Dark Law: Meaning of Death/Walkthrough

Walkthrough
Dark Law, unlike many RPGs, does not have a single linear path along which the player is forced. It's scenario based: each scenario is a short quest which the player can complete to advance the story and build up experience. In practice the order of the scenarios doesn't allow that much variation, but it's still freer than the average offering.

When you select 'start from the beginning' on the 'new game' menu, you'll be presented with a pretty standard character creation system (name each character and then assign their stats). After this section, the game begins with the scenario "Beginning of Destiny" (2.1).

You can create between one and four characters, of which any three can be in your party at one time. (At certain points in the game you'll temporarily receive an extra member, allowing a maximum party size of four.) The 'default' names are based on their hair colours (Red, Yellow, Blue, Green). When building your party, bear in mind that while men are stronger, women learn faster - men need more experience to gain each level.

The centre of the game is the town, which is menu-driven. Most scenarios are begun by talking to the various characters you'll meet here. See section 3.4 for details of the various locations within the town. I'm assuming that you'll pause between scenarios to heal, upgrade your equipment, level up, and so on, so it's worth getting to know the place when you first arrive.

To level up and hunt for items the player can always head to the Sealed Cave / Sealed Labyrinth, which is the game's main dungeon. The monsters rapidly get tougher as you head in, so caution is advised. There are maps in section 5 which may prove useful. When you reach the point at which you can take "All Things", be sure to pause to complete the Sealed Labyrinth: the equipment you'll find in there will be invaluable in the final battle.

NAME - the section here (2.x), "Scenario: ..." in main menu.* Location: "Go to ..." in destination menu, "Location: ..." in main menu. Level: your lead character must be within this range or the scenario will not be available. The figures are inclusive. Prerequisites: any other requirements, e.g. scenarios you have to take first. Reward: the maximum benefit you can get from a scenario. In most cases it's       possible to come out with less. The quoted values for 'exp' and 'gold' are restricted to explicit end-of-scenario rewards. Items: any otherwise unobtainable items found. Note that this isn't "complete" in that it basically only includes important items or things you get at      the "scenario clear". There may well be other things lying around. The four scenarios with [#] after the name are the ones in which the seal crystals are restored. 1 BEGINNING OF DESTINY Location: Holy Sophia Temple Reward: 50 gold 2 DEATH-CREATURE Location: Toras Forest Level: 1+ Reward: 1100 exp, 10 gold Items: M-stone, Teardrop 3 ED AND KARON Location: Masaki Head Level: 2-4 Reward: 1900 exp, 20 gold Items: M-stone, Aqua Stone 4 GUIDE OF DEATH [#] Location: Reynard Castle Court; later, South Creek Level: 4-6 Prerequisites: complete "Death-Creature" Reward: 1800 exp 5 RETURN OF A SAINT Location: Deep in Fangi Forest Level: 6-8 Reward: 2000 exp 6 KING OF THE PIT Location: Mt. Drake Mine Ruins Level: 7-8 Reward: 2500 exp Items: Short Sword +; Damascus Sword 7 THE SEARCH [#] Location: Toras Forest Level: 8-10 Prerequisites: have Teardrop Reward: 2400 exp Items: Damascus Sword 8 SORCEROR'S DAUGHTER Location: Dr. Heifer's house Level: 9-11 Prerequisites: complete "King of the Pit" Reward: 2700 exp, 280 gold 9 LEFIA REUNION [#] Location: Shanoah Town Level: 10-12 Reward: 3000 exp Items: Golden Heart 10 TEMPLE OF THE FIEND [#] Location: Deep within Mount Molor Level: 11-13 Prerequisites: complete "Sorceror's Daughter" Reward: 3200 exp, 900 gold Items: Ashura (in theory, but I've never obtained it) 11 DUNGEON MODE Location: Sealed Cave and Sealed Labyrinth Items: M-stone; many others, possibly including the Destroyer? 12 ALL THINGS Location: Holy Sophia Temple Level: 13+ Reward: the ending sequence. :D

2.1 BEGINNING OF DESTINY (Unme no Hajime)

As the game begins, you'll find yourself lying outside an ancient temple. Walk south off the screen, and follow the path down. If you want to read that monument you can see on the right, the way through to it is hidden almost directly to its left; but it won't be significant for a long time yet. In any case, your objective is the cliff edge. Examine the projection to the right twice. Now collect either or both of the vines (there's one on each screen: if you take both, the next scene is slightly different), and examine the projection again to tie the vine or rope to it. Climb down.

After waking up, walk through the doorway to your south. A long conversation follows. It doesn't matter whether you answer 'yes' or 'no' when Oriona asks whether you'll help with the work - you'll end up doing it anyway. After this you'll return to bed. When you wake up again, head south again and go outside. Talk to Oriona, then follow him left and up. Talk to him twice more and take the hoe. Don't start work yet: instead head north onto the next screen. See that blue sparkle? That's a Silver Dagger, so dig it up. Now head south two screens. There's another sparkle in the bottom left: grab that too, it's a Blue Crystal. You can sell it in Shanoah for a few extra pieces of gold (every little helps).

Now head back north and get hoeing! If you're lucky you may find some more crystals. To get away with the minimum amount of work, hoe the top left square, and then go and talk to Oriona. Now hoe the one above the bottom left, then the one to the right of that, and then any one of the remaining unhoed squares. If you talk to Oriona again now, he should be happy to chat for a while.

You regain control back on the southern screen. Move east a little for a nasty surprise, then go and (you guessed) talk to Oriona. He'll give you a letter. Talk to him again. Now you're free to depart at last - so head off east and set off for the town!

Shanoah is explained in section 3.4. Go to the castle, where you must talk to King Reynard. You'll hand over the letter; he'll give you 50 gold and authorise you to enter the Sealed Cave. And that's the end of the initial scenario.

2.2 DEATH-CREATURE (Desukuriichaa)

To begin the scenario, talk to the guy at the pub and agree to help him. Now you must buy a potion if you don't have one, and leave the town. Select the middle option, '??', to go to Toras Forest.

Follow the path north. Before the end of the first screen you'll see a little hole in the rock. If you examine that, you'll fight a couple of Toras Vipers. It's a very easy battle, so you might as well do it for the EXP. Then carry on until you reach Lambar's hut.

Enter the hut. You need to examine the wolf's head on the table; then leave again and keep going north. On the next screen the path forks. Examine the obstruction on the right-hand fork and the boulder blocking the left-hand way.

Since you can't go any further, head back to the hut. It's still empty, but now if you go back north and up the lefthand side someone will appear. Talk to her, examine the boulder, then keep talking to her (you'll give her a potion) until she moves it. Take the new path and head north into the cave.

Immediately to your north is a dead end with a nest at the end. Examine it twice, then head round to the room to the west of it. On the way, roughly at the centre of the screen, you'll pass a very short passage to the north, leading to an obvious dead end. If you search that dead end, though, you'll find an M-stone! I don't think you can get it when you come back here in a later scenario, so grab it now. Anyway, when you reach that back room, examine the hole in the north wall three times; you'll find a pendant, which is the Teardrop accessory (so equip it!). Now head south again; you'll drop out of the hole from which the woman fell. Return to the hut. Talk to the woman first if you don't want to miss any dialogue; the outcome is the same whomever you select, though. Talk to her a second time if you want to learn her name.

Now you can head back to the town. Go to the pub and talk to end the scenario.

2.3 ED AND KARON (Edo to Karon)

Talk to Kofu at the Magic Guild, and agree to help him. The second item on the menu outside Shanoah will now take you to Davis' house at Masaki Head. Note that you can only cross the causeway to his house during the daytime. Night will fall a short way into the scenario, so make sure you're ready before you set out.

Head right towards the house. The door's locked, so continue right. Chat with the boy, then head back round to the front: Davis should be back. He'll invite you in. After a conversation his son will call him out, and you'll regain control. There's a save point in the back room if you want to use one. Anyway, leave the house and head round to the back. There's a door where the boy and the dog were earlier; go inside. Talk to them, then head back to the house and go to bed.

In the morning, talk to Davis. Then head round to the barn and talk to Ed. Go back to Davis and talk again. When the music changes, head back round to the barn and talk AGAIN. Now head back to the causeway. Examine the highest point. The hawk will deposit a bottle in the water to your left, which contains a letter from Kofu. Read it.

Now when you return Ed should be missing from the barn. Go back to Davis, examine the shelves behind him until you've read the scrolls, and talk to him about them. Head to the back of the barn. Remove the plank from the bottom of the wall behind the spot where Karon was lying, then examine the floor in front of it for a loose plank. Remove that too, and slide the plank to the right of it across into the gap to reveal a ladder. Go down.

At the bottom, you can go either left or right. If you go left, you'll come out in a pit behind the house; there's nothing to do here yet, and you might be attacked by Zombies, which will slaughter you unless you run. So go right instead. You'll come to a mazelike cave; there are Oak Jellies in here, but those should be no problem. There are two exits at the top of the screen. The one to the right is a dead end for the moment, since you can't open the door. You need to know that, though, so head up that way and check the door and the handle (to the left of it). Now go back round to the opening to the left, and go through the door. You'll be in a large rectangular room. There's a corpse in the top right corner. Make sure your HP is full, because when you've examined it a few times, the Eleanor Zombie will attack. She's not as tough as the normal Zombies ("waes se gryre laessa / efna swa micle swa bith maegtha craeft / wiggryre wifes be waepnedmen..."), but she uses magic - Wolfstorm, Icefall, and Earth Heal.

Interesting aside: Masaki Itoh (the dead sorceror's name) appears in the end credits under "Special Thanks". Several other Ito[h]s worked on Dark Law and Wizap!... presumably this is a cameo? Anyway, back to the game...

Now head to the ladder, climb back up, and go round to the front of the house. When Ed leaves, follow him. Go to the room to the right of that in which you fought Eleanor. Ed will open the door. Inside is that "Gate of the Dead" of which Kofu's letter spoke. Read the note on the floor, and talk to Ed. He'll try to remove the Magic Stone from the wall, but fail; so it's up to you. Check the stone again, talk to Ed again, and so forth. When you realise water is necessary, return to the barn and collect a bucket from the top right, then head to the causeway and fill it. Go back to the Gate of the Dead and try it with the Magic Stone. Things will get rather exciting.

After everything calms down again and you recieve your scenario EXP, head back round behind the house; a new path will have opened, and you can enter the woods and get an Aqua Stone from the tomb. Then head back to the causeway. As soon as you cross the bridge, look for a sparkle at the bottom of the screen, below the point where you stood when the hawk appeared; that's the Shield Magic Stone, which you probably don't want to leave behind, so check it twice to take it.

Finally, be sure to check back with Kofu for some gold.

2.4 GUIDE OF DEATH (Shi wo Michibiku Mono)

Head to the Temple in Shanoah. Try to talk: nobody's there, but you can head inside. Do. Talk alternately to the standing man and the lying man until a third character shows up. When everything's finished, leave this room: you'll be back at the Temple menu. Select 'talk' again. The scenario begins.

Once you enter South Creek, you won't be able to leave again without forfeiting the scenario. This includes losing battles: if your party is annihilated, you'll wake up back in Shanoah, and you won't be able to return to South Creek. So make sure you've got some healing items, and save at the inn before you leave! It's probably preferable to make sure everyone's at level 5, too, if you can stand it - but you can always level up when you get there. When you're ready, exit the town and select '??'.

Cross the bridge. There'll be a short scene with Hybard. If you head east, you'll come to a ruin. Examine the rightmost block to find an inscription. To enter the house, examine the door twice. Head right and down, and examine the book on the table a few times. Then go upstairs and enter first the room on the left, then the one on the right. If Hybard doesn't appear, go back downstairs and examine the book again, then come back. After a long conversation you'll get your bodies back.

Follow the good doctor to the ruins. He's not there, so head back to the house and examine the window three times. You'll jump up and get the book from the table. Examine the window again. Now return to the ruins and read that inscription. It's rather cryptic, so you need to think about it a bit: leave the screen, then enter again. Presto: intrat deus ex machina! So go ahead, knock at the Gate of Darkness three times. An entrance will open. Need I tell you to go inside?

At the moment you can go back to the save point by the bridge to rest if necessary - save any potions you may have for later. When you reach the upper floor there's no way down again, so level up now if you think you need to.

Head west. Read the notice and examine the machinery, then go through the doorway. Head up to the interesting apparatus in the top left. Examine the source of the light three times, then the left-hand window four times, and finally the left-hand pedastal twice. Now the lift is working, so go back out to it and ride it up.

Examine the crate in the top right corner of the room three times, then leave the room by the door to the south. Note that the Undead Wolf monsters you meet in this next area are exceedingly nasty. I'd definitely advise running unless you really know what you're doing.

You can't open the middle door, so go through the right-hand one. Examine the pile of sacks twice, then the table in the middle of the room. Go up to the place from which the rat appeared and examine the wall. Now examine the desk to your left, then push it under the hole you saw. Climb onto it (the drawer serves as a foothold) and examine the wall twice, then go back to the left-hand room and take the wedge from the crate. Return to the desk and climb back onto it, and examine the wall twice more. Get back down and take the candlestick from the table to the right, then back up and you'll be able to climb up to the hole. Head up and left. There are two gratings. Look through the right-hand one, then head over towards the other. When you regain control, take four steps. You'll wake up back on the bridge again.

The scenario will now end when you leave South Creek. If you leave right away you'll receive 1600 EXP; if you go and listen at the front door first you'll get 1800. It isn't a very difficult choice, is it?

Now when you return to the Sealed Cave you'll see that one of the crystals of the seal at the entrance is lit up.

2.5 RETURN OF A SAINT (Kaeriyuku Seisha)

Head to Shanoah Temple. Talk to the Archbishop. It doesn't matter what your first answer is, but be sure to say 'yes' to his second question - he'll only ask once! He'll give you a letter, and the scenario begins.

Make sure you have potions and antidotes aplenty, since the enemies here are tough and poisonous. Good armour is a must, too. When you're equipped, head to Fangi Forest in the usual way.

Enter the tent and talk to the injured monk. You'll give him the letter. You can duck out if you want to at this point - just go back to Darme and, when he asks, decline to help further. I wouldn't advise it, though.

Leave the tent and head north. The Blue Crystal is the marker Frammel mentioned, and shows the path you need to take; you can grab it if you want. When asked if you want to proceed, agree. As you approach the house, you'll be challenged, and a Poison Corpse will attack. Kill it (use fire-based spells if you have any). Try to open the door; you won't manage. Now you have a choice. If you want to be healed, or to save, then go back to the tent. Talk to Frammel to advance the plot, and then he'll heal you on request. If you want to do things the hard way, then don't do that: instead, examine the door three times then try to leave - another Poison Corpse attacks, you'll hear a voice, and then the door is unlocked.

Either way, once you're inside, head round to the ladder and climb down. If you explore to the northwest you'll fight some more Poison Corpses before coming up against an array of locked doors; so head south instead, then south again. On this next screen you'll see a pair of Hell Bandits guarding a door. Ignore them for the moment: go round past the opening leading into their room, and off to the north. You'll see one of the children you're looking for to your right (behind the guarded door); to your north, another door, which has neither a keyhole nor a visible switch.

Search the wall to the right of the door, halfway between the right-hand torch and the end of the passage, then push the switch. The door will open. On the other side you'll find a corpse; examine it twice and opt to read the note, then examine it again to find a ring.

Now head back round to those Hell Bandits and kill them. Push the switch to the left of the door they were guarding and go in. Talk to the girl. You'll end up back by the tent, where Frammel will give you some holy water. If your MP is low, you can touch the fire to restore it; rest at the save point in the tent to restore your HP.

Return to the house and climb down as before. Head south to the room where the girl was imprisoned, and search the box in there until you find an item (the Silver Robe). Now head back towards the ladder. Before you get there you'll be brought up short by a strange sound; so head back south again. Two Poison Corpses will have appeared. When you've disposed of them, search the north wall next to the light to open the secret door they came through, and follow the passageway behind it.

Sandoro is waiting in the next room. The spirit isn't going to give him up easily; after a brief conversation you'll be surrounded by enemies, three Poison Corpses and a Hell Bandit. It goes without saying that this is your hardest battle yet; I hope you remembered to pack some Antidotes! The only strategy I can suggest is that you try to gain the platform - taking out the Hell Bandit in the process - at which point you should be able to defend the stairs and keep more than two of the others from attacking you at once. Magic will also be very useful here - again, stick to fire-based spells, as other elements won't hurt the Poison Corpses.

When you've defeated them, head up onto the platform. When Sandoro's finished talking, throw the holy water over him. After a short scene with the spirit, you'll return to the tent once more. Talk to Frammel (he'll go back into the tent), and then to Sandoro, who'll offer you a key. Naturally you want to accept.

Return to the cellars once more, and this time head northwest - take the upper door in the little side passage near the ladder. You'll have to fight a couple of Poison Corpses if you didn't deal with them earlier, but now you can get through all those locked doors. First head down the stairs to the left, enter the library, and read the book on the table; then take the ones to the right, and check the chests in the storeroom (one contains a Morningstar, the other a Large Shield). Of the other two doors, the one on the right leads to a small room containing two jars; the one on the left will restore your HP, the other your MP.

Finally, open the back lefthand door. The Hell Bandit in here shouldn't tax you too far. Examine the only other interesting feature of the room.

That's all you can do for now, so head back to the tent and talk to Frammel again. He'll tell you who the spirit is (an ancient high priest, Dianoas), and offer to read you the letter. It doesn't seem to matter which option you choose; either way, he'll give you an amulet.

Back to the cellars again! Take the south door in the side-passage, and go round to the northwest. There's another group of monsters in this room. If you didn't get Sarac's ring earlier, you'll have to fight them; if you did, then it'll take care of them for you, which is definitely worthwhile. When they're gone, head up the steps. A stone in the northwest corner will start glowing when you approach. Examine it, and out pops Dianoas' spirit! After a moving speech he'll disappear again, and you'll pick up the stone. Take it back to Frammel.

And everyone's happy again. You'll return to Shanoah. Go to the temple and listen to Darme's sermon, and you'll finally receive your exp.

2.6 KING OF THE PIT (Naraku no Ou)

Go to the inn and talk. Basconar will introduce himself and offer you a quest. You, being obviously the intrepid type, will accept. (Don't worry about refusing if you've forgotten anything - he'll still be there.) As usual, leave Shanoah and head for your destination - this time it's Mount Drake.

Head left across the parched rock. Follow the ominous shadow, and enter the mine. Follow the tunnel. Take the little detour and search the sack, then continue south and emerge blinking into the daylight again. Follow the ledge; you don't need to wait long to learn more about that shadow.

After the fight, head down the ladder and east, where you'll find that save point you saw earlier and a large hole. Climb down into it; you won't get far, but you need to do so anyway. To the left of the pit is a pile of rocks, which you also want to examine. Now head back up that ladder and enter the mine over at the far left. The map-room you saw earlier is off to the right. Go and search the bag in there to find an rock with strange characters carved into it. Take it, then grab the pickaxe. That's all there is here, so backtrack to the entrance to this part of the cave. Nip outside and break the pickaxe on the pile of rocks, then return and take the northwest passage. Near the top of this screen there's a dead-end passage to your left, and beyond it a small room apparently blocked in. If you search the north wall of the dead-end you can open a secret door into that room; there's a skeleton inside which you can examine (you'll find, but leave, an eyepatch). You'll be coming back later, but that's all for now. In the same area, south of this small room, there's another pick lying on the floor; you want to grab it.

Head north again. There's a save point. If you check the sacks in this room you may find a Red Crystal. Anyway, head into the next room, where lurk a woman and another of those Gargbat things. I'm sure you can guess what this is leading to. Go on, kill it.

Now examine the bag below the table for a rope ladder, read the letter on the table if you want, examine the shovel up north, then head back outside and down the first ladder. Try the rocks again with your second pick, and you'll find some more crystals. Climb down into the hole, using your ladder to extend the existing one when you need to. Head east, then follow the chibi which appears and head north.

There'll be a short conversation. After it, go to the small patch of mushrooms to the west and eat one to raise your lead character's intelligence. (If you repeat the act, it'll have no effect, and then the third time you'll be poisoned, so don't be greedy.) Then continue to the north.

You'll find Vitus, Basconar's missing friend. If you leave after the speech he initiates, you can end the scenario for a smaller reward, but as usual it's worth staying the course. Chat with him for a while, then talk twice to the chibi that's looking at rocks to his left: he'll decipher the stone you found earlier for you. When you go back south, there's another Gargbat to fight. Keep going, and you'll run into an old friend.

She's less than delighted at this reunion, however, and will summon yet more Gargbats for you to play with. This time you'll fight three at once. It gets worse; once you defeat these, she'll summon a Heat Garg. This beastie can cast Flare Storm three times, which might give you rather a headache, so keep your HP up. Icefall is very effective, as you might guess.

This next part is optional, and you'll need the Jump skill for it, so skip to the final paragraph if you don't have that. After the Confrontation, return to the eyepatched skeleton. Examine it again, and the rock under its head, then go north to collect the shovel. Now, the question remains where to dig. You can try the rock by the skeleton, but there's nothing under it. Instead, go back to the map room. If you look at the map (with your eyes, that is - examining it has no effect), it's actually a map of those islands you can jump between down at the bottom of the mine. If you head down there, and try digging at the spot that's circled on the map (it's the middle one of the three largest stones on the largest island), you'll find a Damascus Sword.

Now all that remains is to talk to Vitus some more and then leave. Antoniana will drop by as you approach the exit. When you get back to Shanoah, go back to the inn and talk to Basconar. If you want to know more about Nealertos, he'll give you another opinion, but whatever you reply, you've completed the scenario.

2.7 THE SEARCH (Sousaku)

Go to the shop in Shanoah and talk. A girl (Eris) will appear and notice your pendant (the Teardrop). Here's a diagram of the conversation: Eris mentions the pendant. Tell her about it? /      \                        /        NO                      YES          \ |    Tell her where |     you found it? |     /           \                       |    YES           NO                       |    /               \ Give it to her? She leaves sadly; /        \       Scenario cancelled. YES        NO                /             \ 20 gold,      Teardrop, good ending   worse ending \          /                Scenario begins. Obviously you want to end up on the left. Make sure you give her the pendant if you want the better ending!

Check around inside Lambar's hut; there's nothing there, of course, but you really do need to examine everything to proceed. Now head north. Remember the right-hand path, which was blocked back in "Death-Creature"? This time you can jump over the blockade, and, if you head north, you can almost be drowned. Fortunately a chap called Rokifel (Meryl's brother) will show up just in time. Now head back round to the cave and go in. Head up to the hole where you found the Teardrop. You may have to fight some Bloodsuckers on the way. As you approach you should hear a terrible scream; if you don't, go round looking at things and coming back here until you do. Go and find out who it was: Eris, who is lying below the hole. Talk to her. You'll leave her in the bed in the hut; now go back to the marsh where you met Rokifel. Guess who's waiting?

The Death-Creature will run away, however, and you can't follow it over the poisonous water. So return to the hut; Eris is no longer alone. Fortunately the other occupant of the hut is McStarr, a knight from Reynard Castle. He'll ask whether you'll accompany him. If you choose to, he'll join your party. (There's no reason not to, since you can't proceed without him.)

Now show him the marsh, then the hole. Return to the hut for a ladder. You'll find Eris missing instead. Examine her bed, then hurry to the marsh. When you regain control, with Eris 'safely' back in the town, head back to the hole in the cave. Use the ladder to climb up to it.

Now, in this room there's a door and some complex machinery. You might be forgiven for thinking that you need to use the one to open the other. You'd also be wrong. In fact, they control the marsh. Leave the right-hand room alone. Examine the valve in the left-hand room, then turn it; the tank should ring when you strike it. That drains the marsh, so head back there and enter the room this reveals.

Climb the stairs. Turn the handle to fill the pool, then swim round to the other tank and turn the handle on this one too. Finally, swim back to the right hand side and empty the pool again. Now return to the tank in the cave and turn the left-hand valve again (the tank should go 'thud' when you strike it). Now when you return to the marsh the water will be clean, and you can swim across to where the Death-Creature disappeared earlier. Examine the grass at the north end of the bank to reveal another hole, and crawl in.

Have a look around inside. Examine the crystal ball twice, then the books three times, then walk down to the slightly raised panel in the floor north of the entrance. Examine it three times to open it and pull the handle; this will open that door back in the cave.

Through this door you'll arrive at a fork in a beautifully decorated passage. The right-hand branch leads to a locked door, so head left, up the stairs, and through the doorway at the top. Of course you'll have to deal with those suits of armour first; they're actually Undead Knights.

When you regain control, pull the lever to your right, then head back down to the fork, up the right path, and through the now-open door. Ignore Kane and Eris, and head back after the sorceror and the Death-Creature. There'll be a short scene, and then you'll face the sorceror in a new form: the Vampire.

This is "Vampire (1)" in the monster list. As you can see he's barely tougher than those Undead Knights you polished off earlier, so don't let the change in music bother you. Oh, and don't bother using magic on him; I haven't found any that hurts him yet. Just get in close and hit him until he drops.

Now head back south to end the scenario. If you got the better ending (2400 exp), you can talk to McStarr in Centoria Park for a postscript.

If you enter the Sealed Cave after this scenario and check the list of names by the save point, you'll notice that one has been added: Rokifel's.

2.8 SORCEROR'S DAUGHTER (Youjutsui no Musume)

Talk to the girl at the guild and give a positive response. Now leave Shanoah and head for Dr. Heifer's house.

Knock on the front door. Talia will invite you in. Talk to her again and she'll show you round. Eventually you'll regain control in a bedroom. Talk to Cycas, then leave the room.

You can leave Heifer's house now if you want, and return to the guild; you'll get some gold and exp for your troubles. There's more to do here, though, and you get less of both if you leave now. So don't; instead, go down to the lab again. Examine the machine in the centre of the room, looking particularly at the gear on its bottom left. There's a handle on the second shelf from the left behind it. Use the handle with the gear, then turn it twice to reveal a staircase. Cycas will rush in; ignore him and go downstairs. Enter the room at the bottom. Check the crates in the corner for a chance to get some Revivals. Now take the door in the back wall - there's a fairly easy-to-miss switch in the wall to the right of it that'll open it.

Inside, there's another switch which opens the gate to the right; go through. Look into the cells; when you've checked the rightmost one Cycas will come through. Eventually he'll ask you whether you know of Nealertos; I hope you'll answer truthfully, although it doesn't matter in the slightest. In any case he'll be lost in thought again, so leave him to it and head back up to the lab. Kill the Fang Gel; go upstairs and fight the Shadow Dueller. He's nasty; his Magic Surge attack can really hurt, and he can sometimes heal as fast as you hit him; worse, you can't hurt him with magic. When you've beaten him, follow Cycas.

Go upstairs, and through the left-hand door into Heifer's room; examine the bookshelves to find his keys. Now you can explore a bit further: there's a letter to Cycas in the other room up here, Talia's, and you can put two of the Chemicaloids in the basement out of their misery and talk to the third. So do all that. When you return, Heifer will be dead. Talk to Cycas.

Back in Shanoah, return to the Guild for your reward.

2.9 LEFIA REUNION (Refia Saikai)

Talk to Meryl in the park and give the usual positive answer. Now leave Shanoah Town and select ?? as usual.

Try the gate. It won't open, so examine the wall, then try the stone instead. Meryl will arrive and open the gate for you; then she'll join your party. Head up the path and enter the mansion.

Try the door to the right of the stairs. It's locked. You can use the Unlock skill to get through if you have it, otherwise there's a key: go through the door to the left of the stairs. There's a save point in here, and another door; take this one as well. Examine the sacks a few times until you find a key. Now you can just unlock that door. There's nothing much through there but a bathroom, but you're coming back. Take the stairs up when you've finished searching the ground floor.

Examine the statue twice. Now, there are four doors here, each with another statue behind it. You need to examine them in the right order, which obviously you don't know. So head back downstairs and through the left-hand door. Check the bookshelves until you read a passage aloud; then go into the kitchen (where you found the key) and examine the large pot. Now examine the mess on the floor, and lift the floorboard to reveal a ladder. Do I have to tell you what to do next?

Start checking the wine racks. There are four active points, one for each half of each rack. Meryl will leave as you do this. Once you've checked all four, try to follow her; you'll be attacked by a pair of Hell Worms (if they don't appear, you missed something).

After the battle, you'll find Meryl hors de combat on the sofa. Talk to her, then examine her bottle four times. You can't find the vintage on the label, but you can see that the motif on it is the Earth spirit. Now talk to Meryl again; she's slightly more coherent, enough so to be able to demand water. So go back to the pot she pulled over, and examine the bucket beside it; then round to the rooms on the other side of the stairs, and grab the silver bowl by the sink in the bathroom. Take it back round to that bucket, fill it, and offer it to Meryl. She'll tell you the vintage of her bottle. Before you proceed, pop back and refill the bowl, then head round to the sink above and to the left of the one you got it from. Check it, and answer in the negative, then check it again. Then go and put the bowl back down where you found it. This saves some time later on.

Why did you want to know the vintage? Well, if you head back down into the cellar and examine the other bottles, you'll learn that the vintages are these: As you might guess, this is the order in which you need to examine the statues. To which you need to add Meryl's bottle (Earth spirit, and the year Meryl told you). So you can go back and examine the statues (from the left, they're Earth, Water, Wind, and finally Fire) in the order of the vintages. Then check the statue on the landing twice; it should sink into the ground, allowing you to pass.
 * 984  Water
 * 986  Fire
 * 988  Fire
 * 990  Wind
 * 991  Water
 * 993  Wind
 * 995  Earth

You may be wondering whether I could just have told you the order in the first place? Well, yes, I could, and you could have gone straight through. But you need the silver bowl to proceed, and you can't get it unless you go through the proper procedure. Besides, don't you agree that it's nice to know WHY such and such a combination is the answer to a puzzle?

Follow the passage round to the stairs, and enter the room at the bottom. Head over to the right and talk to the girl. You can see a passage to the right of this room; there's a way through hidden directly below the girl's bed. Off this passage are two doors. The lower one lets you fight a Fang Gel. To proceed, open the upper one and enter. After Meryl leaves with Lefia, go back to the main room and try the door at the top. Meryl should return and let you through.

If she doesn't appear, head back round to the bathroom. Pick up the bowl again, take it up to the sink in the top left, empty it, and check the sink again; then go round and refill it, and finally put it back on the switch in the bathroom. Then descend to the basement again, and Meryl will appear when you check the door.

Time for another Vampire fight - this one is #2 in the table. As you can see, it can use a lot of magic; the upside is that the more powerful spells will drain its MP fast, so if you can hang on for a while it'll lose the ability to heal. If you have trouble, you might like to try ranged weapons, since that way you'll be able to keep your party separated, and its area spells won't hit everyone; melee characters can use Hit & Way to achieve the same effect. Beating it will complete the scenario.

From now on you can talk to Lefia at the inn (you'll be able to choose between Chris and her). If you go there now and talk to her, you'll receive the Golden Heart, which you'll need if you want to complete the Sealed Cave/Sealed Labyrinth quest.

2.10 TEMPLE OF THE FIEND (Majin no Shinden)

Get this scenario at the Guild, and head for Mount Molor. Enter the house. There's plenty to look at in here - the stuff inside the wardrobe, the jewellery box on the table, and so on. The minimal path, however, is this: go through the door at the back, then through the middle door, and examine the picture on the wall; then back to the front room, and examine the box beside the stove twice; then back to the back room, through the right-hand door, and examine the alcove twice to open a tunnel into the depths of the mountain. This is a point of no return, so make sure you're kitted out and healed up before you go any further.

When you're ready, enter the tunnel. Head to the left and defeat the Shadow Dueller. Climb down the ladder and examine the sparkle for an Aqua Stone, then head north. If you have the Jump skill you can hop over to the sparkle on the left, which is a Chrome Staff. Keep going, enter the temple, and continue north. When you reach the door, you can choose either to burst in or hang back. If you choose to burst in, you'll meet Nealertos and fight a number of Demi- Ilyasters; if you wait, you can avoid the fight. Either way, you'll reach a save point; if you take the passageway to the right down you'll reach an orb which will restore your HP.

You want this right-hand passageway anyway, but you want to enter it and go up, up the stairs. Head up and right, and Antoniana will appear and join your party. Now head back down past the HP orb and follow the passage round and up the other side. On the way you'll pass two tables with stone tablets on them. These have spells inscribed on them which increase your Agility and Defence, but I haven't worked out how to read them yet.

After you've defeated Vernon, enter the laboratory. When you regain control, head back south to the table with the knife on it and examine it twice to grab the knife. Take it back to Antoniana. Next you need to fetch Cycas (he's in bed in the room where you met Antoniana earlier). When that's done, head back to the save point.

This time take the door to the north. When the path splits, if you take the left door, you'll reach an orb which'll restore your MP; when you've done that (if you need to), follow the right path.

When you reenter the temple, what you need to do is take the middle passage and follow it round, then exit to the left, whereupon Antoniana will rejoin you. Head on in. You'll have to kill two Heat Gargs; that's no problem. The _problem_ is that Antoniana won't be helping you in your next battle, which begins in a few seconds - against Nealertos.

This can be nasty if you're not careful. If your characters are weak, devote one of them to healing, and keep them away from him to spread the damage a bit. Nealertos is unpleasant, but not impossible; as usual he'll run out of MP before too long.

(In theory, the Ashura is found on his body. In practice it isn't.  I don't know if there's any way to get it.)

Try to pick up the book, then talk to Antoniana and leave the temple; return to the Guild for your reward.

2.11 DUNGEON MODE

Not precisely a scenario per se, you're supposed to visit the Sealed Cave and Sealed Labyrinth to level up and gather equipment between scenarios proper. However, there is another point to coming here, so it deserves a section in the walkthrough. In particular, you want to have done everything here before you begin "All Things".

The seal at the door is initially non-functional. As you complete certain scenarios, the crystals will be restored, and after "Temple of the Fiend" it should be operational again, which will prevent you from entering the cave. You can only get in after that if you have the Golden Heart from Lefia, which will open the door.

You can find a complete map of the dungeon in section 5. Note that there's only one save point, which is right at the beginning, so don't go in over your head. As you level up, you'll stop meeting enemies in the lower levels, so trekking back here to save is more inconvenient than dangerous. The "restore lute" skill is invaluable when exploring this dungeon; it's a lot cheaper than carrying vast quantities of potions, and you want to save your MP for use in combat.

The contents of treasure chests appears to be somewhat random. According to some people the more powerful items only appear after the seal has been restored, but I've been unable to verify that myself. However, it's possible to change your luck with the good old "reset and try again if you get the wrong item" trick. Note that the random seed is saved, so if you simply reset the game and try again you'll get the same item every time. The trick here is the "shuffle luck" command (fourth option on the bottom tab of the main menu), which appears to reseed the random number generator. If you push that a few times each time you reload, eventually you should get a different item. According to a comment by Yuo-san on Okada's page, there are two options for each chest.

There's one point in particular where my maps may prove difficult to follow. There are two paths between the third and fourth floors of the Labyrinth, and the fourth floor is divided into two areas which do not connect. What you need to to is to head to the fourth floor, follow the path to "Switch 2", and activate it. This opens the door to "Switch 1" on the third floor, so go and activate that; then return to "Switch 2" and turn it off again. Now you can pass through the other keyhole-less door on the third floor and reach the other areas of the fourth floor, which will take you through to the deeper levels.

Anyway, follow the maps until you reach the final room of the deepest level (marked '@' on the map). This is the throne room of Amugnon Castle, and King Daruk's corpse is still here. Examine it. At this point you may be privileged to fight Daruk Golem; beat it to unlock the best ending.

If you have the Golden Heart, you'll now "receive King Daruk's heart", and then you'll be teleported to the entrance, and the door will be locked again - permanently, so far as I can tell.

2.12 ALL THINGS (Subete wa...)

Make sure you've done everything else you want to, then talk to King Reynard. He'll give you your final quest. When you leave the castle the town will be mostly deserted; you can still change your party at the Lackdack, and you may still be able to use the arms shop (Gregor will leave if you talk to him, so don't).

Head to the Holy Sophia Temple. Climb down the well under the cliff, and then go round and enter the temple.

The final battle against King Daruk begins. He has two physical attacks: one will hit your whole party anywhere on the screen for a significant amount of damage. He also uses magic a lot, particularly Black Rain. It's not actually that hard - if you're at a high level, spent lots of money on stat increases, have the best weapons and armour you can find, and are well supplied with potions and so on, that is.

This battle is noticably easier if you've completed the Sealed Labyrinth and collected King Daruk's heart. It seems to decrease the number of offensive spells he casts and increase the probability that his attacks will miss completely, and it may also decrease his defence.

2.13 ENDINGS

I believe there are five different* endings. In order of increasing "goodness":
 * Defeat 1: lose the final battle;
 * Defeat 2: go to Centoria Park after skipping all scenarios;
 * Defeat 3: win the final battle without rescuing Lefia;
 * Victory 1: win the final battle without fighting Daruk Golem;
 * Victory 2: win the final battle having defeated Daruk Golem.

I classify the first three together as "defeat" because they all share certain elements, namely (not to give it away) their use of the grave in Oriona's field.


 * (In the sense of "not identical", not "world taken over by reptites".)

ABILITIES
KEY: M indicates that a skill is used through the menu: select the "skills" tab of the character submenu of the "status" tab, then select the required skill to  use it.
 * indicates that only one character needs to learn the skill.
 * 1) is the same, but the character must also be in the lead position to use it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Critical       "Hit rate up" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cross Attack   "Sword skill knowledge level 2" Once you have this skill it will kick in randomly when you attack normally (i.e. not using Swordmaster or Hit & Way). A Cross Attack is more powerful than any of the Swordmaster attacks, but may not occur as often. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Discount #     "Sometimes buy items at discounted prices." You can do this anyway, but the skill may make it easier. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dispel *M      "Release items from ancient curses." You can have items released for free at the temple, but this might be of use in the middle of the Sealed Labyrinth. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hit & Way      "Attack and simultaneously evade." To use this skill, hold down the direction opposite to that in which you are facing while making a melee attack. Sometimes you will then jump a long way back after striking. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Judgement *M   "Identify unidentified items." Much cheaper and more convenient than the shops, but be careful - from time to time you'll make mistakes, which can result in your getting cursed. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jump *         "You can jump over things to a certain extent." There aren't many places where this skill is useful, but they do exist. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Magic Barrier  "Protects against magic damage." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mental Barrier "Protects against magic status attacks." Appears to make a character immune to poison and numbing. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Overpower      "Attacks sometimes thrust enemies away." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Restore Lute *M "Play music that restores HP in the middle of dungeons." I have a feeling this doesn't work outside the Sealed Cave/Labyrinth, but I haven't tested this thoroughly. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Scroll         "Memorise spells in order to use magic." Required to buy, research, or use magic. This is probably a priority; attack magic isn't very useful, as most of the stronger enemies have high magic defense, but healing spells are cheaper than potions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Shoot          "Hitting the enemy with a projectile weapon becomes easier." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Slash! "Certain kill sword skill" I believe this works the same way as Cross Attack. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Swimming *     "You can cross over streams, lakes, etc." I don't know of any places where this skill is useful, although it does have an effect. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Swordmaster    "Sword skill knowledge level 1" As with Hit & Way, Swordmaster is used by holding down a direction while attacking. Hold forwards to use a horizontal slash that works well with swords; hold left to use an overarm smash that works well with blunt weapons; hold right to use an underarm swipe that works well against armoured enemies. These directions are relative to your character, so if, for example, you are facing right, you would press the "up" direction to use the overarm smash. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Trick Guard    "Ability to ward off enemy attacks skillfully." Causes enemy attacks sometimes to damage the enemy instead of the player character. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Unlock #       "Investigate the shape of the key that opens a door's lock." Essential in the Sealed Cave/Labyrinth. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I don't yet understand how you learn abilities. They're learnt when you level up, but rather than being attached to your level they seem to be learnt according to the number of enemies a character has killed. There also seems to be a random element. The remarks about random elements in the section above on stat changes probably also apply here.

There are values in the ROM which seem to be related to the learning of abilities. More investigation is needed to work out precisely what they mean, though! Here are a few examples:

Traveller: [Scroll] 6 Hunter: [Shoot]  7 [Jump]         8 Thief: [Hit&Way] 6 Guardian: [Shoot]  7 [Swordmaster]  5 Poet: [Scroll] 7 [Restore Lute] 6

It looks as though, for example, a Traveller will learn 'Scroll' sooner than a Poet (which surmise has been strengthened, but not proven, by experiment).

Pub (Lackadack Pub)
This is where you change your party. This facility is unavailable during some scenarios. The process is self-evident: one icon lets you remove members, the other lets you add them. Note that you don't have a fixed 'player character' in this game. You can take any combination of the characters you create, which need not include your initial character.

Arms (Gregor's Armoury), Shop (Seriss' Item Shop)
The only difference between these two is the range of goods on sale. You can buy, sell, or identify items which fall into their range - the armoury obviously deals with weapons and armour, while the item shop sells the various medicines (and cloth-based armour).

An interesting feature is the ability to haggle when buying. If you refuse the list price, you may be offered the item at a slight discount. Repeat for even lower prices. If you take it too far they'll stop offering the item and you'll have to start again from the list price. The likelihood of a discount being offered is probably increased by the Discount ability.

Finally, you'll note that their ranges are pretty limited at the start of the game. You can build them up, though: if you sell them something they don't have in stock, it'll be added to the list. Note that you can only do this with certain items; in general, the more exotic an item, the less likely it is to be duplicable. In such cases you can still buy them back if you sell them, but the entry will then be removed from the list.

Park (Centoria Park)
Read the town noticeboard, or chat with anyone who happens to be around. A good place to keep up-to-date on the plot.

Also, if you come here when you have less than 5 gold, you can find 5 gold by selecting the "talk" function - useful if your party was wiped out and you can't afford to heal at the inn. Unfortunately it seems that doing this causes your Luck to decrease by one point each time, which is a Bad Thing.

M.Guild (Rosasor Magic Guild)
As you might guess, this is where you learn magic. Don't bother trying to use the facilities here until at least one of your characters knows the 'Scroll' ability. When that's done, you have two options: you can research spells (see 3.5) or buy them.

Inn (Chris' Inn)
Back in the realm of convention, you can rest or save your game here. Actually you can save your game anywhere in Shanoah just by going to the main menu, so that feature is rather redundant, isn't it? Note that resting here won't heal status ailments - for that, you'll have to go to the temple.

Also, you'll wake up here whenever your party is annihilated. The game seems to pretend in such cases that you were just "having a bad dream"...

Castle (Reynard Castle)
You'll find King Reynard here, a good source of background info to the plot. A king you can just walk in from the streets and chat with - now there's a good example for that nice Windsor lady, eh?

Temple (Saviour Temple)
Even the atheists among you will quickly grow to love this place. The first option in here will remove status ailments - and it doesn't cost a penny! The second option allows you to make a donation; it's expensive, but well worth the money: & 80 gold: increase your characters' max MP
 * 10 gold: restore HP and MP (don't bother, the inn is cheaper)
 * 40 gold: raise your characters' Luck
 * 70 gold: raise several stats for each character
 * 80 gold: increase your characters' max HP

Guild (Tacs' Guild)
This is where you go to change jobs. If you don't read kanji, you could try the visual conversion chart available from my site.

Researching spells
When you have the "Scroll" ability, go to the Magic Guild and select the first option. This is the centre of the game's magic system; unless you master research, you're stuck with the basic four spells, and you'll have to pay a fortune for them. (For example, if you buy Wind Cutter, it'll set you back 160 gold. If you research it, it costs just 12 gold, and the buying price will drop to 112!)

You're presented with a grid of 18 stones (initially 15 - see below), and you can create a formula of up to five glyphs (you can use the same one more than once). When you've done so, select "OK", and Kofu will research the spell which they represent. Here, for reference, is the grid: Glyph name                     | Price, glyph class --+ Earth        Water         Fire            Wind      | 2: genso (elemental) Liquefaction Vaporisation  Solidification  Division  | 4: jotai (phase change) Sword        Armour        Shield          Feather   | 6: baitai (medium) Horn         Blood         Bone            Flesh     | 6: baitai Thunder      Heaven                                  |10: kaosu (chaos) The fee for the research is based on the glyphs you use. It's done by the row they appear in (see numbers). Just add up the values for each glyph. Of course, you can just try it, and he'll tell you what the price will be, but I thought you might like to know how it works...

I mentioned above that there are initially only 15 stones to choose from. The other three are missing, but if you find them and bring them back to the guild Kofu will put them in the grid. Here's where to find them. There's one other thing. You're probably thinking, "Great! But what formulae do I use?" That's where the spell list (4.6) becomes rather useful. Thanks to the complete decipherment of the "strange poems", plus a considerable amount of trial and error (mostly by others), the formulae for all spells are now known. You too can be a deadly warrior-mage... for a price, of course.
 * Medium: Shield - Masaki Head (during "Ed and Karon")
 * Chaos: Thunder - Toras Forest (during "Death-Creature" only)
 * Chaos: Heaven - Sealed Cave (see 5.1 2F, note)

Tables
These data were in most cases simply extracted from the ROM, rather than pieced together through observation. In other words, where they're right, they should be absolutely right; see below for exceptions.

Weapons
The list is sorted by type first, then attack power. There are few enough that the loss of alphabetical order should cause little inconvenience. NAME          PRICE   ATK      TYPE ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Dagger             8     6       Knife Silver Dagger     20     6       Knife Holy Knife        14     8       Knife Short Sword       24     10      Short Sword Short Sword +     34     12      Short Sword Damascus Sword    50     18      Short Sword Ashura           666     39      Short Sword   *1 Long Sword        40     16      Sword Long Sword +      56     18      Sword Bastard Sword     62     20      Sword Great Sword       84     26      Sword Moon Blade        55     16      Katana Hinomoto Blade    70     24      Katana        *2 Murasame Blade   120     30      Katana        *3 Hand Axe          20      6      Axe Battle Axe        44     12      Axe Great Axe         68     18      Axe Destroyer        999     36      Axe Slingshot         15      4      Bow Small Bow         20      8      Bow Longbow           40     12      Bow Crossbow          68     16      Bow Arbalest         105     23      Bow           *4 Light Mace        40     10      Mace Heavy Mace        46     12      Mace Flail             60     16      Mace Warhammer         90     16      Mace Morningstar       58     18      Mace Ebony Staff       10      4      Staff Bone Staff        30      6      Staff Chrome Staff      34      8      Staff Iron Staff        26     10      Staff
 * 1) In Bhuddist mythology, 'ashura' (Skt. 'asura') signifies the fourth 'path of being', above animals but below humans - the "warlike demons". The translation of the name should explain why it is given to weapons.
 * 2) 'Hi no moto' (origin of the sun) is one of the Japanese names for Japan.
 * 3) 'Murasame' is the name of a famous swordsmith.  See the relevant question in section 6 for the legend - it's too long to go in a note.
 * 4) An arbalest was a large mechanical bow used in medieval sieges.

Armor
NAME            PRICE    DEF  WEIGHT    TYPE ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Leather Suit       8      1      0      Under-armour Chain Suit        14      2      0      Under-armour Cotton Robe        6      1      0      Armour Silk Robe         20      2      0      Armour      *1 Leather Armour    30      2      0      Armour Ringmail          38      3      1      Armour Scale Mail        50      4      1      Armour Chainmail         58      5      2      Armour Brigandine        72      6      2      Plate Breast Mail       80      7      2      Plate Plate Mail        96      8      3      Plate Hinomoto Plate   105      9      3      Plate       *2 Silver Plate     120      8      3      Plate Knight's Mail    110     10      2      Plate Silver Robe      100      6      0      Armour Black Mail        95     11      4      Plate Leather Shield    16      1      0      Shield Buckler           30      2      0      Shield Small Shield      50      3      1      Shield Large Shield      70      4      1      Shield Tower Shield      85      6      2      Shield+ Knight's Shield   94      7      2      Shield+ Veil Shield      100      8      3      Shield+     *3

1: This is obviously a better buy than Leather Armour. That's why checking the shop as well as the armoury is a good idea! 2: See 4.2 note 2. I imagine this is that distinctive 'samurai armour'. 3: "Makes the bearer invisible".

Items
NAME          PRICE     TYPE ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Potion             8      Medicine Antidote           8      Medicine Panacea           15      Medicine Revival           70      Medicine Tranquiliser      20      Medicine Blue Crystal      10      Gem Red Crystal       20      Gem Ebony Ring        22      Accessory Bone Ring         30      Accessory        Skl +1 Silver Ring       80      Accessory Crystal Ring      96      Accessory        Skl +1 Talisman          34      Accessory Rabbit Leg        40      Accessory        Agl +1 Aqua Stone        20      Accessory        Def +1 Golden Heart      10      Accessory Teardrop           5      Accessory        Def +1 M-stone            1      Special (see the "Magic Guild" entry of 3.4)

Jobs
Only certain jobs are available for any character at a given time. The availability seems to be based on the character's stats, the abilities they know, and their level.

Jobs affect what you can equip, which abilities you will learn, how your stats change, and how much money you receive when you level up.

NOTE: abilities are listed in numerical order (as given in the ROM), not in the order in which they're learnt.

'?' in the Income column indicates a random element. The value of this is (obviously) random, but apparently it's tied to your character's level - your earnings increase as you level up. Gray Brangwin reports earning 350 gold as a thief at around level 20. I dread to think what they earn at level 99...

JOB TITLE      INCOME      ABILITIES LEARNT ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Traveller         0        Scroll Hunter         11+? Shoot, Jump Thief           ?+? Hit & Way Farmer           20        -- Merchant       15+? Judgement, Discount Fisherman      11+? Swimming Craftsman        22        Unlock Guardsman        20        Shoot, Swordmaster Poet             20        Scroll, Restore Lute Clown            19        Scroll, Discount Monk             32        Scroll, Dispel Cleric           26        Dispel, Restore Lute Scholar          28        Scroll, Judgement Magician         28        Trick Guard Official         34        Judgement, Mental Barrier Soldier          35        Swordmaster Warrior          38        Swordmaster, Hit & Way Bishop           45        Magic Barrier, Restore Lute Sorceror         43        Magic Barrier Knight           45        Cross Attack Samurai          43        Scroll, Trick Guard Ninja            46        Critical High priest      48        Mental Barrier Sage             53        Mental Barrier, Slash! Ruler           100        Critical, Overpower Majin            60        Magic Barrier, Overpower Crusader         77        Critical, Slash!

Magic
"Cost" is the cost to research a spell. After researching it, it can usually be purchased for "cost" plus 100 gold; see "buy:" notes for the exceptions.

"Type" gives the targetting type for a spell, in the format target-type: TARGETS - "e" enemies, "f" friends, "a" anything in range. TYPES - "s" single, "d" directional, "r" area, "!" random, "a" all. Name          Type   MP   Formula                           Cost - Acid Rain      e-r   20   water divide armour                12 Air Shield     f-s   16   flesh armour wind                  14 Black Rain     e-a   14   water water water liquify bone     16 Cure Poison    f-s    7   flesh divide water                 12 (buy: 100) Earth Heal     f-s    8   bone divide earth                  12 (buy: 100) Errth Heal     a-s    6   earth divide bone                  12 [notes 1, 2] OR bone divide fire               12 Fireball       e-d   10   fire solidify feather              12 (buy: 160>112) Flame Arrow    e-d   14   fire solidify bone                 12 Flame Fang     e-d   25   fire wind solidify sword           14 Flame Sword    f-s   27   sword divide fire                  12 Flare Storm    e-r   30   fire wind fire vaporise flesh      16 Heat Lava      e-r   44   earth fire earth liquify horn      16 Heaven Breeze  a-s   30   heaven                             10 Icefall        e-r   45   water earth water solidify blood   16 Landquake      e-a   56   earth earth water divide shield    16 Mud Spider     e-r   14   earth fire divide horn             14 Physical Rain  f-a   30   bone liquify water earth           16 Phisical Rain  a-a   25   blood liquify water                12 [note 3] Plasma Bomb    e-r   46   wind fire wind vaporise sword      16 Plasma Bomb? a-r  32   earth wind earth wind earth        10 Prominence     e-r   58   fire fire water liquify horn       16 Prominence? a-r  50   fire fire fire fire fire           10 Sandstorm      e-s   58   earth wind earth vaporise bone     16 Sandstorm? a-! 50  earth wint earth vaporise sword    16 Sleep Mist     e-r   28   water earth vaporise blood         14 Sleep Mist? a-r  20   water liquify blood                12 water vaporise blood              12 Stone Squall   e-r   36   earth water solidify sword         14 Thunderbolt    e-s   50   water wind earth divide shield     16 OR thunder                        10 Wind Cutter    e-d   10   wind solidify feather              12 (buy: 160>112) Wolfstorm      e-r   32   wind earth wind vaporise flesh     16

1: Jap. "Mars Heal" (in katakana "maasu" [Mars] resembles "aasu" [Earth]). 2: This spell may either hurt or heal its target. 3: Jap. "Phasical Rain" (in katakana, "fa" slightly resembles "fi").

In some cases, there may be more than one formula for a spell. The result is the same whichever you choose. The only case in which this makes much difference is with Thunderbolt, where one formula is somewhat cheaper.

(N.B. There are also duplicates of Cure Poison and Earth Heal in the ROM with different MP costs (12 and 2 respectively), which don't seem to be accessible to the player. Either they're used by monsters, or they're "ghost" entries; I don't know which.)

What's the 'gomi' (rubbish bin) for in the items menu?
You can only carry 22 pages of items - that's 132 items in total, not including anything that's equipped. 132 sounds a lot, but bear in mind that each item uses a space of its own - in a Final Fantasy you can carry 198 items just by stocking up on potions and antidotes!

The bin is simply the way you discard unwanted items. The difference here is that the bin can hold 8 items, which can then be restored or destroyed. So you can actually carry 140 items around with you, if you really need to.

Are those battle messages really necessary?
The battle system often strikes new players as clumsy and choppy, because the flow of combat is constantly being broken by messages which rarely contain any information not immediately visible from the graphics. Fortunately you can turn them off: push the second button on the configuration menu (the bottom tab of the main menu). I imagine many will agree that this is an improvement.

What's that 'Turbo-file' option on the main menu?
The Turbo-file was an external storage unit ASCII produced for the Super Famicom. A number of games support it, notably other ASCII titles, although apparently Bahamut Lagoon as well.

Is Dark Law the sequel to Dark Lord?
Dark Lord (Famicom, Data East: 1991) does indeed bear a strong resemblance to this game. It has a similar structure (free character creation, scenarios), a similar magic system, and - the real clincher - a battle system that is obviously a slightly more primitive version of the one we have here.

Is this an actual sequel? I really don't know, mainly because I haven't bothered to play far enough into Dark Lord to get a feel for the plot. (I hate reading kana-only text.) However, here's a (very) rough translation of the Dark Lord intro: as you can see, the basic premise seems pretty similar.

"In the distant past, a pair of gods were fighting for control of the world... At this time the world was still a place of chaos and turmoil... The god of light, Alpharse, governed all of nature and humanity. The lord of darkness, Ragmaila, led the Demi-Humans and the powers of evil. The long war between the armies of the gods continued without pause... But at length the time came for the end of the fighting... Alpharse gathered his remaining power and confined Ragmaila and the  Demi-Humans in defeat... By sealing their spirits in water, the world was preserved... So time passed, with people living in freedom and peace. ...that world was Alph Land. And now... the door has opened!"

Replace "Alph Land" with "Layfall", "Ragmaila" with "Altzart", and "Demi- Humans" with "Death-Creatures", and you have Dark Law!

Another near-parallel is found in the mythology, namely the name of the god of light ("hikari no kami" in both cases). In Dark Lord his name (in roomaji) is Arufaazu; in Dark Lord, however, it is Orufasu (Orphas in my translation). Close, but not identical...

How is Dark Law related to other games?
Firstly - it has nothing whatsoever to do with Dark Half (SFC, Enix: 1996).

There are a number of striking similarities between Dark Law and an earlier title called Wizap! (SFC, ASCII: 1994). There appears to be little or no connection between the plots, so I'm guessing they're only related in the way that Final Fantasies are, but there's considerable consistency in terms of jobs, spells, the scenario system, and general similarities in plot and style. The only major difference is the battle system - Wizap!'s system is closer to Secret of Mana than Dark Law, although there's an option not to play in real time. There's a character called McStarr (or Maxter, if you prefer), a scenario which revolves around a shinigami and a curse, the "people into monsters" topos, and even a spirit/deity called Orufausa (another variant!).

Tell me about Murasame
I know this is slightly off topic, but Murasame blades are among the weapons that crop up in an awful lot of RPGs, and people really should know the legends behind these things. His rebus dictis, I'll hand over to Gray Brangwin: "Muramasa and Murasame were both famous swordsmiths who forged blades unparalleled in quality, and virtually indistinguishable from each other, except in one important aspect; in that, whereas blades forged by Muramasa embodied the true samurai spirit and brought tranquility and peace, the blades forged by Murasame were cursed and attracted war to themselves. It was said that if you were to drop a leaf in a stream and then place a blade forged by either in the way of the leaf, the leaf would always veer away from a Muramasa blade, and inevitably be pulled towards and cut in two by a Murasame blade."

What's with the melons?
Due to a slip of the pen, a Chinese character meaning "claw" has been given an extra stroke in the game's font, which unfortunately turns it into a character meaning "melon". This leads to some amusing dialogue: "The wounds on Lambar's neck... they look like melon marks!"