Castle Tantegel

You start in King Lorik's throne room. No weapons, no armor, no money. The king's been waiting for you — apparently the legends said Erdrick's descendant would show up eventually. Lucky timing.

King Lorik's Gifts

Talk to the king. He'll ramble about the Ball of Light and the Dragonlord, then hand you three things: a Torch, a Magic Key, and 120 Gold. The key opens the throne room door. The torch lights caves. The gold buys your first equipment in Brecconary.

Open the treasure chests behind the throne before leaving. They're yours. Use the key on the door south of the throne, then take the stairs down to the main floor.

Exploring the Castle

Talk to everyone. Guards, merchants, old men — they all drop hints about your quest. Write things down. The game expects you to remember NPC dialogue; there's no quest log. If someone mentions a location or item, note it. You'll need these clues later.

Most doors in the castle are locked. There's a magic key shop inside, but you can't reach it without keys you don't have yet. Rimuldar, far to the southeast, sells keys for 53G each. That's your mid-game goal. For now, just explore what's accessible.

The Old Man (Free MP)

This is important. An old man stands to the right of the castle entrance. Talk to him and he'll restore your MP to full. Free. No gold required. Once you learn Heal at level 3, you never need to pay for an inn again — just cast Heal until your HP is full, talk to the old man, repeat. Saves you 6G per rest.

Use this trick constantly. Return to Tantegel, heal up with magic, restore MP for free, head back out. It's tedious but it keeps gold in your pocket for equipment upgrades.

Leaving the Castle

Head south from the castle entrance to reach the world map. Brecconary is directly south — you can see it from the castle gates. Don't wander far yet; you're level 1 with no equipment. Even Slimes can kill you if you get unlucky. Buy gear first, then grind.