Valley of Fiends
Thursday, April 24th, 2008Comparison
Details
Area: ? X ?
Status: 55% complete (some maps through second pass)
Summary
The first area you encounter outside of Coneria is the Valley of Fiends. This is not in the original game, but I decided to name it that because it’s the path that leads to the Temple of Fiends. The valley takes a while to traverse and you won’t see many friendly faces. Any human who lives or works out here has to be slightly crazy or very well-equipped.
The valley starts as soon as you hit the forest, the second one you’ll encounter after the Coneria Forest. You can run along the edge of the forest and meet the Centaur’s hideout. (NOTE: Centaurs weren’t in the original game, they take the place of Madpony’s, which is used as a derrogatory name for them in the lore of tqff). If you go straight through, you’ll eventually run into the swamp/marsh area. There’s a cave that also grants you access to the marsh, cutting through the forest. It’s not really a shortcut though.
The swamp is pretty decent in size. Not much to see other than rotting trees. A strange, broken statue can be found, but why it’s there is unknown. After the swamp, you’ll be out of the Valley and into the final Passage of the Fiends, which harbors the Temple.
Forest
This is a view showing the path that leads into the forest from the Coneria Plains. This path is often untrodden and so it’s dissappearing into the natural scene. Halfway through the forest, the path is gone. In the distance you can see the leave-less trees of the swamp and the mountain range that borders the valley.
This is just an in-game view of the forest, giving an idea of how uncivlized the area is. You’ll often be running through familiar areas, which, without that handy minimap, could make it very easy to get lost. Enjoy the flowers and the fresh air while you can; the swamp after this is a nasty place to pass through.
On the Eastern edge of the forest, the rocky coast continues all the way to the mountainous border. This rocky coast stretches all the way down to the tip of the Coneria Docks. From this angle, you can see too deep into the thick forest before your view becomes obstructed.
Near the Eastern coast, there’s a cave with secret treasures. The cave omits an odd blue light and is often missed being so far out of the way from the main journey. Hence the spider webs and roots forming around the entrance.
This is the cave that is an alternate route to the swamp area ahead. It all depends on what you want to fight, as you’ll find a completely different set of baddies down this direction. The other path will have you going right over the top of this cave. As you can tell, the forest is thick on the lower path leading to the cave, making it a bit hard to get to. This next image is a view inside the cave.
Last, we have a sunset view of the Centaur’s cave on the Western side of the forest, right next to the tree-less coast. The Centaur’s have set up a little training ring and live in the cave in the distance. They’re a bit untidy with the weapons they leave lying around everywhere.
Swamp
The swamp is a foggy, mysterious place. Many people don’t go beyond the forest if they even get that far. In this image, you can see a broken statue that has lost its history. The laid-out cobblestone around it are barely visible with the grass over taking them. In the distance, you can see the ocean just barely through the misty fog.
Who lives here is another mystery. The rumor is that it is a witch. This settlement is just off the main line leading from the forest to the Temple of Fiends and the risen-house gives it way that whoever does live here doesn’t want to be bothered. Who knows what the cauldron of blue fire is for…
This is the exit from the cave in the forest of the Valley of Fiends. It brings you right out into the mucky swamp and doesn’t avoid much of the unfriendly area. A few flowers can be seen, which means you aren’t too far from a nicer place to run to, should you feel the need to escape.
The edge of the lowland marsh collides with the ocean. The mucky water is nearly stagnant and unmoving, so the clearer ocean water crashes at its edge, forming waves. In the distance, the mountain range that borders the western side of the valley can be seen. Most of the land in the swamp is barely above the sea level and plenty of it isn’t.
Here’s an in-game view near the edge of the marsh. Lots of interesting creatures nest make their nest here. Can you spot the frog and the bird in this picture?
Monsters
This section will be updated in the future….