King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride

For the first time, we get to meet Valanice and learn more about her character instead of her just being someone in the background. We also learn how spoiled and self-centered Rosella can be.

The game begins with Valanice talking with Rosella about it being time for her to find a man to marry. However, Rosella is not quite ready to marry. She has more adventuring she wants to do. As her mother is talking to her, Rosella watches a dragonfly fly into a lake. She looks in after it and notices a castle in some clouds. For some reason, she decides to jump into the lake and follow it. Valanice quickly realizes what happens and jumps in after her. Valanice then sees Rosella's arm being grabbed but can't get to her in time to try pulling her back. Next thing we know, Valanice has landed in a desert. She starts walking and tears her dress on a cactus. Somehow, though, we never see that tear again. In this desert, Valanice has to find two pieces of turquoise that fit together to form an arrow to open the door to go to another land. Valanice must battle a scorpion, give a dead man a drink of water, and deal with a VERY annoying jackrabbit.

Then we pick up with Rosella, who has just been pulled into the Vulcanix Underground by King Otar, the Troll King. However, Rosella has been turned into a troll the moment she entered the Underground! She quickly meets Matilda, the former nanny of King Otar. Matilda explains that she can turn Rosella back into her original form if she will bring her five ingredients. As Rosella's getting the different ingredients, she finds a dragon toad. She takes that back to Matilda, and it tells her that King Otar is somewhere in Ooga Booga...meaning the King Otar that brought Rosella to the Vulcanix Underground is not the real King Otar! Rosella quickly finds the rest of the ingredients and Matilda makes the potion. Rosella is returned to her original form (and temperment), and she takes a bucket up through a hole in the earth to reach Ooga Booga. Just as she reaches the top, the rope breaks!

And just as we're wondering if Rosella will survive, we go back to Valanice, who is also in a life-threatening situation. She is about to be attacked in the cave she just entered by a Gila monster (no idea what that is, but that's the name for it I found online). Valanice quickly throws a piece of prickly fruit to it, and it eats it all up and walks away (probably to sleep off it's full belly). Valanice meets up with a stag, Attis, who is sitting in front of an oak tree, nice and somber-like. He tells her that he and his wive, Ceres, were cursed and turned into a stag and tree. Valanice continues to the town north of there, Falderal. When she enters, she is met by the Archduke Fifi le Yip-Yap. Once she tells him of her tale, he bawls his eyes out and lets her enter and explore the town. So, she meets Fernando, the china shop bull who lost his china bird Treasure, and a psychotic chicken who runs around screaming that the sky is falling. Valanice spends some time exploring Falderal and the surrounding countryside and meets the Rock Spirit who knows how to turn Attis and Ceres back to their original forms. Valanice makes it back to Falderal, the moon falls out of the sky into a fountain, she fishes it out with a shepherd's hook, and is then arrested for stealing the moon.

We come back to Rosella, who is (still) hanging on for dear life in Ooga Booga. The gravedigger stretches out his shovel, and Rosella quickly grabs it and is pulled to safety. He talks to her about Iggy, his missing rat that operates his grave-digging machine. Rosella walks around Ooga Booga and finds the home belonging to Dr. Cadaver, a guy who gave his spine away (either that or it was stolen by the two wild kids who live in the pumpkin). She also

(to be continued...busy)