The World Of Western Critters

Welcome to western world of Cool Ranch. With big open skies and a lot of friendly folk. You’ll find a fair number of Chickens, Roosters, Turkeys, Ducks, Horses, Bulls, Frogerales and More! Each willing to help you out on your quests. And they’ll be asking for a little of your help too.

But don’t forget you’re coming to find Merriweather Clark and another piece of Marco Pollo’s map. But Clark has gone missing. Probably the work of the Armada. Watch your back and be on the look out for anyone who might be able to help you in this Big Sky country!

There are two parts to Cool Ranch the way I see it. Both are pretty long and involved. The first part ends when you take on the Duck of Death and defeat him. That gets you closer to the map, but you still need information about Captain Blood and what he has done with it. And that continues in Cool Ranch Part II.

This is a HUGE area so expect on spending some time here. when you think you’re moving on, you’ll open some new areas and still be fighting.

A lot of the bad guys here are pretty powerful. So if you haven’t taken the time to train your companions you may want to do that before you get too far into Cool Ranch. Check the local vendors and see what equipment you can level up to as well. The Captain’s biggest suggestion is to check for better and more powerful weapons! You’re going to need them.

One of the good things about Cool Ranch is the Stormgate is close by, unlike the journey you had to take to get to Valencia. So head on over to the Flotsam Skyway and make your way to your first area of Cool Ranch, the Skyway of Cooper’s Roost.

Cooper’s Roost Skyway
You’ll enter Cool Ranch through the Cooper’s Roost Skyway. Don’t let its vast size fool you. There are some nasty ships out there that can cause some big trouble as you enter this world. So while your making sure you have the best equipment for yourself, check with the local Ship Equipment vendors too. You may find some better items to equip your ship.

When you first enter the skyway you’ll be sailing straight into the isle of Coopers Roost. Go ahead, dock there and talk to the folks on the dock. Get familiar with this place, you’ll visit here a lot. Think of this place like Skull Island. It’s the main hub for this world.

Coopers Roost Docks
The first person you’re sent to meet is Deputy Fowler.

Make sure you look for Don Marina at the edge of the docks near the stairs. He’ll give you a quest to take some supplies to Zeke who’s over on Gold Creek island. Once you’ve talked to everyone on the Dock, run up the stairs to the town of Cooper’s Roost and talk to everyone there to grab their quests. Then before you do anything else, complete the mission to take Zeke his supplies. He’ll give you his next Zeke Quest. If you do this first, you’ll be able to pick up the items through out Cool Ranch to find the Dixie Chicks and that may save you some time with back tracking.

Additionally, you’ll want to complete all the quests in the Cooper’s Roost Skyway before you head off to visit or explore the other skyways. This is the one world where the order of things is really important. Not only to make sense of the story line, but also to help you level up to face the foes in the other skyways. Some of them are really powerful and you’ll want to make sure you can take them on without constantly being defeated.
So keep checking your equipment and gear!

Coopers Roost
Check out the town and pick up some quests that the town folk have for you. You may not do a lot here on your first visit. You’ll have quests to two different skyways after you visit everyone on Main Street. Visit Zeke, then complete the Coopers Roost skyway quests BEFORE you head off to Junction.

Big Sky Skyway
To reach Zeke, you’ll need to sail to your first new skyway in Cool Ranch. As much as you might want to explore up front, save it for later. Visit Zeke and get back to Cooper’s Roost.

Gold Creek
Talk to Zeke and look around the camp. You’ll find a treasure chest nearby. If you like sewing things, you’ll find Eloise Merryweather here as well. Zeke will tell you about a local gal who lost her defenseless little chicks and he’ll ask you to help find them. After all you’ve got a nice fast ship to travel around in. So on to your new task of finding the Dixie Chicks. So head on back to Coopers Roost Skyway, make sure you hook up to a local Life Fountain, and then take care of the sky battles you’ve got lined up.

Arroyo Grande Skyway
Once you’ve completed your quests around Coopers Roost, head up to Junction in the Arroyo Grande Skyway.

Arroyo Junction Docks
The Post Office is right by the found. Talk to Postmaster Bruce and take care of the mail. To talk to the Professor, you’ll need to take the elevator down to lower level of this side of the Isle. Yep, there’s two lower levels and two elevators to get there. If you stand next to the Postmaster and face in the direction he is, you’ll see a tower with what looks like a little house on top. That’s the first elevator. So head on over there and go find the Professor.

Arroyo Grande – Below Ground -First Visit
You’ll visit Arroyo Grande several times while you’re in Cool Ranch. The first thing to know is there are two under ground areas. In your first visit you’ll be sent to Arroyo Grande West where you’ll find the Jolly brothers. Later you’ll be sent to Arroyo Grande East where you’ll find the Wild Bunch warriors and Buffalo Shamans. But we’ll talk about these later on.

The Professor will tell you what happened to Clark and give you a quest to the Bison Burial Ground. Put that aside for now and take on his request to gather his equipment. That little quest will take you around the river and back again. As you pick up the equipment you’ll find Adam and Eric Jolly who will also have a quest for you to complete.

You won’t be able to complete all the quest from the Jolly brothers at first. You’ll have to leave the final battle in the cave until you’ve leveled up a bit. For now, take on the scorpions in the river that they’ve asked you to take care of for now. But be careful to pick the right scorpions to do battle with. You’ll find green and red ones near the elevator and red and black ones near the Professor’s camp. Those red/black ones are the scorpions you’ll be looking to battle with at first.

Now you may have noticed there are a number of caves along the walls in Arroyo Grande. You’ll be sent to them over a course of quests and not necessarily one right after the other. So don’t worry about them for now.

Arroyo Grande – Crawling Cave – Defeat Scorpius
After you take care of the scorpions in the river for the Jolly brothers, one of your companions will notice the scorpion tracks leading along the river and suggests you follow them.

Go ahead and take the suggestion. They’ll lead to a cave across from Adam and Eric Jolly. ~ But don’t go there yet. You’re not strong enough to take on Scorpius who is accompanied by Six lower level scorpions inside.

At this point you should be around level 17 or 18. To dispatch Scorpius and his minions, you’ll need to be level 20 or higher or you will be severely overwhelmed. Set this one aside and go on to the Bison Burial Ground to find Merriweather Clark.

If you do go in, don’t say I didn’t warn ya, Pardner. Step on the sigil and go inside. The first chamber contains little baby scorpions. You won’t get into a fight with them, so don’t worry about avoiding these little guys.

It’s the next chamber you’ll need to watch out for. You’ll meet a Bison Spirit, Venom Heart who will sick the super scorpion, Scorpius on you and your crew. The best course of action is to maneuver your crew against a wall and take out one lower level scorpion at a time. Then focus on Scorpius.

Bison Burial Ground
On your first visit to the Burial Ground you’ll simply run over to the cave to complete your quest. You’ll have 3 battles inside, so make sure you have all your health and companions before you go in. That should be easy since you’re right next to a life fountain.

Bison Sacred Cave
Your mission here is to rescue Nurse Quinn. To do that you’ll face three sets of foes. The first will be living Bison Warriors. Of the three battles, this is the hardest. You will have a chance to fill up on Yum between battles if you’re careful. (There’s no map of the cave).

Your second battle will be against the spirits of the Bison Shamans.

And your final battle will be with the Pets of the Sacred Spirits. I like these guys the best. They’re Jackalope Ghosts! Whisper is the largest of the Jackalopes you’ll face. Consequently he’s the hardest defeat. If you focus your attacks on the other pet ghosts first, you should be able to easily take out Whisper last. With using the extra talents of my Pirate and her companions, it was easy to focus 2 of my crew on 1 Jackalope to defeat it. Then everyone could focus on Whisper.

When you’ve defeated all the foes, Nurse Quinn will tell you that Merriweather has been kidnapped and you’ll need to go rescue him!

Big Sky Skyway
Next you’ll be sent back to the Big Sky Skyway and to Elder Bluff.

Elder Bluff
The main goal here is to talk to Seven Storms and find out what you’ll need to rescue Merriweather Clark. You’ll go through 2 battles in the Bison Lodge. Make sure your health is full because you won’t have a chance to fill up between battles.

Once you impress the Chief, he’ll give you a mission that will allow you to free Clark. That will take you back to Cooper’s Roost Skyway to do a little battle with some Red Sash ships and the on to Hidden Ranch.

But while you’re here, take time to visit the Bison Village and see if you can improve your gear. You’ll find cloths and accessory vendors scattered around the island. Simply check your map, cross a few bridges and you’ll be able improve your equipment. As well as, dress for Ranch culture around here too. Check your map, it’s easy to find.

Hidden Valley Ranch
The Ranch is a dungeon, so make sure you have time to get through the area. There are four areas to the ranch to traverse and battle in. First you’ll take on the Red Sash Thugs in the ranch yard. You’ll be able to refill your life, so don’t worry about that. But there’s not a Life Fountain here, so if you lose any companions you’ll need to use your restoring potion.

Next you’ll go into the Bunkhouse where you’ll face Monterey Jack and his henchmen. Talk to Corporal Sanders and then turn around to go through the trap door to the Yumrunner Cave.

Yumrunner Cave
Two more battles, and if you’re careful you can find potion to refill on here.

Take the ladder behind the 2nd set of Red Sash Thugs to get back outside. You’ll be looking for Slow Jack who has the beads you’re looking for. To get to him, you’ll need to board the ship on the far side of the island. Beads in hand, head back to talk to Seven Storms in Elder Bluff and free Clark.

Of course it’s not that easy. Seven Storms will send you on another mission to ease the souls that were disturbed when the Red Sash Thugs stole the sacred artifacts. So you’ll be going back to the Sacred Burial Grounds.

Bison Burial Grounds
This time you’ll be going up the hill through the gate to the Burial grounds. There are four graves you’ll have to cast your magic upon. And before each of these are ghost warriors to deal with. If you’re careful, you’ll be able to refill your life after each battle.

Once you have eased the souls, you’ll go back to Seven Storms who will release Clark into your custody. He’ll ask you to take him back home.

Coopers Roost
Back in Coopers Roost you’ll accompany Clark to his house on the east side of town. But beware, there are thugs waiting for Clark inside.

Once again you’ll save Clark’s life and he will share information about Pollo’s map. Seems it was his Father’s most prize possession and he promised to keep it safe and it’s location a secret. But remember the part about saving his life? Well he repays you by telling you where you can find the map.

Scorpion Rock
This is the first place for you to look for the Dixie Chicks, so don’t forget about them when you get into the cave. When you land, you’ll run across the island to the cave entrance.

Scorpion Rock Cave
The Cave is a dungeon, so make sure you get the Chick before you leave! You’ll go through several battles here. First you’ll deal with the scorpions, by the door. You’ll need to defeat 6 of these little critters. You’ll be able to refill your life between battles if you’re careful. Next you have to get past the Skeletal Cowboys. And finally you’ll need to defeat the Queen Scorpion and her minions. She’s pretty tough! We ran around and away from her to defeat all her minions first. Then we used all our spells on her and she went down fairly easily. Grab the clue from the chest on the bones and head on out.

Alas, once again the map is illusive. This time it has been taken by someone named Captain Barnabus Blood who at least left a note behind for Merriweather’s dad.

Head on back to Cool Ranch and talk to Merriweather again.

Sheriff Rooster Cogburn
In your conversation with Merriweather you learn that the Sheriff knew Capt’n Blood and you’re sent to speak with him. He doesn’t know a lot about Blood and sends you over to the Saloon. But your visit to the Sheriff  begins an epic round of quests. Once you learn about Blood, the Sheriff will enlist your help as a Bounty Hunter. Each time you return with a prisoner, he’ll send you out again and again and again.

It’s worth it to pick up the villains the Sheriff sends you after. Here’s a list of who you’ll go hunting for and where they are.

Over in the Saloon you’ll end up talking to Desmond Argleston the historian who suggests you speak with the one person who may have knowledge of Captain Blood, the infamous El Toro in Santo Pollo.

Complete the Sheriff’s and Doc’s quests for the Cooper’s Roost and Big Sky areas before you head off to Santo Pollo. You’ll save yourself some time and pick up some needed experience before you go off looking for El Toro.

You might also consider dropping off the Corporal Sanders at Junction before you go as well. Find out if you’ve leveled up enough to take on Scorpius. With a little help from Uncanny Ursala the Witchdoctor Henchman, we took care of Scorpius right quick like. While we were in Junction, we took on a few other quests and picked up some additional experience that will help in Santo Pollo.

Remember if a hostile creatures name is orange  it is more powerful than you, gray is less powerful than you or yellow it is as powerful as you. (Depending on your video resolution for your pc, some of these colors may appear in slightly different colors).

Santo Pollo Skyway
Off to a new skyway ….

Santo Pollo Docks
Your first location in this skyway will be to Santo Pollo where you’ll learn about El Toro, the Banditoads and get into some pretty epic battles in the skyway. Take time to check in with the Ship Parts Vendor and see if you can upgrade any of your equipment. You’re going to need it.

When you arrive in Santo Pollo, pick up the quests on the docks. There are a few folk to talk to here.

Santo Pallo
You’ll receive a quest to talk to Friar Cluck in town. After you speak with him by the church and before you leave town, check with all the vendors and upgrade equipment and attire. You’ll also find several town folk with quests for you to complete. As well as a few in the Tavern. Take time to run around and check the place out; you’ll save yourself time questing time as some will have you defeating the same foes. So you’ll be able to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, if you pick up the quests first.

Before you head off to Bandito Trails, go out into the skyway and complete all the quests for the Dock and Town folk you received. Some of these are quick “pick up items” and others may be tough ship battles, but get them done so you don’t have to retrace your steps.

Isle De Los Muertos
One of the quests you’ll receive is to visit Madame Esmerelda. While you’re out collecting flour and lightening clouds from the skyway, you might as well head over to Los Muertos and speak with her. She’ll give you another skyway quest to take care of while you’re sailing around.

Cave of Echos
Once you complete the task given by Esmerelda, you’ll come back and visit the Cave of Echoes. You’ll face off with the Bison Shamans and Thunderhead to break the curse she told you about.

Check your quests and see if you’ve left anything in the skyway undone. If you’ve completed everything, then head back to Santa Pollo and visit the folk you’ve helped out. The Professor will send you back out into the skyway, so do his task and you should be done flying around for a bit and you’ll be able to head farther into Santo Pollo.

Santa Pollo Township
When you check in town again, you’ll be asked to speak with Don Gutierrez.

It seems his daughter Serena is to be married, but she has been captured by Banditoads in the reception hall. Which as it happens is in a back room at the cantina. Head in there and see if you can take care of the situation for Don Oscar.

When you have succeeded Lumpy Varga will tell you that the bride has been by Froggo Villa to the Bandito Trail. And now, you can finally head off to the trail and see what’s there.

Bandito Trail
The trail is a lot bigger than you might think. There are also two levels to the trail. You’ll see elevators around the area that take you up to railway platforms. These can come in handy when you need to get to the back areas of the trail and you’d like to avoid battles getting there. The first elevator is on the left as you enter the trail. Explore a little and you’ll find places you can’t get into yet, as well as, rail passes that help you get to the middle and far back areas.

There are also many caves here. Some you’ll be able to get into in order to complete your missions and others you don’t have quests for yet. So you know you’ll come back here many more times. For now here’s a map of the Trail, not all the areas are marked yet.

One of the quests you should have for this area is to pick up two more prisoners for Sheriff Cogburn in Caballero Cave. Focus on one enemy at a time and you should be able to pick them up for the Sheriff.

Lagartija Cave
This is a dungeon area. You should have a quest to rescue Serena in Lagartija Cave. You’ll need to get through two areas of Banditoads in order to get to the bride. In the large cave you’ll need to defeat the Banditoads in order to flip a lever that unlocks the gate that gets you to the area where Froggo Villa is and where you can rescue Serena.

Calvera Cave
When you go to check out the Ambush Site you’ll find footprints to a nearby cave. That’s Calvera Cave. Defeat Calvera and help Lefty get free from the wooden cage.

Banditoad Gulch
On to the Gulch to find the Strongbox which contains the Towns people’s taxes. Before you can get to El Guapo and recover the strong box, you have to get through the Gulch itself. There are 5 Guard Towers that must be destroyed and before you can get close enough to do that, you have to take out the guards protecting them.

Between each tower you will be able to refill your life. As long as you go in with full bottles of recovery for you companions, you should be able to get through these 5 battles fairly easy. One trick you might find helpful is using the explosive crates around the towers to take out some of the guards. Make sure you nor your companions are standing next to the crates when they explode.

When you make it to the main house in the gulch, you’ll find El Guapo. But you won’t be fighting him alone. Once you make it inside, you’ll finally come face to face with El Torro too.

Once you, your crew and El Torro defeat the Guapo and his guards, El Torro will have a little chat with you and ask for your help to sail over to Costillo Sapo.

Give him a lift after you check in with the town folk.

Castillo Sapo Docks
Make note the life fountain is here on the docks. Castillo Sapo is dungeon, so if you go in and get killed, you’ll end up by the life fountain “outside” the dungeon. You’ll need to fight some Frogerales before you reach the fort entrance. But worry not, you’ll have El Toro with you. You will be able to find a few floating bottles of yum inside the fort.

Castillo Sapo
Castillo Sapo itself is a fortress and it’s a dungeon, so be ready to complete all your tasks before you leave. You’ll be joined by El Toro, who will help you complete the mission in the “governors” palace and the boss Santa Rana. But beyond that you and your crew are on your own. Make sure you do the two side quests, free the prisoners and find the Dixie Chick.

Santo Pollo – Again
Back to visit Don Rodrigo in his family home. You’ll be directed to the Ball Room where you’ll find Rodrigo, but he’s not alone. You, your crew and El Toro will come face to face with El Presidente Santa Rana in battle. Once you finally take care of these Frogiralies you’ll be able to get to the real reason you came to Santo Pollo.

Before you leave to the Bison Village, make sure you’ve completed all your Santo Pollo quests. If you haven’t completed all the missions for Dos Amigos Y Uno in the Cantina, take care of them. You can earn companion training points. And eventually they’ll send you to Big Sky as well. You’ll be able to take care of the quest for both Don Rodrigo and the Band while you’re there.

Junction – Again
This might also be a good time to check your outstanding quests in Junction. If you still have quests for that area, take care of those before you head off to Big Sky. My Crew is heading there now to pick up Butch and Sundance and to check the locals for any additional quests.

Arroyo Grande – West
You’ve been here a couple of times by now. Some of your final quests in the western underground will be to pick up more prisoners for Sheriff Cogburn. Before you leave this area, make sure you check over by the Jolly brothers. If you haven’t already picked up the quest from Ben Jolly across the river from the brothers, see if he’s ready to give it to you now. If not, you’ll need to come back and check on him again.

You’ll still be coming back to this area in the future to visit Curly Bill’s Cave and Rawhide Cavern. So expect to see this place again.

Arroyo Grande – East
Your first visit to the eastern underground will probably come from Sheriff Cogburn to pick up Jesse & Frank Cranes from Carson’s Cavern. Hug the walls and you’ll miss the scorpions, the Wild Bunch Desperadoes, Outlaws and Black Storm Scouts and Shamans.

Watering Hole
To continue your quests with Sheriff Cogburn, you’ll go to the nearby Watering Hole to pick up “Nasty” Nathan Birdett. Now some of these battles might be tough for your Captain and Crew. If you, pick up a Henchman in the crown shop to help you get through the battles. It really is worth it to pick up these prisoners for the Sheriff before you head off to Big Sky again.

After you check in with Sheriff Cogburn and deliver Birdett, he’ll give you one last bounty to pick up. The Bird With No Name in the Cave with No Name.

That takes you back to Arroyo Grande – East. When you’ve captured this last villain and delivered him back to Cooper’s Roost, you’ll be done with bounty hunting in this round of visits.

Cooper’s Roost
When you pick up your reward Cogburn will tell you how impressed he is with your skill and deeds.

He’ll say “You’ve brought law to the wild frontier, stranger” Way to go and congratulations.

The Sheriff will add “..you’ve made things so much safer ’round here, I reckon we don’t hardly need a sheriff no more. I’m comin’ with you!” With that you’ll pick up the final reward, a new companion.

Check your quests and see if you have anything left over in the other skyways to take care of before you head off to Big Sky to start your journey with the Bison.

Don’t worry about the Dixie Chicks, you’ll pick up one in Big Sky and the remainder will be in Haunted Skyway and Tumbleweed Skyway which you have not yet been to.

Bison Village
When you initially come to Big Sky you may have stopped by the village and picked up some equipment. If not, this might be your first visit. In which case, you should check in with the vendors and see if you can improve you gear and your ship equipment.

Check around with everyone in the village and pick up all the quests here. One of which will be from Raven Eyes who will send you back to Cooper’s Roost Skyway to find the White Stallion ship. This is one of my most favorite ships in the Pirate Skyway! I think it’s absolutely beautiful! To save it you’ll have to take on the surrounding Darkmoor ships. I found the one nearest the gate to the Santa Pollo Skyway and focused on it. It kept the other ships from joining in and becoming part of the battle. It also helped me stay near the windlane to repair my ship in between battles.

Once you take care of the 6 Darkmoor ships, you’ll be able to board the Stallion. There you’ll find the Masked Duck. Don’t try to attack him, he’s shielded and your attacks won’t get through. Pay attention to your instructions for the battle. You’ll be directed to defeat the fires first. This will take care of the duck and he’ll runaway leaving you to defeat his henchmen. The duck is tough, so do your best to take care of his presence first. Once he’s gone you can focus on each henchmen one at a time and easily take care of them.

Rescue the Free Ranger and take him back to the Bison Village. You’ll be sent to the Thunderbird Temple to talk to Dancing Stars. He will send you off to the Bison Burial Ground which will send you back to Junction to pick up some items to heal the Free Ranger.

Along the way check with the towns folk and you’ll pick up a couple new side quests as well. You’ll be off to pick up some Bison pelts, rid the sky of Red Sash Ships and Friar Cluck will ask you to return a sacred relic to the Bison Village.

Bison Village
Return to the Thunderbird Temple and Dancing Stars will tell the Masked Duck shall survive, but where is his partner Tanka? Evidently you tell Dancing Stars that Tonka has been taken captive and the Duck of Death has him. The great Shaman will tell you how to learn the secrets to destroy the shadowy foe. And tells you to go to Elder Bluff and speak with the Great Totem, Thunderbird.

Elder Bluff
You’ll find Thunderbird on the top of the mountain. Run to the left around the village and follow the trail to the top of the island.

When you approach, Thunderbird will appear. He will ask why he should help you? You are no better than Bison Tribes who have to blame for the turmoil in the Spirit World. But you can help fix that.

Bison Village
When you take the sacred relic back to Bison Village to bury it, you’ll notice Raven Eyes has something to share with you. He’ll suggest you speak with Sun Dancer and learn the history of Three Scars.

Sun Dancer will tell you “Three Scars found the Totem spirits: Brother Owl, Sister Snake, and Brother Wolf. He made pacts with them, but used their blessings for evil.” He’ll send you out for Stingtails (deadly scorpions) from Arroyo Grande along with other quests you’ll need to complete for the folks in the village.

Once you have the items needed, go back to the Bison Villiage and talk to the three Buffalo Shamans. They’ll make an instrument for you to take to the top of Gold Creek where you’ll be able to call Brother Owl.

Gold Creek
You’ve been here before to talk to Zeke, but this time you’ll be able to visit a few new sections of the isle. Go to the top and see Brother Owl where he will tell you about his encounter with Three Scars.

He explains that the Bison took his gift, the Headdress of Winds that was made from his own feathers and ruined it. Three Scars took his blessing to steal the Headdress and gave it to the Hornet Queen who’s children destroyed it. He will ask you to go to the Hornet Hive at the beginning of Gold Creek and take the feathers from the queen. Do this and he will forgive the Bison.

Gold Creek – Wasp Cave
Go back down and follow the creek away from Zeke to the waterfall and you’ll find the entrance to the Wasp Cave. Don’t worry about Postman Abe for now, he has nothing for you this time. If you stick to the walls you can get through the caves to the lower level where the Queen is. While you’re there make sure you talk to the Weasel by the wall. He needs your help too.

As with most battles against a big boss, if you and your crew focus your battle on one at a time, you’ll get through the conflict fairly easily. The Queen is kind of a powerful opponent, so make sure you’ve leveled up your Pirate and picked up some good gear to help you along the way.

Once you complete this quest, you’ll go back to the Bison Village and check in with the Bison Shamans. You’ll be sent off to talk to Sister Snake in Isla De Los Muertos.

Cooper’s Roost
On your way from Big Sky to Los Muertos, stop by Cooper’s Roost to help out the Weasel Gambler. When you head to see Doc Coop, you’ll notice a new person to talk to, Lorena Larker. Pick up her quest and head to town. You’ll find Postmaster Chuck up in town also has something he needs from you. Talk to him and then visit Doc Coop.

Isla De Los Muertos
Your return visit to Los Muertos is simply to talk to Sister Snake near the water fall and the Cave of Echos.

She will tell you “Three Scars tricked me! After my oldest son transformed into Flying Snake, I gave Three Scars some of my venom to kill that abomination.” Not so sure I’d be calling someone else an abomination if I was trying to kill my son for being different. Hmm.

She’ll explain Three Scars took her venom and betrayed her. Then the Bison refused to do anything about it. Of course she’s going to ask you to fulfill the pact made with Three Scars to destroy her transformed son. I’m afraid you’ll have to do it if you want to satisfy her.

From there you’ll have to go back to Big Sky to collect Broken Fangs from Flying Snake. While you’re back in Big Sky, you should some quests to talk to Zeke in Gold Creek. Take care of that too.

Bison Village
Once you pick up the fangs and take them to Sister Snake, she’ll send you back to talk to the Bison Shamans. Raven Eyes will welcome you back, Wind Rider. And then tell you of Brother Wolf.

He explains “To call Brother Wolf, yu must prove you are a hunter. Track down the Striped Buffaloon, also called Bumbaloon, rarest and strongest of the heard”. Then he’ll direct you to take the meat to Brother Wolf on Scorpion Rock as an offering. Now you need to hope you won’t be eaten as well.

Scorpion Rock
Once you have the meat, dock at Scorpion Rock and head to the left after you disembark from your ship. You should hear Brother Wolf Howling as you approach the area he appears in.

He will not be all that friendly as he speaks with you about the bison cowards. Lucky for you, you’re too small to eat and he will listen to your bargain.

He will tell you about Silver Rain, the Chief’s bride. She was blessed by Brother Wolf at her birth and he was her protector and guardian spirit. But Three Scars killed her. Hmm..not a great guardian protector me thinks Captain.

But the story goes like this “Three Scars killed her using Sister Snake’s venom! The poison was so terrible it blinded her ghost. She cannot find her way to the Spirit World.” So it’s up to you and your crew to speak with Sister Snake and find out how to remove the curse from Silver Rain’s body so she can be freed.

Isla De Los Muertos
You’ll have to sail back to Los Muertos and talk with Sister Snake again. She’ll listen to your tale and give you a few ingredients to pick up to make a balm that will calm the sad Bride’s spirit.

Head on back to Skull Island and find Vadima.

Skull Island
Vadima will tell you these items are not easy to get. But she’ll send you off to collect the ghost tear in the Gold Mine, while she locates the Grumwart for you. Once you have the tear, return to Valdima. She’ll tell you she’s located the Grumwart. It’s controlled by the FrogFather. He’s a friend of yours, so head on over to Jonahtown and find out what you have to do for him to pick up some wart.

Cool Ranch
When you return back to Sister Snake, she will make the balm and tell you to pour it on Silver Rain’s grave.

When you pour the potion onto the grave Silver Rain’s spirit will emerge and announce “My sight is restored! I can join my grandfathers and Brother Wolf in the spirit world.”

Now you’ll back to Brother Wolf and tell him of your journey. He will be grateful, well sort of.  Now that you have completed his first quest, he’ll send you out to avenge his anger. You’ll have to take on the Black Storm Raiders and then hunt down Three Scars and do him in.

Once you defeat Three Scars, you’ll recover the Bow of Chiefs which you will need to carry it back to Raven Eyes. The Buffalo Shamans will be very grateful for your hard work and deeds.

Elder Bluff
Now you’ll be sent back to speak with Thunderbird and let him the totems are all at peace and harmony has been restored to the spirit world. He will of course tell you that you’ve done well and then keep his bargain that he made to tell you how to defeat the Duck of Death.

“the Duck of Death, called English Bill until revenge blackened his heart. Only Pure Silver can harm him now; forge Silver bullets”. He’ll tell you that you can find Bill on the Hill of Boots, where you both shall meet your destiny. Sounds ominous! To find the silver you seek, you’ll need to go back down to the village below and talk to the bison named Silver Horn.

Silver Horn will be standing next to the docks. He will tell you that the Claw Feet dig silver out of the ground under cooper’s Roost. Head on over there and find the silver mine.

Cooper’s Roost
Go up into town and toward the train station. Turn right and head down the trail to the cave. There you’ll find Bat Masterson in the Dusty Cave.

Dusty Cave
Bat will be happy to trade with you and give you silver. But he has been forced to shut down production because Bloodbats have infested the mine.  Then he offers you a proposition. “If you were to exterminate some of these vermin for me, I will gladly give you all the silver you need.”

All you have to do is clear out the blood bats in the Infested tunnel and down into the Infested Silver Mines. How hard can that be?

BloodBat Roost
This is a dungeon, so be prepared and make sure you have health and potion filled up. You’ll have to take on 3 levels of Blood Bats. The last being the Big Bad Boss Bloodbat. The first ones are easy and as usual if you hug the walls you can miss extra fights. But if you accidentally get into more battles than necessary, don’t worry. These guys are that tough.

Now the Big Bad Boss however has a little trick on his wings. When you think you’ve got him, he will steal life from one of his soldier Blood Bats and boost his own. So your best course of action is to focus on the minions and save him for last.

When you’ve gone through the bats, you’re ready for deeper dangers. As you enter the Mine, you’ll discover Old Bird Jenkins. He’ll tell you that he’s spent a lot of time training these bats so he can Mine the Silver for himself. Of course you’ll have to defeat him in order to clear out the Mine for Bat Masterson. This isn’t a tough fight if you’ve leveled up your companions and your equipment.

When you’ve dispatched Old Bird, you’ve accomplished your mission. Head on back out to Bat and pick up the Silver you need.

Back up in town, go to the barn where the weapons dealer is and you’ll find the Blacksmith. He’ll forge the silver bullets you need. Now you and your Crew can head on back to the Big Sky Skyway.

Skyway Around Boot Hill
In order to get to the Duck of Death on Boot Hill you have to get past the Darkmoor ships guarding the island. Keep an eye on your ships life and use your potion during the battle and you’ll get through these confrontations. I kept my ship near the last Darkmoor ship by the wind lane so I could repair my ship between battles and ensure I was only battling one ship at a time. That did the trick and I was able to get to the Island in one piece.

Boot Hill
When you arrive at Boot Hill you’ll find English Bill “The Duck of Death” near the gate on the right of the docks. He’ll escape your attempts to capture him and run up the path. When you run to follow him, you’ll be reminded this is a Dungeon area. So be ready to spend some time here. Make sure your life and potion levels are topped off.

On top of Boot Hill you’ll find Bill and Deacon! Uh oh. It appears they’ve been in cahoots with one another! Thankfully you and your crew has arrived with the Free Ranger in time to thwart their plans. Deacon gives the order to destroy you, again; and English Bill of course obliges.

As battle begins, you’ll notice that Bill has a purple force field around him. Here’s where you silver bullets will help defeat him. But you’ll also notice a couple of totem poles around the battlefield. You’ll need to strike each one to help your crew win the battle. When you do, your crew will appear with halo’s. As long as you have those, you have the ability to defeat English Bill fairly easily.

Once Bill has been defeated, he’ll run off to his ship and try to escape. You’ll have to chase him and take him down once more. Run over to the upper boat dock and you’ll find a row boat that gets you to Bill’s Darkmoor ship. Once on board pay attention to your Quest mission.

You’ll need to destroy the powder kegs AND Bill. If you can time your attacks, you might even be able to use the powder kegs against your enemies. But don’t stand to close to them when they blow up. They’ll harm your crew too.

When he’s defeated you’ll be teleported back to Boot Hill where you can talk with Tonka. He’ll tell you “The Red-Eyed Duck, he took me prisoner so his master White Mask could learn things about my old kimosabe, El Toro.” As you explain you were sent to find Tonka to learn about Captain Blood, he tells you the Duck had questions too. But Tonka doesn’t know the answers. But Don Rafael would know, only he’s dead.

Good thing you have an UnDead Witchdoctor to help you raise his spirit from the grave. When you get to the Mausoleum you’ll discover you cannot enter. You need a key.

Santo Pollo
Getting the Key sends you back across the skyway to Don Rodrigo in Santo Pollo. Of course Don Rodrigo doesn’t have it. It was stolen and now the Frogerales have it on one of their ships. Easy enough. If you’ve been leveling up the equipment of your ship, you should be able to take on the Frogerales fairly easily!

Boot Hill Mausoleum
Once you finally get the key to enter the Mausoleum, you can head back to Boot Hill. This is another dungeon area. You will face several battles in here; so make sure you life and potions are topped off again. Once inside you’ll have three battles to face in order to get to Don Rafaels tomb. If you’ve properly leveled up your crew and your equipment, these should be fairly easy. But once you get to the tomb, Don Rafael is not there. Scratch however suggests you go back out into the light and look for him spirit there. Sure enough, there he is.

Of course, as the Frog Fathers says, you want a favor you must do a favor. Nothing is free in this world. Don Rafael will tell you a tale (via a Puppet Show) of his adopted son Rodrigo. You didn’t realize Don Rodrigo was adopted? He’s a Bull; Rafael is a Horse! So Rafael will tell you of his adopted son who fell in love with Rodrigo’s daughter Carolina. An argument ensued, Carolina left Cool Ranch and both Rafael and Rodrigo were left broken hearted. You must set things right for Rafael to help you. At least Tonka can tell you where to start your search.

Before you go, you will need to pick up some proof of your quest for Sally/Carolina/whatever her name is today. You’ll need Don Rafael’s signet Ring. You’ll find it hidden in the caves of Scorpion Rock.

You’ve been in this cave at Scorpion Rock before, when you faced the Spider Queen. You may have noticed a dock hanging over the lake within the cave when you took her on. That dock leads to the depths where you’ll find the hidden ring. Of course it’s not that easy. You’ll have to take on a few Cave Fish and you have only a certain number of turns to defeat them all. But plan well and you’ll win the battle and recover the ring.  Now head off to Flotsam and find Sally..er..Carolina.

At this point you still have to get to Tumbleweed and Haunted Skyways. You don’t have quests to enter those areas yet, so stay tuned for Cool Ranch Part II. For now you’ll be heading off to quest for the way to the  Stormgate To Port Royal.

© 2013 A Pirates Portal; Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D. All Rights Reserved.