Dreamweaver's cave. Then a wind horse comes after a bit and settles long enough to get the bridle on and it carries Valanice off.

I got taunted by a wind kid who got chided by his...sister? Maybe? But then Levantar showed up.

Levantar sent out his winds and after some waiting around they came back Oberon and Titania!

Valanice explained the situation and they took off again to try to help with the volcano. Unfortunately they left Valanice behind so she is once again stuck and still needing a way to get Rosella.

Which brings us to Chapter 6.

"Ready, set...BOOM!"

The final chapter and a short one, but I had my share of fumbling. We come to Rosella and the fighting Otars.

Now and then one of them would get tossed into the big pipe. I needed to use the magic wand but it had to be set to the correct setting which was something I'd forgotten about, so I had some failed attempts in which I took too long and Malicia showed up and ended me. In the end however I got the wand right and...

The fake Otar was Edgar all along, who'd been under an enchantment! Yes, Edgar, the son of Lolotte from King's Quest IV.

Edgar was very confused and had no idea where he was or what was going on. Rosella was shocked. Otar recognized him as the son of Oberon and Titania, so whoops, not the son of Lolotte after all! This boy is a mess.

However, before anything more could be cleared up Malicia showed up. She blasted Otar. She blew Edgar away with some wind I guess; it looked silly. And she warped Rosella away into the volcano.

I then got a scene back with Valanice who was still stuck up at Levantar's domain, but then a Very Mysterious hooded rider came to pick her up. So totally not Edgar at all, nope, never. Not sure why they made it a mystery. It was obvious.

Meanwhile, Mab, Oberon and Titania were all trying to contain the upcoming lava with some kind of magical webbing looking stuff.

Edgar took Valanice to the gravedigger's area in Ooga Booga and seemed to blast open the route that Rosella had originally taken from the Volcanix underground to Ooga Booga.

Back to Rosella there was a patch of wall that could be dug through so I used the shovel and got back out into the tunnel she and Otar had come through before. There was a fragrant flower I was able to grab and then I had to open the gate the same way Otar had done so when the pair first came down here. Thankfully I half-remembered, half-guessed correctly and got it, although there are only three switches you have to hit in the right order.

This is where I messed up again because Otar was still knocked out, but before you wake him up you need to plug in the device and I did not which led to a death later...a few times because I didn't realize at first then when I did I still didn't do it after speeding through everything that happened between this and the death and running on auto isn't so good.

ANYWAY, the correct way is to get that device plugged in then wake Otar with the flower. The flower the three-budded plant in the swamp was guarding can work too, but I never got the way to get that. Otar woke up and set to work on the machinery to stop the volcano. Then Valanice and Edgar showed up.

Valanice finally got her reunion and hugs!

I like hugs. Otar seems to as well.

Then Rosella and Edgar got their hug.

Note the empty socket by Valanice's head. This shot was from my first messed-up attempt. The device should be plugged into that. Pretend it is here.

Of course all this sap couldn't last and Malicia showed up again. Edgar leapt to the defence and they had a brief magic duel that he lost and down he went to Rosella's horror. There was a brief window of opportunity to do something here. In my messed-up attempt I'd tried the magic wand on both settings but that didn't do anything.

What was needed was the device. I unplugged it and it was now fully charged up. I used it on Malicia and it turned her into a baby...because magic? I guess? Maybe I've forgotten some of the device's properties.

Otar's expression amuses me here.

I used the extra life I got from the cat to revive Edgar and then Oberon and Titania arrived for another reunion!

Then I got the full story of what exactly happened with this family.

As a baby Edgar had been stolen away by Lolotte and essentially brain washed into thinking he was her son, though he had never felt quite right about it. Then Rosella rescued him as we saw in KQ IV. He returned to Etheria--I wonder if Genesta helped him?--and soon after his arrival Oberon and Titania held a ball in celebration of his return. He went missing from the ball as Malicia captured him and enchanted him. I don't know the exact timeline here, but guy seemed like he was barely home before he just got caught again by another evil fairy, geez.

Now, as it turns out Malicia is Titania's sister, but something had gone horribly wrong in her life leading her to turn out this way and hating Etheria enough to blow it up. Titania hopes to raise her again, start over, and lead her into a better life.

Edgar and Rosella got another moment in which he apologized for being the one to lure her away into the pool at the start of the game. Rosella still wanted to see the sights of Etheria as that's what she'd originally come for and asked if he'd show her.

They fly off together in an airship swan boat sort of thing and we end with a cutscene at the castle.

Edgar asked Rosella if he could court her and she agreed. Not marriage I note, taking it slower than the rest of her family. Or maybe he remembered her rejecting his marriage proposal at the end of IV... Anyway they get their kiss and we can assume they'll live happily ever after and no doubt marry.

And then credits rolled! Then the game just shuts down so I don't have a The End screen. So take bird boat.

Off they go.

King's Quest VII finished! Here we are. At the end.

--

Deaths: 42 Time: 7:38

I still miss listing points. Let's pretend I got max points because I'm just that good. Never mind missing at least the first flower if nothing else.

--

Final Thoughts

Here we are at the end of not just VII but the whole series up to what I'm playing as I'm skipping Mask of Eternity.

I'll be honest even though I'd already watched the game played I was still a little apprehensive of it, but I think I enjoyed it more than I expected when actually playing it. I think I also missed some bits when watching because everything held together more clearly for me this time.

I wasn't sure about the art style at first and while I can't say it's my favourite I still enjoy it now and I do appreciate how animated it is. It has its own charm to it.

I'm also glad Valanice got her chance too. Everyone else in the family did, so I had been getting a little huffy that she was missing. And how often do you get an older woman as your protagonist, if a shared role, and a mom to boot?

There are some things I miss. There just isn't all that much to interact with, especially coming from VI which as a ton, which makes things feel emptier and you can't get any kind of description of items. And sure you can look at the item and rotate it and all but the descriptions add flavour and personality for me. I also miss, and this is something I miss in other games too, verbs. I don't need a big set but I like 3-4. Just gives more room to try stuff and more room for, again, flavour and personality.

Still, overall I had a good time and it's a nice conclusion to the series and the Daventry family. Everyone gets a happy ending--at least we can assume things will continue to go well for Graham and Valanice. We get the callback to IV and bring back Edgar so he's not left hanging. It more or less tidies everything up. Except the Black Cloaks from VI. That never went anywhere... but otherwise!

It wasn't a game I was even sure I'd get and play at first, but as has been the theme for this whole series I went from uncertain to glad I did. I'm satisfied.

--

Well, this is it. I'm going to have a series-wide wrap-up post coming and then it'll be time to lay King's Quest to rest for now. I did track down the SCI remake of the first game and may play that here at some point as well for some fun comparison but not for a while yet.

I had a big Sierra-shaped hole and it's been filled in a bit. Thank you for coming along on this ride with me. More Sierra will come eventually in the form of Quest for Glory.

I'm not sure what will be next, but it'll likely be a short one-shot from the current still rather long list of games I have waiting.

With that done it was time to return the Falderalians' moon back to the sky. Just using the cheese to throw it doesn't work though she does toss it up, just for it come back down. It's cute to be able to try anyway. It took a little looking around but I found a branch on the mockingbird's tree I could interact with and I had the rubber chicken, so...

Rubber chicken cheese launcher! The things these Daventry royals do. But it was enough; the cheese launched off and then the rubber chicken wandered off... a little creepy.

Yipyap was pleased and Valanice was granted a full pardon. Then he excused himself to hide in his sub basement as the volcano was smoking, uh oh. The town hall was also locked, so no going back there.

Now I was free to leave I went back to the giant stone statue that was sleeping. This was something I could have done in the last chapter with Valanice, but I didn't think to nor did I think to get the feather off the rubber chicken at that point. Just as well done now anyway, and so I tickled the statue's nose to wake him up.

Valanice informed him of Attis' and Ceres' plight. I was told to restore the river of life and cornucopia. Sacred drink was needed for the maiden's horn and sacred food for the maiden's cornucopia.

There were the two statues near the entrance to the woods from the desert and I already had sacred nectar from the bird I'd helped, so back I went to pour in some nectar.

The river was restored and Attis showed up. He drank from the water and changed back to his normal form.

A stag no more. And a rainbow bridge across the river!

Attis went back to Ceres and did manage to pull the stake out of her but the curse was too strong to do more yet.

Valanice was determined to press on to Ooga Booga to pursue Rosella. Attis warned her of a monster in the swamp that would block her way and while he wanted to focus on helping Ceres first he would come to Valanice's aid when needed.

I should have taken the hint to head straight to the werewoods but I wasn't sure if the food was something I could find now, so I wandered first and also fell in the river and got swept away for another death. Once I got my aimlessness out of the way I moved on at last to the werewoods and put that salve to use.

As it turned out it turns the user into an animal based on the hair used, so now it was Valanice's turn to be a giggly jackalope.

There she is!

And she streaked through the woods at top speed knocking the bit of clothing the werewolf had clean off and leaving him embarrassed in boxers with heart patterns.

I mean it's gotta be better than getting a chunk of silver hurled at you, right...?

On the other side Valanice transformed back but there was still the swamp monster to contend with. True to his word, Attis arrived and blasted it leaving us free to continue.

The three budded plant was still around and being annoying. They mentioned Rosella when Valanice asked but otherwise not too much of use, just more trying to lure her get eaten as well. They're nothing if not consistent.

Valanice's turn for Ooga Booga and more deaths. I passed by the ghoul kids' home and they were out and threw, I think a tomato, at Valanice before laughing at her and going back inside. I had a chat with Doctor Cadaver and confirmed Rosella was here a few hours before and that she'd been well, the liveliest in Ooga Booga even, and that she was searching for the troll king.

I went through the area where Lady Tsepish is mourning and this time the headless horseman was riding much lower down and I got run over for another death. I also attempted to talk to Lady Tsepish and died as well.

I found my way to the burnt out house and now the dog fully materialized and I couldn't get by him.

I ended up at the Boogeyman's home and the black cat was there.

She realized who Valanice was right away and shared some information:

Rosella is in great danger in the bowels of volcano, which will erupt soon. Seek help in Etheria, which floats in the clouds above. The Count Tsepish would be able to help Valanice get there, but lost his head. Find his head and he would be able help.

Once the cat left I of course prodded the bones a couple times to trigger that death. I wanted Valanice's reaction and I was rewarded. Her comment was: "Ah, I can't believe I got attacked by a pile of cranky sticks."

I also found the grave Rosella fell in and dropped into it as well to get the gravestone saying "Valanice. Rest in Peace."

But back to business, I wasn't quite sure what to do next. I tried going back to the werewoods and discovered the werewolves were back and couldn't be passed. There was another death.

A little more wandering and discovered the elevator was down at the kids' house. It just sometimes is and sometime isn't and all you can do is keep leaving the screen and coming back until it is.

In their house I got killed by the jack-in-the-box again. I need to see Valanice's reactions to things too, okay. And I went out to the little porch area and I guess lingered around too long because the kids showed up and shoved her off. Or at least it was implied they did, either way, you guessed it, death.

I did end up finding a bone in their house. From there I found my way back to the gravedigger area and I guess lingered too long once more because who should show up, but the boogeyman of course! I wasn't sure he even did anymore at this point. I did get a much better shot of him this time so, that's a plus...I guess?

Behold his ickiness. Before dying. Again.

I did need to put the bone to use, so it was back to the dog and I tossed it his way.

And he gave it a good chew. Then he spoke!

Valanice has been the first to be kind to him since losing his master and mistress. His master, Count Tsepish, was beheaded by Malicia's gargoyle and cursed to ride the skies in search of the head. His mistress died of grief. Dog friend here died trying to defend the home when the boogeyman came to burn it. It had started when Malicia led an uprising against Etheria and the crown. His master tried to go against her then which led to killing him. He gave me his master's medal.

Then we got a cuddle.

So sweet... He's a good boy!

And I needed to now find Count Tsepish's head. I went back to his tomb and was able to give the medal to Lady Tsepish which caused her to cry even harder, but she did leave. That let me read the tomb and confirm it was Count Tsepish's but it was also locked.

Once again I ended up at the ghoul kids' place but this time one of them was outside chasing the cat with a string of lit firecrackers. One of them fell off while he ran off screen and like any good adventurer I picked it up.

A lit firecracker in one's dress? What could go wrong?

Well, a locked door and a firecracker? Yep, I went back and shoved it in the lock which blew the door open to find his tomb inside.

Inside the tomb I found a skull, his head.

Back outside the horseman passed by again, but I missed my chance. It took me a few tries to get it right and on one of those I got run over again but in the end I managed to give it to him and he was restored.

Once he was restored Lady Tsepish came running back, shedding her cloak as she went and was much happier. They had a loving embrace and their dog came back too!

A happy reunion!

The count gave Valanice a fife which would summon his horse anywhere.

With it she could ride his horse to Etheria and hopefully we'll be able to find the help we need. And then I was railroaded in going straight to Etheria.

Which is a very colourful place and Valanice is trying her hand at camouflage here.

There were five routes here, 4 rainbow roads and a route to continue. I checked out each of the rainbows and they each led to a different place down below: the desert, swamp, Falderal and the area by the statues and river of life in the forest. I put the horse to work getting me back to Etheria each time.

Then I started exploring Etheria itself. I found a place with little fairies (I think) that played a tinkly tune then beyond there was another space with a harp... I fiddled but didn't get anywhere with it--sound puzzles oh boy. I left it for now and carried on exploring.

I came to a spiralling path with a ghostly horse occasionally swooping around.

Climbing the path led me to another screen with a cave and ambrosia.

I went for the ambrosia first. I had to climb the tree and was able to fetch it. Then I tried for the cave and there was a monster.

It sure did eat me. Valanice said she may need some help here so I gave that a wide berth.

I went back down to the forest to try putting the ambrosia in the statue's cornucopia and sure enough it filled up.

I was able to get a pomegranate from it and then I returned to Attis and the Ceres tree. He thought the pomegranate as the fruit of life and rebirth might help but he didn't really believe it. Attis was being too sad because of course it worked! I used it on the tree and Ceres was restored.

Another happy reunion. Valanice is making them all over but yet to get her own with Rosella...

Attis set off to Etheria to do what he could to help while Ceres remained behind to restore more of the forest.

I went back to see if I could get another pomegranate. I could. Then I wanted to stop by the desert to see ol' Eduardo again, but he's closed now because the volcano's about to blow.

The jackalope was crying too. Things are getting bad here.

I went back to Etheria and will have to puzzle my way through it next time. Help is needed; there's a volcano to stop! And Rosella to find!

--

Once out we were back in the graveyard area, and Otar sent the toad home to inform Mathilde of their situation and try to do what she can to keep Malicia at bay. I also found out Malicia had stolen an important device for the volcano so we needed to get that back. Meanwhile we then heard Malicia's scream of frustration and annoyance that we got out and it was time to hide.

Otar passed a sceptre to Rosella to use on him to turn him into a scarab.

A cloak happened to materialize nearby for Rosella to use to disguise herself and look like Lady Tsepish, the wife of the dead Count and the wraith who's been mourning and killed me earlier.

And here's Otar the scarab!

We needed a way out of Ooga Booga and back to the Vulcanix Underground but the tunnel is sealed, so we needed to take the gates to the swamp, which is where the shrub monster that ate Rosella before was. There's also a potential route from Falderal to get back to the underground.

I went back to Dr. Cadaver, scooping up a shovel from the gravedigger's place along the way, and I also passed by the kids' house and scared them to Rosella's great amusement. Rosella explained the situation to Dr. Cadaver and he gave me some defoliant to use on the shrub swamp monster. Now I was ready for the bush and this time it met its match.

Gave it a good spray that was also apparently very stinky and the critter melted away.

I then talked to the three flowered plant there which was a mix of flirty and trying to eat her and kind of dumb in two of the heads' cases. I got some info through their nonsense though--namely that the swamp heads into the were woods and that they'd eat her up if she didn't have some silver on her. Thankfully I did still have silver from the melted silver spoon.

I tried to get the flower at their base and got eaten.

They were quite proud of themselves and figured she must be a princess to be that delicious. Charmers all the way...

I left the flower for now and carried on to find Malicia's house. It was guarded by a gargoyle and trying to interact with it led to it roaring out an alarm until Malicia showed up and zapped Rosella into oblivion.

So instead I walked on by and found a route to the side of the house where there was a hole in the ground that would lead in. It was too small and needed to be dug out more with the shovel, then I was able to get in, leaving the cloak outside.

It led to a spot under a floorboard but then Malicia came back while cooing at her dog Cuddles. So much cooing... but Cuddles being a dog and all sniffed Rosella out and I took too long to do anything so Malicia found me again.

She called me a termite and once again, zapped Rosella to death.

Trying again, I used the stinky defoliant.

Squirted right on the nose. Cuddles whined a bunch and Malicia went to check on him and more cooing ensued.

"Would Cuddles feel better if we went out and found someone to bite? Wouldum?"

So she left with her darling darling Cuddles and I was able to safely explore around the house. She had a contraption that she was experimenting with after Otar oh so reluctantly told her the device was for turning lead into gold, which of course is a lie. Rosella was quite amused at imagining her trying to get that to work.

Ultimately I found the device in one of the drawers after making a mess of clothing.

A bit of an embarrassing moment here. I was looking at the mess of clothes, like Rosella, you're not even trying to be subtle about your search. You're leaving a mess! It's obvious someone's searched the place. Then I left and when I came out...Malicia popped up and blasted me again because, yeah, obvious the place had been searched.

So, yeah... on retrying I actually interacted with the clothing and lo and behold Rosella put it all back! Except a woollen sock which was kept for ourselves. Teach me to actually a carry the thought...

Then I was able to safely head out and continue into the werewoods where I was quickly attacked by a werewolf.

I attempted just throwing the silver at it, which Rosella made an effort at and it was futile... so she got killed. Again. Ahh, such is life, or death.

Instead you wanna combine the silver with the sock to make a sling and then hurl it at the werewolf which very much hurts it and sends it and its buddies still hiding in the trees skedaddling.

And sent Rosella running too, and one wolf managed to snag her cloak, so we're back to just her dress again.

And in a familiar place! From the forest I decided to go on to the desert to try trading my stuff with Eduardo roo rat. I couldn't trade anything and Otar was extremely offended when I tried to with him and Eduardo was willing to offer a carob bean. Is that all he's worth? Frustrated shriek and sob. Sorry buddy... bean of carob rhymed with scarab, you see. Surely that's worth something.

I went back to the forest and found my way back to Falderal. Good ol' Falderal. Rosella just laughed and snarked at the gate guard's attempts to scare her off with ridiculous threats. Inside I met Yipyap again who seemed cheery enough. Rosella learned Valanice was arrested but acquitted and now they like her, so that's good to know, though we haven't played through it yet. He also again mentioned taking the Faux shop with a grain of salt, would've been nice to have caught that the first time.

I talked to Bullworth in the China Shop and learned that there's some weird stuff in the town hall that could lead to the Vulcanix underground. I went back to the desert to get some salt and visited the faux shop as well to basically find out the same info. So it was off to the town hall and back through the wacky stairs until I found the room with mirrors again.

The mirror that led to Yipyap's office got all boarded up. Rosella also thinks the statue is tacky. I got a little stuck until I realized and remembered I could read the plague at the statue's base. It was still tarnished but the woollen sock could be used to wipe it down so I could read it. It was essentially a little poem that ultimately boiled down to the statue wanting fruit. I could then click on a bunch of grapes on one pillar and use the hammer and chisel to break one off and give it to the statue.

That got the basin to open but only part way before it got stuck and Rosella wasn't strong enough to get it further opened, so I changed Otar back.

He opened it the rest of way and down we went!

We landed in a tunnel with a big locked gate but Otar was able to open it and we came back to the control room where imposter Otar was left.

The two Otars started fighting, well the real Otar jumped on the imposter anyway, and the chapter ended.

Leading us to Chapter 5!

"Nightmare in Etheria."

And back to Valanice.

She's on trial!

On trial for the crimes of moon theft, impersonating a Falderalian, and party crashing without fur or feathers and they vote her guilty on all counts.

However, they're not so sure about the punishment. Yipyap starts with wanting to send her to the jelly bean mines of a place I'm not sure how to spell until Valanice calls him out on making that up. More ridiculous punishments are suggested until Chicken Petite pipes up with the suggestion of making her put the moon back in the sky.

Which leaves us free to wander again, but not allowed to leave town.

And, so for now, I leave Valanice in Falderal with some green cheese, er, moon. Until next time.

--

I grabbed hold of the shovel and was pulled out by this big fellow. Welcome to Ooga Booga! The land of the dead for the Realm of the Eldritch, which is appropriate considering how many times I've died in this place. It also reminds me a lot of Hallowe'en Town in Nightmare Before Christmas.

I chatted with the gravedigger first. Rosella noted that his shovel seemed too small and he agreed, but he couldn't use his digging machine right now. He needed his rat back to power it, but it got stolen by the ghoul kids here. Iggy the rat was trained special and there aren't any others as strong or smart.

There were also graves scattered throughout the whole of Ooga Booga. Their epithets are all limericks, every single one. I'm not too fond of them. They feel often laboured and I haven't found any very funny. A mix of things both in format and tone would have been nicer I think.

That aside in continuing the exploration I found the home where the rotten ghoul kids are and promptly died.

I tried to climb the web to get up and a spider appeared and killed me.

So leaving that aside to keep exploring I managed to get killed again in the next screen! There was a shrub monster that blocked my way and basically...consumed? Rosella.

There was also a three-headed plant that laughed and cheered uproariously at Rosella's fate.

So, that was another area to avoid for now and I moved onto finding a house where one of those kids was spraying the wall. The owner, alongside a black cat, scolded the kid, but he scared him before running off and the man went back inside.

I knocked at the door and was allowed in. The man introduced himself as Doctor Mort Cadaver, the coroner.

Rosella asked after Otar and his detainment here. Mort didn't know about that but he bet Malicia had something to do with it. She caused the destruction of their Count, the former of ruler of Ooga Booga, and now Ooga Booga has fallen into chaos. The Boogeyman has taken control and those horrid kids are running amok. He could hold his own against the kids until he gave his spine away to a lady who fell off a cliff. Without his backbone he can't stand up to anyone. Further talk lead to the possibility of finding him a new backbone. So now, we need a rat and a spine. He also warned me about the Boogeyman again who was always evil, but has become downright vicious.

And I soon got to meet the Boogeyman first-hand... Time for a series of five deaths in pretty rapid succession!

So, first of all I carried on and found another chunk of graveyard with a wraith, ghost? crying at a tomb. I was just looking around when a headless horseman went riding by in the sky. I didn't have very much time to absorb what just happened when up He popped. With a cackle the Boogeyman dug his way up from the ground.

There he is! And here's Rosella getting killed by him...

Isn't he pleasant? I feel like the Boogeyman is probably an iconic part of KQ VII. Basically he'll randomly pop up and murder you and the longer you linger in a screen the better the odds are that he's gonna get you. It's not too bad, but it definitely adds some tension. Later I was noting something down and had a moment of "oh no I'm lingering!" I'm pretty sure he would have scared the crap out of me if I'd played this as a kid. There was a period in my childhood, still pretty young, when I was scared to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. I don't think I could have handled Ooga Booga in general let alone with this jerk popping up. Ahh, childhood scarring.

So, I retried and died nearly immediately again by talking to the wraith woman. She didn't take kindly to Rosella's attempts to talk or comfort her and revealed her face which I guess was horrifying enough for Rosella to keel over again.

The wraith woman kills Rosella and Rosella's face here kills me.

But the death train don't stop here! I scurried away from that screen onto the next and another untimely end. Here was a fairly empty place but there was one tree and a pile of bones. Poking the bones causes skeletal hands to reach out and Rosella to stumble back. Poking again, as you do, causes them to fully form into partial skeletons and drag her in to her doom.

Honestly horrifying between the bone rattle sounds and Rosella crying out 'no, stop, no!' and her animation is just gah, getting yanked in and pulling at her hair and her face does weird things. Most yikes death in this game so far easily for me. Yet another place to avoid for the moment!

So that I can find another deadly place right after of course! This time in more graves. There was an empty one. Obviously I had to go to it.

The animations and faces in chapter, game really, have definitely been something. Anyway she teeters and falls in.

And now she has her own gravestone. Rest in peace, Rosella.

Also I was wrong. It was not five deaths in this string but six! I forgot until checking my notes that on my retry the Boogeyman showed up again. Really, just assume by the end of this session there were some unmentioned Boogeyman deaths because I noted my overall counter, but not all of the causes. Rosella's just having a bad day, but I'm not!

I got a brief respite before my fifth sixth death in this rapid slew of them. I wound up looping back to Mort's house where another of those ghoul kids was egging it. The kid ran off and I followed to get back to the tree house where they live. This time there was a little pulley elevator I could use to get up there. Thankfully they didn't appear to be home. Inside I found a spine! At last a goal accomplished.

And then while exploring anything else clickable I found a jack-in-box type toy that... you guessed it... killed Rosella.

Last death for the road! For now.

I just want to clarify I am not at all frustrated by this. I think it's been clear I enjoy finding deaths, but just in case. Especially in this game, it's so forgiving it's really a non-issue. When you retry you're placed right before the deadly action.

Anyhoo, with spine in hand I hurried back to Doctor Cadaver. He was most pleased to get a spine back and shoved it on down there through his throat I guess.

Dead people logic in a fantasy realm. Why not!

In return he gifted me with a weird pet that he, uh, put together himself, in a box.

I ended up going back to the kids' home and two of them were outside on their porch playing with a rat and singing a rhyme. The rhyme was an important clue about the Boogeyman. When the branch shaped like a snake is pointing up stay away because the Boogeyman is inside. When it's pointing down the Boogeyman has gone to town.

I then talked to them and Rosella offered a trade for the rat. They weren't too sure but I was able to show them the boxed pet from Mort and they agreed to take it. They tried to lure Rosella herself up and honestly I should have gone for it, but missed opportunities. I sent the box on its own up their elevator. They took it inside and there was a great deal of noisy sounding chaos and then the rat came scampering out to Rosella.

Hello Iggy! You're so goofy! Let's get you home!

I reunited Iggy and the gravedigger. So cute...

And then he hauled out his gravedigging machine and was able to start using it again. In return for bringing back Iggy, he gave me a horn to summon him to dig me a grave anywhere I wanted. Charming!

I ended up taking a route I hadn't actually taken before and found a burnt out house with symbols of a skull, bat and spider on the wall.

I committed those to memory, or you know, screenshot, and then tried to leave but as I was leaving a shadowy dog rose and started barking until I left. Still guarding...

Now this is where not playing blind can cause a problem as I jumped ahead of myself. I tried going back to the bone pile and using the horn. The gravedigger appeared but Rosella had nowhere she wanted him to dig. When I tried again the branch was pointing the wrong way and I summoned the Boogeyman on myself, or, well a hand reached out from the earth anyway and either way it was another death.

I wasn't entirely sure what to do and wandered a little until I came back to the kids' house yet again. This time they were outside trying to hold a funeral for a cat trapped in a box that was still very much alive as it was meowing. They made their eulogies over it then ran off to get a shovel. I was able to use the hammer and chisel to break open the box and out popped the cat, the cat that had been with Dr Cadaver in fact.

She thanked Rosella for saving her and told her she'd overheard Rosella and Dr Cadaver talking. She let me know Otar was imprisoned under Deadfall, which is the Boogeyman's home, AKA the pile of bones. She also gave me one of her nine lives, ignoring Rosella's protests, in return for saving hers then left. Also this is the first time there's been a nice cat that gets treated nicely in the end in these games... Nice change of pace because honestly cats have not had a great time in this series.

Now I was able to go back to the bone pile and summon the gravedigger. But first I had to examine the bones once to make them do the first not-deadly reach-out. Then I could summon him and Rosella tells him to dig there. Although the first time I tried here I still summoned the grabby hand instead and died even though I'm sure the branch was pointing the correct way, so I'm not sure what happened there. Either way I got there in the end.

Good-bye scary grabby bones!

And in the revealed hole, after hopping down, I found a giant coffin bound in chains.

On the lock was a ring of symbols including a skull, bat, and spider, so I clicked those three in order and the lock popped off. Easy-peasy.

And at last, inside is revealed King Otar!

Who is voiced by Danny Delk who I know best as Murray from The Curse of Monkey Island, so I was smiling to hear that voice again.

Unfortunately, Malicia showed up and imprisoned us both.

Dun-dun-duuuun...

Next time... an escape?

--

A beast I couldn't deal with just yet as I didn't have what I needed here, so I had to make a hasty retreat.

All I was missing was a prickly pear which was just outside waiting to be knocked down by my handy dandy previously unused stick. Then I fed it to the beast and could carry on.

num num num then back into the hole it went.

And I came out into a pretty forest-y area in quite a contrast to the desert.

I quite like this screen. It's pretty. I could only examine the broken bridge and the statue, but there was nothing else to do here.

I came across a stag.

The stag is actually the Lord of the Hunt. He was transformed though he doesn't know by whom. The tree is truly Ceres, the Goddess of Nature, and his wife. She was cursed as well with a stake driven into her. Attis knows such power could only come from one from Etheria, but such a thing would be unthinkable.

He also warns Valanice to stay away from the Were-Woods as the weres will attack.

When asking about Rosella by using the comb he informs her he had heard of her and that she was to be wed to King Otar III. Valanice needs to rescue her! He advises she go to Falderal to seek help in finding a salve from a merchant that would allow Valanice to pass through the Were-Woods and find the way to the Volcanix Underground.

I continued on and found a web in which a bird was trapped and a spider was getting ready to eat her.

I wasn't entirely sure what to do yet, though I managed to get myself killed by the spider oops. I moved on a little more to find a giant snoring statue that I also couldn't do anything about.

Turns out I just needed to use the basket to trap the spider. The bird thanked me and flew off to freedom. The web was cleared away opening the route to Falderal.

The guard at the gate peeking in through the giant gate, refused to me let me pass unless I were to bring him the holy one ton tomato. Valanice thought that was absurd. So, it was time to find another route.

But first I realized I wanted to go back to some flowers I'd found where another of the birds had been and see if my freed bird was there. I'd missed some dialogue from Attis as well.

Attis: Valanice asks if there's anyway she can help lift the curse. He doesn't know, but Feldspar the stone spirit might know something. Unfortunately, that would be the snoring stone statue I don't have any way to deal with yet. I also tried to pull the stake from Ceres but no such luck thanks to the powerful magic. There's fear she may die and if she does the forest likely will as well.

Bird: my freed bird did have help for me! Nectar from the flowers. I had to empty my pot of water, but now I have a pot of sweet nectar.

Back to Falderal where the very complicated puzzle of entering took place.

Walk through the small door ignoring the 'threats' of the guard. He has quite a selection of empty threats of various small animals with weapons on the other side.

Time for silliness!

As soon as I'd entered town I was greeted by the mayor, Archduke Fifi le Yipyap who protested a human entering. However, getting sad over Rosella with the comb helped again and got him crying too. He also said something else that I missed between his accent and, er, slobberiness, to my annoyance because it caused me some trouble later. This is why subtitles matter!

Then Chicken Petite came running and screaming in about the sky falling. Yipyap brushed her off and went on his way.

With all that out of the way it was time to start exploring. I went to the China Shop first.

Bull in a china shop, heh. Conspicuous mask that will be needed.

The owner, named Fernando, was sad because he'd lost Treasure, a bird who's a very dear friend to him. She was stolen, though he doesn't know how or by whom. Couldn't do anything here in his current state, so with an offer to look for Treasure, I set off again.

And got accosted by Chicken Petite.

The sky is falling! An evil fairy (hmm) is making everything come down! But no one is really believing her so off she runs again.

The town hall couldn't be entered yet, but there was a note about the archduke's birthday party and masquerade ball. At the end of town were two more shops and a bird.

First: another instance of Chicken Petite. The shopkeeper tried to sell her some special glue to hold the sky up in the most sleazy snakeoil salesman voice. Apparently he's an eel of some sort or based off of? But definitely some snakiness intent happening here too. Poor Chicken Petite gets immensely frustrated again and runs off.

Second: bird in the tree. A mocking bird. He insults you every time you click on him and the list of insults goes on and on and...on...

Third: Faux Shop. Was currently closed.

Now, the salesman was the one I needed to talk to about getting a salve to get through the Were-wood. Of course it can't be that easy and he wants something in return: a magic statuette currently in the possession of the archduke. Valanice protests until he says it doesn't actually belong to the archduke, then she agrees. Anything to save her daughter! Rampant adventurer theft included. True adventure game protagonist Valanice now?

Off to the side was a covered cage which I naturally investigated and inside was none other than the little bird, Treasure, who was scared at first until Valanice explained she'd talked to Fernando and that he was looking for her. Treasure joined and surprisingly that was all that was required. The shopkeep didn't seem to notice.

I brought her back to Fernando who was delighted.

Look at him!

And in return he gave me that handy red mask. And it's party time.

You gotta wear the mask or the guard won't let you in--it is a maskerade after all--and is offended by Valanice's bald face, bare of fur or feathers.

Sadly there's not a lot to interact with here. Archduke Yipyap will give a little speech and you can eat a little of the cake. I would have liked to talk a little to some of the guests or have some background gossip but it is what it is.

Thankfully no one seems to have any issue with us doing a little poking around. Either that or they're all fixated on Yipyap. I was able to go in through the back door to some wacky stairs.

The stairs lead to a different set on the screen in a somewhat maze-like fashion but a pretty simple one if you just keep going. Eventually it will take you into another room.

The statue on the left is incredibly tacky according to the Valanice and "What a perfectly awful basin" in the centre. Not at all to Valanice's tastes here.

The mirrors act like funhouse mirrors causing different distorted reflections, except for one in which her reflection appears upside and drags her in. Spooky.

Although you just get pulled into Yipyap's office.

She thinks his portrait is very silly too. There's silliness everywhere, Valanice. That's this place's whole schtick.

There's some shenanigans here in which the door takes you back to the stairs room and you find your way to another door that takes you back here but with the room upside down. Then there's a drawer on the desk to investigate. The statuette falls out but because it's upside down you can't reach, so you go back around to the room right side up and the statuette falls back into the now-open drawer where it can be fetched.

Voila!

Naturally, it's not so simple from here as when I returned outside intending to give the statuette to the merchant he was away off to 'fool some other suckers' or similar. Then Chicken Petite came screaming back in and the moon fell! Well not really, she thinks so, but Valanice points out it's just green cheese. No, it's the moon! The sky really is falling! And off she runs again and the mockingbird flew off during all the raucous too.

There was a wooden nickel in the nest I was able to fetch, but I couldn't reach the cheese, I'm sorry moon.

This is where I got stuck because of missing the clue from Yipyap when first entering. The Faux Shop was apparently open now--no more notice--but when I tried entering I just popped out the other side of the wall. Honestly, I thought it was meant to be a joke. False shop and all. What you actually have to do is take it with a grain of salt. In other words eat the grains of salt gotten from the desert and then you can enter.

Faux shop full of fake things run by a mockturtle. I got a book, The Wit and Wisdom of Falderal for a wooden nickel. Examining it opens it and it's...empty.

I was also able to trade my mask for a prime rubber chicken, specifically the one smirking there. I'd rather not have that one and there's no pulley in it, pah.

I had a nice selection of items to try at the Eduardo's shop in the desert, which actually turned out to be the thing to do. I was able to trade the book for a shepherd's crook.

I was able to return and use the crook to get the cheese and all should be well...!

Nah, of course not.

Her face is a sight to behold.

But yeaaah, Archduke Yipyap and guards came charging in. Yipyap saw what she did. She stole the moon! And she's a human! And a partypooper! And the guard places accuses her of that and the 'heinous and disgusting crime of having no fur or feathers to cover your bald face.'

And so we end the chapter with Valanice arrested...

And onto chapter 4!

Chapter Four: "Will the real troll king please stand up."

And a needed break from Yipyap and Chicken Petite...

--

During the portal sequence in the intro of the game an arm was seen grabbing Rosella. Now she's dragged through a mirror by the owner of said arm and as she tumbles out something's changed...

Rosella's a troll!

The troll who dragged her in welcomes her and introduces himself as King Otar Fenris III, the ruler of the Volcanix Underground and he seems to knows who she is...

Rosella asks how he knows who she is, but also says that she saw a beautiful castle and wonders how she can find it. He dodges the first question but says the castle is a dull place that she wouldn't like. To himself he notes he wasn't expecting this.

Rosella tries to find out again what's going on before starting to turn toward the mirror only to get stopped by him again. He wasn't expecting her to be so lovely is all! She'll be the 'most radiant bride in all the world!'

Rosella is not impressed with the idea of being his bride though she tries to be politer than appearances show here. But she can't marry him; she doesn't even know him! (She might be the most sensible one in her family in matters of love. Admittedly the bar is low.)

She tries to turn away to go back only to bonk into the mirror and then finally realizes what she's become. She has a freakout. She's a troll?! She can't be a troll! She's not a troll, is she? Otar tries to comfort her--she's a very lovely troll--and escorts to her chambers where she might feel better after some rest.

Rosella's existential crisis.

But we can't leave her like this, so it's time to start exploring!

There wasn't much to do in this room. Examining the bed got an ew out of her and a comment about how their castle decorator would have a fit over it. The portrait of Otar could be looked at and she could look at herself in the mirror.

Leaving took me to a central open area where I was confronted by an angry lady troll.

She immediately recognizes that Rosella isn't a troll and what does she want with King Otar? 'Human minx!' Rosella tries to explain how she got here only to get accused of trying to steal the throne and being a usurper. Rosella breaks down and the troll immediately softens realizing she's no usurper. She's just been cross lately. Otar hasn't been himself and there's a horrible woman who's been snooping around.

She goes on to offer her help in turning Rosella back into a human and introduces herself as Mathilde. She was once King Otar's nursemaid. If Rosella brings her the right ingredients she can make a potion that will turn her back. However, in return she wants a favour from Rosella: their kingdom and the kingdom above, Ooga Booga have never been on great terms but have been making it work. Now, because of 'HER', the Ooga Booga-ites have been attacking any troll above ground. She wants Rosella to go up and investigate. Has a feeling their kingdom is in terrible danger. Rosella agrees to the deal.

The ingredients for the potion are:

baked beetles

crystal dragon scale

gold bowl

water of emerald

silver spoon

After the conversation a little girl troll shows up complaining about a stupid toy rat she got when she wanted a battle axe. She gets called for lunch, drops the rat and scurries off.

Score! One toy rat for us!

I also found a shield on the wall and examining the shield let me pull a spike off it.

I accidentally went back into her room, and then when I came back out I saw a woman entering the side passage. Rosella followed and it led to a small scene.

The one troll burps and the woman sneers a 'revolting' before stalking off.

The burping troll goes off about how he's totally not scared of her and could snap her until his fellow says that's good because she's right behind him causing him to duck down into the lava all scared, while he laughs uproariously and long at him.

Once that's done Rosella enters and I was able to talk to them. I learned the woman is named Malicia. Some trolls say she's an evil fairy who was cast out of Etheria, the kingdom in the clouds. All they know for sure is she never used to be around, but is now around a lot.

I found another area with a rickety bucket pulley elevator thing that's too dangerous to use, and a cart that I couldn't do anything with. Going further along the path I was blocked by a troll who clambered up from the lava below.

The troll won't let you pass and demands, after a moment of thinking, 1000 pieces of a lead and a rat on a stick. Rosella doesn't really believe him, but it doesn't really matter as we still get can't by.

Further exploration brought me to a smithy.

The blacksmith was of little use. He flirted with Rosella until she pulled the bride-to-be card and shut him down. Sort of. He still offered a date if she ever found herself single.

The other troll is a master jeweller but stuck with his crummy hammer and chisel. He dreams of being able to go to Etheria to be their royal jeweller.

Through the back passage I found a large cave with pools of green liquid. Emerald water! Except I had no way to carry it. I did find an empty lantern though.

I left for now and made my way to the kitchen instead.

The cook was busy making a stew and rambling about some gross ingredients and how a rat would go well with it. Rosella lets out a yuck catching his attention and gets tossed out.

I tried entering again and this time had a chance to do something. I had a rat to provide!

Using the rat causes Rosella to wind it up and off it zoomed! The cook chases it into the next room. There was much crashing then the rat came back in alone, but the troll closed the door presumably to keep the rat from escaping, not knowing it had already done so. It gave me the chance to poke around and I got my rat back.

There was a device that gave me some baked beetles. The shelf had two bowls: one brass from the kingdom of Falderal and one 14K gold. You have to examine the bottoms to see what they're made of and can only take one bowl at a time.

I got the green water with the bowl then back to where the troll was blocking the way. I'd realized I hadn't checked the cart again after being blocked and this time there was more I could do. The cart was missing a wheel, so with the shield and spike I was able to make a makeshift wheel and ride the cart. The cart careened into the troll knocking him back into the lava and I was free to proceed. I didn't think to try it, but you can try using the cart without mending it and end up flying into the lava and death.

I entered some crystal caves and could hear deep sighs coming from somewhere.

I progressed through them. Yay for her finding her own path when clicking at the end of the path.

At the end of the path I found a dragon!

She's depressed. She's lost her spark and remains here. If she can get her spark back maybe she'll talk more.

I ended up going back to the forge. Every now and then the smith gets the bellows going which causes a much larger flame. I was able to catch some of that flame in the lantern. I brought it back to the dragon and that was enough!

She gave me a diamond, but Rosella asked for a scale. She said she'd give one but can't wait any longer to fly and takes off first.

Happy dragon!

Leaving and coming back was enough to get the dragon to return. She was sleeping around her pile of jewels. However, I couldn't get a scale off her with bare hands.

I brought the diamond back to the jeweller who was overjoyed and left to go get better tools and make his fortune. He left me the hammer and chisel and I was able to use those to get the scale.

I was still missing the silver spoon and I got a bit stuck here. I dropped off the ingredients I did have with Mathilde and started wandering. I went back to the kitchen because spoon. Kitchen. No luck. I ultimately went back to the forge and while I could poke at the smith's tools he wouldn't let me have any, and there was an option to use items with the flame, but none of what I had could actually be used. Still, I was sure there was something more I could do with him. Cue more fumbling about until I ended up checking over the room where I'd got the emerald water more carefully.

Yep I'd missed sulphur in the corner over the rift.

Dangit!

There's a hot spot on the upper stone. I tried it, fell to my death, tried again, thinking maybe I missed and died again and died a third time for good measure. Hey, I needed to add to my death count. It was the lower stone that was needed to cross. I got my sulphur and went back to the forge.

I dumped the sulphur into the fire pit and the smith went to check it out only to get a cloud of the stuff in his face and he conked out asleep, leaving his project to the side. It was too hot to pick up so I used his tongs, dumped the thing in the water and inside there was the spoon at last!

With all the ingredients Mathilde made her potion.

Things didn't go quite right until she remembered she forgot a troll hair and used one of her own.

And presto! Rosella is returned. Honestly, she was kind of a cute troll. The silver spoon was also melted, but she kept the remaining lump of silver as a memento. Only that. Clearly not something I'll need later.

Otar showed up again and started showering Rosella in more compliments until Malicia also showed up. She's sick of Rosella distracting the king and will take care of her. Rosella tried to confront her but Malicia zapped her back into her room and locked the door.

Strangely Otar's portrait was smoking. By stacking the furniture I was able to reach it and behind the portrait was a vent.

Rosella slipped into the vent and we got in some more spying and eavesdropping!

Malicia was arguing with and threatening Otar.

She wanted him to work the volcano mechanism. Even if it harmed the realms of the Eldritch it would be no matter. Some places can be turned to slag if it means wiping out Etheria. She left and Otar struggled. He doesn't know what's right. Or real. If only he could remember. Hmmm.

Rosella drops out of the vent landing back on the throne in the central room and a little critter pops out too.

I found a dragon toad!

I got a bit stuck again and did some more aimless wandering that yielded me nothing except finding the smith awake and perfectly willing to flirt with a human too.

I finally tried going back to my room and that led to overhearing another argument, this time between Malicia and Mathilde. Mathilde came storming out and I went to show her the dragon toad.

Turns out the dragon toad belongs to Otar. He was Otar's guardian and always looked after him when he was a kid. When he got into trouble the toad would run back to Mathilde to tell her where he was. She wakes the toad up now and asks him to seek out Otar. It turns out Otar is imprisoned somewhere in Ooga Booga, which means this Otar must be an imposter! The trolls are keepers of the volcano. The real King Otar is the only one with knowledge to shut down the volcano and he must be found. She gave me magic rope to use with the elevator to get to Ooga Booga.

Then Malicia showed up again and Rosella hides.

Worst hiding job I've seen but it worked at least for a moment. Long enough because then a bat started flapping around and annoyed the hell out of Malicia. She hates vermin, bats, rats and snakes and would see them all explode if she could.

She huffed off and all looked good until I tried to leave into the cave where the elevator is. She showed up again and Rosella fled back to her table hiding spot.

Doesn't like rats, eh? One more job for the rat toy. I wound it up and sent it after Malicia who freaked out and disappeared again leaving me free to leave at last.

I used the rope with the elevator and away from the troll kingdom she goes.

Off to Ooga Booga!

But in the meantime. Chapter 3 awaits.

"Chapter three - The sky is falling!"

–