Ambrosia Software Web Board: Sabinate the mushroom pusher and other observations... (contains spoilers) - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Having just solved Cythera (with a few hints from Slayer's web site), I have a "few" questions and observations that I haven't seen in other posts on this board:

(WARNING: contains spoilers)


1) After combining the 4 Crolna pieces, running it through Charax's distiller with the kelp and mushrooms, and getting yelled at by Omen, I took it back to Sabinate to see if he had anything new to say. However, he says the same thing as he said before it was distilled, and he gave me another mushroom (yes, the Crolna at this point does work on Alaric, and no you can't redistill it with another mushroom since Charax is still examining his distiller). In fact, it appears you can get an infinite number of mushrooms from Sabinate, and you can't drop them or use them on anything (like the wine...).

2) Is there anything you can do with the distilled Crolna other than cure Alaric? I took it around Cythera to "show it off" to other characters (e.g. Ursylph, Ignae, Magpie) but no one seemed to recognize it as an accomplishment. Surprisingly, it doesn't work as a weapon (since Magpie and/or Sabinate refer to it as a destroyer). The only uses it seems to have are things that also worked with the 2 piece Crolna. The uses I found are: (1) using it on the pylon in the swamp ruins to open the door to the building (2) using it on the pylon north of Cademia to open a passage in the hill into the tunnel under the northern mountains (3) using it on a pedestal in the headwater ruins to open another passage into the tunnel under the northern mountains. Some places I tried to put the 4 piece Crolna, such as on the conjurer's triangle, said "it doesn't seem to fit" (as if it should fit somewhere).

3) If you don't cure Alaric and you keep the game going, does Charax ever finish examining his distiller and speak to you again?

4) In the tunnel under the northern mountains, near the entrance to the Seldane city, there is a lake. If you stand on the south shore, there is a ruby on the west shore. Is it possible to get the ruby? Is there another entrance to get to the ruby? Has anyone tried using boards and rope to build a raft - that could solve the fishing problem too. (I'm out of rope...)

5) Before taking Dryas to Berossus, I cured him of rat lizard poisoning and fed him. The game takes him away from your party at the Judges house, but when he left me he was in good condition. Later in the game, I was back in the sewer and in the entrance under Eteocles' house, I found Dryas' corpse. So who/what killed Dryas? I tried to ask Eteocles' about Dryas' death but he just said "He has a bright future". I should have killed him for that comment...

6) Moved objects disappear, which makes it easy to end up without any rope. Are there only two uses for rope - (the harpy cave, and the cave under the sewers in Cademia)? Anything else??

7) Well, most moved and dropped objects disappear, but sometimes dropped daggers persist forever. My southwest coast map is littered with pink spots due to daggers from dead bandits, even though the corpses are gone. Any significance or just another bug?

8) If you go under Khosa after solving Opheltius' murder and before getting the 3rd Crolna shard (maybe before getting the 1st or 2nd too?), you get killed by Pelagon. He says you are unprotected and they will have to find the shards of the Crolna that you had been bearing. Why does he say this if you are currently carrying two shards? Why are you more protected with 3 shards than 2? (I don't really expect a logical answer...)

9) The book on Semius the Golem hunter (in Catamarca) hints that the musical lock in Cademia will be opened by a lyre playing the notes "SGD". After trying this many times, I found on Slayer's site that the correct notes are actually "PMG". Is there any clue to this in the game, or do you just stand there and try all possible combinations? What's with the SGD clue?

10) Is there a clue somewhere to the sequence to ring the bells in the tyrant's tomb? I lacked the patience to try all possible combinations and got the answer from Slayer's site.

11) There were some old posts on this, but no real answer. Has anyone figured out the significance of the 742 on the rings, or Alaric's comment that 201 has significance other than his mothers death, after you tell him his mother's name (maybe this one is just a glitch)?

12) Alaric came to power around AC 215. The current year of the story must be in the mid-900s based on dates in the cemetary. But, at the beginning of the game, Alaric says he has held power for "over 200 years" which implies less than 300, but I guess this is just a minor inconsistency in the storyline?

13) Anyone know (or care?) who the other people in the graveyard are? The readable stones, besides Hector's grandparents and Alaric's mom are: Andromache 882-918 and Hapmorucles 878-918; and another stone that just says IHC or JHC.

14) Its amazing how much you DON'T have to do to complete the game. You don't have to go under Abydos or Pnyx to face the demons, you don't have to go into either stronghold, you don't have to go in the Scylla temple or some of the caves. I'm ready to cure Alaric, but first I'll go try to survive the second stronghold.

See also theory on Larisa in separate post...

------------------
Clever signature under construction

Ok... let's see what we can do here.

First: Welcome to the Webboards!

1: I noticed that too, it appears he doesn't notice that the crolna has been clensed and thinks you lost the last one he gave you.

2: None that I know of. In fact I'm pretty sure that once you get done with Charax (which I believe is pronounced 'Sharaz'), it (the game) pretty much wants you to go get everything done. Kinda rushing you off towards the end. Don't know 'bout you; but I kinda get the feeling that there isn't really anything else for you to do at that point. (whether there be or not)

3: Nope. See the above answer for why.

4: It is possible to get the ruby, but it would involve using fetch, which as I'm sure you know; doesn't work. No other ways that i know of. As for boats: I think that's a bit beyond the scope of Cythera.

5: Well, there are more rats down there, maybe he got bitten and was poisoned again.

6: Nope. As far as I know, that's it.

7: That's just the daggers ruffians leave when they die. Kinda a ceremonial grave area. (that's the way I think of it.)

8: Well, the third piece is the largest, so maybe that's the only one that offers protection. As for them having to search: hmm... maybe he can only detect the largest one and thinks you stashed it somwhere.

9: No idea. Have to ask Slayer about that one.

10: No, I think you just have to try random combonations.

11: It's entirely possible that the strongholds (which the rings are strongly connected with) were founded in the year 742.
Now that I think about it, 201 was only shortly before Alaric came to power. He might have been poisoned by the undine (or Tavara, who I think did it) in that same year. (Tavara might also have killed Alarics mother in an attempt to prevent further 'bonded' offspring)

12: Well, he might imply under 300, but consider this:
In Tavara's journal, he mentions a powerful sorcerer by the name of Alaric. He says that Alaric is still mortal and therefore could still be killed.
Better odds that Alaric was just saying that because he couldn't remember much further back than that.

13: Most are unreadable, and they were probably just put there to created the idea that it is a graveyard and not a family gravesite. This would be necessary to imply because we don't want to try to relate Hector to Alaric (which would make my head hurt even worse) .

14: Yes it is, I have sent numerous messeges to Glenn Andreas trying to convince him to update the unregistered version to make sure you can't get as far as you can there. (I have come within 1 minute of finishing the game without registering.

That's my opinion/knowledge/speculation/etc. on your "few" questions.

------------------
-TheDarkDragon
I am neither left wing nor right wing. I am falling from the sky because my wings beat each other up.

I already welcomed him to the webboards in his other topic, befor you


Tycho Maudd

------------------
I say what occurs to me to say when I think I hear people say things, more I cannot say.

[This message has been edited by Tycho Maudd (edited 04-27-2001).]

I got him on his first post though.

------------------
-TheDarkDragon
I am neither left wing nor right wing. I am falling from the sky because my wings beat each other up.

Isn't Charax pronounced Karax? That's how I always do it.

------------------
Quote ViaVoice, "Hal Cohen help build Satam sand scratch a flat surface scratches that some scratch that scratches that scratch facts scratcher wraked this scratched tax costs tax this. " Is this ViaVoiceian?

Huh, I've always pronounced it, well, Charax (is there a relation to a Charred Axe? )

And just to have another answer:

7. The daggers don't dissapear when they are thrown, but don't hit. My question is, why do the automaticly dissapear when they kill, instead of just being in the corpse like all the non-killing-stike daggers? I've lost the mystic spear so many times this way...

9. I noticed this too, but the first time I tried it in Cademia, I got a warning that said that I needed some specific kind of music software or something. But only the first time out of all of my saved games. Very strange if you ask me.

11. Okay, here's my theory: that trader guy in Cademia was having a hard season, so he sold his would-be-wedding rings to make some money. But then, he couldn't get married because a) he had no rings, and he broke his trust to Hebe.

------------------
"It has to start some time.
It has to start some where.
What better time than now?
What better world than this?"

Interesting idea about the rings. Though I have a question about them too: Why does the gem trader in Kosha blush when you ask him about 742? (He has one of the rings.)

------------------

Quote

I always guessed that he had some old intimate connections... just a guess though.

------------------
<font color="gold">Bronze: the other gold metal.</font>
Bacchus Publishing: [url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/show.pl?product=evo&category=guides&display=date&file=ChroniclesByJake101.sit.hqx"]Chronicles by Jake101: the unposted chapters[/url], [url="http://"http://users.erols.com/alkrauss/Once_Again.html"]Once Again: on the web.[/url]
Bacchus Freeware: Olympus Wars, a plugin for EV:N.

Quote

Perhaps he worked with the Undine to make the ring that allowsw you to enter the second stonghold. Just a bit of speculation.

------------------
Long Live Apple! Long Live the Mac!
[url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/salrillian"]http://www.geocities.com/salrillian[/url]
[url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/evclassic"]http://www.geocities.com/evclassic[/url]