Quest for Glory III: Wages of War

Take that, Swirly Energy Thingy

Quest for Glory III: Wages of War is the third game in the Quest for Glory series. After saving Shapeir and being adopted as the Prince of Shapeir, a title which he is subsequently identified by, the Hero follows the paladin Rakeesh back to his Liontaur homeland of Tarna, a land inspired by ancient Egyptian and African myth.

War is brewing between the Simbani and the Leopardmen tribes, and Tarna, an ally of the Simbani, is poised to enter the war following the massacre of their peace delegation. Rakeesh suspects an old foe to be pulling the strings, and once again, the Hero is called upon to save the land.

Tropes used in Quest for Glory III: Wages of War include:

• Abdicate the Throne: We find out that Rakeesh has done this before the events of the second game, leaving his brother Rajah in his place.
• As You Know: Used word-for-word by Aziza in the intro. Which is especially silly since she's telling the Hero about all the things he did in the second game as if he didn't experience them himself. Furthermore, this intro does a Retcon of the Quest for Glory II ending.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Giant ants that will attack you in the savannah.
• Bigger Bad: The Big Bad you face off against in the end is just The Dragon trying to unleash his Sealed Evil in a Can Demonlord master.
• Character Focus: The Fighter class gets the most focus in this game, thanks to the Simbani Rite of Manhood. Wizards get to make a magic staff, while Thieves get it worst since there's no Guild and only two houses to rob (the Simbani Laibon's and the Leopardman Chief's), both of which are plot-required. Paladins, naturally, get the Fighter's quests plus very tiny extra bits here and there.
• Demonic Possession: The demons can do this to any host, as it seems.
• Dream Sequence: Happens in the Temple of Sekhmet in Tarna. It's a test of character and a prophetic vision rolled into one, unless of course you fail the test.
• Everythings Worse With Dinosaurs: The natives call it Running Death.
• Evil Gloating: If you're a Paladin, you get a demoralizing speech at the very end. None of the other classes get the same consideration.
• Extreme Doormat: Kalb the meat merchant: he'll accept any price you offer for his wares, no matter what your Communication skill is, and will never complain. There's no reason not to take advantage of his spinelessness; it doesn't even count against you on the Karma Meter.
• Fission Mailed: Light a fire, then walk away from it. Only YOU can prevent savanna fires!
• Frazetta Man: The inhabitants of the Lost City.
• Game Breaking Bug: Several. Not as bad as the next game, but still annoying at times.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: When you start winning the Wizard Duel, the Leopardman Shaman will invoke a Demon; if you cure him with a Dispel Potion rather than killing him, he thanks you for saving him from his own rash stupidity.
• Late Arrival Spoiler: The As You Know at the beginning of this game tells you how to complete the previous game.
• Lost World: The lost city beyond the waterfall. It's inhabited by apemen and demons.
• Mighty Whitey: If you are a Fighter, you must win the contest to become a Simbani warrior, and naturally, you quickly surpass any of the Simbani in the skills they respect (except running). Justified in that many of these skills were ones that had already helped you become a famous hero. Also, you, the human player will need good hand-eye coordination.
• Mirror Match: An area in the Lost City summons evil counterparts to you and your friends.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: Winged Cobras!
• No Guy Wants an Amazon: Women in Uhura's tribe have to choose between being a warrior and being a mother. Good thing she decided to Take a Third Option. Specifically, leaving the tribe, finding a decent man outside, and coming back with the baby, but still being unmarried, so no one can claim her as a wife in her tribe.
• Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: Kind of. Wages of War was not supposed to exist and was inserted for storyline and character reasons, as the creators felt the Hero was not strong enough yet for the events of Shadows of Darkness. This is probably a Retcon though.
• Point of No Return: The main one is the failed peace conference, after which you can no longer visit Tarna, the Simbani Village or the Leopardman Village.
• Pop Culture Pun Episode Title: After the initial release, Sierra was informed that another video game developer had already trademarked the title Wages of War. A re-release was developed with the new subtitle Seekers of the Lost City (a nod to Indiana Jones), but before it actually shipped, the other company went out of business, and Sierra no longer needed to address the trademark issue. However, the About text in Shadows of Darkness does refer to the previous game as Seekers of the Lost City.
• Retcon: Rakeesh was said to have killed the Demon that wounded his leg in Quest for Glory II. Here, it's stated that the Demon Sorcerer was the one that wounded him.
• Revenge Before Reason: Rakeesh says that going to war over revenge is irrational and will only end in lots of death. He's right, as the people they are fighting turn out to be demons.
• Sole Survivor: The only survivor of the peace mission, who has suffered terrible wounds and dies soon after making it back to Tarna.
• Super-Persistent Predator: The dinosaurs that roam the savannah are pretty hard to shake off.
• Talking Animal: Manu the monkey.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Lampshaded by Uhura when you meet her at the spear-throwing range; the Simbani use spears rather than swords because spears can be thrown. Still played straight by the Paladin, who must throw his sword at the Demon Wizard at the end of the game.
• Unperson: Anyone deemed "Without Honor" in Tarna effectively becomes this. Nobody will talk to them or acknowledge their existence, and they can either join a departing caravan or starve to death. Unfortunately, a war tends to shut down the caravans, leaving Harami to starve to death.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Leopardmen.
• Wizard Duel: The Wizard has one with the Shaman of the Leopardmen.
• World Tree: The tree in the heart of the world.
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle: You finally get the two tribes together, and Tarna is willing to stand in as a mediator. So far so good. Too bad that demons then make the two leaders kill each other.