Dragonsphere – Won!

Written by Vetinari

Buckle up for the last part of this Dragonsphere playthrough, where we are going back into the castle of Gran Callahach to return to King Callash his soul.

As soon as we arrive, we are greeted by the captain of the Queen Mother's guards, who tries to arrest us under her boss's orders. Here we have another one of this game dialogue navigation puzzles, where we have to avoid answers which will anger the captain and instead try to sway her to our side.

Yeah, tell me about it.

The actual winner here is to offer something to her, because that turns out not to actually be a bribe, you know. In fact, the captain says cryptically “the only thing in the world I truly want, you cannot give me”.

I hope you remembered the captain's description from way back.

Pid heals the captain's scar, and then follows a rather cute scene where the captain asks if the scar is really gone, and how does she look. Then she explains that she tested me to see if shapechangers can really be capable of doing good things, and since I showed her that my heart is not as black as the Queen Mother would have her believe, she now trusts me.

She still will not let Pid into the castle, but says that he can have access to the catacombs from the courtyard well, and she will turn her back and look the other way while he goes about his business here. Then she asks Pid to put the scar back.

That's how it always goes, right?

Pid says that he doesn't know if she really believes her own words, but the captain asks him to do it quickly, before she regrets her decision. So, the scar goes back and another trope is fulfilled.

When Pid asks if he can count on her help, she just says that if the King gives her a command, and she is convinced that he is really the King and not a shifter, she will obey it, even if Lak-Hella commands otherwise. That's all she promises. So we're on our own, then.

I jump down the well, which went so well the first time I tried, but by now I actually have the belt from the Shaks which allows me to land safely at the bottom.

We meet again.

I pick up a coin from the riverbank at the right, and then use my shifting power to turn into a seal and swim downstream in the underground river, toward the dungeons.

My name is Shuffle. Pid Shuffle.

I arrive below the queen's cell, where we share updates on what has happened both inside and outside the castle, but we have to cut short our conversation when I ask her how can I save her.

Maybe she was just fed up to be talking to a seal.

I get back to the riverbank under the well, and cross to the other side. There is a green magical barrier there which I can dispel by invoking the power of the crystal sphere from Sanwe's castle. Inside the niche I find a precious emerald.

And why the hell was it at the bottom of a well?

Nearby there is a retractable stairway which leads me to the lower level of the catacombs. I descend it, and stop just before dismounting.

I'm sure those pointed things back there are just decorations.

If I get off the stairs, they retract into the ceiling and the spearheads on the right wall shoot out, killing me instantly (and probably also painfully). I have to prevent the stairway from going back up, and the way to do it is by using a very heavy object, like the statue I got from the Caliph. I put it on the staircase and can then proceed towards the next room.

Here in the gloom I can make out a shape in the darkness, and I remember that Llanie said that the catacombs were guarded by another beast similar to the one in the Hightower mountains. I read out the secret name that she wrote down and the beast cowers in fear, allowing me passage.

It actually translates to “Fido”.

Finally I get to the cavern where Callash is kept. It is very cold, and a pillar of ice encases the King's body. It would seem that there is a magical symbol beneath it which keeps it constantly frozen, so I have to move it away from there. But it is too heavy to push, and I have to resort to my third and last animal transformation.

Bear hug!

The pillar melts, but Callash is still confused, saying that he feels like his soul is a thousand miles away. I then use the soul egg on him and he gets back to the Callash we all know and love. (Actually, no, because that was Pid all the way back from the beginning of the game). Then Pid updates Callash on what has happened and what is the situation.

Well, it would be good to implement a system of checks and balances to avoid someone abusing the absolute power of the monarch to... oh, you meant right now! My bad.

Pid's plan is to sneak into the castle and confront the Queen Mother, so that when she sees that Callash is free she will relinquish control and Callash will get back on the throne. This strikes me as overtly optimistic, but I don't have any better ideas at the moment.

Pid and Callash proceed through the door to the castle and up a stairway, where we find ourselves on the other side of a very familiar-looking door.

In the end the royal crown was not useful at all, then.

Wearing the key-crown opens the door, and the two heroes find themselves in the meeting room of castle Callahach, where MacMorn and Lak-Hella lie in wait.

Right back where we began. (Well, nearby, anyway).

An heated words exchange starts up, with MacMorn saying that since Pid hadn't even had the decency to fail as he should, they will just have to kill both of them.

Pid says that as he defeated the sorcerer, he can defeat a two-bit player like MacMorn, but the scoundrel retorts that while there were prophecies concerning Sanwe's destruction, no such prophecies exist to take advantage of when it concerns MacMorn himself. Then he draws his sword.

I try to play the shapeshifter card by shifting into a bear, but MacMorn says that I am a fool if I think that they haven't taken into account my abilities and found out a way to counter that. In fact he uses some sort of talisman to make me shift back to human.

It was worth a try.

It seems that the only thing left is to duel MacMorn with my sword. I'm not feeling very confident in my chances, however, and MacMorn agrees with me.

This reminds me of something...

Finally the Chekhov's Gun of the De Summers amulet prophecy can be invoked against this jackass.

Should have watched your tongue, buddy.

That's Scorpion's fatality, right there.

With MacMorn dead, Lak-Hella says that she has no intention at all to relinquish her power.

If I hadn't had to use “Won!”, in keeping with the theming I knew what the title of this post could have been.

She says that Callash has to submit and rule as her puppet, otherwise she will have them killed anyway. Pid asks Callash not to do it, but the King says that his mother has arranged things so that none here are loyal to him, and unless we have a spare army lying around, we cannot defeat her entire guard.

Llanie is such a badass.

Right on cue, Llanie arrives, bringing news that she has come to pledge the De Summers cavalry and footmen for her king, and that the Queen Mother's guard captain has ordered her men to lay down their arms.

Spiteful to the end.

Callash is restored to the throne, and the final sequence plays out where Pid is ennobled by the monarch.

The what now?

Since I got all those optional treasures, there is a special reward at the end of the game.

Pid and Callash looks about the same age so this means absolutely nothing, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

(In case I hadn't gotten them, Pid would have just become a Baron, instead).

Then Llanie and Pid marry each other, and that's a wrap for the game.

I said we were going there, so stop whining.

See you next time for some Final Ratings!

Session Time: 1 hour 00 minutes
Total Time: 10 hours 30 minutes