Dragon Warrior III/Aliahan

The kingdom of Aliahan lies in the southern region of a small round unnamed continent. The neighboring town of Reeve lies to the north. Two caves and a tower dot the continent's landscape. Your adventure will begin in Aliahan, but you will learn about the key to leaving the continent in Reeve. After receiving your assignment from the king of Aliahan, your first quest will be to reclaim the Thief Key, which will grant you the ability to open doors and explore what lies beyond them. This will take you through a cave to the Tower of Najima located on a small island west of Aliahan.

The continent features a variety of terrain, from plains to forests, from hills to impassable mountains. It's remote location means that the monsters which roam this territory are rather weak, especially around the kingdom, and make excellent combat training for brand new parties. Take care not to venture too far away from safety. Rather than paying a fee for a night's stay at the inn, you and your companions are welcome to return home and recover there for free any time you like.

Meeting the king
The game will begin on the day of your sixteenth birthday. Your mom will wake you up in your home in the town of Aliahan and tell you that the day has finally come to speak with the king. She will guide you to the front door of the house, and along the path through town to the entrance of Aliahan castle. There, you will part ways as you enter the castle and visit the king. The king's throne room is straight ahead and up the stairs.

The King will assign to you the task which was assigned to your late father Ortega: to rid the world of the great Archfiend Baramos. He will then give you money and instruct you to hire companions at Luisa's place, which can be found to the north of your home. Before you exit the castle, however, it's a good idea to take your time and explore it. Talk to as many people as you can, including all of the attendants in the throne room, to learn more about the world around you. You will hear about a thief named Bakor, and the key that he possessed. You can even visit Bakor in the castle prison by stepping out through the north gate of the castle and exploring the passage to the right. It will lead to a set of stairs that lead down to the prison. You can speak to Bakor through the door to his cell on the left. He will complain about losing the key to a man in the Tower of Najima.

When you have finished exploring the castle, head outside to return to town.

Exploring town


The town of Aliahan contains several features that are common to many towns throughout the world which you will want to familiarize yourself with. Starting with the path to the castle and going clockwise, there is a chapel where members of your party can be taken to be cured of poison, remove curses, or to bring someone back from the dead. Below that is a house which you can't enter… yet. But the occupant standing at the door informs you that if you walk long enough, day will turn into night. It is at night that the occupant returns inside and you can visit the interior. A man standing below the house by a well will inform you that the tower you see on a small island to the west is in fact the Tower of Najima. A basic equipment shop lies to the left of the well, and an inn can be found beyond that. Next door to the inn is your home, while above it you can find a simple item shop.

Luisa's place
North of your home is where Luisa's place can be found. This is a very important location because this is where you create new characters, and add them to your party. It is also where you can find the Vault, a service that lets you store items and gold for safe keeping. You only possess a limited amount of space to carry items. Even with a complete party of four, you can only hold 32 items, and much of that space will be occupied by armor and weapons. The vault allows you to store as many items as necessary at no cost, but they charge 10% of the item's value to retrieve it from the vault. You may also store as much gold as you like, in multiples of 1000, and retrieve it at no cost. This is valuable if you find your party getting wiped out in battle, as you return to life stripped of half of your gold. Money placed in the vault remains untouched.

Above the Vault is the desk where you can add and remove registered characters from your party. A Soldier, Pilgrim, and Wizard have already been created for you, and may be immediately added to your party is that is the configuration you desire. However, if you would like any other combination, you'll need to head upstairs and speak with the person at the desk to create new characters. There, you may choose whichever class you desire your new character to be (except, of course, a Sage), as well as their name and gender. Once you have generated enough companions, return to the table downstairs to add them to your party. The composition of your party will have a great impact on the experience you have when exploring the world. Though there are no right or wrong combinations, some parties are much easier to proceed with than others. Make sure that you have a good understanding of each strengths and weaknesses, and how they contribute to the overall effectiveness of the  that you create.

Once you have decided upon which three companions you would like to add to your party, another important step is to go shopping and outfit them with better equipment. You won't have a lot of money to shop with, but a few improvements can be made with frugal purchases. Most important of all, make sure that you equip any new weapons or armor that you purchase for your party, or the items will remain unused.

Outside of Aliahan
Once you set foot outside of Aliahan, you become vulnerable to attack by the monsters which roam the countryside. Slimes and Ravens are quite common around the castle. Horned rabbits may also appear, especially as you travel farther from home. Remember that monsters get more aggressive in the evening. It is important to train around the castle long enough to raise your party's level of experience. A good rule of thumb is to wait until everyone reaches level 3 before wandering far from town. When one of you characters has taken too much damage, return immediately to your home, and stay overnight to heal from your wounds. If anyone perishes, visit the chapel at the far end of town to revive them.

As you gain experience point, and rise in levels, so too will you earn gold from battle. Collect this gold and use it to purchase stronger equipment for your team. There's even better equipment to buy in the town of Reeve, so start saving up as soon as you can. When you feel that your party is ready to risk a bit of a trip, it would be wise to visit Reeve before you go anywhere else. To get there, follow the plains north to a bridge. Cross the bridge, and continue following the plains as they extend north. The town of Reeve will come into view.

Reeve


Compared to Aliahan, Reeve is quite small. Never the less, you should gather as much information and equipment as possible. Your Hero, and any Soldiers and Pilgrims that accompany you, will benefit greatly from the increased variety of weapons that the equipment shop has to offer, but you'll need to save up quite a bit of gold to afford the best weapons. Not every class will be able to take advantage of the better items sold in Reeve. It's important to pay attention to the shop keeper if he informs you when the item that you are about to purchase can't be used by the person who is requesting it. Magic Knives will make your Wizards only a little more capable in combat, and that's the strongest weapon they will be able to wield for a considerable amount of time. Talk to everyone that you can to learn more about the tower, and how the cave to the south connects to it.

Continue to travel back and forth between the two towns, saving up gold to buy better equipment in Reeve, and staying at home to sleep off any wounds you receive in combat. Equally important, do not forget to visit the king from time to time so that he can record your deeds so that you don't lose any of your progress. When your party becomes a more capable team of warriors, it will be time to visit the cave and find your way into the tower. Make sure you are properly outfitted with strong equipment. Even if you have companions who are capable of healing, it's not a bad idea to purchase from Medical Herbs just in case you run into trouble.

Cave on the Promontory
To reach the cave, leave Aliahan and cross the bridge. Then continue left and follow the coast south. The cave entrance is tucked away in the southern tip of the forest. Just as with the outdoors, you always run the risk of encountering monsters while you explore. Keep your party in good shape so that no one is ever one hit away from dying. When you enter the cave, you'll arrive in a small room with a set of stairs leading deeper into the dungeon below.

Once down below, follow the path to the right as it opens up. Soon you will have the choice to explore north or east. The east path leads to a small room with a treasure chest that contains a Medical Herb. Collect it and follow the north path. It will bend to the right and lead you to another treasure chest and more choices. The Wayfarer's Clothes in the chest will probably not be very useful to you, but it can be sold at an item shop for some gold. There are three paths to choose from, but the north path and the lower east path connect in a loop. It's worth exploring the north path to find a third treasure chest, this time containing a small amount of gold. The exit from the cave can be found through the upper east path. Climb up the stairs that you find in the very small alcove of the dungeon.