Prehistoric Crisis: Phoenicia Graveyard
- Angel Ramon
- Jul 5, 2018
- 4 min read
The graveyard in the region of Phoenicia is where the dead are buried and given their respect. Even though it's not considered a "major area" in the region of DinoRule and the story, there is a decieving amount of things to do here and quite a few 'attractions' located as well. In fact, this graveyard is more that meets the eye. So much so that it deserves it's own blog post.
The graveyard as you would expect is devoid of dinosaurs with the exception of the Diplodocus. These long necked dinosaurs are located in the forest surrounding the graveyard. These dinosaurs are mostly harmless and just mind their business while eating the leaves from the tress.
During the day the graveyard is filled with a few people who pay respect to the heros of DinoRule or their loved ones. However, it's during the night where the true nature of the graveyard comes to light. The gravekeeper, Dante is in charge of making sure the graves are not touched and he keeps the place clean for the next day. During the day he's asleep as he works only at night.
Dante also has a side business called the "Dante Gravedigging Tour". He'll charge 5 Blue Crystals so he can dig a hole where he's standing and anything that's under the hole the payee gets to keep. Of course, there's no guarantee that there will be anything under the hole, it's literally a crap shoot. There can be anything from Blue/Green Crystals to even a Heart Piece to increase max health.
The graveyard will be the first place where Stephen will spot the cursed Golden Spiders. Out of the 4 that are in the area, 3 can only be found during the night. As Stephen explores the graveyard further, he'll see that all the tombstones can be pulled. However, that doesn't mean he should.
Some of the tombstone will hold rewards, such as hidden tombs where he can find new powerups. Others though will awaken ghosts called DarkSoulers, these ghosts have torches in their right hands they use to attack their victims. Also, when Stephen tries to attack they will often disappear with only their torches showing. At that state, sword attacks will not strike them until a special pickup is found enabling Stephen to see the invisble.
There are a few tombs in the graveyard. One lead to a small tomb where the Shield of Phoenicia can be found which is a steel shield that is specially used for the Fire Temple to avoid being burned. In the tombs there are also zombies, these are the undead of popular heroes of the area who have been reawaken by the evil Aries. While these zombies move rather slow, they make up for this by freezing the target by simply staring at it. The target will be unable to move any part of their body for a few seconds. Within this time the zombie will walk towards the target and jump on them to begin biting them.
While these zombies are scary and can deal alot of damage, they do have a weakness. They are only found in dark areas away from sunlight. Stephen can cast the 'Sun Spell' and it will freeze all zombies within range and he can attack zombies in the back as that is their weak spot.
There is a hill at the graveyard and at the top of the hill, there is a huge tombstone that cannot be moved. In the area of the hill, it's constantly raining. However, as soon as one leaves the hill the rain suddenly stops. On the tombstone there is an inscription that says that the Royal Family Tomb will open to the one that can bring the sun out. Stephen uses the 'Sun Spell' to gain access to the Royal Family Tomb.
There is a final huge underground tomb where Stephen will meet the first ever gravekeeper in DinoRule. He'll have to follow him around the tomb and keep up, if he does he will gain a key item that he'll need to navigate the rest of the realm.
As revealed by Rauru, the graveyard is more than just a place for the dead to rest. It is also a hub for the element of Shadow that is maintained by the two shadow sages, Kyle and Angel. According to legend, the two sages have struggled to stay on the same page. Kyle is the sage that maintains the Shadow Temple that lies under the graveyard while Angel maintains the Temple of Death that lies within the forbidden Forest of Death beyond the graveyard.
However, those places are unreachable until Stephen learns a special spell that will allow him to warp to the top of the graveyard where the gates to the Forest of Death lies. The Shadow Temple and Forest of Death are considered off limits as legends and rumors of necromancy. In fact, a group of people known as the Shieks were exiled from Phoenicia to the Forest of Death due to their belief of talking to the dead. They were accused of doing dark rituals in the graveyard close to where the Shadow Temple is located and people believe the DarkSoulers that haunt the graveyard are due to the Shieks.
Whether that's true or not, Stephen will have to find out as he goes. Just like people tell you to stay away from graveyards at night, this is one graveyard you'll want to stay away from if you're weak.
Above is an incomplete repica of the graveyard that my friend did on Minecraft. I hope you enjoyed this post and I'm hard at work on the book that will hopefully come out Late Summer/Early Fall.
