Phantasie: Woodville's jealous gods

 

Ah, Woodville-by-the-sea. Once a magnificent walled coastal city built in honor of Lord Wood, now a wretched hive of scum and villainy. My party would fit right in.

Though laid out like an Ultima town, Woodville is considered a dungeon by the game engine, and has the usual locked doors, loot, random and fixed encounters and special events. For the first time yet, Woodville is no longer anywhere near a proper town where one can save the game, sell loot, train for more levels, and identify and equip acquired gear, though an inn where one can rest (for a fee) sits closer. Given how long it takes to travel multiple screens to reach the nearest town, I felt tempted to rely on the inn to rest between sessions, but since you can't save your progress there, it's risky.

Exploring in a counter-clockwise direction,

• A "private residence" is broken into, its tenants of orcs and ogres killed, and valuables looted.
• A "pet shop" with numerous locked display cases - the "pets" are the likes of dragons and were-bears, and will, of course, attack if you enter their cages.
• The temple has statues on the north and south walls, which prompt you "break them?" as you approach. Being no fool, I declined. A priest guarding a combination lock mechanism here also offers a dire warning regarding the numbers.
  

• The inn at the southwest corner has three rooms. In the first, Kilmore gave me the clue "79" to punch in at the temple. In the third, I got arrested for trespassing and sent to jail, where I had to pay a $500 fine to leave.
• Another set of private residences house lords, who are harmed only by magic or by characters under the effect of the Ninja spell.
• A jewellery store in the southeast corner has precious ornaments to smash and grab.
• The bar is full of colorful characters to have brief interactions with, like a grumpy dwarf, a bibulous hobbit, and some hill giants playing poker (who throw their cards at you for damage if you ask to join).
  

And coquettish elves. I already know room three means trouble, and so do they.

Deep inside the Woodville archives - the building near the south

I went to the temple and entered both numbers - '79' and '45'. Both caused loud shifting noises elsewhere in Woodville, and I soon discovered an open passage in the fountains to the north.

Going in, a written message declared "ONLY THE FOOLHARDY WILL GO FARTHER." Guess I'm a fool, because I went farther. Without saving. And got blasted to bits.

 

One reload and multiple trips to Woodville later, I returned with a collection of, among other things, multiple "giant shields" - major upgrades to my party's set of large and medium shields, but of dubious value as I never parry.

I returned and tried smashing one of the statues to see what would happen.

The angry god that this awakens is tough, but repeat casts of quad fireflash and quad healing eventually take it down, though this almost totally depletes my mana reserves.

But nets me some good loot.

The best part is - this action is repeatable! Risky, but worth it. Breaking the other statue, though, just gets you thrown in jail and fined.

I used this encounter to train everyone to level 10+, which gave everyone except Minmax 100+ HP. I then returned and used code 79 to open the southern fountain, where I found a scroll. Code 45 opened the north fountain, where I teleported to an alley and got revenge on the demons that jumped me before. Further back the alley, I fought spirits - weak monsters that were utterly impervious to any sort of melee attack and went down with fireflashes.

Lastly, recalling the dying words of Lord Wood's uncle, I tried code 48.

After returning back to Greenville, I found I had some powerful items in my inventory, including a God Knife and God Shield. I also read my new scrolls:

 

You're probably wondering if the priest is telling the truth about what happens if you put in a wrong number. I was, anyway. He is! If you enter a wrong number, your entire party gets hit with two powerful spells and then you fight Zeus.

My party:

• Mystic-rated party score of 22 - "You are not yet ready to visit the gods"
• Air rune, earth rune, and fire rune
• Lenny - Level 11 dwarf fighter
• Needs 30,000xp to level
• 190 HP, 5 MP
  
• 22/9/22 combat stats (God knife, banded mail, god shield)
  
• Lambert - Level 10 dwarf ranger
• Needs 23,000xp to level
• 154 HP, 16 MP
• 19/8/17 combat stats (Halberd +4, splint mail, giant shield +1)
  
• Knows Quadruple Healing, plus some useless spells
• Claude - Level 11 human priest
• Needs 117,000xp to level
• 119 HP, 16 MP
• 19/6/16 combat stats (Sword +10, scale mail, giant shield)
  
• Useful spells include Quadruple Healing, Quadruple Fireflash, Sleep, and Awaken.
• Untested spells include Triple Protection, Triple Confusion, Triple Binding, Teleportation, and Resurrection.
  
• Rasputin - Level 10 halfling monk
• Needs 66,000xp to level
• 135 HP, 11 MP
  
• 19/6/12 combat stats (Sword +10, scale mail, large shield)
  
• Useful spells include Quadruple Fireflash and Double Ninja
• Untested spell - summon elemental
  
• Dennis - Level 12 sprite thief
• Needs 82,000xp to level
• 100 HP, 7 MP
• 18/6/12 combat stats (Halberd +3, scale mail, large shield)
  
• Generally excellent thieving skills, with a so far 100% success rate at lockpicking and trap disarmament
  
• Knows sleep (useful), Double protection (dubious), and charm (useless)
  
• Minmax - Level 11 elf wizard
• Needs 204,000xp to level
• 78 HP, 16 MP
• 8/3/2 combat stats (Flail +1, Robes +1, wood shield)
  
• Useful spells include Quadruple Fireflash, Triple Quickness, Double Ninja, Awaken, and Transportation.
• Untested spells include Triple Strength, Triple Mindblast, Triple Flamebolt, and Fear.