Once the Fire Palace is secure, King Amar III will let you know that the Cannon Travel service in town can now send your party to the Empire's continent, landing near Southtown. Southtown is the smallest city in the Empire and it is really only large enough for an Inn. If the party looks around the city they will eventually spot a man guarding a nearby grate. He will recognize the Mana Sword and direct the party to speak with Mara, an elderly widower who lives alone the north-west edge of town.
Speaking with Mara, she quickly brings the party inside her home, she says she is a Tasnican spy and can give the party a way to infiltrate Northtown, a boarder city nearest to the Emperor's Palace. Mara gives you a password to give to the man guarding the gate to gain entry to the Southtown Sewers.
The sewers is a broad path that snakes slightly to the left. The path makes the travel to Northtown quick and you avoid the Empire patrols above ground. The sewers themselves pass a large freshwater river underground and may have some predatory fish and slimes within. The exit of the sewers in Northtown currently leads to the basement of the Resistance headquarters.
The leader of the rebels here, Krissie, introduces herself and lets you know that a Dyluck is draining people's energy in the ruins outside of town, she asks you to investigate. Northtown is a larger city and has many amenities. Watts, the blacksmith even works out of the Armor shop from time to time.
Go out the eastern exit of Northtown to get to the ruins. You'll find Phanna out front saying she's happy with Dyluck there, draining people's energy. The Girl smacks her hard enough to knock her out, and Krissie agrees to get Phanna to a doctor.
The Northtown Ruins are infested with ghosts, slimes, bats, imps, and zombies. Made to worship madness the labyrinthian ruined palace can be difficult to navigate, but a few secret chests hold some gold and a +5 Spear. The main ritual room is protected by a spiked curtain that must be deactivated by following a nearby hidden narrow corridor to a switch that is protected by a slime. The switch will retract the spiked curtain and reveal a possessed wall.
BOSS -Doom Wall- Animated wall that has a single eye. This eye casts a strong Doom Laser. But once the eye is killed the wall will be easily knocked down, revealing the Main Ritual Room.
This room holds a large altar, where a bewitched Dyluck waits. He will immediately attack The Girl and drains her energy before teleporting her out of the room to his master. The Boy and Dyluck will fight until he gets hit hard enough in the head to remember and shake off some of the enchantment. Dyluck will tell the party to hurry to the back room to stop Thanatos before he drains The Girl completely. Thanatos, a powerful necromancer is able to prevent the party from getting close. Dyluck, still weak uses his connection to grant the party enough energy to move and break free from Thanatos' spell. Enraged his plans are being interrupted Thanatos summons a Vampire to deal with the party as he teleports away, bringing Dyluck with him.
BOSS -Vampire- A master creature who is resistant to non-magical damage and is able to fly around casting spells. When the Vampire does drop to the ground they do it to try to feed on a target, regaining hit points in the process.
After this the Resistance will receive a message from Emperor Vandole expressing a desire for peace and calls a truce for a peace meeting at the castle. To get to the Emperor's Castle, go out the north exit of Northtown. Head inside the doors and go through the castle to get upstairs. You'll find nobody from the resistance there, just the emperor, who says it's his lucky day, he gets to crush the resistance and the mana knight in one blow. The resistance fell for a simple trap. The Emperor activates a pit that drops the party into a dungeon cell with a beast.
BOSS -Metal Mantis- A slow moving creature whose attacks can stun and sometimes uses a fire beam to ignite foes on fire.
Defeating the Metal Mantis and the party will be able to open a grate that leads to a sewer under the Palace. A nearby path leads up to the Palace. The Emperor's troops: Armored Man and Ninjas are active to your presence and are patrolling the Palace. To rescue the Resistance members or confront the Emperor the party must make their way to the War Room, where the Emperor meets with his Generals. General Geshtar says he wishes to reclaim his honor and fight you for a second time. The Emperor agrees and teleports the party to the room, where Geshtar appears in his Advanced Mech Rider gear.
BOSS -Mech Rider 2- Geshtar is fast, he continues to cast 'Speed Up' on himself and rides around on his hoverbike to shoot missiles at the party. Upon defeat he will activate a destruct on his bike and send it toward the party, bailing himself out. The explosion will create a firestorm that will force the party to jump or burn.
Realizing you are traped and don't know what to do is when King Truffle appears riding on the back of the White Dragon, Flammie. Now nearly fully grown and ready to assist the party with a rescue. Flammie grew surprisingly fast but King Truffle recognized the time had come to reunite them with the Party. Giving you 'Flammie's Drum', Flammie's favorite toy, a small drum that can call Flammie to you over vast distances. Dropping King Truffle back to Fung Castle the party can now use Flammie to fly anywhere in the world. Finally, King Truffle tells the party what they seek next should be in the Lofty Mountains.
Darkness Palace - Lofty Mountains. Nestled in a forest path is a large cavern in the mountain. Two caves divert deeper in the cavern, the western cave leading to a dead end. The eastern cave leads to a large room made from carved stone. The room has three archways, the rooms on the right and left archways lead to a small chamber with an altar. The central archway is a stone wall save for a small crack only revealed through close inspection. The altar in the right room must be turned to face the center, then the altar in the left room must be turned to case the center. The crack in the wall will open to reveal the entrance to the Darkness Palace. The Darkness Palace is currently guarded by a few Dark Knights, armored men of the Empire. They have been corrupting the Mana Seed of Darkness for a while. Defeating the two Dark Knights will reveal the way to the inner sanctuary.
BOSS - Lime Slime- A Humongous Dark Slime that engulfs nearly the entire central chamber, a monstrous blob. The floor and walls are slick with sickly slime residue. Although Lime Slime does not attack, touching it could poison or engulf you in flame. Lime Slime is also immune and resistant to a multitude of elements and attacks. It seems only the Magic of Salamando can harm it. Ever time it takes damage, it shrinks. Once it is too small to exist it releases Shade.
Shade is the Mana Spirit of Darkness. Once you use your Mana Sword to cleanse and reseal the Mana Seed, Shade will be cleansed of the corruption. Shade thanks the party by granting The Sprite access to it's offensive spells. As an entity of darkness, it has no defensive or support spells to offer The Girl.
Outside the Cavern leading to the Palace of Darkness is a path leading to a small hermitage near the pinnacle. Inside this Hermitage is Jecht, the assistant to the Sage Joch. Jecht will inform the party that Sage Joch is at the Gold Isle and the party should search for him there. The only way to reach the isle is with Flammie.
Gold Island is a small island that sports a city plated in gold. North of the city is the Gold Tower, the seat of power for the Richest Man in the World, the King of Gold City. The Tower is locked and sealed and requires a specific key. Only one old-man in town will know that the thief who stole the key was a Tasnican spy, with a Resistance codeword he will tell you the spy was caught by the Empire in Southtown. (To gain access to Gold Tower the party will have to return to Southtown and talk to Mara, who will have the key and give it to the party.)
Gold Tower(Palace of Light) There are five floors of the tower and each floor has a few strange monsters.
BOSS - Blue Spiked Tiger - An amped up version of the Spiked Tiger. Hyper-active it balls itself up and rolls around, spinning it's dangerous spiked body. When cornered it can cast fireball and Acid Rain.
BOSS -Gorgon Bull- An advanced Minotaur who charges ferociously. When cornered the Gorgon Bull can breathe petrify gas.
The top floor of the tower is the Stage Room for the Mana Seed of Light. Using your Mana Sword to reseal the seed will restore the barrier and release Lumina, the Mana Spirit of Light. Lumina thanks the party by granting The Girl access to her magic spells. Lumina is opposes to the magic of Shade, so The Sprite cannot learn any of her spells. Lumina informs the party that the King was exploiting the mana seed to make gold and now that the barrier has been restored he wont be able to do that anymore. She suggests the party return to Sage Loch's hermitage.
Jecht will now inform the party that Sage Joch is at the Moon Palace, a Palace that Flammie cannot fly to, so they must drop the party off nearer in Kakkara desert. The Sea of Wonders...