Kongregate Wiki
Kongregate Wiki
Advertisement
MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3
MARDEK Chapter 3 Title
Details
Name MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3
Author Pseudolonewolf
Genre Adventure & RPG
Published 2010-07-06
In-Game Awards? Yes
Gameplay Style Turn-based RPG
Upgrade System? Yes


MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3, subtitled Keystones, is a Turn-based RPG. It is the sequel to MARDEK RPG: Chapter 2 and part of a series planned to be eight chapters long. It is made to resemble the pixelated style of NES or SNES games and features a turn-based combat system. The setting is in the fictional world of Belfan which has undeveloped civilization on it like that of medieval times. This game takes place three years after the events of chapter 2. You play as a human named Mardek who, with the help of friends and allies, fights against the efforts of a group of aliens known as the Governance de Magi that wish to kill the alien soul known as Rohoph that inhabits Mardek's body. In particular, you face Qualna, a being dominating the elemental force of Aether, who wishes to gain all of Belfan's elemental power in the form of its elemental crystals.

Controls[]

MARDEK 3 map

The world map of Belfan

  • Navigate menus and move Mardek with the arrow keys.
  • Select menu options or interact with things with the "x" key.
  • Cancel choices or go back from choices with the "z" key.
  • Enter the pause menu with the "Enter" or "Return" key.
  • In some menus, use the mouse to select skills, move items, etc.
  • In the inventory menu, hold the "s" key while clicking a stack of items to pick up only one instance of that item. Clicking multiple times increases how many instances you pick up without taking the whole stack.
  • While in battle, press the "x" key during indicated timed moments to use reaction skills during attacks.

Gameplay[]

MARDEK 3 Fire Guardian

Mardek, Elwyen, Gloria, and Legion facing off against one of the elemental guardians.

Gameplay of MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3 involves traveling around town or dungeon areas to advance in a quest you are given. While fulfilling such a quest, you are likely to engage in random enemy encounters and some plot-related boss encounters while not in a town. In such battles, turns go between each of your party members and each monster. On one of you party member's turns, you can fight with a weapon, use skills, cast magic, use an item, skip your turn, or flee from the battle (some random encounters only). Defeating monsters in battle can grant you experience points to level up, money, and items. In towns, you can enter shops to purchase or sell items and equipment. When you exit an area or town, you are brought to a world map where you can travel to any other area that is available to you.

Major Characters[]

(These character sections contain many spoilers)

Mardek Innanu El-Enkidu[]

The main protagonist of the series. Mardek is of the light element. Since chapter 2he has become a royal knight of Goznor and a living legend. He carries on as an adventurer after Deugan's death mostly out of not knowing what else he could really make of himself. In his childhood, he became the host of the soul of an alien named Rohoph. Mardek has since grown used to sharing his body with this mysterious being. His intelligence is sub average but his intentions are always good. "I'd only kill a guy if he killed me first!"

Rohoph[]

A member of a race of aliens known as the Annunaki. He is of light element and also a former member of the Governance de Magi. In chapter 1, his spaceship crash lands on Belfan, resulting in his possessing Mardek as a method of escaping death. He is being hunted by the other members of the Governance de Magi. Rohoph shares the common Annunaki views that they are a superior species and society to that of humans. He also carries himself with an attitude of arrogance. When confronted by other members of the Governance de Magi, his anger about their minds being affected by the Violet Crystal serves mostly to show how the crystal has affected his own mind, making him even more self-righteous and narrow minded than he naturally would be. "We have a mission on which the fate of the galaxy rests. We cannot waste time with idle socialising."

Donovan Gonoru Fa-Alregis[]

A fire-element pyromancer that had been in the royal guard at the same time as Mardek, three years ago. He is a fair and respectful person who is honored to be working with the legendary Sir Mardek. Donovan is best friends with Sharla and is secretly the Prince of Goznor, though he doesn't like others to know of his royal blood because he wishes to earn any reputation he has. "I understand that Darkness is a necessary aspect of all life on Belfan, to maintain a balance, and I respect that... but I'd just rather respect it from afar"

Sharla Qualle Ae-Andrias[]

An air-element aeromancer that had been in the royal guard at the same time as Mardek, thee years ago. She is very quiet and shy and would rather be a listener than a speaker. Sharla is the daughter of the Air Temple Priestess. She is best friends with Donovan and joined the guard because of him. "I suppose I just... listen better than I talk? I don't like to be a bother, and I don't want to say the wrong thing..."

Sslen'ck Ea-Sslenal[]

The chieftain of the reptoid village of Xantusia. Sslen'ck is of the earth element. He distrusts humans but is willing to work with them in order to accomplish his goals. He has a great sense of honour and is dedicated to his people. He is one of the greatest warriors of his kind, able to skillfully take on a great variety of foes with his greataxe. He has a deep fear of the undead that stems from the death of his parents possibly at the hands of zombies. His biggest fear is being reanimated as a zombie himself. "The godsss would not be pleasssed. Nor would my ancessstorsss be proud of me for helping you. But I mussst honour our alliance, ssso I ssshall. "

Solaar[]

A light-element alien being sent to Belfan in order to protect the Dark Crystal. Solaar keeps his past mostly secret and stays with Mardek because he seems to be the only person with a good chance of recovering the Dark Crystal after it is stolen. Solaar is very anxious about failing his duty and has very odd speaking habits. "Why have not we foundified the Dark Crystal yet?! I am getting worried and worrieder about not having done this! The world - or many! - are at risk of annihilation with that about in a demon's hands!"

Elwyen Sirene Wu-Nympha[]

A girl who's parents were killed by a curse from a creature known as the lake hag. Elwyen is of the water element. She immediately fell in love with Mardek after he attempted fruitlessly to undo the curse on her parents. She joins the young adventures solely because she wants to be with Mardek and convince him to love her back. She acts as a siren, using music to magical effect. Elwyen is beautiful, somewhat spoiled, and selfish. Mardek seems to be the one person that honestly does not care for her beauty, much to her dismay. "Do you find me attractive or anything?! Don't you want to get your hands on these fulsome pair of funbags? I have a figure to die for and loads of guys would drool just at the chance to look at me, but you... Does it do ANYTHING for you?"

Gloria Eh-Korey[]

Elwyen's best friend since childhood. She is kind and mild mannered, trying her best to act as a complete opposite to her half brother, Steele, who she considers to be a vile and wretched person. She used to be of the fire element, but when she was chosen to be the new "backup shaman" she bacame an earth-elemental person. In tune with nature, she became the new shaman for Canonia when the previous shaman, corrupted by the dark powers of Moric, died at the hands of Mardek, though she has no idea that he did. She joins Mardek in his quests to ensure that the elemental crystals do not come to be abused for their power. "I hope you can appreciate Nature's beauty and majesty in places like this. The planet is strong, and it is alive; places like this make me think that we should never try to mess with it. Or something."

Meraeador Dunsin Fa-Doch[]

Meraeador is of the fire element. He is an inventor who lives on the fringe of Goznor, an outcast from society. He has spent over a decade working on the creation of a "Metal Man" that could help the world come to understand more about the very nature of life itself. He views Mardek as being his best friend since nobody else has ever wanted to associate themselves with him. He joins Mardek and Gloria in their questing in order to find the last magical ingredients needed to give the now completed metal body a soul. He is a kind pacifist but is willing to help combat monsters using some of his latest inventions. He is also plagued by his clumsy, nervous, stuttering nature which has lead to the death of his parents, his being ostracized, and a critical error in the soul summoning spell for the Metal Man. "Ooh, how f-fascinating! The things you learn about and s-s-see when on Adventures... I only regret that I d-d-didn't travel when I was younger!"

Legion[]

Legion is the completed Metal Man that Meraedor invented. Gloria named it after a demon composed of many spirits that she had read of, thinking that the demon and Meraedor's Metal Man have much in common. Legion has pure, unaligned, physical force as an element. The spell to bring Legion to life pulls a soul from death into the intended physical form. Meraedor's stuttering while calling out the words for the spell caused it to be enacted four times over, meaning that Legion is four people within one metal body. The four souls have equal power over the body and capability to silence each other, though the real power over the body is in the hands of Meraedor. The lights in Legion's eyes change color in accordance to which of the four souls is speaking. The four colors are red, blue, purple, and yellow.

When Legion's eyes are red, Baron von Doomkill is in control. He is an evil and cruel individual who wishes to take over the world just as he did in his previous life. "I could tell you about some of my most majestic of massacahs! My most satisfying slaughters!"

When Legion's eyes are blue, the body is controlled by Deena, a previous shaman of Canonia. She is wise and helpful, though seems particularly wary of the Earth Crystal, which was used as a weapon to end her previous life.

When Legion's eyes are purple, he is controlled by a person nicknamed "Miserable Ol' Martin". He is morbidly depressed about absolutely everything. "Gods, I'm depressed."

When Legion's eyes are yellow, he is controlled by Bostolm, a wise Yalortian cultling that was driven to total insanity when the monastery he resided in obtained a mysterious, purple, mind distorting crystal. He now spends almost all of his time screaming about pixies and living in a metal body. "AAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

Vehrn Juonour El-Ganobyi[]

Vehrn is a light element paladin of the deity YALORT. He is devoted to his faith with every fiber of his being and just as arrogant and self-righteous about it towards everybody else. He views Mardek and the accompanying people as a band of heathens that aren't worth his time. He is forced to join Mardek, however, when a high priest commands him to in order to accomplish his mission of locating the lost monastery of YALORT. "You know, you should really devote yourself to YALORT. It's shocking to me that you've not got around to it yet. How can you survive being so tainted by sin and evil like this with no hope for salvation? It makes ME sick just looking at you, walking around as if you aren't some dragon's slave!"

Qualna[]

The main antagonist of Chapter 3. Qualna is the Governance de Magi member representing the element of Aether. He specializes in subtle tactics that combine his cosmic powers with his well practised acting skills. He possess the King of Goznor and uses him to order Mardek and Rohoph to seek out Belfan's elemental crystals, appearing to have lost his once clever mental capabilities due to the effects of the Violet Crystal. His actual plan, however, is not simply to gain the crystals to destroy Rohoph with. He is aware of the Violet Crystal's effect much more than any other person and deep down plans to destroy it if he can convince Rohoph to join and assist him. Despite being the game's antagonist, he is actually on the side of good. Unfortunately, he is unable to communicate this to Rohoph without the rest of the Governance de Magi becoming aware of his true intentions. As such, his plan ultimately fails. He has a calm, sensible, and peaceful personality, preferring to not fight or be the direct cause of bloodshed. "No, Rohoph... ugh. Have you listened to a word I've said? We don't ALL solve our problems with mindless violence, 'removing obstacles from our path'. We don't all see things as black and white as you do. I am being honest and serious here, and I want to make things right. ... I don't want to lose another friend."'

Minor Characters[]

Zach Ursus Ae-Jarino[]

Zach is of the element of air. He is a mercenary that can be hired into your party if you pay him. He remains silent the majority of the time and is puzzled by the fact that Mardek tries to talk to him so frequently. He has a deep dislike and distrust for his employers because of they way they always treat him. He's grown used to being treated as sub-human and nothing more than a weapon, though and as such continues to make a living through mindlessly killing when hired to do so. "I am a weapon. Nothing more. Once my contract expires, I will leave. It is best to do it without emotion."

Lone Wolf[]

A man of the earth element. He is an adventurer that seems to have sprung up apparently from nowhere within the last couple years, yet already he is as widely liked as the Grand Adventurer, Social Fox was. Unlike Social Fox, however, he did not gain his reputation from slaying great foes in distant lands. He has gained popularity due to staying near populated area and going out of his way to do many smaller feats that directly helped people that are in need of it. Not much of him is known however, due to how much he keeps to himself even while helping others. He wears green armour and a helmet that's shaped like a wolf's head. He is also said to be highly skilled with greatswords. Mardek encounters him in the lobby of Cambria's arena, but Lone Wolf immediately flees the scene without saying a word. Though Mardek and his allies are unaware of it, the dreamstones in this game narrate how it is that Mardek's best friend from childhood, Deugan, came to survive the events of chapter 2 and decided to restart his life under the guise of Lone Wolf.

Mystery Man[]

A dark-element person that destroys the Warding Stone in the Sun Temple and steals the Dark Crystal. He is violent, curses frequently and seems to recognize Mardek, Donovan, and Sharla. Mardek, however, does not recognize him because the Mystery Man wears an eye patch. Though it is not directly stated in the game's main quest, the Mystery Man is Steele from chapter 2.

Clavis[]

A mysterious person of the Aether element. He calls himself an "equilibriumancer" and speaks to Mardek on several occasions about how balance in the world is maintained through metaphorical "keystones" and the removal of these "keystones" would be catastrophic. He seems to follow Mardek wherever he goes, waiting for a good opportunity to explain his point further. At the end of the game, he reveals himself to be Qualna in disguise.

King Gonoroth Fa-Regis[]

The King of Goznor is widely considered to be a great, respectable man who does much good for the world through the knights that he has at the kingdom's disposal. He is fire element. During the time that Mardek spends at the Sun Temple, however, he became possessed by Qualna. This possession is very obvious though and fuels many rumours through the land of an impostor being in charge of the kingdom. While possessed by Qualna, he demands that Mardek searches out Belfan's elemental crystal in order to give the throne more power. At the end of the game, he is driven to fight Mardek to the death because of Qualna's influence on him. He only regains his own proper state of mind once mortally wounded and passes on the crown to Prince Donovan.

Plot[]

It is worth noting that this game's sequence of events is non-linear and can be done, for the most part, in any order the player wishes once they begin the "Elemental Crystals" quest. The following plot summary is giving the events in an example order that may or may not be the same order that other players use.

Continuing from three years after the events of chapter 2, Sir Mardek has been sent out on a quest on the southern continent of Fengue (the previous chapters took place on the adjacent continent of Hadris) along with Donovan and Sharla, who have each achieved knighthood in more recent times.

Sun Temple[]

The game begins with Mardek, Donovan, and Sharla arriving in the Sun Temple, a place dedicated to worship of the god SOLAK. Though Mardek has initial worries about getting through the mission without his old friend Deugan by his side, the quickly find the local Solakian High Priest and inquire as to what problems have been going on recently. They are told that the lower levels of the temple, usually a safe place for the priests to wander, have recently become infested with dark monsters after a mysterious stranger passed through. It is Mardek's job to see to it that whatever has caused the dark monsters to become out of hand is quickly dealt with.

Warding Stone[]

The high priest thinks that a Warding Stone that keeps monsters away may have been stolen or broken by the stranger, so he gives a replacement stone to Mardek and sends them on their way to try and correct the problem. Mardek and his party travel down the lower floor of the temple and, along the way, encounter several lizard-men (referred to as reptoids) who are also searching for the stranger that had passed through. The reptoids, led by Sslen'ck, mistake Mardek for the intruder and attack him, though they are quickly defeated. Mardek's party explains to Sslen'ck that they are not the intruder and that they too are searching for him. Sslen'ck then retreats to the underground reptoid village of Xantusia. Also encountered within the temple is Clavis, who introduces himself as a sort of scholar that studies the way everything in life is maintained in balance to avoid chaos. Clavis uses metaphorical keystones to explain his view that a crucial balance between forces is often held together by one single immeasurably important thing. As an example, the missing Warding Stone is a keystone and, without it, the Sun Temple has fallen to chaos and is overrun with monsters. Asking for Mardek's party to remember and think about this concept, Clavis then departs. Mardek's group continues down the temple to find the empty pedestal for the Warding Stone. Upon replacing the stone, Mardek's party can report back to the Solakian High Priest and be rewarded for their efforts, but they have not yet found the source of the dark monsters themselves or the mysterious stranger that had traveled through.

Save the Priests![]

Though not necessary, Mardek may accept this sidequest from a priest in the top floor of the Sun Temple while fulfilling the quest "Warding Stone". The priest explains that while most of them are safe from the monsters on the top floor of the temple, not everybody had been successfully evacuated from the lower floors. The priest asks that you find and rescue the four priests that are trapped below.

Sun Temple (Cont.)[]

After replacing the Warding Stone, Mardek's party continues to travel downwards in order to find the mysterious stranger and solve the monster problem that has come up. They emerge from the bottom floor of the Sun Temple into the Sandflow Caves, which leads them into the reptoid village Xantusia. Here, Mardek recruits Sslen'ck into his party, agreeing that they should work together to find the source of the problems going on despite some distaste Sslen'ck feels about being allied with a human. The party then continues into the Sandflow Caves and eventually finds a crash-landed space ship that had belonged to a crew of strange men that are currently living in Xantusia.

Missing Gizmo[]

As an optional side quest, Mardek can speak to Lykel, the leader of this group of strange humans in Xantusia. Lykel will explain that his group used to be "priests" at a sort of nearby "temple" they came from. He then says that a monster had stolen a certain "holy icon" that they need and requests that you find it. The item can be found inside a chest deep in the Sandflow Caves, guarded by the monster that took it.

Sun Temple (Cont.)[]

Mardek and his party investigate inside the crashed ship and find that its landing had at some point caused an entrance to the Dark Temple to be ripped opened. It is from this hole that monster have been escaping the Dark Temple and rampaging through the nearby areas. Sslen'ck gives a nervous warning that the Dark Temple, home of the dark elemental crystal and source of that elements power throughout all of Belfan, will house many powerful creatures but the group journeys inside anyway, in search of the intruding stranger. After navigating through the temple, they find their way towards the main chamber that houses the crystal itself. Just outside, they find Solaar crouched in a corner of the room, wounded. Solaar says that he is the guardian of the Dark Crystal (though there are doubts as to whether that could be true) and that he has failed to protect it from a powerful and evil stranger that forced his way in and to the crystal. Mardek decides to help Solaar and backs him up as they enter the crystal chamber to confront the stranger. The stranger, referred to as the "Mystery Man", recognizes everybody other than Sslen'ck and expresses lots of violent anger about being confronted by them. Mardek seems oblivious as to the identity of the man. They fight the dark stranger in order to stop him from taking the Dark Crystal and win. However, as the stranger falls back defeated, he reveals a warp stone and grabs onto the Dark Crystal, teleporting himself and the crystal away. The party decides that they should report what happened to the King.

Elemental Crystals[]

When Mardek and his allies arrive at the throne room of Castle Goznor to report the theft of the dark elemental crystal, they notice quickly that the king seems to not be himself, but perhaps an impostor of some sort. The King's eyes glow with a bright pink light and he acts incredibly strangely, leading Rohoph to believe that Qualna is possessing him. They cannot react openly to this, however, due to fear of being accused of trying to assassinate the legitimate King of Goznor. They stand and listen as the possessed King decides that obtaining elemental crystals seems like a good idea to gain power easily and orders them, as his Royal Knights of the Kingdom, to fetch Belfan's remaining elemental crystals. Once the party leaves the throne room, they decide that while they try to think of what to do about the King's possession, they should go ahead and obtain the elemental crystals but only to be able to personally insure they do not fall into the fake king's hands.

Not knowing where any of the remaining elemental crystals are, Mardek and his party begin to ask around various towns to see if anybody could give them a tip as to the location of the crystals. In the small town of Canonia, Mardek is told that Elwyen, the girl he tried to help in chapter 2 when he parents were frozen by the lake hag, is back at the shore of Lake Qur and would like to talk to Mardek alone. When he goes there, Elwyen embraces him and excitedly tells him that because she's 17 she can now travel with him on his quests. Eventually, she convinces him and joins the party. Afterwords, Mardek finds Gloria inside of Canonia's zombie-proof cave. Mardek asks if she knows where any of the elemental crystals are, since she would likely know due to her new position of shaman. With Elwyen there to help Mardek, Gloria decides that she will tell them that the Earth Temple is located within the Lifewood on Fengue. She also tells them that she will travel with them to insure that the crystals are protected well and not abused, since there isn't much need of a shaman in Canonia. Then, Gloria also teaches them about using Dreamcircles, magical circles that allow them to enter and exit the Dreamrealm. In the town of Goznor, Mardek also checks up on his friend Meraedor, who has still been working on his Metal Man creation for over the past decade. Meraedor tells them that he has reached the final step in the Metal Man's creation. The body is done but he would require the magic powers of a shaman, along with several other things, to grant the body a soul. Gloria speaks up and tells him that she's a shaman and asks what exactly he plans on doing. Meraedor explains that he once read a book of necromantic magic that described how to place souls within objects and that he plans on using that method. Gloria, though initially outraged by the idea, soon warms to the concept as Meraedor explains his motives and reasonings. Mardek tells Meraedor that they could work together to find the book and anything else he may need to finish the Metal Man, and so Meraedor joins their party.

In the southern city of Aeropolis, the party asks the local shaman if he knows the locations of any crystals. The shaman decides that since they have another shaman with them, he can trust them enough to tell them that the Fire Temple is located in a volcano called Crimson Peak. While in Aeropolis, they also check the city's library for the book of necromancy that Meraedor needs. There, they are informed that a necromancer that calls himself Saul has taken the book to his residence in the Canonia Woods.

As the party travels through the Warport that allows then to cross from one continent to another, they once again meet Clavis, who had been waiting for them to come passing through. Clavis asks them to reconsider their attempts to take the elemental crystals, as they are some of the largest "keystones" of them all and hold the entire balance of nature and life itself in check. Rohoph, however, ignores his pleas and says that it will be worth taking the crystals if it's only for a short time and in the name of the greater good.

Once they reach Saul's house, they are immediately greeted by an unpleasant sight. The entire place in covered with the rotting remains of the dead and undead. They enter and ask Saul if they could have the Necromantic Tome for only a short while in order to complete their one needed incantation. Saul, however, refuses and sends zombies to attack the party. As Mardek's group easily gets rid of the zombies, Saul apparently slips away into a back room and through a portal, so the party follows. Unfortunately, the portal drops them into a prison cell within the dungeon underneath Saul's house. Saul himself arrives outside of their cell and mocks them for so willingly stepping into the portal before leaving. As Rohoph and other party members begin to look for a way out, Clavis arrives. He admits to following them in hopes that he'd find a good time to convince them to leave the keystones alone, but says that it has instead given him a good time to step in and save them from imprisonment. To Clavis's dismay, however, Rohoph immediately tells him that they are perfectly fine and capable of escaping on their own. Clavis then departs, leaving the party to navigate Saul's dungeon on their own. Eventually, they make it out and back upstairs to where Saul is once more. This time, however, Saul is prepared for intruders and reveals the greatest force in his personal undead army. Saul has a reanimated skeleton of Moric's dracelon from chapter 2. He explains that he found the dracelon's body on the shore of Lake Qur. Mardek's party pauses to consider the implications of the dracelon surviving the crash of Moric's battleship, but are quickly forced to fight. They defeat the bone dracelon and finally claim the Necromantic Tome as their own.

Shaman's Brew[]

Again in the north, Mardek asks the Goznor shaman for locations of the elemental crystals. The shaman says that the Water Temple is located at the bottom of Lake Qur, but they would require a means of getting there, such as a water-breathing enchantment. The shaman says that he himself could brew them a potion that would grant water breathing but it would require ingredients that they would need to fetch. Most of the ingredients can simply be purchased around Aeropolis, but one of them, the Serpent Crest, must be found. To get it, Mardek's party travels into the Lifewood and locates the cave in which the great serpent they are looking for resides. They find the serpent and slay it to take the crest. Returning to the Goznor shaman, they are given the potions they require to reach the Water Temple.

Soul Cage[]

With the book of necromancy, Meraedor is now able to check what magical ingredients he would need to cast the soul binding spell. They are a Crystal Rose, the Skull of a Truly Wicked Mortal, and a Silver Cord. These items can be found in the Water Temple, Volcano, and Lifewood respectively. Returning to the Lifewood, they eventually find a path through the Dreamrealm aspect of the woods that leads them to a Silver Cord, a magical cord that tethers mortals who walk the Dreamrealm to life. They take the cord and continue on to Crimson Peak, where they encounter a very strange totem that contains a soul requesting freedom. Finding the shaman of the volcano, they ask what the totem is and are informed that it is the prison of a wicked soul that attempted to steal the Fire Crystal for his own selfish cause. The shaman tells them how they would free it and the party returns to the totem. They call out the magical words to free the soul and are immediately attacked by it. Defeating the evil spirit, they find the skull of the being that had been trapped within the totem. They take it with them for use in the soul binding spell. Finally, Mardek and his accompanying allies prepare to travel through Lake Qur and to the Water Temple. When the go to the bottom of the lake, they find dead droma from Moric's battleship strewn across the lake bed, with the mechanical parts of their bodies still completely intact. The party enters the Water Temple and begins their search for the Crystal Rose and the Water Crystal itself. After spending time changing switches and unlocking various paths, they finally open the doors to the Water Crystal and the Crystal Rose. Pursuing the Crystal Rose, they find a great monster called the Master Gem and battle it. Upon the Master Gem's defeat, it leaves the Crystal Rose for Mardek to take. While in the temple, the party may also battle the Water Guardian, Emela. Mardek does not recognize her (much to the surprise of others), but Emela decides to not reveal herself to him anyway. When they defeat her in battle, Emela steps down and allows them to take the crystal, wondering why they would be after it, hoping for no harm to come of it, and frustrated that her duty as the Water Guardian prevents her from accompanying them. When the Water Crystal is taken, all the water within the temple stagnates and turns brown, showing the immediate problem caused by removing the elemental crystals.

Back in Meraedor's house, Gloria helps Meraedor to prepare the soul binding spell and instructs him on how to do it properly. When they're ready, Meraedor begins calling out the magic words only to stutter at the end and cause the spell's effect to be done four times over. This causes four souls instead of one to all get called into the Metal Man, leading to it being named Legion as a reference to a demon that Gloria had once read about. The spirits within Legion dispute with each other and Meraedor as they figure out what has happened to them. One of the spirits is sensible, another violent, a third depressed, and the final one completely insane. As the conflict between the souls settles down, Mardek insists that Meraedor continue to accompany them with Legion so that there will be a broader array of experiences available when Meraedor tries to teach Legion all of the life skills that he can.

Ancient Artefacts[]

As an optional sidequest, Mardek may stop by the museum in Aeropolis and talk to the curator there. The curator will complain about how poorly the museum is doing and ask that if Mardek, as an adventurer traveling the world, comes across any interesting artifacts, he could perhaps sell them to the museum. There are a total of ten artifacts in the game that can be returned for various rewards.

Crime Control[]

In another optional sidequest, there is a guard stationed within the slums of Aeropolis that would appreciate the help if Mardek were to kill twenty of the bandits that have been skulking around and causing trouble.

Lost Monastery[]

Looking further through the city of Aeropolis, Mardek's party finds Vehrn arguing with a Yalortian High Priest over a quest that Vehrn is to be sent on. The high priest wants Vehrn to investigate the ancient Lost Monastery of YALORT and recover a stone that is said to have caused the monastery to be forsaken by YALORT. Vehrn argues that the place is merely a legend reacts with indignity when Mardek asks if his group could assist. The high priest, however, immediately orders Vehrn to swallow his pride, accept the aid of the knights, and go find the monastery. Setting out on the quest, Mardek's party, which now contains Verhn, travels to the Lifewood. Once there, they locate the forest's shaman and ask about where the Lost Monastery is within the dense trees. The shaman tells them that she remembers an old path leading to it, but it is no longer possible to reach the monastery. The trees are simply impassible. Gloria, however, points out that if the shaman remembers the ancient path to it as clearly as she says, then the path will still exist as a memory imprint in the Dreamrealm because everything in the Dreamrealm is the accumulation of everybody's thoughts and memories. Using a Dreamcircle, Mardek's party successfully travels through the space that the path used to exist on and arrive at the doors of the monastery. The doors, however, are locked with a magical password and all any chances they had of getting in seem to be gone. Much to everybody else's surprise, the insane yellow soul within Legion then speaks up, raving about how the monastery is his home and sanctuary from pixies, and how much YALORT had loved him and all the other priests before the strange stone arrived and damned them all. Legion says he won't give them the password because it can only be spoken by a man of great faith, faith which Legion has lost, yet in the process tells them accidentally that it is "BAKED FISH". Vehrn says the password to the door and it opens for them.

Inside the temple, the party fights through the undead, accursed remains of the corrupted priests as they make their way to the heart of the building. As they arrive in the room that houses the strange purple stone that corrupted the priests' minds, the detached soul of a high priest appears before Mardek and Vehrn and asks for them to depart and leave the stone so that no more people can fall to its mind warping powers. Vehrn acknowledges that the spirit's intentions seem fair and good, but goes to take the stone anyway due to being on orders from a legitimate high priest and because this dead priest is clearly no longer in YALORT's favor. The spirit battles the party and, upon losing, allows them to pass, wishing them good fortune with whatever may happen because of the stone being moved. Legion's yellow soul once again speaks up and calls out to the spirit, who recognizes him as Bostolm, one if the monastery's wisest minds before the stone arrived and drove most of the priests to insanity. After the short reunion, the high priest's spirit departs to elsewhere in the monastery and Vehrn takes the stone.

Earth Runestone[]

Elsewhere in the Lifewood, Mardek finds Muriance, the bandit chief, at the entrance to the Earth Temple. Muriance claims to be a changed man since the previous chapter, and that he is trying to enter the temple so that he can find artifacts with which he would raise money for children and so forth. Muriance, however, is stuck outside of the temple and explains that the door apparently requires a special runestone for a key. Muriance possess half of the runestone, but the other half is missing and Mardek needs to find it if anybody is to enter the temple.

The party returns to the Yalortian High Priest at Aeropolis and gives him the purple stone. He thanks them for their work and then tries to think of some other work he can issue them in order to keep Vehrn busy. The priest pulls out another sort of stone and gives it to them, saying that their new quest is to find out what it does and use it. Vehrn is greatly annoyed by this, but leaves with Mardek to find the stone's use anyway.

Returning to the Lifewood, Muriance accepts the stone as the missing piece of the runestone they need to enter the Earth Temple. He takes the stone and then ambushes the party with a group of bandits. By the time the bandits are defeated, Muriance has escaped into the depths of the temple in order to steal the Earth Crystal.

Elemental Crystals (Cont.)[]

Mardek and his allies proceed to travel through the Earth Temple, copy certain magical sequences, and eventually unlock the chamber that houses the elemental crystal. Inside, they find Muriance lying on the ground, pretending that he had been defeated by the Earth Guardian but quite obviously only waiting for Mardek's party to become occupied with the fight with the guardian. Also there is the Earth Guardian itself, who cheerfully engages Mardek's group in battle. With the guardian's defeat, they move on to the crystal itself, where they find Muriance once more. This time, Muriance himself finally fight Mardek's party in an attempt to take advantage of their fatigue that the previous battle would have caused. When Muriance is defeated, he reveals that he owns a warp stone and escapes in a way similar to that of the Mystery Man in the Dark Temple, except it did not occur to Muriance that he could take the crystal with him when he escapes. Mardek takes the Earth Crystal and leaves while trying to ignore the plant life around them withering away from the removal of the crystal.

Lost Fairies[]

To start another optional sidequest, the bandits that Mardek faces in the beginning of the Earth Temple drop a key with which Mardek may enter a warehouse in the Aeropolis slums. Inside this warehouse, a bandit is selling five frozen fairies that had been kidnapped from the Lifewood. Mardek can spend large sums of money to purchase these fairies and then return them to their home in the Lifewood for some rewards.

Elemental Crystals (Cont.)[]

With two crystals obtained, Mardek's party heads to Crimson Peak and the Fire Temple. After going through the volcano, they encounter the World's Saviours. The Saviors are also seeking the Fire Crystal and decide that they will look at it as a race to see which party finds the crystal first. Inside the Fire Temple, however, the Saviors find themselves completely unable to figure out how the crystal can be reached. Mardek's party, however, successfully interacts with several enchanted totems that demand tests of speed and might, thus unlocking the door to the crystal room. The party fights and defeats the Fire Guardian, and takes the Fire Crystal for themselves, once again ignoring the detrimental effects this has in the temple as all the fires and torches in the area are extinguished.

When leaving the crystal chamber of the Fire Crystal, they again encounter the World's Saviors, who frustratedly demand a battle for the crystal. Once the Saviors are defeated, their leader, Bartholio, requests to at least be able to visually see the crystal itself as motivation for the Saviors' future quests. Mardek obliges to the request before moving on to the final elemental crystal that they know about.

The Air Temple is located right in the center of Aeropolis, and has been guarded by priests that refuse to allow Mardek entry. The party goes to the temple now, despite it seeming unlikely that they could enter, out of having nowhere else to go to in the meantime. Much to their surprise, however, there is another Knight of Goznor and a member of the Royal Guard there waiting for Mardek to come by. The knight says that he too has noticed that there is something wrong with the king, but he was sent in order to request Mardek return to the castle and report on his quest so far.

Once at the castle, Rohoph decides in a fit of frustration that it's time to call out Qualna on his schemes. He says that what they've done to far in hopes of stopping any progress Qualna may make has done more harm than it could likely ever have done good. Mardek, Donovan, Sharla, Sslen'ck, Solaar, Elwyen, Gloria, Meraedor, Legion, and Vehrn all enter into the throne room, much to the surprise of the possessed king, who asks in confusion why they have not brought him any of the elemental crystals yet. Rohoph shouts for Qualna to give up the act and face them properly, only to be frustrated as the King responds by questioning who this "Qualna" person is. As Rohoph's anger rises, he calls again for Qualna to abandon his "degraded" acting talents and face them without the current show of cowardice. In response, the King calls for the Royal Guards to capture Mardek's party, but the sheer numbers of the party makes the guards present balk. Finally, the King steps forward to try to take down the group by himself. After the fight, Qualna's possession over the King breaks as the King sustains a fatal wound and falls to the floor. As his strength rapidly fades, he calls for his son, Donovan, to take up the crown and rule Goznor. Meanwhile, Clavis arrives on the scene and begins to ask peculiar, insensitive questions of the group. Rohoph, still angered that Qualna still has yet to show himself, begins to yell at Clavis for entering with such poor timing and for such little reason. It is then that Clavis reveals himself to have been Qualna in disguise the entire time. (This section is incomplete.)

Badges[]

Off to See the Lizard
  Off to See the Lizard Badge
Medium pts
  
MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3 » Complete the sun temple
Finally,-We-Got-a-PROFANITYing-Crystal
  "Finally, We Got a (PROFANITY)ing Crystal!" Badge
Hard pts
  
MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3 » Acquire a crystal for real
One Kinged Angel
  One Kinged Angel Badge
Hard pts
  
MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3 » Complete the story events
Psychosomatic Exhaustion
  Psychosomatic Exhaustion Badge
Impossible pts
  
MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3 » Leave no sidequest unturned

Helpful Links[]

MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3 forum on Kongregate

Advertisement