The Ship of God being deep under the ocean, I looked and saw what was clearly the wreckage of a wooden ship.
"We'd better go check it out," said Muriel.
We anchored the ship right next to the wreck.
We had left Reidock Castle after I decided to continue my search for the remaining three legendary armaments. We visited Dhama Shrine so that Muriel can change her class to merchant, and visted the Medal King to exchange our small medals for the Sword of Miracles which I equipped.
"So how do we get inside?" asked Barbara. "We're not fish, you know."
I then walked out through the bubble. Surprisingly, a small bubble formed around my head.
"Look like we can breathe," I said. "But we'd better be quick about this; this air will go stale soon."
I looked around the wrecked ship. the ship must have sunk some time ago; I could not tell exactly what caused this ship to sink.
Scrounging around, I found soem items, including a small medal. Going to the lower deck of the ship, there was a treasure chest. Opening the chest, I found this key.
I put it in my pocket and went back to the Ship of God. We then continued sailing underwater.
ooooooooooo
"Let's surface right here," I said, looking at the Magic Map.
I played the Mermaid Harp and the Ship of God rose to the surface, radiating ripples from where it rose. Just a few miles away there was land. I looked through the spyglass.
"there's a buolding there," I said. "Better check it out."
We set anchor next to the coastline and walked towards the building. A sign identified it as an inn. Perhaps travelers could assist us on our quest. Leaving the ship, we approached the inn.
There were a couple of people at the inn; I looked around and asked about the Sword of Ramias. Some other people were also looking for the legendary sword.
"The priest Zam knew how to release the sword," said a priest staying at the inn.
"Where can I find him?" I asked.
"I don't know; no one has seen him in fifty years."
That evening, we sat in our room at that same inn. It was a nice place, almost as nice as my bedchamber in Reidock Castle.
"How do you even know if this Zam fellow is still alive?" asked Hassan. "He was last seen fifty years aog or so."
"Maybe he revealed the secret to some of his fellow priests," said Muriel. "Or he could have left behind a book."
"I heard there's a town north of here," said Chamoro. "Maybe they know where Zam is."
"We'll head over there tomorrow," I said. "We need to get some sleep."
ooooooooooooo
The next morning, we set out from the inn. It was a bit chilly, so we all wore overcoats as we sat inside the wagon.
About half an hour later, we found out where the chill was coming from.
The clouds above snowed down on us.
"Snow at this time of year?" asked Barbara, wrapping her arms around her chest.
Falshion pulled the wagon through the snow.
"Look over there," said Chamoro. "There's a town."
"Good," I said. "Maybe we can buy a hot drink." Even with my overcoat, I could feel the chill to my very bones.
We finally reached the town, with the buildings dusted in snow. A sign identified the town as Mt. Snow.
"Where is everybody?" asked Muriel.
I looked around. Nobody else was moving about the streets. "Maybe they're all indoors because of the cold," I said.
"Look," said Hassan.
Hassan was standing next to this ice sculpture. It looked just like a little boy walking.
I had a feeling about what this was. I opened the door to one of the houses.
What I saw in there was completely expected. The people in the cast were encased in ice.
None of us had to say it; the people here were frozen in time. We looked around, visiting the inn and the church.
"Whatever happened here happened suddenly," said Barbara. "They did not even have time to scream."
"We'd better look for anyone who's not frozen," I said.
We looked around the houses and shops. We saw people frozen in the middle of cooking dinner, or ordering drinks from the bar, we even saw a couple frozen in bed.
Entering one of the houses, we saw an old man. Unlike the others, he was not frozen.
"How am I supposed to work in a town like this?" he asked.
"What happened here?" I asked.
"Isn't it obvious, boy?" asked the old man. "The whole town was cursed, frozen in time. I don't know why you're here, but there is a cave to the northeast."
"Okay then," I said. It was obvious where we would have to go next.
oooooooooooooooo
After leaving town, we headed northeast. Sure enough, we found the cave.
"Let's see what's inside," I said, hopping off the wagon and brandishing my Sword of Miracles.
The cave had one chamber. In the center of the chamber was a throne with a woman sitting on top of it. Approiaching the throne, I slipped and skidded on the ice. It took me quite a while to reach the throne.
"Watch your step, boy," said the woman. "The ice is slippery. I haven't had visitors in a long time. Go to the village in the southwest, and fgind the young man Goran."
"Okay," I replied.
oooooooooooo
We headed back to Mt. Snow, wandering the village, looking for a young man among the frozen people.
"How will we find him?" asked Barbara. "It's not as if these ice scupltures can talk."
We continued looking around, but it was no use. There was no way to find out which one of these frozen people was Goran.
"Wait," said Chamoro. "Why not ask that old man? He might recognize Goran."
And so we did, going back to the houser.with the unfrozen old man.
"Damn!" exclaimed someone. "you're no help! I'll go ask someone else."
We then saw the swordsman in blue, the same one who had defeated the monster in the Arcbolt tunnel, leaving the house.
I approahced the old man. "Excuse me, sir," I said. "we are looking for a young man named Goran. Would you happen to know which one of the people here is Goran?"
"So you're looking for him," said the old man. There was a sly smile on his face. "This wrinkled old man is Goran."
"You're Goran?" asked Muriel.
"For fifty years, this town has been frozen. Don't go back to that cave northeast. It will only cause trouble."
Of course, we knew where we had to go next. To the cave.
ooooooooooooo
I spoke with rthe woman in the northeast cave.
"Oh, you've returned," she said. "I suppose Goran told you everything."
"He didn't tell any of us anything," I said.
"Goran found this cave over fifty years ago, after I saved him from the blizzard," she said. "He was supposed to keep the cave a secret, but he told everyone so I froze the town. He has suffered enough though. So I shall remove the curse."
I saw a blue flash. the woman changed appearance. Instead of the white dressd and bloind hair that she had, she instead had icy hair and had ice coveringher torso and upper legs.
"I am the snow queen Yurina," she said. "I am the guardian of nature in this area."
ooooooooooooo
Upon our return to Mt. Snow, we immediately noticed the change.
People were moving about the streets. From the looks of it, none of them are aware of what had happened.
We went back to Goran's house to visit him.
"So you've met Yurina," he said. "I was a bit reckless in my youth. The wholw town froze over for fifty years. I guess I'm the only one who has to suffer. The people here can simply go on as they were."
We left Goran's house. We went here to find the priest Zam, and the best place to find a priest is at the church, so we headed over there.
The church was small, with a red carpet in the main room and an altar in the back. A nun stood behind the altar, oblivious to what had happened here the past half century.
We saw this priest inside one of the inner rooms.
"Do you know where we can find the priest Zam?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm Zam," replied the priest. "What do you want from me?"
"Information about the Sword of Ramias," I replied.
"The sword lies in a cave on the summit of Mt. Snow," said Zam. "But a password and several sentences are required. The password is Cold Blaze. The sentences, I'm not sure if this translates well. By myself I am honest. the daughter of a strong man can lift barrels. When you eat ice, your nose gets cold."
"Thank you," I said, rtaking down notes. "Anythign else, sir?"
"Nothing else, except there may be traps in the cave, and terrible monsters too."
He was telling me soemthing I already knew.
"Let's head out," I said, stepping out of the church. "To the top of the mountain!"
oooooooooooooooooo
We climbed up Mt. snow until we reached the summit. Sure enough, there was a cave.
The firdt thing I noticed was how cold the cave was. It was even colder in here than outside! Shivering, I looked around at my surroundings. We were in this huge chamber, and ahead of us was a door.
We carefully walked across the slippery ice towards the door, which was apparently made of steel. I looked at the notes I took from my conversation with Zam back in town.
"Cold Blaze!" I yelled.
the door lit up, and suddenly all these words appeared. There were three sentences.
None of them matched what Zam told me.
"How do we figure this out?" I asked.
"Zam said something about the translation," said Barbara. "Maybe we should find the phrase closest to the meaning."
I looked at the phrases and at the notes I took from Zam.
"let me try this out," I said. "With a pure heart."
Another srt of phrases appeared. I looked at the second sentence that I had recorded. I read through each phrase carefully.
"The daughter of a strong man," I said. I then looked at the phrases written into the door.
"A blade of hidden powers," I said.
then another set pof phrases appeared on the door.
"When you eat ice, your nose gets cold," I said, reading the notes.
I looked at each phrase, trying to find which one fits best. Ice...cold.
"Breaks free of the ice!" I exclaimed. "With a pure heart, a blade of hidden powers breaks free of the ice!"
"Did it work?" asked Chamoro.
I heard a rumbing, and then the doors opened.
"Now here comes the hard part," said Hassan as we went in.
The floor of the next chamber was slippery ice, and more than once did I slide right into the rock walls.
"Careful," said Muriel. "You could break an arm."
"thanks for the reminder," I said, standing up.
We descended into a chamber where the rock floor was simply covered with a thin layer of frost and thus a lot less slippier. We were in a corridor, and ahead was another ice floor.
Walking along the ice floor, I noticed that it was cracking under our feet.
"We'd better be careful," said Barbara, a white cloud coming out of her mouth as she spoke.
We slowly walked across the ice, even as it cracked underneath our feet. I soon made it to the other side.
Suddenly I heard the ice crack loudly.
"Hassan!" yelled Muriel.
We looked and Hassan was hanging by a ledge. Chamoro and I went to his aid, pulling him up.
"Thanks," he replied.
"Look out!" yelled Barbara.
These three bipedal birds attacked. They were apparently the same species that Jamiras was.
I struck with my Sword of Slumber as Hassan did a Sweep Kick and Chamoro cast attack spells while Muriel breathed fire. Pretty soon, these avian monsters were dispatched. The Sword of Miracles had the effect of healing my wounds.
"Let's go," I said.
Going down, we came across another chamber with a slippery ice floor. We just slid across to some stairs going up. Climbing the stairs, we came acorss this sign.
NORTH WEST EAST SOUTH
THAT IS THE WAY
There were four switches in the room, and a closed door on the far side. The floor looked like it was made of thin ice. We had to be extremely careful.
I walked across the floor, hugging the east wall, even as the ice cracked form under my feet. I reached ther first switch, which was the north switch according to my compass, stepping on the switch with my foot. I then made my way to the switch to the west, stepping on that. I then walked across to the east swithc to step on it. I then walked south towards the souythern switch, stepping on that.
The instant I stepped on the southern switch, the door opened. We all walked along the western wall, towards the open door.
We then entered this chamber. On this pedestal was this sword.
Suddenly, we heard footsteps. I gripped my Sword of Miracles.
We saw it was the blue swordsman we first met at Arcbolt Castle.
the swordsman took a look at the sword.
"This is the legendary Sword of Ramias?" he asked. "this is rusted over! I came all the way to this godforsaken place for nothing. I'd rather use my Sword of Thunder." He then approached us. "Even with the Sword of Ramias, you have no chance against the demon king."
"Who are you?" I asked.
"My name is Terry," he said. "I collect swords."
He then left.
"What is it, Muriel?" asked Barbara. "You looked as if you recognized him or something."
"Uh, it's nothing, Barbara," replied Muriel.
I walked over to the sword. It was indeed coated with a thick layer of rust. "Let's head back to town," I said.
oooooooooooooo
"I can tell you found the lengendary sword," said Zam when we spoke to him again after our return.
"Here's what we found," I said, showing the sword.
"The sword!" Zam exclaimed, the surprise and disappointment clear in his voice. "It's totally rusted away."
"Is there any way to restore it?" asked Chamoro.
"South of the Dhama Shrine, there is a town called Longadeseo," said the priest. "There are some legendary blacksmiths there. Here is a pass that will allow entrance to the town. But be careful, it is a den of thieves."
I took the pass, a piece of paper with writing printed on it. "We'll be careful," I said. "Let us stay at the inn. Tomorrow we head for Longadeseo."