The Last Resting Place of Chikas Pupanqui

Having explored Peru many times, Lara had often heard of a legendary Inca king, Chikas Pupanqui, ruler of the ancient city of Panichula.    

Chikas Pupanqui was a mysterious figure.  Born to poor farming peasants, at the age of 3 many of the people in his village, including his own family, were killed by another tribe, the Echouina.  The high priest from the village temple, escaping the carnage, rescued the child and took care of him, raising him as his own son.  But the priest was more than just a servant in the temple, legend says that he was a magician and possessed strange mystical powers.  He passed much of his knowledge on to the young Chikas Pupanqui. 

As the young boy grew, he learned of the fate of the people of his village, including his family and vowed to seek revenge on the tribe that had attacked them.  The elderly priest warned him to be cautious however, as the Echouina were a powerful people.  Led by three generations of the same family, they had attacked and conquered many of the smaller Indian clans over the years and their empire was vast.  But Chikas was not dissuaded and as he approached adulthood his resolve only became stronger.  Seeking support from other tribes in the area, he gathered together an army to attack the Echouina tribe. By all accounts Chikas Pupanqui's army should have been slaughtered by the mighty Echouina but the reverse was true.  The legend said Chikas had used magical powers learned from the elderly priest to defeat his enemies.  These powers were embodied in the Pincana, a mysterious face shaped amulet given to him by the priest, and was said to protect the wearer and his servants from harm and give them great strength.  Using the Pincana, Chikas Pupanqui and his army defeated the Echouina and drove them from their land.  Chikas Pupanqui was declared king of the fallen empire, renaming it Panichula, over which he reigned for many years as a firm but fair ruler. 

During his reign, Chikas Pupanqui fought in several more battles as his army defended the city from would be invaders.  Always victorious, Chikas Pupanqui was thought to be almost immortal, having never succumbed to any of the injuries he sustained in battle.   Instead he died of old age and his body entombed beneath the temple of the priest, along with the mysterious Pincana amulet.  The legend says that the Pincana still protects the king's body from harm and calls upon the ghosts of his army to defend the tomb, should it be disturbed.  This is the last resting place of Chikas Pupanqui.

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I hope you enjoy playing this level.  It was originally meant to be part of the Back to Basics 2008 competition but I could not finish it in time.  

There are five secrets.


I would like to thank the following people:

Tinka for arranging the BtoB contest and doing a wonderful job as always, thanks Cath.

Tim J for the superb BtoB package he created. 

Paolone for the New Generation Level Editor - I'm still discovering new things with this brilliant version of the editor, and can't wait to try the newer one.  Paolone must have put so much hard work into this, which I am sure both builders and players appreciate very much.  

My three beta testers, Elvis (Etux), Karsten (Raymond) and Ian (Marksdad). 

And Michael P for hosting the level at TRLE net.


Thanks everyone!

  

Oh hang on, I forgot the bugs ...

Near the beginning you need to slide down a slope and jump/grab a bridge.  Most of the time Lara will do this properly but very rarely (only twice so far!) Lara will grab just below the bridge and will not be able to pull herself up.  In this case you will need to reload so please save often in this area.

Sometimes when opening a gate or door with a key, it appears the gate is moving before Lara unlocks it.  I don't know why this happens, the triggers are definitely a key triggers.  It shouldn't cause a problem though as you still need the key to open the gates/doors, they won't open without it.

Lastly, on a couple of occasions I have found that when throwing away a flare at the same time as pulling out her guns, Lara's arms will become straight and she cannot hold the guns or do anything else.  This might have something to do with having just used the DOZY cheat.  Again if you save often (and not use DOZY!) you should be fine.  This bug has only happened a couple of times to me and was not mentioned by the testers so I am sure it is rare.






