Companions of Xanth – Ogre, Ogre and Dragon on a Pedestal

By Ilmari

I bet that “sail” is meant to be taken literally

Would this do the trick?

Apparently not

So, here I was in front of a shack. I still had no idea where I was supposed to be heading and Nada suggested I should take a look at who’s living there. I knocked on the door and an old lady called Ma Anathe (get it, it’s like anathema) let us in.

I guess Christmas is coming

I tried interacting with the sock on the wall, and the lady said I should take it, since she wouldn’t probably live through another winter. The sock was described explicitly as a windsock (you know, the ones you see on airports).

I chatted for a while with Ma Anathe. She told us that she used to be a young beautiful woman, but then an evil demoness had poured a beauty reversal potion in her mouth, which had turned her into an old woman. The demoness had said that only a sign from a nearby mountain top would turn the woman back into her old form (I’m guessing this means a literal sign).

I suppose this must be the Xanthian version of the legendary bag of winds, which Odysseus got as a gift for governing the winds

I travelled toward the mountain and picked up a windbag. I tried using it, but Nada warned me that it would become useful later. Eventually I came to a dark cave, with a lake and a sailing boat in it. This was obviously the place where I should use my windbag, but the boat had no sail. I returned from the mountain and took another path.

No, it’s not a geyser. It’s air, not water

The little ogre boy needed my help to get his ball back. I put the windsock on the air vent, and the boy was able to retrieve the ball. He was so glad that he promised to help me in some manner.

Before making the obvious next move (there’s a sail under a cart I don’t have the strength to fix and a strong ogre to help me), I checked the ogre’s mother. She had accidentally drank from a beauty pool, which was bad for her dating life, since ogre men prefer uglier women. Ma Anathe had mentioned she had still bit of the ugliness potion left, so I probably had to solve her problem first and then return to the ogress.

With the ogre boy to help me, it was easy to fix the cart and push it away, so that I could retrieve the sail under it. I returned to the sailboat, attached the sail and opened the windbag.

Great, a riddle contest, I just love those. Luckily the questions were easy, especially as all the correct answers contained something about air.

Just think of it as written like “air-ror”

All of them?

With the riddles answered, I had a chance to walk the stairs going all the way up to the mountain.

That Kilroy character gets everywhere

Now what?

It was not yet at the top of the mountain, but it was a sign, so I picked it up and took it to Ma Anathe.

The sign was probably filled with botox

The transformed Ma Anathe handed me the ugliness potion that I then took to the ogress. She didn’t look any different, but apparently ogre men would notice the difference. To show her gratitude, the ogress pointed to me where I should go next – the Gap Chasm.

So what’s Gap Chasm? Simply, it’s a big chasm running from the West side to the East side of the Xanthian peninsula, effectively working as a barrier for any invasions from Mundania. It’s usually not included in any maps, because it’s charmed with a spell of forgetfulness around it. And oh yes, there’s also a dragon called Stanley Steamer in it.

Oh deer, it’s a dear fly

The deer fly questioned my motives for wanting to go in the chasm and suggested taking a longer, but safer route across one of the indivisible bridges in the area. Still, I moved forward.

I ran into a copperhead snake that also warned me not to approach the chasm. I was hearing none of this and wanted to continue my journey onward.

This is becoming tiresome. I bet it will also warn me about the Gap Chasm

No, it didn’t. Surprising

Now I get it: it’s a yak!

Finally

I was about to take the stairs down the chasm, when Nada suddenly refused to go forward. Luckily, Kim, the girl I am competing with in this game, arrived with her group. Kim’s companion, Jenny the Elf, and her cat, Sammy, said that the quickest way to the Good Magician Humfrey’s castle (that’s where I was heading) went straight through the Gap Chasm. Kim was afraid to go down in the chasm, so we did the obvious thing and switched our companions. Onward to Gap Chasm!

The best choice of my life. Or is it?

The dragon was slowly, but surely approaching me. I asked Jenny what to do and she pointed out that the cloud above Stanly Steamer was the infamous Cumulo Fracto Nimbus, who considered himself a king of all Xanth. Fracto was also easily offended and was bound to start storming, if he got really mad. So I did what I obviously had to do and started insulting Fracto.

Like this

And this is the result

And Kim and her friends are just staring at me

Luckily Chet the Centaur (one of my potential companions in the beginning of the game) flew to the Gap Chasm and rescued us.

Finally we were at the Good Magician’s castle. Perhaps in the next post we’ll get to the actual story of the game. See you then, folks!

Session time: 1 h 10 min
Total time: 13 h