Setting Sail!

Taloon left us to face this monstrous tower alone (with four people), but he gave us clues.

The monsters here aren't too bad, but watch out for the large group of metal slimes. I got attacked by five of them at once, so you can guess how that went. I wonder if this is the best place to grind? They attack regularly enough. Other than that, they're stuff we've seen or palette swaps of others. There are a few offshoots to get lost in, but those usually take you to treasures. The only ones that aren't are just past the golden statues. This path takes you to a boomerang and a mimic, so just climb the stairs. Before this, though, we can meet an imp who was waiting for Taloon to show up. Because Taloon's not here, he uses a wing of wyvern to leave. But since this doesn't work in dungeons, he smashes his head on the ceiling and knocks himself out. We don't kill him, for some reason. Past the two statues is the chest containing the Fire of Serenity. The light part of this house is a floor above, and the only way up is through the northeast staircase. There are no monsters on this floor, so walk around and find the secret treasure chest. I think it was a strength seed? From here, confront the three little monsters circling the ...thingy. They'll attack us, but they're not too strong. For a boss, they're only slightly tougher than the average rabble. I think the guy in the center is the weakest, so focus him as best you can. I already hate the AI in Dragon Quest IV. After we take them out, use the Fire near the thingy, and the area will stop being so purple. Monsters are still on the floors below, so do what you want.

Return to town and talk to Taloon near the docks. He'll congratulate us for saving the city and then tell us he's being chased by monsters. He asks to come with us to be his guard, and I say "yes." He's pretty terrible in combat, though, so I'll be dropping him soon. As thanks, he gives us his new boat, and we hit the open seas!

Taloon tells us he's looking for a man who knows where all the treasure in the world is, and we can find him in the town of Mintos on the southern continent. I'm sure it's rad and all, but there's other stuff I want to do. First, I went to Taloon's shop in Endor and dropped off a bunch of items I hope I won't need; Mostly key items, like the Signet of Faith. I then traveled around to some of the earlier parts of the world. Alena's old haunts are still around, and the city near her castle is inhabited. It seems mounters now live in her home. Mobs are now stronger in these parts, too. I stopped by Izmet and had a bad dream. We saw someone Roze is locked in a tower. The enemy of everyone in the party, Saro, joins her for a chat. She eventually admits that she wants to see humanity wiped out, but I get the feeling she's just placating her captor. The dream ends with her crying out for someone to hear her... After this, I found the Tiny Medal King. I handed over my two medals and got a Staff of Retribution in return. If you give this is an NPC, they tend to only use this item, which is great! 40-60 damage to an entire enemy party with zero MP cost is going to make this next dungeon a breeze. I could have gone on to find better gear, but I decided to just go to Mintos.

The guy Taloon is looking for is in the village square. We have to admit that he's more than just the master of seas, but the land, as well. He happily hands over a map with nothing on it. It can track where are, so it's harder to get lost. I feel like it's just inventory space, though. But that's not all. We also learn that Princess Alena has come through here recently. Brey and Cristo are in the inn, and Cristo has gotten very sick. To save her friends, Alena has rushed off to find a cure. Brey joins the group, and he's pretty good. He's more reliable than Taloon, at least. The Kingdom of Soretta is known for growing a cure all. It's way, way, way eastward, so good luck. There is a checkpoint along the way, but I don't know if you can sleep there. South of that checkpoint is the castle.

The area has fallen on hard times recently as the only thing that drove the economy died in a drought five years ago. The Padaquia Flower can cure any ailment, but it's all gone now. There is a remaining seed in the cave down south the King stored in a seed vault, so guess where we're going.

This was a fun dungeon. It's got several Sylph Co. sliding floors. There's a handful of other stuff down here, which are worth getting, but our destination is at the bottom. In the center, surrounded by a maze I randomly did, is the seed we need. Along the way, we'll see Alena with another group of adventures we saw as we first came to Branca. She's joined them to search for the seed. As we leave, she's gone, so Return to Soretta. Talk to the King, who's still working in the fields, and he tells us the flower grows instantly. We plant it, and he's correct. We take one of the flowers, let the Kingdom regrow its single market crop, and Return to Mintos. Alena is next to Cris, disappointed she found nothing. But we have what she needs, and we're going to help her because we're the good guys! We make the flower into medicine, give it to Cristo, and he wakes up. All is well with what remains of Santeem. For reasons I've forgotten, Alena and Cristo join the group, and we're on our way. One of the inn workers informs us a man named Ragnar came through recently, looking for the Hero, which is us. He tells us he went to Keelon Castle, where Maya and Naya started.

As we leave Minto, Hector will tell us he wants to follow in his father's footsteps. He's going to stay here and learn from the guy who gave us the map. He lets us keep his horse and becomes the innkeeper if we're in town. For now, though, head across the ocean. All the doors are locked in Keelon, but a priest named Healie tells us Ragnar is locked in the jails. He suggests we might be able to save him if we dig around Haville. So we'll get our final party member...

...tomorrow!

So Healie did become a human? Interesting. I wonder what this means for the Dragon Quest lore? Anyway, it turns out Dragon Quest IV is a lot of fun. I'm, maybe, halfway through, and it really is the opposite of six. That all can change, of course, but I'm back to being happy I'm playing it. It could really do with an encounter nerf, though. Let me advance, Enix!