Dark Law: Meaning of Death/Lefia Reunion

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 them. 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, down which you should climb.

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:

• 984 Water
• 986 Fire
• 988 Fire
• 990 Wind
• 991 Water
• 993 Wind
• 995 Earth

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.

You could have gone straight through after looking up the proper order, but you need the silver bowl to proceed, and you can't get it unless you go through the proper procedure.

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. If she still doesn't appear, pick the bowl with water, check the sink in the top left but don't empty the bowl, you will hear noises, then you can put it back on the switch.

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.