Den of Mosnters

The encounter rate is driving me up the wall. All on its own, the frequency of battles is making me want to stop playing Dragon Quest as a series...

But, as we were led to believe, there's a dungeon southwest of Endor on a peninsula. It's got more Sylph Co. floor puzzles, which exist solely to take you away from the prize at the end. The chest containing the Rod of Transformation is on the otherside of a puzzle, but we have to dig through so much to reach it. And I started going mad with the random fights every three steps. There's a lot to explore down here, but it's mostly just dead ends and a few Tiny Medals. But you'll come to the Rod in time.

And then I got lost again because I had no idea where the Monster Castle was. It turns out it's near Riverton, the town in the middle of a river on the middle continent. South of that is the sentient statue I heard about, but I had forgotten it's locked behind a jail cell door. With the Final Key, though, we can open that door. The statue isn't just a statue but an entire dungeon. And, yes, it's going to be painful. There is no boss, though, so fight as hard as you want to. We'll be climbing upwards, and it's straightforward enough. The treasures are interesting, and one of them is the Demon's Hammer. I never used it because I ran out of space in the next area, but it makes every strike a critical. The downside is you'll only hit about twenty five percent of the time. Hence, why I never used it. I'm sure it sells for good money. At the top, we can activate some levers, and the entire dungeon will walk across a river. On this side, we should travel west, around a lake, where we'll see an imposing castle.

Activate the Rod of Transformation if you want to proceed easier. It should disguise the entire party as monsters, which allow us to navigate without getting into combat. It can make us into different humans, so you may have to pop it a few times. There are some humans in the basement, but we can't seem to help them. There are also a few side areas to dig around in. Was this where the Demon's Hammer was? Most of the treasure are more Tiny Medals, but there's also the Aeolus Shield in the northwest. When used as an item, it can blow away enemies, but I'm using it for its stat upgrade. Ragnar may have an end game armor piece already. But the goal is to be in the room with Necrosaro. He's having an urgent meeting in the hall, so be there. He'll port in to let everyone know "something terrible" has happened. Estark has been found by humans in Akemto. Akemto is the mining town we got the Gunpowder Jar from in Maya/Naya's chapter.

Heading to Hayville and heading west, I come across the fortune teller. She dies, for some reason, before us. Go more west, and we'll see this hole is deeper. The first few levels of the mine are the same we've been fighting, but we'll reach the new area in time. The monsters take a sudden spike in difficulty, but there is a healing spring just before for the castle part of the new area. We can't Outside from the castle, but we can from the spring. The keep is straightforward, and there's only one offshoot. Don't go up the stairs on the balcony. We'll see a monster standing before a treasure chest when we first head down the stairs from there, so remember this for later. Keep on getting frustrated with Naya's low HP and the strength of the million monsters, and we'll eventually reach a throne room. Three monsters are before someone else, but they warn us to leave. Tell them we're not going anywhere, and a fight breaks out. These three are random mobs, so don't worry. Heal up before stepping on the tile before the guy on the throne, though.

This is Estark, and he's no joke. He's asleep during round one, so get as much DPS and/or debuffs in. I know Sap works, but I only tried Defense (via Sword of Decimation) once. No clue if it's effective. From here, I died...a lot. A strategy I found to work was to have Naya cast Sleepmore every turn. It doesn't always succeed, but it struck enough to make me happy. Estark will only sleep for a turn or two, but it's enough to reset him and not kill us that round. When he does act, his physical attacks can deal over 100 HP because he acts twice. He can also negate buffs when he inhales, but I haven't been using any of those.

Saro will run into the room from the entrance I told you to avoid and remark that we killed his god. Before he can do anything, an underling runs in to inform them that Roze has been kidnapped. He's more concerned with her, so the entire castle (minus the random encounters) all leave. This includes the guy blocking the chest, which we can open. Congratulations on your gas canister...

Take the canister to ta guy in Riverton, and he'll construct a hot hair balloon. This is our terrible airship that flies slowly. But it does fly, so we can now reach a few inaccessible areas. The only place I noticed on the map was in the middle of a vast desert, east of Mintos. I landed in the sands and entered an elf oasis. This town has the World Tree, but it seems to be having some uninvited guests, which we'll take care of...

...tomorrow.

Reminder for myself: Return to Izmet and Rozehill. And then dump the stupid Small Medals that litter my inventory.