Dragonsphere - Oh! You Pretty Things

Written by Vetinari

Last time in this Dragonsphere playthrough we were just about to embark in a voyage across the Kingdom of Callahach starting from our own castle of Gran Callahach. When exiting the castle waystation, the game takes you to the map of the Kingdom, with the various realms that you can visit: Soptus Ecliptus, Brynn-Fann, Slathan ni Patan and Tyre nak Branwe, Sanwe's tower.

I decide to visit the Slathans first, because they seem to be the underdogs of this fantasy world. It is cool that, while the realms that you haven't visited yet appear on the map as just icons, when you go to them they change to a real 3D version of the place.

Before...

...and after.

The approach to Slathan is not the best, since two guardsmen are blocking my way. They are very prejudiced against shapeshifters, and will not allow anyone to get inside, lest they be killed and replaced by a shifter. When I try to play the “I am the King!” card, they just say that's even worse, because if I am killed and replaced the shifters will command all the kingdom.
 

Yes, you seem to be a perfectly reasonable and unbiased fellow.

I then catch the option to give them something (I gave them my signet ring, but it works with anything – even the half-eaten bone), and they think I am trying to bribe them. But actually I say that it was a collateral. I enter Slathan, and then when I come back, the first thing I do is ask for my item back. If I fail to ask it back, it means that I am a shifter, because even if a shifter can take my aspect, they cannot have my memories. 

Bloody hell you two really are jerks.

After the pleasantries exchange with these two idiots, I enter Slathan ni Pathan which is really a hideous place. Everything here is shifting, and even rocks and trees seem to be shifters in disguise. The first thing I come to is a pond with a tentacled monster in it. 

I'm sure it will be fine if I just walk to the other side.

Oops.

After dying so stupidly, I use the shieldstone gifted to me by my wife to throw it at the monster and trap it inside the pond. 

Yes, we wouldn't want to kill someone's pet octopus monster.

For all my effort I am also rewarded with some tentacles which were sheared off the monster. Their round suckers look particularly adhesive. Continuing along the path, I encounter a long-bearded old man sitting upon a rock near a small clearing. 

Maybe change is the new normal.

The old shifter is actually a wise man, the guardian of the Cave of Shifting Dreams (that one at the right side of the screen). While talking he says that he feels like he knows me. I respond that I am King Callash and he says that he has a gift to give me: a polystone. 

Are you sure it's not just Play-Dough?

He then asks me to enter the Cave to see what portents await me.

Still better than IMAX.

I have visions of someone being conked over the head, of my own face and then of a cloaked sorcerer (Sanwe most probably) getting some round object through the air with what seems like telekinesis. Before exiting, a strange object appears on the floor and Callash picks it up. It seems to be a strange doll.

Is this Woody from Toy Story?

When I ask the old man about it, he says that it is not often that the cave gives gifts to carry away. The doll is an Atlan, a focus for some of the shifters' powers. He has however no idea of what could be its significance to me.

When asked, the wise shifter has also some information to give on the other races:

• the Soptus word for astronomer, “vinkioshabfallaecliptus” means “one who seeks the sun, moon and stars”. Words in their language can also mean different things, for example depending on the context, SHAB can mean “sun”, “light”, “north” and “death”; FALLA can mean “moon”, “dark”, “south” and “life”; ECLIPTUS can mean “stars”, “navigation”, “west” and “the universe”.
• there is a legendary race of birdmen, called Shak, living in the mountains near Sanwe's tower; they are said however to only respond to the calls of their own kind.
• the great gift that the Faeries envy the Fair Ones is that of children, with which we are more blessed than any of the other races (in fact the typical farewell when interacting with Faeries is “may you children be a blessing to you”).

Leaving the old man and proceeding along the path, I come to a shifting monster which doesn't let me pass unless I demonstrate some shifter ability. No amount of cajoling convinces the monster to let me through, so I guess I will just have to come back later on. 

It doesn't seem that much of a sightseeing attraction to me, anyway.

I return to the guard post with the two jerks and ask them to give me back my signet ring, to which they comply immediately. (If I do not ask them for the ring as the very first dialogue option, they just kill me).

Before I can get back to the kingdom map, the game treats me to a cutscene of the Dragonsphere, to let me know what is the situation. Fiona seems very concerned, but Lak-Hella tell her not to worry, and to leave everything to our hero. 

I am sure I am traveling at the speed of plot, anyway.

I decide to visit the forest of Brynn-Fann next, for no particular reason other than following the map in a right-to-left direction. 

Let's hope the locale is a little more welcoming this time.

I come to the entrance of the Forest Maze, where a small faerie stands guard sitting on a big rock.

She is making faces at me.

When I try to talk to her, she teases me, insults me and tries to obstruct my path in any possible way. But, having talked to the Faerie ambassador in Gran Callahach, I know that she is being vexing and annoying on purpose. So, I resolve to challenge her with the most extreme politeness I can manage. After a while she is so exasperated by my lack of aggravation that she allows me to enter the forest maze, in case my failure to solve it will worsen my temper.
 

Those two large balls on the left look a lot more menacing than the little sprites dancing about.

Actually, this is not a maze at all. It is just a path from east to west, but the end of the path is guarded by two guardians that kill me as soon as I try to exit the screen.

With nothing else to do, I elect to look at the sprites and lo and behold! I can talk to them too.

Pleasure to meet you.

It seems that there are eight sprites, changing colour between red, yellow and blue, and I can ask one of them if the path to proceed is safe or not. But how can I be sure that what they are saying is the truth? Yeah, it is a reimagining of the classic puzzle of knights and knaves.

The idea is that you ask the sprites to give you some other information, so you can deduce who is the one who can let you safely pass the two guardians. Every sprite tells you something different according to which color it is at the moment, and you cannot be quite sure if they are telling the truth or lying.

I have compiled all the possible combination of sprites (on rows) and colours (on columns) with the related information they give, so you can try to solve this logic puzzle on your own.

I assure you it was not easy to get all of these statements, since the sprites tend to flutter away randomly and then you are not quite sure who is who anymore.

You have all the information, so go on, solve the puzzle if you want. I'll wait.

...

Okay, have you solved it? Let me aid you with this: 80% of the information that you collect in this puzzle is faff. We don't even care who lies when they're blue, or whose sister is whom, or whatever. Regarding this, I can also say that the seemingly reasonable assumption that every couple of brother and sister share the same initial is wrong, because Jane and Jim contradict each other on this matter. But as I said, we don't care.

The most important statement is the one from Yellow-Betty who says that “Sanwe is evil”. Now, if the game doesn't pull the rug from under our feet and ends up making him just a misunderstood loner, we know this to be true. So yellow sprites cannot always lie, and Red-Jim is a filthy liar. So the conclusion is that Yellow sprites tell the truth and Red sprites lie. Blue sprites can either lie or tell the truth, but we don't care, because from the Yellow sprites we know that:

•  Only a red sprite can make it safe for you to cross.
•  The sprite that can make it safe for you to cross can only do so when the first letter of its name is the same of the first letter of its colour.

Therefore, only Rachel or Ralph can be the correct ones, but Yellow-Rachel refers to another sprite as the one to ask. So you just have to ask Red-Ralph if it is safe to cross. We do so, and then... 

You cheeky bastard.

Since the red sprites always lie, it is in fact safe for us to cross now. And so we come face to face with the Butterfly King.

Shades of “Alice in Wonderland” there.

We start a very surreal conversation with him. First he asks who we might be, we say “Callash” but he retorts he did not ask who we are, but who we might be. We then say that by this logic we could be “any number of people” and he says “not true, you obviously are just one person”.

Then he asks what does “Callash” means. We say “it's my name”, so the King says “so in your language Callash means 'it's my name'?”. We say that Callash itself is a name. The King asks what does the name Callash means and we say “I don't know”. The King then says he understands.

When Callash laments that he is very confused, the Butterfly King says that this is not as confusing as the language of the Soptus Ecliptus.

Good to know.

After all that, the Butterfly King subjects us to a little reading comprehension test, which is really very amusing:

Anyone.

 

I don't know.

Trouble. (just a little bit misogynistic, I know)

The Butterfly King.

Being satisfied that we understand the Faerie's mind pretty well, he gives us a powerstone, red like the flowers of the faerie garden, whose prophecy is to bring the destruction of the sorcerer.

He then asks us some other questions to test our knowledge of the Faeries, so we answer accordingly:

•  Sanwe must be destroyed because he ravages and destroys the land.
•  Faeries tease the Fair to test their limits.
•  The Fair Ones are the most blessed race.

He proceeds to gift us with another item (a small bird figurine), and then casually drops this bomb:

Wha?

Callash takes the news in stride and thanks the Butterfly King for his help. Before leaving, we can explore the remaining part of the garden, where we are greeted by this sight: 

Yes, I agree.

We can pick up the delicate crystal flower on the right side, but when we try to get the crown guarded by the toads, this obviously happens:

What a senseless waste of human life.

Since we have done all that can be done here, we can return to the map, but first I pay my respects to the faerie guardian at the beginning of the maze.

Yeah, $@&% you too buddy.

Next stop, the desert of Soptus Ecliptus.

Session Time: 2 hours 00 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours 40 minutes

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