Lands of Lore Part 56: Collecting Keys

I leave the cul-de-sac with the treasure chest and prepare for a dangerous run. We’ll need to get between the two lines of the “equals” sign to press a switch and then collect the Gold Key, one of the two keys for entering Scotia’s lair. The problem is there are Fireballs constantly shooting into that space, so we’re bound to take lots of damage from them. Still, I rush into the line of fire and press the switch, then turn around and grab the Gold Key from a now-open niche. The entire party is nearly dead, so I quickly have Michael cast Heal 4 and then hurry to a safe spot, where we rest our way to full strength. With that done, I leave the southern area and start exploring the map, going in a clockwise direction. We eventually come to a door that I open, and on the other side is the Oily Key. This isn’t the key to Scotia’s lair, but it will open a treasure chest up here so I pick it up. Not long after that, we hit the northwest corner of the map and I start heading east. We’re intercepted by a Toadulus monster, who as usual gives us a tough fight but goes down anyway. After the battle, I rest our way to full health and then continue on.
I head down a side area not far from where we encountered the Toadulus, and at the end of the path is a treasure chest. The Dull Key opens it, and the first thing we pull out is the Silver Key, the second key we need to unlock Scotia’s lair. We can now unlock it and confront her whenever we want, although if we want to actually defeat her we have to free King Richard first. There’s also a Salve and some silver crowns in there-the money’s of no use without merchants, but the Salve might come in handy. I continue exploring and come to a trap square that surrounds us with walls, but fortunately we can leave by pressing the switches inside. I press one of them to make a wall section disappear, then continue exploring. It isn’t long before we find the Death Key lying on the floor, which I make sure to pick up. Right up ahead is another Toadulus, although this one goes down faster than usual thanks to good luck with our strikes. I’m certainly not going to complain about that, and we resume exploring after a rest. It isn’t long before we find ourselves back in the southeastern area near the “sum must be correct” passage-we’ve gone through the central part of the map in a diagonal direction. That’s one path through the map, but I want to explore all of it before going back downstairs.
I head to the easternmost part of the map and start working my way north, going counterclockwise this time. We pass a switch in the corridor, and I make sure to press it-it opens a wall section to a new area. I head in and we can turn right or left; I go left first. That leads to yet another Toadulus, but as usual he goes down. I then turn around and head to the other side of this new area, and we find a door. I open the door and go inside the room to discover a treasure chest. We open it with the Oily Key, but unfortunately there’s not much of use in there. We find some ginseng (not helpful at this stage of the game), the helm Talamar (weaker than what the party currently has), and some money (useless without any merchants). Disappointed, I leave the secret area and return to the main path. It soon dead-ends at the far north of the map, so I turn and start heading west. A side path leads to yet another treasure chest, this one opened by the Death Key. Unlike the previous chest, this one has fantastic loot. Of particular note is the Halberd Death’s Hand, equivalent to a Great Sword Justice! Michael and Baccata already have Justice swords, so Paulson’s the logical choice to get it. We also find Aegis Plate Mail, easily the best breastplate in the game. I give it to Michael, and his armor stat goes up tremendously. That’s honestly all there is to find on Floor 3, but there are still a few unexplored areas I check. Soon everything except Scotia’s area is uncovered, and I make my way back to the sum puzzle. There’s a pit near the 2, and in the next video we’ll jump through it to go back downstairs.

[@Mantelar]

This was the first game I ever saw with voice acting. “The acid burned my armor” is pretty much a core memory for me.