Ice Palace
The Ice Palace is a dungeon that can be found on the Sword Route of Chapter 3. It is only accessible by using the Ice Key on the locked door on the Island Board. By navigating this dungeon, Kris eventually finds the Shelter Key, which is used to unlock the door to the shelter in the City Board's manhole dungeon.
Dying in this dungeon causes Kris to stop playing the game. If the game console is interacted with again, HERO_SWORD spawns at the beginning of the Ice Palace with everything reset to how it was when they entered the dungeon originally.
After reaching LV 2 on the Island Board, the caves will start displaying the text "GO TO NORTHERN LIGHT", guiding the player toward the ice region in the northern part of the board. After destroying the fern blocking the way, the Ice Key can be used on the locked door, allowing HERO_SWORD to enter the Ice Palace. The dungeon contains more enemies that they need to kill in order for their LV to reach MAX, which allows them to destroy the trees blocking the way to the chamber the White Cloak is in.
While exploring the dungeon, HERO_SWORD enters two open, entirely blue rooms. Upon entering, a line of text displays alluding to certain events: in the first room, the text "FOLLOW THE WHITE CLOAK" is displayed, which directs HERO_SWORD toward the White Cloak and hints at the solution for the upcoming maze. In the second room, the text "THE FORBIDDEN PATH BEGAN WITH ICE MAGIC" is displayed, which alludes to the Weird Route. Once HERO_SWORD kills the monster in those rooms, then leaves and re-enters, the text does not display again.
After entering the White Cloak's chamber, she follows HERO_SWORD out of the room. She then follows them throughout the rest of the dungeon and is able to shoot ice attacks whenever HERO_SWORD attacks. These ice attacks have the ability to freeze otherwise invincible enemies on contact, allowing them to act as pushable blocks. HERO_SWORD uses the White Cloak's abilities to freeze enemies and solve puzzles blocking the way forward.
Eventually, the pair enters a maze, and HERO_SWORD uses the White Cloak as a guide through the maze until they encounter a locked door. HERO_SWORD then "uses up" the Ice Key by unlocking the door. The game subsequently states that the White Cloak was "USED UP" as well, and she disappears. HERO_SWORD enters a series of black, empty rooms, in which the Shadow Mantle holder addresses Kris directly, congratulating them for finding their hiding place.
HERO_SWORD eventually finds and retrieves the Shelter Key, after which the game states "YOU WERE USED UP.", and shuts off.
The initial room is empty, with only a single exit leading north. The next room contains three flowers, and the room further north contains a blue bird monster that blocks the way to the east. The blue bird follows HERO_SWORD's vertical movements and is impervious to their attacks, but it can be frozen by the White Cloak once she has been retrieved.
Further north is a room that contains two gray monsters and two pressure plates. The northern and southern exits immediately lock upon entering the room, preventing further progress in those directions until both plates are pressed at the same time. The gray monsters are impervious to standard attacks, but they can be frozen by the White Cloak. Only one monster needs to be frozen to solve the puzzle, as HERO_SWORD can step on the other pressure plate themselves.
West of the roadblock is a room that contains four blue fish monsters roaming the ground. There are two exits to the north and south. The southern exit leads to a room containing two yellow lizards but is otherwise a dead end. The northern exit leads to a blue room with a single yellow lizard.
East of the roadblock is a room that contains four yellow monster surrounding a large pool of water in the center. There are two exits to the north and east. The eastern exit leads to a blue room with a single white monster. The northern exit is a hallway that veers to the right. A group of trees block the way forward, but they can be destroyed once HERO_SWORD's LV reaches MAX.
After destroying the trees, HERO_SWORD enters a room the White Cloak is located in. HERO_SWORD can attack her with their sword, but she does not take any damage. Leaving the room causes her to follow HERO_SWORD, and they enter a hallway with a gray monster and two pressure plates on the edges.
Whenever HERO_SWORD attacks, the White Cloak launches an ice spell in the direction they are facing, which allows them to freeze the gray monster. The resulting ice block can then be pushed onto one of the pressure plates, and HERO_SWORD can step onto the other to unlock the door to the west.
The next room is a similar puzzle containing three gray monsters and four pressure plates in each corner. After unlocking the door leading west, the pair enter a room with three flowers and one gray monster, who they may kill or avoid on their way to the southern exit. The next room contains four blue fish monsters, who they may also kill or avoid, and further south leads back to the roadblock room.
After unlocking the door leading south, HERO_SWORD can use the White Cloak to freeze the blue bird blocking the way east. The pair then enter a maze consisting of an infinitely-looping crossroads with four exits in each direction. One exit leads forward, while the other three loop back to the beginning. HERO_SWORD must watch the White Cloak's movements and go in the directions that she also follows them in; she stops in front of incorrect exits. The order of directions is up, up, left, right, right, down, right.
After the last direction (solving the maze), the pair transition from a maze to a hallway. The hallway entrance locks behind the pair and the background music fades out. The pair also cannot backtrack in either of the next two screens, even though they do not lock. On the last screen is a locked door. HERO_SWORD uses the Ice Key on the door, which disappears from their inventory. The White Cloak also disappears after the game states "SHE WAS USED UP". The door opens, and HERO_SWORD heads inside.
HERO_SWORD enters a series of black, empty rooms. The Shadow Mantle holder, who remains unseen, addresses Kris directly and comments on there being nothing in the room. Eventually, HERO_SWORD finds the Shelter Key, and the Shadow Mantle holder congratulates them on their hard work. The game then states "YOU WERE USED UP." and shuts off.
- Multiple characters and events allude to certain elements of the Weird Route.
- The White Cloak resembles Noelle in her Dark World attire. Similarly to Noelle, she can freeze enemies.
- The enemies frozen by the White Cloak turn into prisms which resemble Berdly after being targeted with the SnowGrave spell on the Chapter 2 Weird Route. Additionally, the last enemy that blocks the way and must be frozen is a blue bird.
- The text "THE FORBIDDEN PATH BEGAN WITH ICE MAGIC" helps reveal how the Weird Route is initiated.
- Noelle references the Ice Palace when talking to Rudy about Dragon Blazers III in Chapter 1.[1]
- Noelle references the Ice Palace's maze on her blog in the Spamton Sweepstakes. However, her specific experience - missing the character who guides the player through the maze - is impossible to replicate in Chapter 3 due to the blue bird blocking the path. This resembles how the maze is effectively impossible to solve without the White Cloak/Noelle guiding the player, and how the White Cloak/Noelle is the only one who can solve it.
- The seemingly endless maze within the Ice Palace may be a reference to the Wind Fish's Egg, the final dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, which similarly consists of a looping maze that is exited by following specific directions. It also resembles looping areas like the Lost Woods and Lost Hills in other The Legend of Zelda series games.
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Nah, I'm still at the Ice Palace. I've been kind of...
— Noelle, Chapter 1
...kind of waiting to finish it with you, Dad.