A4 Walkthrough

Corak's Notes on A4:

In the days when the Gargoyles roamed freely in Thorn Blossom Orchard, the southern region of the Great Isle was connected as is the northern region. But when the Gargoyles were driven out, the warriors of Castle Whiteshield broke the shrine in Arachnoid Cavern to celebrate their victory. A tremendous earthquake shook the southern region and ripped it from the rest of the isle.

Monsters in the area: Giant Spiders, Magic Mantises.

Map of A4

Giant Spider Lair. Destroy it to stop Giant Spiders from re-appearing in the area. Or at least it should. In my game, Giant Spiders keep appearing even though I destroyed their lair. It's probably a bug, in more ways than one. ;) Anyway, all party members will gain 25000 experience for doing this. You will also receive 50 Gems.

Magic Mantis Lair. Destroy it to stop Magic Mantises from re-appearing in the area. All party members will gain 25000 experience for doing this.

Mount Keystone. The hut on top of this lone mountain in the middle of the lake holds the Golden Pyramid Key Card, with which you can enter the Pyramid complex. This is a vital item; without it you can't finish the game. In order to break the glass case that protects it, you'll need a character with Fantastic Might. To be rated Fantastic, a character must have a Might rating of 50 or greater. If you find you don't have a character with such a high Might rating, just drink from the Fountain of Might in area B1, or buy a few Might Potions in Area A1 and you should be able to obtain the card.

This well teleports you to area E4.

In the north part of the area, there are loads of Giant Spiders. They aren't very powerful, but they do have eight(!) attacks per round and each of their attacks can potentially poison a character. Take care of all of them and destroy their lair, then hope that you don't have the same bug I do. (as described at point 1, above)

After clearing out the Spiders, go grab the Golden Pyramid Key Card, as described at point 3, above.

After that, cross the river and prepare to battle more Spiders and Magic Mantises. Be sure to destroy the Magic Mantis Lair at point 2 on the map as quickly as possible.

There is a well just west of the bend in the path. Do NOT drink from it, since it will cause 50 damage to a character who drinks from it. However, there is a hut two spaces west and two spaces south of this well. Entering this hut will net you 6 random items, but it will collapse, dealing 100 damage to all party members (those who successfully resist against acid will only receive half the damage). So be prepared to do some heavy healing afterwards.

The well two spaces west from this hut (point 4 on the map) will transport you to area E4, where you will be surrounded by Barbarians and Death Locusts. Let me just say that if you already had trouble with the enemies in this area, the enemies in E4 will eat you for dinner. Be sure to save before trying.

There's yet another well located one space west and three spaces south from Mount Keystone (point 3 on the map) which will raise all party members' Acid/Poison Resistance by 50 for the remainder of the day when you drink from it. Which would be a very good idea since there are many poisonous monsters in the area.

The last point of the interest in this area is all the way in the south-west corner. As you can see on the map, there's a small shack there. However, you will need to be under the effect of the Walk on Water spell in order to get there. Inside, you will find the nymph Athea, who will flee when she sees you. However, she is so beautiful that any male party member that sets eyes on her will immediately fall in love with her. They will fall under the effect of the "In Love" status ailment (see the Status Ailment section for details), which is probably a good thing. At least for a while. In any case, this encounter will put another quest on your Quest List: To get Sea Shells of Serenity for Athea. You can find these on a small island somewhere, but only one each year, on a certain day. Visit the Brothers Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Zeta (in that order) to find out which island, and which day. Giving a shell to Athea gives all party members 250000 experience, plus the sum of 250000 Gold. And you get to gape at Athea a little longer. ;)

Adjacent areas: