Dragon Warrior III/The Sword of Gaia

You've solved the mystery of Samanao's king, and as a reward, you've claimed the Staff of Change. But what can you do with it, and what is it good for? It turns out that a hermit who lives far to the north has been looking for the staff, and has an equally unusual item to give you in exchange. This unusual item will help you track down a Phantom Ship. Once you locate it, you'll have to plunder the ship to find another item that serves as a key to a location in the world haunted by separated love. Reunite the love and you'll be granted access to a shrine that contains an item vital to your quest. While you may continue your search for the sixth orb, you won't be able to find it until these steps are complete.

The Staff's power
When used, the Staff of Change will temporarily alter the appearance of your entire party. It will be altered to any number of conceivable forms, and the form taken is chosen entirely at random. You may all become a little boy, an old gentlemen, a guard, a prisoner, a woman, a demon, and possible even a slime. The effects don't last long, and wear off after taking only a handful of steps. While this can be amusing, it may not appear to have any practical purpose. However, there is one situation where you can use it to your advantage.

You may recall that in the Village of Elves, there was a saleswoman who would not have anything to do with humans. If you have any desire to purchase the two rather rare goods that she sells from her shop, the Angel Robe and the Wizard's Ring, you'll need the Staff of Change's help. The idea is to continue using it until you no appear longer human. Unfortunately, demons and slimes won't count, but taking on the appearance of an elf or even a dwarf works just fine. Approach the counter as a dwarf or an elf, and you will find that the woman behind the counter has no trouble conducting business with you. The Angel Robe is excellent defense for spell-casters, and it provides protection against instant-kill spells. It's not as strong as the Magic Armor for Sages, but the Silver Shield and Iron Helmet can more than make up for the difference.

This is by far the easiest way to conduct business in the Village of the Elves, but it is not the only way. Once you give up possession of the staff, there is only one other way to fool the elves, and it is a bit more difficult. There is one Animal Suit found in a treasure chest in the game (in the Cave of Samanao). However, if you're lucky, you can obtain more by defeating Vampire Cats and Catulas. If you equip all four members of your party with this otherwise poor form of defense, you can successfully purchase from the elf shop.

Trading in Greenlad
Changing your shape is not all the staff is good for. Someone in the world is looking for it, and will reward you if you give it to him. You may have heard rumors during your travels about a man who lives in a place called Greenlad. The name of this location is comparable to Greenland in the real world, which is located off the coast of North America. Similarly, if you sail north above the continent that Soo is found in, you will reach a mostly icy island with a grassy south coast. In one tiny section of ice, there is a small green square. This is where the hermit of Greenlad lives.

Sail up to the island and dock your boat south of the green tile. Walk up to it, and you will arrive in what appears to be an empty field. Continue walking north until a house comes into view. If you don't yet have the Staff of Change, the man will inform you that he's looking for it. If you do have the staff, he will tell you that if you give it to him, he'll exchange it for the Sailor's Thigh Bone and ask if you'll trade. Assuming you are finished using the staff for your own personal purposes, make the exchange. Now whenever you leave and return to the hermit, he will look different each time.

So what do you do with this Sailor's Thigh Bone? It is used to find the location of the Phantom Ship. The bone is in tune with the location of the rest of it's body. When used, it will point you in the direction of the ship by indicating how many spaces north or south and how many spaces east or west you can find the ship from your current position.

Finding the Phantom Ship
Finding the Phantom Ship without the Sailor's Thigh Bone is impossible (it simply won't appear at sea), but you won't necessarily need to rely on it entirely. It turns out that the Phantom Ship regularly appears in what you would consider this world's Mediterranean Sea. That is, the body of water between Romaly, the Pyramid, and Assaram. Once you see it sailing around, pull up right alongside of it, and board the ship. You'll arrive on the left side of the top deck of the ship (shown left). As you wander about the boat, you are likely to get attacked, just as you would walking outside, or through a dungeon. You will encounter a number of enemies that you would ordinarily only encounter at sea, like Merzoncians, Tentacles, and Crabus, but undead creatures like Horks and the double-attack enabled skeletons also haunt the ship.

The top half of the ship's deck contains nothing of interest. In the middle of the deck is a skeleton walking around the helm of the ship. If you speak with him, he declares his ship unsinkable. Ignore the stairs below the helm and continue explore further down. You'll see a creature by some barrels. Speaking with him will initiate a fight with a single Minidemon. If you ealk all the way down to the bottom, you may find a living adventurer who appears to be looking for the ship's treasure.

Take the staircase across from the Minidemon down to the bottom level (shown right). Walk to the very bottom and enter the room with the open door. You'll find a treasure chest in a room with four beds. Open the chest, and you will find the Locket of Love, the key item that you were searching for. If you unlock the door above the room you just explored, you will find another room with five treasure chests. The upper three chests all contain gold. The right chest of the lower two contains a Full Moon Herb, but the left chest is actually a Mimic.

Sail up to the island and dock your boat Above the room, you can talk to the men and skeletons who are rowing, along with the moving flames which are actually spirits of the deceased who are bound to the boat. One of the men laying on the right side of the boat appears to have been Errol, the owner of the locket. It seems he wrote a message for Olivia which was never delivered. The room in the middle is simply an empty room. Take either set of stairs back up to the top floor, and exit through the stairs on the left side of the boat where you arrived to return to your ship.

Olivia's Love
If you remember correctly, Olivia's Promontory is the shrine north of Baharata. However, sailing to it's location is a little harder than walking. The easiest way to accomplish this is to cast Return to Noaniels. Then board your boat and follow the coast to the east. At one point, the coast will dip south, and it may look like you've found an entrance, except for the fact that a few small shoals block your way. You'll have to continue sailing south to look for another entrance. After another dip south, you'll find an opportunity.

As you enter the river, you will probably notice a small shrine to the south. Visit the shrine and you'll meet a dwarf who claims to have fought by Ortega's side. There are two cats keeping him company. One will meow at you questioningly. If you respond with "yes," he will tell you to find the region between four mountains. Read the sidebar to the right to learn more about the mountains. Return to your ship and continue sailing along the river.

Eventually, the river will deposit you in the middle of a wide lake. The Promontory of Olivia can be seen to the west. However, if you try to sail through the passage, you will hear a voice, and the ship will be blown back to the east! With your ship backed up against the rocks, make use of the Locket of Love that you obtained from the Phanton Ship. Errol and Olivia's love will be reunited, and the curse surrounding the area will be broken. You will now be able to sail onward to the west.

When you do, you will reach another lake, with a small island in the middle. On that island is another shrine. Enter the shrine, and you will be greeted by another spirit of flame, which you can speak with to learn about the shrine's jail. Investigating this desolate place, you will find four jail cells, most of which contain skeletons. In the lower left cell, there is another flame, who turns out to be the departed soul of Simon from Samanao, who you have heard a bit about. The spirit tells you to search near his body.

If you then open the lock to the jail cell across the hall, you will find a skeleton lying in a bed. Search the area at the foot of the bed, and you will obtain the Sword of Gaia. The time has come to put it to use. You may have heard quite a bit about the volcano near the mountains of Necrogond. Some rumors have even associated the volcano with the sword you just found. Return to your ship and prepare to journey into the heart of Necrogond.