Volume 3, Part 3: Valencia

We arrived into the world and the clockwork machine before us was even more awe-inspiring close up. I saw fleets of ships manned by metal men - Armada Ships. I shuddered as I recalled the time I had been locked up in Deacon's brig. At that time I thought I was going to Marleybone because I knew they dealt with clockworks... but now I knew that I had been wrong, this cold storm-wracked world would be where I would have been taken... and now I was here willingly to locate another piece of the Map.

"Land ho!" cried Bonnie Anne from the crow's nest, and I spotted it - a small mansion on an island adrift in the middle of the coldness. I ordered the boat to dock - I saw the telltale life fountain so I knew this was a safe haven.

Indeed, this place looked like a rich person's home and was more at home in Monquista than here in this cold place, that was my first thought. I noticed a unicorn man and approached.

"Are you Steed?" I asked. I pulled out the talisman Hooktail gave to me. His reaction answered my question. "I need your help to find a..."

"So, you have come to talk to the Resistance, have you not?" he asked, interrupting me. I nodded. "I'm afraid it is too late, the Armada have completely taken over. Any feeble attempts at resistance are futile. I am sorry you came so far for nothing."

I sighed. "I am here looking for information about Marco Pollo."

He looked quizzically at me. "The famous explorer." He sighed. "Alas, the only place you could find any information about Marco Pollo is in the library at Sivella, and the Armada have that place on lock-down. From the way your ship looks, you must be a pirate from Skull Island and snuck in through Avernus. Very foolish... but still, I will try to help. You will need a disguise to sneak into Sivella. Go hunt down Armada ships and bring back pieces of the clockwork soldiers, and we should be able to craft a suitable costume to hide your identity."

It was easier said than done - the Armada ships were quite tough, and even the Rosa Francisco was outmatched. When two ships converged, I quickly booked the sihp and hide from them so they didn't gang up on us. But in the end, I managed to acquire the parts of a clockwork soldier which I presented to Steed.

He fashioned a disguise around my body. "Perfect, you look like them. It won't scrutinize well if you get too close to the real thing but you should be able to fool them from far away."

The suit was stuffy and suffocating - I wish he had put in a mouth hole for me to breathe, but I knew it would destroy the efficiency of the disguise. Still, what felt like full plate armor made me walk jerkily, so the Armada soldiers we met - I had to pass off my companions as 'prisoners' to keep the soldiers from getting suspicious - didn't question my identity.

I was surprised to find Prospector Zeke here as well as a Krokotopian Transportal. I guess the Armadans knew they would benefit from tourism. Zeke asked me to find some seagulls, but all I saw were mechanical birds. (This was later something I helped some of the non-mechanical residents study.)

 

This side-quest's completion unlocks the unicorn fencer as a companion in the Crown Shop

We explored Sivella closely and even helped a unicorn prince, Rodelfo Capello, escape from the library after silencing some Armada guards. Steed's hopes were rekindled when he saw that one of the leaders of the Resistance was alive and well.

 

Unfortunately, we were a bit too late - the Armada had ripped the library from limb to limb and confiscated everything connected to the famous explorer.

"There were a few crates with books that was shipped to a nearby fortress," said the head librarian. "If you hurry, you might be able to take them back and find out, if not Marco Pollo's archives, at least where the Armada has taken them."

Fan had gained her first promotion, thus the feather in her cap. I paid her gold and she trained a lot and grew stronger.

 

We invaded the fortress and dealt with the small regiment of clockwork guards stationed there. We scoured the entire tower and found a letter written in code which we took back to Sivella and got decoded.

"It says the lot were taken to Cizah," I said.

The head librarian grew terrified and sighed in despair. "The books are lost. Cizah is Kane's seat of power."

I gasped. "You mean, where he lives?"

"Yes," said the librarian. "If the books are there, getting them is impossible. The security here is nothing compared to what is in Cizah."

I began to cuss. The Armada probably had...

"Perhaps not," said another unicorn librarian. "Pirate, have you perhaps heard of Granchia?"

"Granchia!" said the head librarian. "Yes! That is where Marco Pollo lived when he was not traveling and where his remains were buried! It is said some of his works were buried with him. If you are seeking something of his, maybe it is buried in his tomb in Granchia."

Granchia was a small village not far from Sivella, but already we seemed to be late - the Armada had the jump on us and were destroying the town. One scholar told me that they were tearing the city apart to feed their Machine with the rubble. (It is VERY easy to get pulled into battle here, so be careful where you walk. You need to talk to the scholar near the life fountain, then examine the tomb door, talk to the scholar again and find the entrance to the catacombs. I just altered the story a bit. If you read my Wizard101 blog, The Tightwad Conjurer, you might recognize the mysterious ally.)

I rescued some works of art and gave them to Steed, and the scholar who asked me to save them profusely thanked me. His disciple, a crab hermit, asked to join my crew and I gladly accepted him into my fold. (Yes, Agnes got this crab hermit as a companion for completing the sidequest. I think only swashbucklers get this guy just like only Swashbucklers could get the Frogfather's nephew, Tricky Vinny, who I have never used. The next part is my own writing - this doesn't happen in game.)

Sadly, the Armada's attacks had destroyed the front door to the tomb, making it impossible to break in. Just then, a dark-skinned woman my age in a hooded cloak stepped in front of me. "Do not worry, Mma Thatcher. I am here to help you."

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

She pulled the hood away to reveal amber eyes. "I am a Diviner from Wizard City, my name is Grace Rainsmith, and I am a practitioner of Storm magic. I am here on behalf of Rra Ambrose to help you investigate the Armada."

Ratbeard grew hostile. "A freaking wizard! Keelhaul her, Captain! Wizards be nothing but trouble!"

"Aye, Captain my Captain," warned Old Scratch. "Wizards practice strange magic... I am surprised the Armada did not kill her. The Armada seeks to crush all magic users."

I turned to them and shook my head. "No, let her speak." I turned to the woman, Grac.e "Look, I am a bit wary of your magical skills, but I am more curious as to why the headmaster of Ravenwood School of Magical Arts is interested in the Armada and send of his students to risk her life in an anti-magic society like Valencia."

"I admit that Rra Ambrose warned me that you pirates are not fond of our... powers," said Grace softly. "And yes, I am risking my life being here amidst these clockworks - I was told they hate magic. But I am not a private detective for nothing. I was raised amidst the people of Zafaria and learned to be discreet and stealthy. At least let me direct you to a hidden entrance into the tombs of Marco Pollo. Rra Ambrose has figured out about Avery's quest to find the map of El Dorado and your hand in it, and wishes to help you out."

"Yes?" I said.

"It's true," said a tiny voice. A little mermaid emerged from behind the girl. "Ambrose and Avery agree on one thing - if the Armada invade the City of Gold, it will be bad news for both pirates AND wizards, no? But we aren't going to get in your way."

Grace pushed a map of Granchia into my hands with an x marked on it. "The x marks the secret entrance to the tombs," she said as she turned to leave. "I used my magic to deal with most of the guards." And then she was gone.

"Well, let's check it out," I said. "And don't worry, I can handle a trap."

We found the hole in the ground and entered it. Sure enough, there was a pile of smoking scrap which looked like humanoids. It was like a powerful lightning attack that destroyed them. I sighed and nodded. Maybe it would be good to have a wizard ally. But I didn't press my luck - chances are more of the clockworks would investigate the sudden demise of their last patrol.

We hurried up the stairs on the other side and found ourselves in the tower itself. I saw a casket with a statue and bowed in respect. This was probably the coffin of Marco Pollo himself. Just then, I felt a spirit possess me.

I sense you are an adventurer and are searching for my map... the City of Gold is a curse that should never be discovered... but I entrust you with the location of the Stormgate... take this Windstone and use it to continue your quest...

I felt my hands touch the casket and a small compartment opened, revealing a blue Windstone. My hands went to it and installed it into my compass. I was stunned. Marco Pollo's ghost had spoken to me! Clearly he knew the danger ahead...

Just then, an army of clockworks stormed the tower, lead by a jester. "Who are you?" I asked.
"I am Phule, one of Kane's confidants," said the jester clockwork. "I know what you are looking for, little Agnes."

"You heard about me from Deacon, didn't you," I said.

"True," said Phule, stroking his chin. "A pity that fat captain rescued you before we could find out the location of the piece of Marco Pollo's map that your family had, but we had a feeling you'd come here eventually, looking for the Map... you're too late! We already have the map piece that was here!"

I was angry as I heard his voice speaking from either side of his face - first his white happy smiling face and then his black angry face. I felt like I was being mocked. I wasn't going to believe that Marco Pollo had gifted a piece of the map to El Dorado to my parents, even though I remembered their spirits speaking to me back in the Valley of the Gold Monkey. "Give that piece to me!"

"Kane has it now, you will need to ask him," chuckled the creature. "You know, I am tempted to let you go... you could prove a thorn in the sides of Deacon... Bishop... even Kane himself."

Then he frowned. "Seize them!" He fled and the clockworks advanced to attack.

We kept fighting the clockworks for a while until a familiar voice shouted from above. "Agnes! Destroy the leaders! As long as they stand, they will keep summoning clockworks!"

I saw Grace witnessing the battle from a higher window and nodded. "Do as she says!" I commanded. "Destroy the leaders!"

The battle was long and tiring, but Grace had saved us by pointing out the army's weakness - when the two Severus clockworks were destroyed, the rest deactivated. I wiped my brow and turned to see that the wizard girl had left.

"Blast," said Ratbeard. "We lost that piece of the map!"

I sighed and shook my head. "The Armada has one piece, we have one piece... we must not let them get any more pieces..." I looked back up to the window where Grace had sat... and then looked down at the blue windstone now embedded in my compass. A very familiar childhood feeling pulsed through it and I knew it would lead me to new adventures... but right now I wanted to go home.

[To be continued...]

(There was actually a lot of stuff that Agnes did but it's all side-quests... the main story here is the shortest story quest line in the game next to Monquista, but at least that world had a bunch of dungeons to fill itself out - Aragorn Skyway has a lot to be desired. I apologize for not uploading many screenshots but it's getting harder and harder to type in my blog as my keyboard is getting sticky and sometimes messes up and trying to put together updates is liking pulling teeth. I promise, Cool Ranch will have a ton of updates - that world is HUGE.)