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List of Quests for Part IA Mysterious MurderA Shell on the BeachA Source Hunter's JourneyA Voice in the Wilderness (DLC)Another Crazed MageArhu's Failed ExperimentCecil's Mighty StaffCharmed, I'm SureCrabs Versus SkeletonsElf-Orc Blood FeudFind the Witch!Fire! Fire! Fire!Guards at the BridgeHeadless NickKitty LoveLegionnaires at the ChurchLittle Bo Bertia Lost Her SheepLost ArcheologistLost Love at the LighthouseOrc Fight on the BeachThe Apprentice and the StoneThe Councillor's WifeThe Fabulous FiveThe Fish ThiefThe Grieving OrcThe Legend of the WeresheepThe Legionnaire's WillThe PhilosopherThe Preacher of Earthly DelightsThe Quest for Braccus RexThe Scaredy PactThe Shipless SailorsThe Skeleton King's SummonerThe StrongmanThe Talking StatuesThe Undead ScourgeThe Wild Woman and the Renegade (DLC)The Wishing BrotherTom, the Wannabe AdventurerWarming the CrowdRecommended Sequence of Activities for Part I1) Undertake the Murder Investigation in CysealComplete the Starting Beach Area and Tutorial DungeonEnter Cyseal and talk to Aureus, Cecil, and ArhuInvestigate the murder sceneFind the first Star Stone and visit Homestead;Talk to the Weaver of Time and ZixzaxGet red teleporter pyramid; use red pyramid to find blue pyramidInterrogate suspects in the TavernVisit Thelyron and Evelyn in the clinic; get another Star StoneVisit homestead and talk to AstarteTalk to EsmeraldaTalk to Murphy the dog at the cemetery and dig up Jake's coffinTalk to Roberts the UndertakerConfront Esmeralda, the current prime suspectTalk to the Healer Thelyron and find Evelyn missingSearch Evelyn's house to ascertain her locationComplete minor quests in Cyseal2) Dig up graves in the cemetery3) Explore west of Cyseal and the Lighthouse4) Explore North of Cyseal and complete the robot quest5) Explore south-west beach; defeat Grulbarg6) Enter and complete Black Cove7) Explore the north-western beach8) Find Evelyn's lair and defeat her9) Exit Cyseal through east exit10) Pass through poison garden and head north11) Find the ruined mill and Blossius12) Enter the burning fields; fight the Twins13) Enter the Church and defeat Braccus Rex14) Visit Homestead15) Travel to Luculla Forest/SilverglenPart I Walkthrough

You and your companion are Source Hunters, professionals dedicated to finding and eradicating the Sourcerers, those who are bent on corrupting the mysterious energy known as Source. In your adventures, you will search for and encounter practitioners of Sourcery. Notice the spelling of the word Sourcery, which is adapted from novels by Terry Pratchett. You are sent to the city of Cyseal on what seemingly is a routine murder investigation that eventually unfolds into a much larger and dangerous adventure. You'll soon discover that the fate of the world has been placed in your hands.

Although you were initially sent to Cyseal to investigate the murder of "Councillor Jake" (quest "A Mysterious Murder"), your involvement in the investigation is a bit delayed because Orcs have been attacking the city. You and your companion are dropped off on the beach outside of the city. Your journey begins on this beach with 2 active quests in your quest log: "A Mysterious Murder" and "A Source Hunter's Journey". Both of these quests are lengthy and involve numerous people and side activities. You won't finish these quickly. For now, you need to make your way from the beach to the city of Cyseal to continue these quests.

On the Beach and Tutorial Dungeon

You and your companion, as Source Hunters, were sent to Cyseal to investigate a murder, but because Orcs are trying to invade the city, your ship must abruptly deposit your party on the beach outside of the city. You need to make your way to the city gates, but there are a few adventures here on the beach for your adventuring pleasure. Follow the beach along the eastern edge of the area and you will find a "Dead Man" lying in the sand. The body possesses a journal, the "Traveler's Journal". When you read this journal, you will trigger the quest "The Talking Statues". You will continue this quest line at a later time. [Note: you want to read every book, letter, parchment or whatever that you can pick up. These certainly may contain background information, but also they often contain clues, start quests, give you crafting recipes or even XP rewards].

Continue to the northwest from the dead body and you will find some stairs. As you ascend the stairs, you will have your first encounter with some of the creatures of the game. You will see an "Unidentified Mage" and some "Unidentified Combatants" running from a cave entrance. They are babbling something about stealing a Stone. When they notice you, the Mage conjures a Cursed Lieutenant and 2 Cursed Servants to impede your progress and the Unidentified vanish. Fight the conjured skeletons and win the day.

Now you will have a choice. You can enter the nearby cave or ignore it and continue to the west. It is recommended for first time players to enter the cave. It is a tutorial for the game, to instruct you on some of the nuances and allow you to get some early loot. This Guide will have you enter the dungeon and be tutored. [Note: it is not necessary to complete the starter dungeon; there are no quests and no significant treasure.]

Tutorial Dungeon

Simply walk up to the cave entrance (Ancient Stone Gate), place your mouse cursor over it and it will be highlighted. Press your LMB and you will enter. This game is a game of exploration as well as quest solving and monster hunting. Search every nook and cranny, open every container and take everything. What you can't use, you might be able to sell for some gold. Keep items labeled "ingredient" as you will be able to use these later to craft potions and other nifty things. You, in fact, have tons of available space in your inventory, so keep everything. (You are limited by weight as to how much you can carry.) Crafting and blacksmithing in this game can be useful activities. This Guide would recommend that you read some online sources that describe crafting and smithing.

A detailed walkthrough of the starter dungeon won't be given here. During your sojourn through the dungeon, you will get periodic pop-up suggestions for what to do. Work your way through the cave, take what you find and kill a few creatures that attempt to impede your progress. The battles are fairly easy. The toughest will likely be the battle with a skeleton named "Ragequin" who pops out of a sarcophagus. Apparently, the mage you saw earlier stole a "Blood Stone" artifact from Ragequin and he wants it back. You don't have it, but he doesn't care. The battle is joined. After you kill Ragequin the first time, he will pop up again as Ragequin's Ghost. Save your game, fight the enemies to learn how this process works and reload the game if you mess up. You can even create a Saved Game in the middle of battle. Kill Ragequin and then go up the stairs and leave the dungeon.

After the Starter Dungeon

After you leave the dungeon, proceed to the west. You will eventually see a bridge with a pair of Legionnaires guarding it. You might want to ignore them at first as there are a few other tasks you can undertake here on the beach. Go due east, cross over a little stream, and continue walking. Pass under a rocky arch and continue walking until you hear someone moaning in the distance. Walk a bit further and you will see a large white shell on the beach. You can speak to the forlorn Shell, "Ishmashell". This will trigger the quest "A Shell on the Beach". Apparently it is stranded here and it wants you to toss it back into the sea. You have the choice of taking the Shell and selling it later, or you can do what it asks and throw it into the water. If you choose to toss it in the sea you will get a treasure chest as a reward. [Note: You will encounter this type of activity often during the game where, during a conversation or some other activity, you will be given a choice as to how to proceed or accomplish the activity. This is role playing at its finest.]

From the Shell's location, continue to the west and south. You will soon come upon a "Waypoint Portal" (Cyseal Beach). When you get near the Portal, you will automatically, and permanently, activate it and it will be marked on your map. You will be able to teleport your party from Waypoint to Waypoint once you have discovered more. You will eventually be given a device, a Pyramid, that will allow you to teleport from any location to any Waypoint that you have discovered. How cool is that?

Near the Portal is a shovel. Take it because just to the northeast of the Portal you will see a slight mound in the sand. Dig here for a chest with some treasure. Keep the shovel as you will find lots of places in the game where you can dig for treasure or trigger encounters of some type. Dig it, man. (History lesson: "Dig it" is an old 1960's phrase - similar to Cool! In the U.S. of the '60s, every phrase was followed by the word "man" such as "That's far out, man", "That's so rad, man". In modern vernacular it's now the word "Dude").

Guards at the Bridge

Beyond the chest you just discovered, you'll see the two Legionnaire guards at the bridge. These two are quite drunk, but you can speak to them, and even barter with them. They don't have much, but you might find something you want. Loot in this game is randomized, so you never know what you might find in a chest or on a merchant. [Note: You can barter with practically any NPC in the game, even some potential enemies.]

You can ask the guards some questions about the current situation. At the close of the conversation, the guards will offer to escort you to the city. You will get a choice here to accept their offer or refuse. If you refuse, they will immediately attack you. If you accept, they will accompany you toward the city. Speaking to them, and choosing one of the options will both activate and resolve the quest "Guards at the Bridge".

Battle of the Beach

Cross the small footbridge and follow the twisting path toward the beach near the city. As you approach the beach, you can see several Legionnaires beating on a hapless Orc. When you get closer, an Orc ship will land and several Orcs and a Human will disembark. Your task here is to eliminate the orcs and their human companion (quest "Orc Fight on the Beach"). You will fight two Young Orc Troopers, an Orc Shaman and a human Black Cultist. The Legionnaires nearby will help you in this battle after they have killed the orc they were beating.

Save your game before this battle begins and use this as an opportunity to learn how to best use your characters and tactics in a multi-enemy situation. You will be getting lots of practice with multi-enemy battles as the game proceeds. Reload your game and try again if you are failing miserably.

After the fight, loot everything you can on the beach. You can talk to and barter with the Legionnaires, but they don't have much. Try to remember to barter with every character. Since loot is randomized, you might get a nice surprise and find something useful that you can afford.

When you approach the gates to the city of Cyseal, you will be met by "Arhu", the wizard who summoned you to the island to investigate the murder. He will fill you in on some background information and tell you where the crime scene is. He advises that you first should speak to "Cecil", the Mayor and to "Aureus", the Captain of the Legionnaires, and also to seek him, Arhu, out to discuss things. So let's enter the city and go find them.

Head into the City and Put Out a Fire

Before you wander off to find these guys, turn left from the gate and head towards the harbour and the docks. Here you will see a bunch of men lamely attempting to douse the fire of a burning ship (quest "Fire! Fire! Fire!") If you have a Rain spell (either as a conventional spell or a scroll), use it to extinguish the fire and earn the applause of the bystanders. Know that this is a timed quest. If you delay too long, the ship will be destroyed and you won't get any applause.

The Town of CysealFinding Your Way About the City

You can explore the city to your heart's content, and you should. But your first order of business should be to find and talk to three people - "Cecil", the Mayor, "Aureus", the Captain of the Legionnaires and "Arhu", the wizard you met after the beach battle. All three of these guys will fill you in on the murder investigation and give you additional quests. On the way to find these guys, however, there will be a few minor adventures to sample.

From the bridge at the entrance of the city, walk to the west. You will pass and activate a Waypoint ("Cyseal Harbour"). Just past the Waypoint, take the stairs to the north. Continue up the stairs and you will reach a plaza with a large fountain. Head northeast from the fountain. You will soon enter the Marketplace of the city. When you pass the first wagon, you will automatically join in a conversation with a wannabe thief, "Robin". Here you will begin, and can resolve, the small side quest, "The Fish Thief". In this quest, you will get a choice to allow the thief to steal something or to persuade him to desist. The choice is up to you as to how you want to role-play your characters. Afterwards, you can talk to Rhoa and the Fish Vendor about this episode.

Exploring the Marketplace

There are a number of merchants here in the Marketplace that sell a variety of useful things. Unfortunately, you likely don't have much gold yet. Be patient, my young padawan.

Do talk to "Kelvania" who is wandering about near the central fountain. This is an example of how conversations can boost some of your skills. Ever since the murder occurred in town, Kelvania is concerned with being accosted by some stranger or whatever. Talk to her about it and then quit the conversation. Your two lead characters will now have yellow exclamation points over their heads, indicating they wish to talk to each other. You will get several options in the conversation. Depending on which you choose, you can receive some boost to a particular "Trait" which in turn could augment certain of your Abilities. Watch for the text that pops up over your character's heads to see which Trait boost has been applied.

While still in the Marketplace, talk to "Bertia". Apparently she has lost her sheep which begins the quest "Little Bo Bertia Lost Her Sheep". You will be finding the errant sheep a bit later.

Another useful vendor to get to know is "Gerome" standing by the paintings on easels. Gerome will sell some treasure maps of varying value. These are absolutely worth the price when you get enough gold to buy them. When you read each map, you will get an icon on the World map indicating where the treasure is located. At this point in time, all of the treasures are located outside of the city, so this Guide will direct you to their location at the proper time.

Nearby to Gerome is "Cylia the Enchantress", who will sell Skillbooks for magic and also crafting ingredients. Her skillbooks are for Aerotheurge and Hydrosophist based spells.

Go to the King Crab Tavern

At the north end of the Marketplace, there is a set of stairs that ascend to the "King Crab Tavern" and Mayor Cecil's house. Walk toward the front entrance to the Tavern. When you approach the Tavern, you will automatically enter into a conversation with "Mendius", an obnoxious salesman-like recruiter for a group called the "Fabulous Five". The Fab Five is essentially a guild of adventurers. If you accept and join, you'll activate "The Fabulous Five" side quest. [Note: as you will discover, there is something not quite right about this group. But it does not hurt you to join at this point in time. You will get an additional quest line by doing so]. This also unlocks the potential for a second side quest Arhu's Failed Experiment.

You may want to put off entering the Tavern for a bit. To investigate the murder, you need permission to enter the murder room and you will get that from Captain Aureus.

Visit Mayor Cecil

Go straight north up the stairs from the Market or to the east of the Tavern and go to the "Town Hall" to pay a visit to "Mayor Cecil". If you wish, you can talk to Claudius and Marcius, the two Legionnaire guards outside of the Town Hall. You will get a bit of background information and their take on things. Now enter the Town Hall. When you talk with Mayor Cecil, you will realize the old codger is nearly deaf. [Note: the author of this Guide is also nearly deaf, and the conversation you have with the Mayor would be very similar to a conversation you would have with me. Especially ask the mayor about sects.] You will, however, gain lots of information from the Mayor. You will certainly want to talk to the Mayor about the murder and the murder victim, "Councillor Jake". In further conversation, you will get a quest ("Cecil's Mighty Staff"). Here you are to find the lost "Staff of Pergamon". To further this quest, Cecil tells you to talk to "Conrad", a ship's captain on the docks, who might know something about this staff. From this point on, you can ask many of the town's citizens about this staff in hopes of gaining more information. If you read between the lines of the conversation with Cecil, this Staff thing seems a bit dodgy. [Note: you will be investigating the various potential murderers and will be seeking evidence for or against. One bit of evidence is a pair of "Smelly Shoes" in the Mayor's private office (the Key to the locked office door is in the main area). You will have to use cunning and stealth to get the Key and to open the door. You can eventually show these shoes to a dog named Murphy to rule out the Mayor as the culprit.]

The Mayor will offer to give you a tour of the Library upstairs. Take him up on this offer. Upstairs you will find "Jahan", a mage character you can recruit for your party. He brings some useful benefits as you begin to form a well-rounded adventuring party.

While in the Library, talk to "Victoria", the Mayor's "daughter". She is actually a friendly Orc, and you will have several occasions to interact with her. For now, ask her if you can read some of the books in the library and she gives permission. Proceed to take and read any available book (don't steal any, or at least, don't get caught). Only interact with the books or shelves where the onscreen icon is white. A red icon indicates you will steal the item, which pisses people off. Read the books you acquire to gain any benefit or knowledge. Be sure to buy the book called "Forgotten Language of Faery" from Victoria when you get enough gold. You will use this book at a much later time to obtain some decent treasure. Also pick up the book called "Philosophy of Death". The knowledge contained in this latter book will give you some clues to a quest in the not too distant future.

Also talk to "Charlene", the Mayor's assistant, who is wandering about on either the lower or upper floors. Seems like the lovely Charlene is looking for her brother "Tom" and you will get the quest "Tom, the Wannabe Adventurer". Apparently he has run off with a group called the Fabulous Five. You will get a chance soon to meet some representatives of the Fabulous Five and sometime during your adventures, you will come across Tom. We will deal with that later.

Finding Arhu and Aureus

When you're done visiting the Town Hall, exit and head to the northeast. Pass through the Legionnaires camp (red tents) and continue to the east. You will soon find the "Legion Headquarters" where you can talk to "Aureus", the Captain of the Legionnaires and to "Arhu", the mage you met at the beach.

Aureus is arrogant and condescending to you, but he does have useful information and gives you a couple of quests. He tells you the crime scene is at the King Crab Tavern and you have his permission to enter. Now follow all the other conversation options and you will get the following quests - "The Undead Scourge", "The Scaredy Pact", the "Lost Archaeologist", and "Legionnaires at the Church". Well, that certainly gives you a lot to do and we will get to these in due time. Oh, and Aureus is a purveyor of Man-at-Arms skillbooks.

Now head upstairs to talk to "Arhu". Arhu is the mage you met right after you vanquished the orcs on the beach. You're in for a surprise here. Arhu has transformed himself into a cat. He will give you a long discourse about himself, but then you should get down to the business at hand. He will tell you what he knows about the murder and the crime scene. If you have talked to some townspeople, you may have heard mention of an experiment by Arhu that went awry. Mention to him that you heard about a failed experiment and you will get the quest "Arhu's Failed Experiment". For this last quest, he will give you a device called the "Arhu SparkMaster 5000 Universal Controller". He also tells you there is a manual for the device in his room. Interesting. Arhu sells Geomancer and Pyrokinetic skillbooks.

The quests you just got from Aureus and Arhu will be put on the back-burner for a while. You have a lot to do in town, and, many of the quests you just received from Aureus and Arhu take place outside of town and your party is not up to snuff yet. You should now begin the murder investigation in earnest by paying a visit to the murder scene.

Recruit a Potential Party Member

There are several companions that you can recruit to join your party. Two came with the original game, Jahan and Madora. A downloadable DLC called "The Bear and the Burglar" has added two new party companions to the game - "Wolgraff" and "Bairdotr". These companions impart some flavor to the game by adding their opinions to your adventures and having a quest of their own. You will also get a chance a bit later to recruit other companions to replace those listed here. You can only have a total of four party members.

Recruiting the Fair Maiden Bairdotr

There is a cage with a prisoner just outside of the Legion Headquarters (if you downloaded the DLC). In the cage is "Bairdotr". Guarding the cage you will find Tullia and Virius. You can ask Tullia if the woman in the cage is under arrest. This will generate some more give and take between Tullia and Virius, and then you get to decide to take Bairdotr under your wing, or to let her stay locked up. If you choose to have her released, she joins your party. By way of backstory, Bairdotr is a Ranger and says she is from Homeforest, was raised by bears, and apparently has had little dealings with "humans". She says she was tutored by someone named Jareth. She says the reason she is here in Cyseal is that a terrible disease has corrupted the birds and beasts of Homeforest and her mentor, "Jareth", was kidnaped. His abductor was someone named Attenberah. This will begin the quest "The Wild Woman and the Renegade". Bairdotr's weapons, a dagger and a bow, are sitting on the bench near the cage.

Go to the King Crab Tavern and Recruit Another Potential Party Member

Now that you have talked to several townspeople and have a number of quests in your docket, let's begin the murder investigation for real. Head to the east of the Market to the King Crab Tavern. Inside the Tavern, you might first want to talk to "Madora" who is walking about on the first floor of the Inn. Recruit her for your party if you wish. She is a useful Knight character and a good addition if you are trying to create a solid 4-member party.

Go to the southwest side of the first floor and approach the room where the murder occurred. There is a guard stationed at the door, but if you got permission to enter the room from Captain Aureus, the guard will open the door.

The Murder Scene and Discovering a Strange New Realm

If you peer into the room before you enter, you should notice two things immediately - there is no dead body and lying on the floor is a glowing blue stone called the Star Stone. (Hover your mouse cursor over objects to get names or descriptions). Now walk through the door. As soon as you enter the room, this Star Stone will cause a magical explosion and the party will be magically teleported to a strange location. [Note: Alternatively, you can get a similar experience by talking to Evelyn in the infirmary and finishing her quest. She too has a Star Stone that will produce the same magical discharge and teleport the party. Only one of the Star Stones will give this experience. If you've found one, the other will not teleport the party.]

In this strange location, you will meet "Zixzax", an Imp Historian. (You've met Zixzax before if you have played previous Divinity games.) He asks how you came to be there and you explain. He gives you a lot of mystical mumbo-jumbo and then he asks you to look into the large Lens just behind him. Peering into the Lens will show you a cutscene of some kind of cosmic destruction - the Void Maelstrom as Zixzax will call it later. Talk to Zixzax again and he will give you more information about himself and some impending doom, the ending of all Time, which, of course, only YOU can remedy. He points out a now active Portal which was activated by your using the "Star Stone". He goes on to tell you that he is in the Homestead on the Shelter Plane at the End of Time. What? He will become your contact person for a number of tasks and adventures. He asks you to find and retrieve similar stones to the one that Evelyn used or that you saw in the murder room.

The Homestead Hall

You can search the small area and get a few baubles, but then you need to use the glowing Portal thingy next to Zixzax. Using the Portal will whisk your party to the "Homestead Hall". The area you just left is called the "Homestead Observatory". Search the new area. The Homestead Hall is a large area filled with Portals that will eventually take you to other locations, but most of them are currently labeled Inactive Portal. You will be activating these as your adventure progresses. What activates the Portals is the magical discharge of the Star Stones, so when you find a Stone, a new Portal will open in the Homestead.

Make your way to the north end of the Hall and you will see Zixzax talking to someone. This someone is a "Weaver of Time" and she will not talk to Zix. She will, however, talk to you. So talk already.

The Weaver also gives you a bunch of mystical mumbo-jumbo. The gist of it is that YOU are somehow SPECIAL and can interact with the Star Stones, talk to her and show other mysterious abilities. Ask her lots of questions. When your curiosity has been sated, talk to Zixzax again. He will give you a new over-arching mission, to find more of these Star Stones and solve their mystery. A nifty part of all of this is that Zix will then give you a rune stone, a precious little red "Pyramid", which turns out to be a Teleporter Device which lets you Rift Travel. That is, to teleport to any of the Waypoint Portals in the game. Bam! What?

The Last Chest

Before you leave this realm, interact with the treasure chest near the Weaver. It says it is the Last Chest and it dares you to find its four sisters in order to open it and get its treasure. No quest appears on your log for this activity. What to make of this, you wonder. Also, while you are talking to the Weaver of Time, check out her inventory. She sells crafting items such as Pixie Dust which allows you to create magical items. A good thing to remember if you are thinking of using your crafting skills.

Using the Pyramid and Watching Cecilia Taking a Bath

When you decide to leave the Homestead, teleport to one of the Cyseal Waypoints. Now right click on the Pyramid that Zixzax just gave you. (You must be at some location other than in the Homestead for this to work). You will be instantly teleported to the bedroom of "Cecilia" and you can watch her take a bath. Ogle. She will immediately order you out and you must play the RPS mini game with her. Her level for this game is very high and it will be difficult to win. (It actually doesn't matter if you win or not). Regardless, pick up the blue teleporter Pyramid that is lying on the floor. Now you have two Pyramids, a red one and a blue one. In addition to being able to teleport to a Waypoint using the Pyramid, you can now teleport to the other Pyramid. Place one in a desired location, then use the other Pyramid in your inventory to teleport to the one you placed. Fantabulous. Use your newly acquired Pyramid to return to the Homestead.

Getting to the Homestead a Different Way

An alternative way to find a Star Stone and reach Zixzax and Homestead is to pay a visit to Evelyn, the Healer's apprentice. Even if you've been to the murder room and discovered Homestead, do the following anyway. Make your way to Thelyron's Clinic where you will meet with "Thelyron", the Healer. He has quite a high opinion of himself and his abilities, but he will divulge some useful information. Importantly, he will tell you about how his apprentice, "Evelyn", has discovered a revolutionary healing process using a Stone, of all things.

Walk into the next room and observe Evelyn hovering over two sick townspeople lying in the beds. She tries to chase you out, but being curious Source Hunters, you continue to question her. She will relate to you her dilemma - that she has two dying men, but only 1 healing stone. This will begin the quest "The Apprentice and the Stone". Here YOU are to decide which of the two men gets cured by the Stone. Ask Evelyn about the men to get more information on which to base your decision.

As you are deliberating the future of the two men, ask Evelyn some more questions. She tells you where she got the Stone - from someone named "Loic", a healer in the town of Silverglen. He is of the faith called the "Immaculates" who believe certain stones can heal wounded flesh. These things will become much more significant at a later time.

After making your choice, Evelyn will heal the chosen man and her healing Stone will drop to the floor and become an "Inert Stone". Pick it up. If you have not been to the murder room, the healing stone will magically teleport your party to a strange realm. If you've been to Homestead, you won't be teleported again. Talking with Evelyn and choosing which man to heal will start and end the quest "The Apprentice and the Stone".

Visit the Murder Room in the Inn and the New Area in the Homestead

If you have made side trips to the Homestead and to visit Evelyn in the Clinic, return to the King Crab Tavern and search the murder room more thoroughly. The murder room in the Inn is in shambles, but there are some things to be done here. First, pick up the deactivated "Star Stone", now called the "Inert Stone". If you have the one from Evelyn, you will now have two Inert Stones. You will get an onscreen message that there have been changes made to the Homestead. If you zip over to the Homestead via the Teleporter Pyramid, Zixzax will tell you that exciting things have happened. He tells you that a new Portal has opened. To see for yourself, follow Zix as he goes bounding off to the north.

Sure enough, a new Portal called "To the Hall of Heroes" is now active. Take the new Portal. You will arrive in a comfortable looking area that will allow you to exchange companions should you wish. There are chairs for sitting, bookcases for storing your excess books and even a massive feast set up on the dining room table. There are some sleeping pallets on the floor at the south end of the room for you to rest up and restore your depleted health. Cozy.

You will discover, a "person" by the name of "Astarte" sitting at the banquet table. Have a brief chat with her. She seems to recognize you and calls you the "guardians". You don't know quite what to make of this, so next time you see Zix and the Time Weaver, mention Astarte to them. When you talk to the Weaver of Time about this Astarte, she has some interesting things to say. Astarte will play a big role in this story as time goes on.

At the south end of the room you will find "John Smythn". Talk with John to find out that you can hire companions to accompany you on your adventures. If you have already recruited Jahan and Madora (or one of the new ones available through the DLC), then you will be told there is no place for someone else. You can only have four party members. You can dismiss any of your companions and they will stay here in the Hall of Heroes until you require their services again.

There is a chest on the alcove on the west side for you to store valuables. During exploration, my party found a Unique Weapon, Hanneman's Axe, in the alcove to the east. Not too shabby. A character must have high perception to find this axe.

Use your nifty new Rift Travel device and teleport back to the Cyseal North Gate Waypoint. Head back to the Inn to investigate the murder room more thoroughly and interrogate any potential witnesses.

Investigate the Murder Room

Try to open the large chest along the south wall. It is locked, so pick the lock or smash the chest to reveal its contents (alternatively, you can find the key for this chest in Esmeralda's house). In the chest you will find a "Letter" from the "Duke of Ferol" and this will start the quest "The Councillor's Wife". This is "Esmeralda", the wife of Councillor Jake, the murder victim. What you will be doing for a while is collecting evidence of the murder in your attempt to solve it and find the perpetrator. You will need to talk to potential witnesses and follow the leads you are given. And no, the butler didn't do it.

You can freely take any item in the murder room. Especially take the pictures hanging on the wall. Pictures are quite valuable and you can sell them at a Merchant. Try to obtain or steal all the pictures you can to earn some easy gold.

Interrogate Potential Witnesses in the Tavern

You just received a clue concerning the murder (the letter), so you need to start talking to potential witnesses here in the Tavern. Perhaps start with the "Duke of Ferol", the writer of the letter you found in the chest. He is in the northeast corner of the first floor. He doesn't have much to say at this point. You will notice that if you choose conversation option 2, you will take a -20 hit in your attitude when speaking to him. Attitude is how others perceive you and therefore how they react to you during conversations or bartering. With Ferol, it really doesn't matter that his Attitude toward you decreased as he is not a merchant and you don't need to be on his good side.

Right next to the Duke is "Unsinkable Sam", a cat. If you have the Pet Pal talent, talk to the friendly feline. He will tell you about his girlfriend, "Maxine", which will start the quest "Kitty Love". Maxine is the cat in the Town Hall where you talked to Mayor Cecil.

In the northwest corner of the first floor are a couple of Fabulous Five members who are merchants. "Anna" feeds you a bunch of blarney, but she does have some useful items to trade. "Alistair" is really full of himself and doesn't offer much in the way of trade. Move on.

Talk to obnoxious "Novak" at the bar - but you will get little from him. Apparently he is one of the Fabulous Five. Talk to "Yvad Tavernier", the bartender, who offers his observations on the murder. "Francis", in a room in the south of the first floor, is a religious fanatic who offers some religious fanaticism. He does sell potions, however.

Upstairs, most of the rooms are locked. You can enter the room of "Shereth" and converse with her. She is a traveling merchant that sells Witchcraft and Scoundrel skillbooks. She also has lockpicks and trap disarm kits. You need to think about this woman Shereth. You are Source Hunters, and when you talk with Shereth a second time, you will get the choice of exposing her as being a source of Source. A battle will ensue. Other tavern patrons who are in the vicinity will also attack you. You could also decide to let her be so you can continue to trade with her. Role-playing at its finest.

Enter the Basement of the Tavern

One activity you might wish to do right now is to go into the basement of the Tavern. Nobody gave you a quest to do this, but you should always go into the basement areas of a house or dungeon when you find one.

The first thing you will see is a green poisonous cloud to the south. In addition, something you likely don't see is that the room with the poison cloud also has a nasty fire trap. Beyond the cloud is a chest to open and a key that opens another chest to the north. The north chest can be bashed open, but you are likely to ruin a perfectly good weapon in doing so. What follows is one way to get through the poison cloud area to find the key and to open the chest.

First, loot the adjacent untrapped rooms of everything you can get your grubby little hands on. Use the Alt key to highlight stuff. In the room to the east you will find a Tavern Ornate Chest Key that opens the ornate chest in the green cloud room. Go to the green cloud room. Detach a character from the group and then have somebody toss fire into the green cloud to dissipate it temporarily. It will return after a minute or so. Have your detached character walk carefully into the room. There is a floor plate right at the door that will set off the fire trap. Avoid it and walk to the west in the room. The Simple Tavern Cellar Chest Key is lying atop a crate in the west end of the room. The green cloud will return about now. Get close to the Ornate chest and open it with the key. Do a Quick Save here just before you open the chest. Remember that most often, loot is random. If you don't like what you get in the chest, reload and open it again. Have a person outside the room toss fire onto the green cloud again or have your character place a crate on top of the vent to block the poison cloud. There are a couple of crates in the east end of the room if you want to check them out. With the green cloud gone, exit the room carefully, avoiding the pressure plate at the door. How clever you are.

Now go to the chest in the north of the room and loot it. You're not likely to find anything spectacular in either chest, but it's better than what you have at present. In one game, my party found Peter Lee's Sword. It's a decent one-handed sword in it's own right. What's great about this sword is that it is Unbreakable. Use it to bash things without breaking your own weapons. Cool.

Talk to Esmeralda, the Councillor's Wife and Prime Suspect

Now head to Esmeralda's Shop just to the southeast of the Marketplace. She is the wife of the dead Councillor Jake and is currently the prime suspect in the murder investigation as she was having an affair with Duke Ferol. You can talk to her bodyguard, "Septimus", who is steadfast in his defense of her. You can show him the letter to Duke Ferol and he will be flabbergasted.

Now talk to "Esmeralda" and confront her with Duke Ferol's letter. She will brush it off as the ravings of a love-lorn idiot. Although the letter does provide a little motive for two suspects (Ferol and Esmeralda), it's not real proof of anything. If you want to continue with her as a suspect, you will have to find better evidence.

To be more certain of her guilt or innocence, go upstairs and find the key to her apartment. Open the chest at the foot of the bed and take the "Smelly Panties". Eww. [Note: You can take these panties to Murphy, the dog at the cemetery, and let him sniff them. Your character will make a comment that you might want to hear. The Panties will also increase your charisma +1 if you wear them. Well, why not?] Go back downstairs and open the door to the left of the entrance. You will probably need to either distract the guard, or make your character sneak or be invisible. First, search through the ground floor and take all items of value. On the desk in the bedroom you will find a book called "The Perfect Murder", which talks about how to plan a murder. Seems like this might be a plausible piece of evidence. Return to the adjacent room and climb down to the basement via the trapdoor.

Thoroughly explore the entire area for goodies and such. On the left of the stairs, there are ham shanks hanging on the wall. Remove the left ones to find a switch. Press it and a bookcase will slide to reveal a door to a hidden Secret Storage room. On the desk in the storage room you will find a "Bloody Dagger", some more evidence perhaps. Take all the Light Gold Cups and dinner plates as they are worth a lot of money at a vendor.

Even though it may seem that Esmeralda is the prime suspect, let's wait a bit before we confront her with the new evidence just found. There is more to do in this investigation and more suspects to ferret out.

Continue the Murder Investigation by Digging in the Cemetery

When you were in the murder room in the Inn, you should have noticed that the body of Councillor Jake wasn't there. You would surmise that the undertaker already took him. But you need to examine the body for clues. There are two ways you can get the same information, and you can undertake both. Pun intended.

First, head north to the cemetery, and look for Jake's freshly dug grave. His dog, "Murphy", will be barking around the grave. If you have the Pet Pal Talent, speak to Murphy the dog. You'll learn that he misses his best friend Jake, but he senses something is afoot with the grave. If you can't talk to animals, just dig up the grave with the convenient nearby shovel to exhume the body on your own. Gasp! You don't find a body in the grave. Instead you find a dead sheep. Whoa. You will want to go and speak to Bertia in the Market as this just might be her lost sheep.

During your investigation of the various suspects in town, you will find Smelly items that you can bring to Murphy, Jake's dog at the cemetery, and let him smell them. You will find Smelly Panties at Esmeralda's House, some Smelly Socks in the office of Aureus, the Captain of the Legion and Smelly Shoes at Mayor Cecil's Office. Murphy will tell you about his own suspicions of guilt or innocense of the owners of the items.

There are a number of other graves in the graveyard that you can dig up. You can do so now, or come back a bit later. A friendly warning. Not all graves contain "dead" bodies. This Guide will have you come back to the graveyard for further exploration. First, let's find out about this sheep thing. And where the heck is Jake's body??

Talk to the Mortician about Dead Sheep and Missing Dead Bodies

If you wish to gain some more information about Jake's missing body, you can speak to the undertaker, "Roberts", who is upstairs in the "Mortician's Morgue" just to the south of the cemetery and just northwest of the Tavern. You can find his ledger ("Robert's Ledger") in the morgue area of the lower floor, though you'll have to break down a door or pick its lock to get to it. [Note: the key to this door is upstairs. You will need to steal it. It is called the Mortician's Chest Key, but it will unlock both doors in this house as well as the Mortician's Chest.] When you read this ledger, you will get to ask Roberts about the various people he suspects as being culpable for Jake's murder. If you don't have the ledger, you will get a list of dialogue options that will let you persuade Roberts one way or another by playing a RPS mini-game with him. Win, and he'll spill the fact that he let the body be stolen.

Roberts does name four suspects - Mayor Cecil, Esmeralda (Jake's wife), Captain Aureus and Evelyn (the doctor's apprentice). Read the dialogue options to get some clues about why he suspects each of these people. Now you will want to speak to each one if you haven't already.

First, let's go to the Marketplace and talk to the poor dear Bertia who lost her sheep (quest "Little Bo Bertia Lost Her Sheep".) When you tell her you found her dead sheep, she scampers off to complain to Captain Aureus. Follow her to Aureus' office and listen to her demand the arrest of Roberts, the Undertaker, and sheep thief. You can ask Aureus about the other suspects and report your suspicions, but if you accuse Aureus, he'll just scream at you and you'll lose some Attitude points. You can tell Aureus about Roberts' complicity in the matter of conspiring to sell Jake's body and he will be arrested.

So where is Jake's body? Roberts did hint that perhaps Jake's body is being used to summon the undead, and you already know the Legion is having a problem with that. You need to start looking into that thread.

You can go talk to Mayor Cecil, another of the suspects, but the doddering old fool has nothing to add. If you break into his private quarters, you can steal a pair of "Smelly Shoes". Show these to Murphy the dog who will tell you that Cecil is not likely the perpetrator. So it seems like the investigation is at an impasse here.

Confront Esmeralda

Confront Esmeralda with the incriminating items (the book and knife) you found in her Shop and demand explanation from her. However, she will tell you that it is her husband's book and the knife is one he used to butcher swine. All plausible explanations. Seems she may not be the guilty party after all. She goes on to tell you that Jake changed perceptibly over the last few months into somebody dark and brooding. She will also strongly recommend that you take a closer look at "Evelyn", the Healer's apprentice. She's convinced that Evelyn in evil and killed poor Jake.

Furthering the Murder Investigation

Go back to the Thelyron's Clinic and speak to Thelyron. You will discover that Evelyn is gone. Thelyron will tell you that Evelyn left in a hurry, but she forgot her pouch. He suggests you search her pouch and then search her house which is just to the west of the Clinic. The backpack, which is sitting near the window in the next room, contains the "Key to Evelyn's House". With further searching of the Clinic, you will find a "Smelly Coat" that you can show to Murphy the dog and get his opinion on things. You will also find the Key to Thelyron's Back Room. Open that door and loot the room.

Go to Evelyn's house, which is right next door to the Clinic, and search it thoroughly. The chest just inside the door contains a "Reveal Spell". Hold on to this as it will be required a bit later when you attempt to find Evelyn. Take "Evelyn's Diary" from the shelf just above the chest and read it. Things are beginning to gel for you now. In the Diary, Evelyn talks about someone named "Dietmar" and the Staff. This has to be Cecil's Staff of Pergamon. She also talks about "Conduit". You've heard of Conduit before from the religious fanatic in the Tavern. There is, in fact, a letter on the table from this Conduit to Evelyn. Hmm, interesting. Right next to the letter from Conduit there is a Parchment that gives you the recipe for Reanimation serum. Also interesting, but it's unlikely you will be able to make this stuff. The Mortician and Esmeralda are also mentioned in the Parchment. The chest in the corner can be bashed for some useful items. The key for the chest is at the door you entered.

Well, well, well. It seems that lovely Evelyn is the culprit after all. Even Murphy, the dog at the graveyard, will confirm this if you let him smell Evelyn's Smelly Coat. You really must find her. So to recap, you've learned from the items in Evelyn's house that her secret Lair is near a northwest beach and she has magically disguised it. Here is where you will use the Reveal Spell, to reveal the Lair once you find it. Both Evelyn's House and her Lair are marked on the Map. While it might seem to be a priority to find Evelyn, you won't be getting to this Lair for a while, so be patient.

To wrap up the quest "The Councillor's Wife", head over to Captain Aureus. You have discovered some incriminating evidence against Esmeralda, but it really isn't compelling and, furthermore, you now know it was Evelyn who was involved. Tell Captain Aureus that there might be someone to arrest, but your main characters will discuss this. Make the choice that there really isn't enough direct evidence to arrest Esmeralda and the quest will end.

Doing Some Activities While the Murder Investigation is on Temporary Hold

When you were in the graveyard, you probably noticed that there were a lot of graves that could be dug up. Why don't you return to the graveyard and see if anything comes of that. Examine each of the grave stones and dig up the corresponding grave. Some will contain treasure, and some may contain an angry denizen who took a dislike to you digging up their grave. One of these latter ones is "Jarred". He appears as a undead that will explode when he is damaged. Stand back.

Another of these is the grave of "David". Dave will attack and he is a fairly tough undead. Murphy the dog and a nearby mourner named Siva, may join in this battle. Kill Dave fast before he can kill Murphy or the poor woman. Madora's Crushing Fist is effective here.

Talk to the woman, "Siva", to hear her sad tale - but don't dig up her grave. If you do, things will turn out even sadder. Digging up the grave of "Helen" in the southeast will result in a confrontation with Helen. You're only choice here is to kill her.

Now dig up the grave of "Nemris", Master of Philosophy. The ghost of Nemris will appear, but he won't attack. Speak to him to trigger "The Philosopher" side quest. He will ask you some questions, and if you answer correctly, you will get a reward. Apparently the answers are to be found in his publication called the Philosophy of Death. This book is in the second floor of the Town Hall near the south corner of the library. The book is supposed to prepare you for Nemris's test. You don't need to have the book in your possession to initiate the quest or even to answer the questions. If you don't have the book and want to end this quest now, then use the following choices in the conversation to satisfy Nemris - choice 2, choice 2 and choice 1. Nemris will disapparate in a cloud of dust and be replaced by a treasure chest. [Note: the copy of the book my party found had nothing but blank pages. What's up with that? Apparently there is a bug in early editions of the game where this book will appear blank. You can, however, still complete the quest.]

Explore an Old Ore Mine

Lastly, dig up the large mound in the center of the cemetery. It is not a grave, just a mound. This will reveal an entrance to a hidden dungeon - an old ore mine. Descend into the dungeon for a bit of adventure. From the entrance, proceed west along the passage. You will soon encounter some Undead including a Fumbling Undead Mage.

Continue along the passage to the west. If you check around with your cursor, you may find a chunk of ore you could mine. You will need the proper tool, a pickaxe, in order to mine ores.

A bit further to the west you will encounter a "Skeletal Scorcher", the Boss creature of this area. The Scorcher will conjure some Undead Archers and Swordsmen to assist him. After their demise, head to the north. You will come upon a bucket hanging from the ceiling.

Finding a Potential New Party Member

Walking about near the hanging bucket you will find "Wolgraff" (if you have downloaded the DLC). He seems to be collecting the coins that people toss down the well above. You can ask him to join you if you want a Rogue character in your party. When you try to talk to him, you will discover that he is mute. This will begin the quest "A Voice in the Wilderness" where you are to find a way to restore his voice. Finding the Voice and returning it to Wolgraff can be undertaken whether or nor he is in your party.

Using this bucket will take you to a Well on the surface. You will be located just to the west of town. You should probably choose not to venture any further because your party may not be able to handle the monsters you encounter. Go down the well and back into the mine.

Near the central part of the mine is a ramp leading up to a trapdoor. Hold off taking that for now. Instead, proceed all the way to the west end of the passages, avoiding or disarming several traps along the way. You will come to a ladder leading up. The ladder will bring you to an area in the city that is otherwise inaccessible. Here you will find a chest to loot. Go back down into the mine.

Go back to the central region and look for the large wooden ramp object. This is a trapdoor that leads to the surface. Under the nearby bucket is a Key. Take it as it will open a door on the upper level.

Beware of Fireball Traps

You will have arrived in a new part of the dungeon. Don't move yet. Look around and get your bearings. Just through the doorway is a long metal object on the floor. This is a trap that will set off some nasty fireballs. To your left is a crate that is blocking a poison gas vent. To your right is an oil slick and an oil barrel. If you're careful, you can move the oil barrel and walk to the south of the trap without triggering it. Walk your characters one at a time. Placing the view into overhead mode (keyboard shortcut "b") helps a lot. If you do trigger the fireball trap, there is a lever at the north end of the room that will turn them off. The easiest way to bypass this trap is to use the Pyramids in your possession. Toss one beyond the trap and then use the other Pyramid to teleport the party to the tossed Pyramid.

To the north is the door you want to go through, but it too is protected by a long floor trap. Move to the west of the door where you see a crate and a chest. Loot the chest. Don't move it though as it covers a poison gas vent. You now want to use the same tactic as you did with the previous trap. One at a time, take a character behind the chest. Open the door; if you forgot to pick up the key, then bash it or pick the lock.

Don't move. Just on the other side of the door is another one of those pesky floor traps that will start a fireball barrage. You can try to walk around as before, but this one is harder. The lever that turns off the fireballs is north and then east of the door. Have one character time the fireballs and run past them, go to the lever and shut of the fireballs. Then another character can do the same. Repeat. Be aware that just before the shut-off lever is another floor trap and just in front of the shelf at the lever, your character will be stunned. The stunning will wear off and they can then pull the lever. Again, the easier method to bypass this trap is to use the Pyramids.

Check the shelf near the lever carefully using the Alt keyboard key and find a door Key. This Key will open the door just to the east. Go through that door and in the next room you will find a journal with some interesting reading and another of the ramps leading to a trapdoor. Go up the ramp.

At the other end of the trapdoor is an abandoned house in the city. If you found this house from the outside earlier, you could not enter because of the locked doors. Use this opportunity to take any treasure, especially the paintings on the walls. The doors are still locked, but if you interact with the painting on the north wall, you will reveal a switch that opens the nearby door. It turns out that this is the abandoned General Store and right behind it is the Smithy. Behind the house you can find a furnace, anvil and whetstone wheel to do a bit of blacksmithing if that is your thing.

Doing Some Other Small Quests in Cyseal

If you are in the mood for another small, but odd, adventure, walk toward the east side of Esmeralda's Shop. Here you will find a couple of theater stages set up and two men trying to work the crowd. Talk to "Reginald" in the west side of the area. He's bragging about his "Talking Head" and how he attracts a bigger crowd than his rival performer, "Cedric", on the other side of the lawn. Reginald will give you the story of the Talking Head. Then have a chat with Cedric who laments about the talentless Reginald. Go back to Reginald's side and talk with "Gallagher", the "crowd warmer". This will begin the quest "Warming the Crowd". Tell Cedric about Reginald's crowd warmer guy. Play the RSP mini-game with Gallagher and win to have him switch sides. Soon the crowd migrates to Cedric's performance. Go back and tell Reginald, who becomes incensed and rushes off to have words with Cedric. This will complete the quest. You can have a few words with the Talking Head, but nothing comes of it now. While it may seem silly at first to even bother with this quest, this Talking Head will become significant in a later quest and you must complete the current Warming the Crowd quest.

Talking to Beggar

Just south of the Legion Headquarters is a dilapidated house. Standing within or just outside of the house is "Beggar". Have a chat with him. He will tell you that he sought the council of some things called the Watcher Statues and they ruined his fortune by telling him to give up ALL of his worldly possessions. Well, you've heard about these Statues before when you discovered the dead body on the beach. (This will update the quest "The Talking Statues"). There is something odd about these Statues and they will require further investigation, but at a later time.

Visiting the Warehouse

Just north of the Harbour is the Warehouse for the city. Within you will find "Sergeant Curtius", who has been entrusted to guard the contents of the Warehouse. Right behind Curtius is a door locked with a magical lock. Walking about is "Florius", who gives just some background information. Talk to "Moira", who has quite a bit to say. She mentions something about two idiots hiding their pet Orc. What's up with that? Talk to "Horatius", who isn't pleased that you've come into the Warehouse.

If you have a hankering to get through into the magically locked door, try this: Have a Magical Unlock Scroll in your possession. Use stealth to get the Scroll from Arhu's office. (Note: apparently there are only a couple of these scrolls in the entire game and you cannot create a skillbook of Magical Unlock.) Go back to the Warehouse. Talk to Horatius and then Florius and the two will start a shouting match. Sergeant Curtius will rush over to calm them down. While Curtius is away from his post at the Magically locked door, open it with the spell.

Outside of the large door on the east side of the Warehouse, you can find two Legionnaires chatting with an Orc. "Ninnius" and his buddy "Marius" are having a debate about Orcs, especially the Orc standing next to them. Seems like when the two found this Orc on the beach, Ninnius tossed a love potion at her and she became enamored with him. Bloomin' bullfrogs. This begins the quest "Charmed, I'm Sure". Marius wants to do away with the Orc, while Ninnius does not. Talking to the Orc has no benefit as she cannot speak your language. You can then decide whether to let the Orc live or to put her down. Can an Orc really be trusted?? [Note: if you let her live, she later kills Ninnius and Marius. If you decide to put her down, Marius will kill her on the spot and Ninnius will burst into tears and never speak to you again.]

The Cook's House

Just to the west of the Legion headquarters is the town's Mess Hall called "Cook's House", the abode of Cook Morris. When your first step into the house, you will have a small undocumented quest of freeing, or not, a chicken named Jack, who is in peril of being tonight's dinner. Cook Morris, of course, asks you to help capture the errant chicken. It's your choice here. Morris will be a bit ticked off if you free the chicken and won't have much to say. If you tell him that chickens are meant to be eaten, Morris punches poor Jack, feathers go flying, and his goose is cooked.

Upstairs at the Mess Hall, you will find "Quartermaster" who sells weapons and such. The basement to the Mess Hall has some pigs to talk to and a bunch of crates and sacks to loot.

Exploring the Docks of Cyseal

There is some treasure to be obtained from the crates and barrels on the docks of the city. There are also some people to talk to and quests to advance. Mayor Cecil mentioned you might want to talk to "Conrad", the captain of the large ship in the south central area of the harbour (quest "Cecil's Mighty Staff"). Ask him about the Staff of Pergamon which was stolen from Cecil. Conrad says you should talk with one of his sailors. This happens to be "Marv" who is standing on the dock near the ship. When you talk to Marv, he remembers seeing a fellow named Dietmar carrying off a package during the orc attack. Talk to Conrad again about this Dietmar. Conrad mentions that you might find Dietmar on the beach somewhere. We will come back to this quest in time.

Shipless Sailors

Another activity to undertake while in the Harbour is to talk to three sailors, Max, Philip and Louis, who are standing just to the east of Conrad's ship. Apparently, during the orc attack, the ship of the three sailors was destroyed. They ask you to help them find a job. This begins the quest "The Shipless Sailors". To further this quest, you need to talk to "Captain Jack", who is near the fountain in the central Market. It appears that his crew ran off and he is in need of some new sailors. So, ask him if he is willing to recruit the three on the docks and he will agree. Return to the three hapless, not to mention shipless, sailors and tell them to go see Jack and they run off. Another good deed done for the citizens of Cyseal. [Note: if you acquire this quest early, you can talk to a number of the townspeople to see if they have any work for the Sailors. Mendius, the Fabulous Five recruiter outside of the Tavern will be one that offers them work.]

Stopping a Feud

Walk to the area just to the north of the mortuary and near to the graveyard. Here you will find "Eglandaer", an elf who asks for your assistance. This begins the quest "Elf-Orc Blood Feud". Eglandaer instructs you to follow him to his room on the second floor of the Tavern. Walk inside the Inn and climb upstairs and see him enter one of the locked rooms. Talk to him.

It will turn out that he wants you to kill Victoria, the female orc that can be found in the library on the second floor of the Town Hall. Allegedly, she belongs to the tribe that murdered Eglandaer's family. He asks you to bring him "Victoria's Amulet" as proof of the vile deed. Kyry Al'Esor!

You have several options as to how to approach this.

1. You can convince Victoria to give back the amulet that the elf wants, as proof that Victoria has been killed. If you are playing a good guy type party, this is likely the option of choice. To get the amulet however, you must play and win the RPS mini-game with Victoria. When you return the amulet to Eglandaer, he thinks you have killed Victoria and he leaves the Inn. He also leaves a chest behind for your looting pleasure. You can try following the Elf with the hopes of killing him later, but he completely disappears from the game. Return to Victoria to have her tell you that "the sun that is your chivalry has dissolved the dew that was Eglandaer's hate". Who could ask for more?

[Note: you can still attack Eglandaer after you give him the amulet and complete the quest. You have to be quick as he will walk out the door. You will also likely be attacked by the two citizens who are walking about in the hallway. Collateral damage, as they say.]

2. You can kill the elf and inform Victoria of your deed. You don't even need to attack him. Just close the door to the room and he will attack you. With this outcome, Victoria will understand, but she is saddened by the fact that someone had to die. This is also a good choice if you are the goody-two-shoes type party.

3. You can kill Victoria and take the amulet away from her. After several blows - while holding down the Ctrl key - she will start attacking you. Here you need to look up the words "evil" and "cad". If you do kill Victoria, Mayor Cecil will refuse to talk to you for the rest of the game, and several quests will be permanently locked out. It won't affect the main story line though.

4. You can tell Victoria that you will try to have Eglandaer arrested. In this case, you need to pickpocket (2+) the Bloody Amulet, and give it to Captain Aureus. Return to the elf and watch him be arrested. After that, go to Victoria and inform her of the arrest.

Leaving Town and Exploring the Countryside

Your party should be at least level 3 by now. So it is time to venture out of the safety of the city and explore the countryside. At this point in time, you will want to exit town through a specific gate. There are areas outside of the Cyseal that you won't be able to handle because the monsters are too tough. Adhere to the recommendations that follow so you won't become frustrated with the game.

Cyseal has four closed gates, plus a fifth exit that is an open archway. This is the one to take at this time. The archway is on the west side just to the west of the morgue. You will encounter some monsters very soon after leaving the city. Proceed directly west and fight a Zombie, Undead Swordsman and an Armoured Decapitator who are devouring a dead body. Kill them.

Finding the Lost Archaeologist

Take the next path after the signpost that leads to the northeast. You will pass the Well that you found when you were in the mines under the graveyard. Just past the well is a house with two dogs outside, Sheba and Toxa. Go inside and check the skeleton lying on the bed. The diary of the skeleton says the dogs were infected by zombies but he didn't have the heart to kill them. Your main characters will have a discussion over this issue. Your party may want to decide to kill the infected dogs so they can't infect anyone else. When you attack them, the dogs turn into zombies. Don't pet them.

Continue further to the north and find a dilapidated shack with "Wulfram" muttering to himself inside. Talk to him. He is the Lost Archaeologist you are looking for. He fills you in on some background and then you must escort him back to the city. You will be ambushed twice by undead and you must protect Wulfram. The first encounter will be with an Undead Killer. Kill him. The second is with a Undead Killer and an Undead Swordsman. Kill them both. Once at the city gate, Wulfram takes his leave. Report to Aureus for your reward and completion of the quest "The Lost Archaeologist". This might be enough to raise your party to level 4. Wulfram said he would be in the King Crab Tavern and would buy you drinks. Par-tay. Go to the Inn and you can ask him some questions while you down a few cold ones.

Head Back to the West of Town

Head back out near where you found Wulfram. Explore the ruined house where he was hiding. There is a trapdoor leading to a basement area called the Abandoned Basement. Go down there and take stuff.

Back on the surface, you can explore around, but stay on the western side of Cyseal. If you go further to the east of where Wulfram was (that is, north and east of Cyseal), you'll run into even stronger enemies that you're not quite ready for.

Just slightly to the northeast of the house where you found Wulfram, you will see a Sick-Looking Dog pacing around some dead bodies. He doesn't attack, nor can you interact with him. Kill him? When you kill the dog, a bunch of Undead pop out of the ground, including a Fumbling Undead Mage. After you kill them, search the bushes to their east and find a chest with some loot. There is also a trapdoor in the area of the dead bodies.

A Puzzling Puzzle

The trapdoor is an entrance to a strange dungeon. Walk a short ways in and you will see four pillars, each with a colored rune on top, representing one of the four elements. Next to each pillar is a button on the floor. In front of the first pillar is a tombstone. The message the tombstone gives is:

Water, Earth, Air, FireIn this cell's double, your double will face your ally.Solution to the Puzzling Puzzle

Cryptic. What does this mean, you wonder? It turns out that there are two similar rooms, or cells, involved in this puzzle. Both rooms are accessible via trapdoors. The other room is on the surface, to the north of the current room and accessible via a trapdoor. This trapdoor of the second room is guarded by 3 Lesser Infernal Chimera (fire elementals) and an Undead Pyromancer. After you dispatch them, go down the trapdoor.

You will find a similar room, or cell, as the games calls it, with the same four pillars and a tombstone. This time the message on the tombstone is:

Earth, Water, Air, FireIn this cell's double, your double will face your ally.

Notice that the list of elements is in a slightly different order. Key words in both messages seem to be the words "double" and "ally". This likely means you should split your party into two groups (the double), one for each room and you most likely will fight a doppleganger of one of your party members - the "ally". So do just that. Leave two members in this room (we'll call this the Second Cell) and send two back to the other room (we'll call that the First Cell). One member of each group should have the teleportation Pyramid, which will make the battle that will occur a bit easier.

Pushing Buttons

In each of the rooms, or cells, pushing a button will set off a magical attack in the opposite room. For example, if you push the button for the fire pillar in the First Cell, a fireblast will occur inside of the pillars in the Second Cell. You won't actually see this happen, but if you focus on the party within the opposite room (use the F# and Home keys), you will see evidence that such an attack took place. You will want to activate the buttons in the same order as the list of elements from the tombstone - Water, Earth, Air, and Fire for the First Cell and Earth, Water, Air, and Fire for the Second Cell.

Before you push any buttons, move your character(s) in the opposite room to the outside of the middle of the pillars. The elemental attacks that ensue are concentrated to the center of the pillar array.

Order of buttons in the First Cell

You must push the buttons in the First Cell in the order found on the tombstone in the Second Cell; Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. A Mysterious Opponent will appear in the opposite Second room once you have finished pushing the buttons in the correct order. This happens in both rooms upon puzzle completion. Each fight will be against one level 5 opponent modeled after one of your party's characters. Since this character could be fairly tough, a trick to do here is when the Opponent is conjured, use the Pyramid on your main character in the opposite cell so that all four of your party members are present for the battle. Repeat this process for the other cell. After these fights, be sure to pick up the "Round Pendant" or "Square Pendant" that drop to the floor. Collect all the loot, which will be a lot of potion bottles.

Order of buttons in the Second Cell

You must push the buttons in the Second Cell in the order found on the tombstone in the First Cell; Water, Earth, Air, and Fire. Again, a Mysterious Opponent will appear in the opposite room once you have finished pushing the buttons in the correct sequence. Defeat the Opponent.

After these fights, be sure to pick up the "Round Pendant" or "Square Pendant" that drop to the floor. Collect all the loot dropped by the Opponents.

In each room a trapdoor hatch in the floor will be revealed when the Opponent is killed. Both of your groups need to head down their respective hatch and walk a bit to find two huge magical barriers blocking the doorways. Next to each doorway is a pedestal. Place one of the Pendants you obtained on a pedestal. You have to place the correct Pendant on the correct pedestal. If you discover you have them reversed, simply use the "send to" from inventory to exchange them. When both are placed, this will open the magical barriers and give you access to four treasure chests. Whoopie.

You must gather your party before venturing forth. (Does anyone remember that phrase from early role-playing games such as Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate?) Recombine your party members and get back to the surface.

Finding Some Treasure and a Scarecrow

Once back above ground, continue in a west and north direction and eventually you will be ambushed by a bunch of Undead that spring from the earth. Replant them into the ground. From that point, start moving to the west and southwest. You will come upon a dilapidated house with some Undead to vanquish. Kill and loot. The house contains some dead Legionnaires where you will find written Orders instructing them to investigate the Lighthouse. These guys were part of the group you are searching for in the quest "The Scaredy Pact", and your quest will update.

Continue to the west and you will soon see a cornfield with a scarecrow. Just beyond that, is another scarecrow with a huge pumpkin head. Ooo. Scary. Surrounding the pumpkin head scarecrow is a group of Undead to fight. When they are defeated, walk towards the Pumpkin head scarecrow, but be careful, it explodes. There is a chest to open at the foot of the scarecrow. Search for the hidden cache near the pumpkin scarecrow which contains treasure (assuming you bought the treasure map from Gerome to make it easier to find).

Test of Strength with Snorri

Just to the north of the pumpkin head scarecrow is a Waypoint Portal. Right next to the Waypoint is a seemingly empty ruined house. When you approach the house, however, some Undead pop out of the floor. Eliminate them and then explore the house and surroundings. If you move a mat on the floor along the west wall, you will reveal a hidden trapdoor entrance. The trapdoor is locked, but you can find the key (Hidden Hatch Key) near the crates on the east side of the house. The trapdoor leads to a cellar called the "Forgotten/Hidden Crypt". Collect all the loot. In the center of the cellar is a sarcophagus which can be opened by sliding the lid partially off of the sarcophagus. A ghost named "Snorri" will pop out and begin talking to you.

Seems that Snorri was a strong man performer at the County Fair. He challenges you to a contest of strength by having you attempt to smash an item he conjures. This begins the quest "The Strongman". A large blue ball, called Snorri's Ball, will appear near the sarcophagus. Have a high strength person beat the crap out of the ball. You will have 35 seconds in which to smash the item. You can use spells, but they are slower if you are intending to win this contest. When you smash it, Snorri will disapparate and a chest will appear. If you fail to smash it in time, Snorri will do so and then a fight begins. The chest contains the usual allotment of treasure. However, check Snorri's inventory when you start to talk to him. That's the treasure he will drop when defeated. You can farm him for better stuff. He always seems to have only two items, but potentially, they could be legendary items. Killing him seems to be the better option - but only if you like legendary loot that is. LOL.

Find the Lighthouse

Proceed to the west along the path and you will hear voices. These belong to two idiots, I mean, two Legionnaires, standing by a tree. Talk to these guys, "Mallius" and "Lucia", and you will discover they are survivors of the group of Legionnaires tasked to investigate the Lighthouse. They give you some information on the Lighthouse that's just up the road. There is a locked chest behind these guys, the key to which is just to the south, lying at the base of a tree.

Continue to the west and you will begin to climb some stairs. Several dead Legionnaires litter the stairs. An ominous sign. When you reach the Lighthouse you will immediately be attacked by the Boss undead called "The Ghoul-That-Guards-The-Lighthouse", a few zombie dogs, and a few skeleton archers. The Ghoul is an ugly looking thing, is he not? Prepare for a very tough battle.

The Ghoul can be formidable because it can teleport itself next to a character and melee attack, then teleport back to its original position. Annoying. Most often, however, the Ghoul will summon more of the Lupine Horrors to fight on its side. When you kill any of the zombie dogs, the Ghoul tends to use its turn to summon more. Use fire-based attacks against the dogs.

Another tactic you can try is to keep the Ghoul frozen with magical spells. It will be constantly raining during this battle, so have Jahan or somebody cast Chill on the Ghoul. This will contain him for awhile as you continue to whomp the hounds. When the Frozen status wears off, the Ghoul will have to summon more dogs and will not use the teleporting attack.

Don't advance on the enemies too quickly. Let them come to you. Keep dealing with the dogs, and eliminate the archers. Then begin to move in to seriously attack the Ghoul.

Enter the Lighthouse and Find a Ghost

Once your defeat the Ghoul, the magic lock on the Lighthouse door will disappear. Enter the lighthouse and use the trapdoor to go down into the basement. There, you'll find a ghost named "Samson". Speak to him to learn about why he's haunting the Lighthouse. Apparently, in a jealous rage, he deliberately destroyed a ship with his wife aboard and now he is trying to atone for this. This updates the "Scaredy Pact" quest and also triggers a new quest, "Lost Love at the Lighthouse". You'll undertake this quest in due time. For now, take anything that isn't nailed down and then leave.

Return to Mallius and Lucia, the two Legionnaires you met just before reaching the Lighthouse. You'll be given a choice here whether you tell them what happened and let them make their report, or if you force them to go to the Lighthouse themselves. Depending on your dialogue choices, this may cause an argument between your two main characters, which results in a Rock-Paper-Scissors mini-game. If you let the two Legionnaires saunter off to Aureus, they will attempt to take all the credit for killing the Ghoul. Teleport back to Cyseal and report to Aureus to set the record straight. The Legionnaires will be sent to the kitchen to peel potatoes. A fitting, if not un-appealing, punishment. Regardless of how you decide to deal with the Legionnaires, this will resolve the quest "The Scaredy Pact".

Exploring North of the City

The next location to visit is the area north of Cyseal. Go to the Waypoint Portal marked Cyseal North Gate (or just walk there), then exit the city through that gate. You'll soon encounter three zombies, one of whom is Rob, rummaging through a wagon and a dead cow. Rob who, you wonder? Doesn't matter, kill him.

Continue to walk north. You will meet up with a bunch of Enraged Zombie Boars, some Undead Killers and Archers and an Undead Priest. Oh, my. After this encounter, keep heading in a northerly direction. You will see some broken stone arches. Here you will find another of the hidden treasure chests if you read the maps purchased from Gerome. There is a tiny little chest to the east of the stone arches, back along the rock cliff. It's easy to miss, unless some fantastic game Guide told you where it was.

A Burning Chest

Now head in an easterly direction and up the incline. At the top of the hill you will see a chest that is burning. There seems to be no enemies about. When you try to open it, you get a message that the chest is too hot. Cast a Rain or Ice spell on it and the chest will then begin to hop away. That's right. It will starting hopping down the path. Give chase. You will get it cornered near the stone arches. When you try to open it again, an exploding Exploskeleton pops out. Pop him and then open the chest. [Note: It seems that this is one chest that does not have randomized treasure. On saving your game and multiple openings, your party will always get the same items. What you get will vary from game to game, but it apparently does not update to new items if you save and reload. Oh, well. The author of this Guide has since noticed that any chest that is moved prior to opening it, the loot will no longer randomize.]

Head back to where you found the hopping chest and continue to the east. You will come across a stream bed, or the bridge that crosses it slightly more to the south. On the other side of this stream is a horde of Undead enemies. Kill them. Kill them all.

I, Robot

After their defeat, search the area and open a chest nearby. Then enter the dungeon entrance to the north. You will be in the "Rank Tunnel". A short way inside, you will meet some mercenary soldier/farmer named "Visco" and his two buddies, "Richard" and "Victor". Visco immediately asks about Mendius and Anna, two of the Fabulous Five group you met in the Tavern in Cyseal. Apparently these guys were conned by the Fabulous Five into trying to remove the Robot from this cave. (This will update the quest "Arhu's Failed Experiment"). After you've spoken to them, they won't leave you to your own devices as they will join you to fight the Robot. Speaking of devices, you might recall you were given a device by Arhu that is supposed to control the Robot.

You can check it out to find out what activities it controls. Read the code book for how to use this device. (Ahru gave you the device, you should have picked up the book from his desk). This Guide would recommend that you fight the Robot and not use the device. One choice on the device is to deactivate the Robot. If you do this, then you won't get any experience or treasure. Additionally, the device doesn't always work. Sometimes you have to press a combination two or three times before anything happens. All too much trouble, I say. Just beat the thing into submission.

From your meeting point with Visco, proceed down the ramp until you see the thing in the grassy area. There are several Undead with the Robot. When the battle is joined, Visco and his buddies will help you out. They are actually not as lame as they let on, but still, you should try not to let them die. The Robot is vulnerable to freezing, so try using spells like Rain and Bitter Cold here, which will freeze the robot.

After you kill the Robot, search the area carefully. On one of the corpses you will find a letter from Charlene, the young lady that works for Mayor Cecil. You've just discovered her lost brother Tom, who is now quite dead. How sad. This updates the quest "Tom, the Wannabe Adventurer".

Continue Beyond the Cave of the Failed Experiment to Activate the Waypoint

You need to report these shenanigans to Mayor Cecil and to Arhu. But before doing so, continue to the west in the tunnel and take the ramp upwards. Exit into the northern parts of the area. Continue to the west a short ways until you activate the Waypoint Portal ("Cyseal Northwest") so you can return here later.

Report Your Good Deeds

Use the Portal to go back to town and pay a visit to Mayor Cecil in his office. This will complete the quest "The Fabulous Five". You learn from the Mayor that the Fab Five has taken their share, and apparently your share as well, of the reward money and left town. While you are in the Town Hall, also report to Charlene about her brother, Tom. If you tell her the truth that Tom is dead, she refuses to believe it. Alternatively, you can not tell her that Tom is dead and give her a bit of hope. Either way, this will end the quest Tom, the Wannabe Adventurer.

You can then go visit Arhu to tell him of the demise of his Robot. Nothing will come of this, however. To complete the quest "Arhu's Failed Experiment", enter the basement prison in the Legion Headquarters and talk to one of the three alleged adventurers who helped defeat the Robot and is now standing guard at the treasury room [Note: the NPC's names have changed. I guess they changed their name when they joined the Legion. Visco is now Viscous, Victor is Victorus and Richard is Richardus]. Also, one of the conversation options for your party is "Fancy finding ME here? What business could you possibly have at the End of Time!" This doesn't make any sense in the present context. Anyway, if you want to obtain some treasure from the treasury room, play and win the RPS mini-game with Viscous, Victorus or Richardus to gain entry.

Exploring the Western Beach and Find Lost Love

When you completed the Lighthouse mission, you met a ghost named Samson in the Lighthouse. Samson told you that he deliberately killed his wife in a jealous rage. You promised to make an attempt to reconcile Samson's plight and to do this, you need to search for his lost wife, Desdemona. This adventure will take place in the western beaches region of Cyseal.

From the city, leave through the southwestern exit, near the harbour (Cyseal Harbour Waypoint). Walk along the beach and you will find orc and human corpses strewn about. Apparently some huge battle took place here. Search them for loot. Continue to the north along the beach. In the northeast corner of the beach, you will encounter a "Mysterious Stranger". Have a talk with him and find out what he's doing here. He recounts to you that he is wary of adventurers like yourself. You eventually get three conversation options. Regardless of which you choose, the Stranger says "'Kay" and then disapparates in a puff of smoke. Strange. And mysterious.

Orc Broggnar and his Dead Brother's Grave

A bit further to the west you will run into a forlorn orc named "Broggnar" sitting on the sand. He laments about being unable to bury his orc brother in the "traditional way". He mentions that his brother Oggie was buried with a full set of armour (quest "The Grieving Orc"). Hmm. In conversation amongst your party members, you may decide the Orc is full of it and attack. But then you will have to find the grave on your own. Or you can ask him where the grave is and enter the RSP mini-game to try and persuade Broggnar to reveal the location. In the immediate area around Broggnar, your party member with high perception will spot several graves with orc corpses. These are near the totems. You can dig them up and take the treasure, but none of these is Broggnar's brother. When you do dig them up, Broggnar gets angry and a fight ensues.

The brother's grave is directly west of Broggnar. If you've persuaded Broggnar to show you, he will walk over to the grave and sit right in front of it. Digging the grave now will anger Broggnar and he will fight you.

If Broggnar hasn't shown you, or you killed him, you will need to find the grave yourself. Walk west to the stone cliff where there are some large sharp spiked rocks. In front of one of the spiked rocks is an area that is a round patch of stones and not sand. Dig here for the body and claim the loot which consists of two pieces of Unique orc armour. Not bad if you have a character that can equip them.

Grulbarg the Fearsome

A bit further to the west of Broggnar, your perception person should detect some traps. Disarm them or avoid them. Just beyond the traps you will spot some enormous footprints. These footprints lead both to the west and to the north, but all end at the same location. As you might expect, the footprints lead to confrontations with Orcs. Fight through the minion orcs and then confront "Grulbarg the Fearsome", a ginormous Orc Boss.

Vanquish Grulbarg and his minions then search and loot the area. Amongst all the loot you will find some written Orders that were instructing the Orcs to retrieve the Star Stone from Black Cove. Hmm. Not gonna happen now, is it?

Behind where Grulbarg was standing is an entrance to a cave. When you enter the cave, you will immediately activate the Black Cove Waypoint. You can conveniently go back to town to sell off stuff and replenish. Then head back to the cave.

The Black Cove

Within the entry area of the Black Cove, you will cross a short footbridge and come to a flashing purple static cloud. Search within the cloud with your cursor and find the vent issuing the cloud. Take one of the nearby barrels and cover the vent. You will come to another short footbridge and find a dying Orc Warrior. He says something about huge bloody claws and then keels over, dying in your arms. This begins the quest "Crabs Versus Skeletons", where you are to investigate this strange cave, infested with malevolent energy.

The Living vs The Dead

A short distance to the north of the dying orc, you will encounter a battle between Orcs and Undead Pirates. Join the battle, to gain some XP and satisfaction. Search and loot, as always after a battle. There is a door on the east side of the battlefield, but it is locked at present. You will find the key to this door is a bit. Head toward the west where you see green poison clouds. Place barrels or crates on the poison vents and proceed.

Fight a Source Abomination

A little further along you will find some houses that you can enter. On the west side of one house is a giant crab-like thing called a "Source Abomination". You have to fight it and eliminate it from its crabby existence. Good luck. The crab has a strong AoE water attack. Moreover, he can summon lesser crabs. The Crab is vulnerable to fire, lightning and acid attacks. One trick is to run up the nearby ramp so the Crab and the minions have a more difficult time reaching you. After you defeat the Crab and its crablet minions, search the area.

The lower house on the east side of the area has floor traps, so watch your step. Loot what you can, but there's not much to be had.

The upper house is the home of "Billeh Gahr", a pirate ghost. When you step into the house, he appears in front of you and wants to talk. He talks in terrible rhymes and says the room is trapped. He will then disappear. Your lead character will be positioned on a trap such that if they attempt to take a step, the whole party will be instantly annihilated. Thus begins the quest "Another Crazed Mage". The way to disarm the trap is to have a second character move the crate just on the left hand side of the room. There is a switch under the crate that will disarm the trap. Nicely done. This will finish the Crazed Mage quest.

On the western side of this area, where the giant Crab came from, is a room, a Pirates Office as it's called, with a number of items to take. Pick up the "Pirate Notes" from the table and read it. Interesting, no? It speaks of Blood Stones and pirate daring-do. Near the desk on the west side is a "Cove Harbour Key". This will open the nearby door.

You will see a painting hanging on the wall on the east side. You cannot take the painting, but on the floor under the painting is a "lever", that when pulled, will cause the painting to move. This reveals a hidden switch. Press the switch to reveal a "trapdoor" in the west side of the room.

Before you go down through the trapdoor, open the door on the west wall. You should have found a key that unlocks this door, the Cove Harbour Key, near the desk. Continue along the wooden walkway. Disarm or disable the traps you find. At the end of the walkway you will be greeted by a pack of Pirate Boomers, who go boom when you shoot them. Cool. Watch out for the fire barrels and oil barrels. A cool, or hot, thing to do is go up the ramp, shoot the fire barrel and watch it engulf the Boomers. Kaboom!

Headless Nick and Lillian, or How to Get Ahead in Life

Walk out onto the docks. In the central dock you will be met by "Headless Nick" and "Lillian", his daughter. Headless Nick can't talk because, well, he has no head. Talk to Lillian instead. She tells you their story of their minstrel days and how Nick lost his head. Seems that Pontius Pirate lopped it off. Lillian, of course, wants you to find Nick's head and return it to him. This starts the quest "Headless Nick". You might remember that there was a performer in town who had a Talking Head as part of his act. Wonder if that's Nick's noggin? You can use this time to go get Nick's Head, or you can put it off until later.

Go Down the Trapdoor in the Pirates Office

Before you go back to the city to get the Head, go back up the ramp and then use the trapdoor in the southeast corner of the Pirates Office upstairs. You will be in a cave under the Pirates Office.

Follow that passage until you reach a bridge. Watch out for the traps near the bridge and chest. The chest is currently locked. You will find the key to this chest a bit further along. For now, cross the bridge and on the other side, you will be ambushed by a Hard-Shelled Crab.

After the crab, you will come to a fork in the road. Take it. (OK, old joke). Either direction eventually ends up in the same place. Let's follow the path to the right (east) and go down the incline. About half way down, you will be attacked by more of the Hard-Shelled Crabs. Defeat them and move on. You might want to follow the other path from the fork. You will fight some more Crabs, but you will also find the key that opens the Ornate Chest near the footbridge. The Key is behind a large rock which is just past a wrecked ship.

Find a Bunch of Switches to Press

At the bottom of the incline, proceed to the east. You will see some stairs on your left and a switch called a Vibrating Switch near the water. To the north of the nearby dock are two more switches, a Golden Switch and a Burrowed Switch. Pressing the Vibrating Switch will shock the party member who touched it. Pressing the Golden Switch will cause a chest to drop at the end of the dock. Pressing the Burrowed Switch will temporarily Blind the character who touched the switch. The choice of which Switch to press shouldn't be that hard for you.

Now head towards the stairs. Watch out for traps at the bottom and top of the stairs. At the top of the stairs, you will be in a plaza area and find yet more Switches. Here you will find an Unlocked Switch, a Rot-Covered Switch, an Exotic Switch, an Ominous Switch, a Warm Switch, a Regular Switch, Raze's Switch, a Worn Switch and a Frosty Switch. Oh, and some traps.

There is a set of stairs in the north of the plaza area, but these are blocked by a large stone head. You will need to find a way to unblock this passage.

The names of the some of the Switches and what they might do should be self-explanatory - and some not. The Warm Switch will send fireballs that melt your character into a glowing pile of molten lava. The Unlocked Switch will unlock an achievement. The Exotic Switch teleports you back to the Waypoint where you first entered the cave. The Rot-Covered Switch will infect the entire party with Infectious Disease. Raze's Switch will conjure a doll called General Raze Doll. Read the description of the Doll in your inventory. Interesting.

The Frosty Switch freezes your character. Duh. The Regular Switch does not appear to do anything. The Worn Switch will cripple your party member. The Ominous Switch teleports the party to a rocky precipice where you find a skeleton and his note. The note gives you a clue about how to escape this precipice. Amongst the dense vegetation on the precipice you will find an Ornate Chest to open. You need to move your mouse cursor around to find the chest as you cannot see through the underbrush. You will also find a Mysterious Switch that teleports the party back to the area where you killed the giant crab. From here, obviously, you will need to go back down the trapdoor and trudge back to the area with all the Switches. Or, if you were really clever like the author of this Guide, you would have placed one of your Pyramids on the ground near the Ominous Switch and then teleported back to it.

If you go down the stairs to the west of the plaza, you will find the Chalky Switch. Pressing this switch will conjure an Armoured Swordsman to fight. Go back up to the plaza and then go down the stairs on the east side of the plaza area, you will find several more Switches - a Coppery Switch, a Glassy Switch and a Blood-Stained Switch. The Coppery Switch will conjure a chest for your shopping pleasure. The Glassy Switch bundles your party into a tight group. What? Lastly, the "Blood-Stained Switch" is hidden in the corner and is apparently the one you wanted all along. This one makes the giant stone head that was blocking your path disappear. Go back up the stairs and head to the north part of the Switch area, go up the now unblocked set of stairs and then go through the archway.

Pounding Pontius Pirate

You will reach an area where you find the Boss - "Pontius Pirate". Walk towards him and he will give you a warning that you are about to die. Argh, me hardies, kill the grisly thing. Pontius will conjure a bunch of pirate minions to fight for his cause. After their defeat, pick up the loot and find two keys, "Pontius' Key" and "Black Ominous Key". Killing Pontius will end the quest Crabs Versus Skeletons. The chest on the ship to the north is opened by Pontius' Key and contains a Blood Stone and a note from Pontius. The note says some ominous invectives from Pontius, but do you really care now since the blighter is dead? Take the Blood Stone, he won't be needing it anymore. After you loot the chest and get the Blood Stone, smash the chest and find a few more baubles. Nifty. You can use Blood Stones to heal your party and to unlock new areas in the Homestead. You can also use Blood Stones in certain quests. It is recommended at this time to save this Blood Stone as you will want to use it for a quest in the not too distant future.

The Black Ominous Key opens the door near where the pirates and orcs where fighting when you first arrived in the cave. So head back to that area. A quick way to get there is to use the Waypoint Portal (Black Cove).

Discovering Dead Dragons

Open the door and descend the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs you will find a small chamber with some bookcases and a sleeping pallet to rest your weary bones. Continue to the east down the narrow walkway. And speaking of bones, at the bottom of the walkway you will find the skeleton of a dead dragon. Look for the diamond near the skull of the dragon. Walk across the stream at the point just above the waterfall and find another dragon skeleton. Who killed these mighty and noble beasts, you wonder?

Continue across the footbridge and descend to the beach. Here you will be ambushed by a giant "Source Nightmare", a spider-like beast. The spider will suck water from the nearby ocean and then spit it back at you. Eww. It will also summon some lesser spiders. Best the beasts the best way you can - it dies spectacularly. It can be Frozen, which makes this battle a bit easier. When it's defeated, loot it for some good stuff, including "Sam's Collar", which is used in the quest "Kitty Love".

At the end of the beach, near the wrecked ship, you will find "Desdemona", the wife of the forlorn Samson, the lighthouse keeper you met at the Lighthouse. She will tell you the tale of her journey to Elfish lands and the shipwreck that lead to her demise. When you tell her it was her husband who caused the shipwreck, she is incredulous, but zips away to find Samson at the Lighthouse.

Back to the Lighthouse Again

Teleport (Cyseal West Waypoint) back to the Lighthouse to see what's going on with the ghostly lovers. When you get there, they are already in conversation, with Samson apologizing profusely to Desdemona. You will get a choice here of how to reconcile this dilemma. If you choose compassion (i.e., tell Desdemona to forgive Samson), they will disapparate into the ghostly ether, or wherever ghosts go. Well, that was satisfying.

Return Nick's Head

If you haven't done so yet, return to the east side of the city and find the two entertainers, one of whom uses a Talking Head in his show. This is part of the side quest called "Warming the Crowd" which you may have already completed. If not, you will need to finish it so that the Talking Head is left alone on the table.

Talk to the Head and try to convince it that it wants to go with you. As soon as you have the Head, return to the cave and reunite Nick with his Head by giving it to Lillian, the daughter. Nick will be made whole again and Nick and Lillian will disapparate, leaving a chest behind as your reward.

Make a Layover in Cyseal

Next on the agenda should be to explore the area west of the city. However, before you do so, make a layover in Cyseal if you need to rest and replenish and sell some hard-won, but unneeded loot. Buy stuff you need like spells or whatev. If you have started the Kitty Love quest, then go see Sam, the cat in the Tavern and give him back his "Collar". He will run off to meet with Maxine in the Mayor's office. Follow him and listen to their conversation. The two will be happily united to nap and purr the night away. A purrfect happy ending for all. This will end the quest "Kitty Love".

Finding Cecil's Mighty Staff

Well, if you quizzed the townsfolk during your time in Cyseal, you've heard a lot of talk about Cecil's mighty staff, including some sexual innuendo. For this quest, you should have talked to "Captain Conrad" who is standing on a large ship in the south-central harbour. He will tell you that he knows nothing, but suggests you talk to someone from his crew who might know more. Talk to "Marv" who is standing on the dock near Conrad's ship. Marv seems to recall that a fellow named "Dietmar" was carrying a package off the ship during the orc attack. Return to Conrad to confirm these suspicions. Conrad will suggest that you look for Dietmar on one of the beaches. It turns out that Dietmar is on the beach past the Rank Tunnel, where you fought the giant Robot. Pass through the Tunnel to access the northern regions. Better yet, zip to the Cyseal Northwest Waypoint if you remembered to activate it after defeating the Robot.

From the Waypoint walk a short distance to the north and you will come to a beach. There is a clutch of "Seaside Thugs" milling about the beach. They won't be happy to see you, so dispatch them. Loot the area and then continue to the west.

Meet with Dietmar and get a Staff

Head to the west from the last encounter. A short ways to the west you will arrive on the beach and enjoy meeting "Dietmar", the Enlightened One. Dietmar warns you not to disturb him, and then he attacks immediately. Dietmar will turn himself invisible, and while he is, eliminate his henchmen. If you kill Dietmar early in the battle, other invisible henchmen will pop out of the sand. On their defeat, pry the "Staff of Pergamon" from Dietmar's cold dead hands.

Scour the beach for any valuables. In the north end of the beach you will find "Pincer", a friendly crab. He/she/it tells you about a dead body that washed up on the beach (you must have the Pet Pal talent to talk to the crab). Apparently the dead guy was talking to the Watcher Statues and they gave him some "good" advice about pearl diving. Pincer invites you to come back anytime. I guess it's quite lonely being a crab.

The Watcher Statues

You will likely want to return the Staff to Cecil, but before you do so, there is another little bit of activity in this area. Walk north of where you defeated Dietmar and you will soon come upon several huge statues called the "Watcher Statues". These are part of the quest "The Talking Statues". You got this quest at the beginning of the game when you read the journal of a corpse on the beach. The man's journal said that some "whimsical" statues granted him the ability to fly, which obviously was not to be true since he was lying there dead. You may have talked to "Beggar", just south of the Legion Headquarters, who gave you some more information on these statues. "Pincer", the crab on this beach, also gave you a few words about the Watchers.

Just to the east of the Statues is a hidden cache that is a location for the treasure maps you bought from Gerome. To the west of the Statues is a Waypoint Portal.

Examine the Statues and notice that each is related to one of the four elements. Talk to each Statue to learn that each offers to grant some type of boon or have you jump off a cliff or something. Really. You will also learn that the four statues guard the entrance to the nearby cave. Only by defeating the statues can you gain entrance to the cave. [Note: It's interesting that three of the four statues have the label Watcher Statue, but the Earth Statue is labeled "Anger". When you talk to the Anger Statue, it asks if you want to see the "end of thine adventure". When you agree to this, you get the ending credits for the game. Pay homage to the men and women who worked so hard to make this fun game available for your gaming pleasure. Why this Statue is called "Anger" we'll never know.]

To deal with the Statues, you need to attack each one using an elemental spell or weapon that imparts damage of water, fire, air or earth on the appropriate Statue. Each time you use such a spell, a Lesser Elemental Demon will appear of the same element as the Statue. Each Elemental Demon is not all that tough, but remember that spells of their same element will heal them. Collect the loot they drop after you kill each one. Killing all four will end the quest "The Talking Statues".

You are now free to enter the cave. However, before you do, be sure to activate the nearby Waypoint Portal (Cyseal Statues) if you haven't. Know also that there is a Key (cleverly called Key) in the brazier next to Air Statue. Use the Alt key to highlight it. This key will open an Ornate Chest that is hidden behind the rocks and bushes near the Waypoint. Don't forget that there is a hidden chest in the ground on the east side of the Fire Statue, along the eastern wall. This is one of the hidden treasure chests findable if you have the proper treasure map purchased from Gerome. Now you are ready to enter the "Primordial Cave".

Primordial Cave and Bellegar

Walk a short ways along the path and you will come to the location of a Wizard named "Bellegar". His two minions fawning over him are both called "Bellegarette". You mini-map calls this the Wizard's Prison. Apparently Bellegar and the Bellegarettes are being held prisoner here.

Bellegar is quite full of himself, saying he is the most powerful wizard by far. He actually asks you to become a Bellegarette. If you've played previous Divinity games, then you have met and interacted with Bellegar before. If your female in the group turns down his offer to join, there doesn't seem to be much consequence beyond offending him for a few seconds. This Guide does not yet know the benefit of becoming a Bellegarette. Put it on your resume, perhaps?

Apparently Bellegar summoned the Demon Statues outside to guard him. He talks a bit about Maxos who you might remember from the last Divinity game. You can buy some stuff from Bellegar. At the end of the conversation, he says he will be out in the wilds and will meet with you again. Rest assured that you will meet up with this guy later in the game. You will actually meet Bellegar on 3 more occasions. This Guide will alert you when those occasions arise.

You can plunder the area ad libitum.

Well, after that enlightening interlude, leave the Cave and continue your completion of the quest for the Staff of Pergamon.

Return the Staff of Pergamon

You may now decide to return the Staff of Pergamon to Mayor Cecil. Although you can equip the Staff, it is nothing really special, so you might as well give it back to Cecil. Plus, you will get the XP for returning it and completing the quest. Cecil is pleased, of course, and you get a hefty amount of XP for this quest. This will end the quest Cecil's Mighty Staff.

Finding Evelyn and Finishing the Murder Investigation

If you've been following along, you have completed most of the investigatory aspects of the quest A Mysterious Murder. To recap, you narrowed the suspects down to Esmeralda and Evelyn. Investigating Evelyn's house pointed the finger to her rather than Esmeralda. Although Evelyn fled town, in her house you found the location of her secret Lair and a spell scroll with which to reveal the entrance to the Lair. The Lair is in the northern part of the country. Take your party to that area by teleporting to the Cyseal Northwest Portal, near where you fought Dietmar when you got the Staff of Pergamon. Walk to the west from the Portal until you reach a beach where there are two lit torches near the rock cliff. (This location should be marked on your map).

Use the Reveal Scroll when standing near the torches and the entrance to Evelyn's Lair will magically appear. Enter. You will be in the Covert Vault, a.k.a. Evelyn's Hideout, a.k.a. Evelyn's Secret Lair. Why the game has multiple names for things is something even the Reveal Scroll cannot reveal.

Make your way to the south along the hallway. Near a wagon you will see an Anemic Cultist. Kill him quickly as he will try to warn others of your presence. He will drop a Key on his demise.

Fight Some Orcs

Follow the hallway to the west until you reach a room where there is a group of orcs standing before a large door. Apparently they want an audience with Evelyn, just as you do. You can fight and kill the orcs or you can try to win an argument with them to convince them to leave peacefully. Or you can do both - obviously win the argument first and then attack. You conniving adventurer, you.

In the room where you met the orcs, there are some items to loot and lots of dead bodies to check. There is a torture rack on the north side. You can lie down on it, but this is not recommended. Try it and see why.

Use the Key you got from the Anemic Cultist to open the door and continue on. Fight and defeat the large group of Cultist Rangers, Fighters and Cultist Initiates in the next room. After their defeat, ransack the place for lots of alchemical flasks and potions.

Evelyn and Zombie Jake

Go through the door on the east wall and go down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs you will see Evelyn berating a hapless Zombie Jake. Walk toward Evelyn and she greets you cordially, you darling Source Hunter. She tells you her intent is to purge the land of Source Hunters. She says she is a follower of Braccus Rex, whoever that is, and this will start the quest The Quest for Braccus Rex. When Evelyn is finished blathering, you will begin a fight. Evelyn will conjure some creatures such as Demonic Rams, a Charred-Bone Lieutenant, an Enslaved Cyclops Wizard and a Blood-Wind Demon to aid her. Jake will disappear by melting into the floor. Use your best tactics to vanquish these foes. Upon Evelyn's defeat, Jake will reappear and thank you profusely. Nice hat, Jake.

Talk with Jake and learn more details of his last night as a living being. He relates a tale that it was a White Witch who killed him. This Witch person had met some unknown paramour in the Inn, and not as Jake suspected, his wife and Ferol. The Witch then proceeded to obliterate him. He says she lives to the north, in the Luculla Forest. Evelyn, apparently, is one of the leaders of some cult based in the Luculla Forest. Jake also tells you of Braccus Rex, or the "Last Source King". Jake will give you an amulet that Evelyn placed around his neck called the Enlightened Amulet. You will need this in a later dungeon. Jake then says he will return to his grave in Cyseal where you can speak with him again. [Note: the author of this Guide has not been able to find Jake again.] This will complete several quests - The Councillor's Wife if you haven't finished this by now, as she has now been proven innocent, and A Mysterious Murder. It's no longer a mystery - you know who did it.

A new quest will now appear in your quest log - Find the Witch!. This is the White Witch that Jake spoke of. Loot Evelyn's Lair for anything of value. Most of it is mundane. There is a chair in the south end of the room, that when you sit in it, you take considerable damage. You would guess it's not your chair. Evelyn will also drop a blue Smelly Scarf. You would guess this was meant to be something to let Murphy the dog sniff, but you already know who the murderer was.

Head back to town and tell the various people who might be interested what you found out about Jake and the White Witch. You get some interesting responses. Aureus doesn't believe you. Arhu is easy to convince and he knows some things about this White Witch. Talking with Arhu will end the quest The Quest for Braccus Rex. Esmeralda is indignant that she was a corpse's bride.

Explore the Southeastern End of Cyseal

This Guide would recommend that you now have a brief layover in town to sell off your stuff and replenish your needed items. Take some time to buy spells and whatever other high level things you require. Now exit via the East Gate.

As soon as you exit via the East Gate, the road splits, with one path toward the south and the other to the east. If you follow the path to the east you will come upon a non-hostile dog named Vargo, standing on the road. [Note: if you approach this area from the north instead of the south, you may encounter a dog named Doxy. It appears that the activity to be described presently is the same regardless of which dog you encounter first].

Doxy and/or Vargo

When you try speaking with it (via Pet Pal), the dog sniffs you and says you are the hero he has been waiting for, but then the conversation ends. If you don't have the Pet Pal talent, the dog will wag it's tail as if it wants to show you something. The dog will run a short distance to the west (if it's Doxy) or to the north (if it's Vargo) and lead you to a pack of Gray Wolves led by an Old Black Wolf. Doxy/Vargo will fight on your side during this battle. The Black Wolf will howl and try to imbue Fear in your party. When you vanquish the Wolves, Doxy/Vargo will run off and disappear into the bushes. [Note: it is uncertain at this time whether there is a bug in the game where the dog disappears and you don't actually get a quest, or if this is what is supposed to happen. If the latter is true, then this is puzzling. You can actually encounter both dogs. If you've met one dog and defeated the wolves and then meet the other dog, it simply runs into the bushes and disappears].

From the location where you battled the wolves, head to the south. Just to the east side of the road is an abandoned house. Let's see what's in this place.

The Abandoned Trapped House

The front door of the house is wide open. However, the floor just inside the front door is covered with a poison trap. It may be difficult to see the vent for the poison. It is right in the center of the poison area, about 3 barrel-widths from the door. Place a barrel on the trap to disable it. You will soon notice that the entire house is trapped. There is a Storage Room Chest Key near the table just to the left of the door. Since the house is chock full of traps, so you need to be clever here. Disable the traps you find and ransack the premises. The Storage Room Chest in the northeast corner of this room is opened by the Key you just found.

The room to the east of the entrance has lava on the floor, which, if you step on it, you will be instantly immolated. There is a chest in the southwest corner of that room, but you cannot walk to it. One trick might be to fly there if you have that ability. Use the Teleportation spell or Feather Drop and zip a character to the chest. Another trick is to use the Pyramids. Give both to one character, have him throw one Pyramid near the chest and then use the other to teleport to the thrown one. Know that there is an exploding trap right in front of the chest.

To the north is a room where the trapped can be disabled with a barrel. Loot the chest. To the east of this room is a room that contains a furnace and anvil. As soon as you step into this room, you set off some fireball traps. The trigger is the floor stone at the doorway. When you step on the stone, you trigger the trap, and then when you step off of the stone, the fireballs are activated. The easiest way to deal with this is to throw one Pyramid into the room and then teleport the entire party to that Pyramid. In the southeast corner of the room is a lever that will turn off the fireballs. The lever is surrounded by traps, so be careful. At the north end of the room is a chest called the Trap House Chest. Its key is found in a room whose entrance is on the outside of the house. Or you can just bash it. There is a Garden Door Key on the shelf along the east wall which opens the back door (Garden Door) and the door to another room accessible from outside. Turn off the fireballs if you need to and take the key.

The Withered Gardens

When you exit the trapped house via the back door, you will be in The Withered Gardens. If you look about, you will realize these are indeed some withered gardens, with stunted and leafless trees. Immediately to the south of the back door of the house is another door also called Garden Door. The door is locked, but it is opened by the Garden Door Key; or it can be bashed. Just inside the door is a trap on the floor. The floor itself is covered with lava and you cannot step on it. Just to the left of the door is the Trap House Chest Key. Take it as this opens the chest of the same name inside the house.

Outside, and just to the west of the last room you were in, there is a small area of rubble that is burning - the type of burning that you cannot extinguish with Rain. If you use your Alt key, you will notice there are some items within the burning area you would like to have. One of the items is the King's Chest West Key. One trick to use here is to have a character with high Telekinesis retrieve the items. The ability must be level 3 or higher. You can use a potion of Telekinesis to temporarily boost the level. You might be able to buy this potion from some vendors such as Francis in the King Crab Inn or make your own if you have the skill. [Note: know that the chest that the key opens can be bashed, so obtaining the key is not crucial.]

Just to the north of the burning area is a chest called the King's Chest East. Since it is only level 5 you can bash it. You will be finding the key to this chest shortly (and after a battle) if you care to wait. Go back toward the trapped house and then enter the central courtyard area of the Withered Gardens. You will join in a fight with a couple of Undead Skeletons guarding a large metal gate.

A Game of Thrones and the Baron of Bones

Just to the north of the Undead, there is a large open gate. If you go through the large gate, you will meet up with Diederik, Baron of Bones and his consort, Lady Annah, sitting on their thrones. The Baron wants to have a few words with you. He has a lot to say, most of it nasty and threatening. At the end of the conversation, he will bring to "life" the bones strewn about the area. The battle is joined.

Know that lovely Lady Annah and the Bag of Bones will cast spells to blind, petrify, freeze, and stun your party. One viable tactic is to only go about half way up the stairs. From this point you can cast spells and shoot at the creatures, but many of their spells and arrows will strike the top of the stairs and not your party. Annah and Bone Bag tend not to cast their nasty spells when you are thus positioned. Whittle them away and claim the day. Claim your spoils at the end as well. There is a tiny chest next to the thrones. On the east side you will find a key called the King's Chest East Key. The King's Chest East lies, well, east, and a bit south, of the Baron's thrones.

There is another chest to the west of the throne area called the King's Chest West. It is locked but can be bashed to claim your prize. The key to this chest is in an area to the southwest. The location of the key is within a pile of burning rubble. If you walk onto the rubble, even with an Immune to Burning Spell, you will be burnt to a crisp. The solution to obtain this key is to use telekinesis.

Wrapping up some loose ends in the southeastern region of CysealThe Poison Garden

Go back to the Withered Gardens outside of the trapped house and continue walking to the south. Go down the stairs to the west of the burning rubble. At the next landing you can dig up another of the treasure chests for which you probably have a map. The chest is in the southeast corner of the landing.

Just past the stairs you will find and activate a Waypoint Portal (Cyseal Villa). To the west of the Portal is a door with a trap just in front of it. The door, called the Garden Back Door, is locked, but it can be bashed open. Go through the door and discover a garden area that is completely covered in poison ooze. To your left are some barrels, on top of one is the Key to the Garden Back Door. Blast the poison ooze with fire to dissipate it. Watch out for the gargoyle like fountains along the side that spew poison ooze. The area just contains a few barrels and crates to open. Continue through the poison garden (with the poison removed, of course) and then turn north.

Follow the road north and east, going past the trapped abandoned house you visited earlier. You will come to a stone wall with an opening. Just to the east of the wall is a Waypoint Portal (Cyseal East). Just to the north of the Waypoint you will come to what seems to be a wooden bridge guarded by some Armoured Skeletal Undead. After their defeat, follow the wooden bridge, which is actually the ramp to a house.

The Undertaker's Abandoned Hut

[Note: This house is called the Undertaker's Hut. However, every bit of evidence you find within the house relates to Thelyron, who is the Healer, not the Mortician. The Mortician in the town was a guy named Roberts. This house should be called the Healer's House. Game Bug or Game Feature?]

Anyway, the door to the house is locked, but you can smash it down. [Note: you will find a key to this house later. If you don't want to wait to get the key, then bash the door.] The inside of the house is heavily trapped, so tread carefully. A pressure plate at the door will cause electrical energy to periodically blast the area near the table to the north. During one of the intervals, have a character run up to the lever just to the right of the table and turn off the energy bolts. Of course, the easiest way to enter the house is to throw a Pyramid inside and then teleport to it.

Search the house carefully. On the table you will find a Letter Addressed to Thelyron. This is from The Conduit to Thelyron, the Healer. The letter goes on to say The Conduit is sending a new apprentice - you surmise this to be Evelyn. On the bookshelf above the desk you will find another Letter Addressed to Thelyron from The Conduit. This one speaks of Thelyron being given the task of finding Braccus Rex. You will also find Thelyron's Diary. The Diary speaks of a tome that Thelyron found called "The Book of the Immaculates". This Diary also speaks about the Star Stones and sacrificing animals to make them into Blood Stones. You will discover that is was Thelyron who has been raising the Undead around Cyseal. Hmm. Very interesting. Very interesting indeed.

The chest along the wall is locked, but can be bashed open easily enough. In the chest you will find a letter, the Unsent Letter to the Conduit, written by Thelyron to this Conduit person. This letter gives instructions on how to enter the Church and find Braccus Rex. The letter speaks of moving 4 paintings to reveal buttons. And it speaks of an amulet required to deactivate a barrier. File this away, it sounds important.

From the Undertaker's Hut, head slightly to the south and then to the west following the path. You will soon see a Well next to the blocked stairs of the Church.

Having Words with a Well

You can interact with this Well which calls itself Walter McWishing Well. The Well talks in alliteration, but eventually gives you a quest to find its brother, William (quest The Wishing Brother). If you agree to undertake this quest now (do it because you will gain a good chunk of XP for essentially doing nothing but traveling through a well), you will be whisked to Hiberheim, a snowy and cold part of the Realm of Faery. You won't be here long, so don't worry about interrupting your current quest. You will arrive on what appears to be the balcony or rampart of a castle. There are three large doors nearby that cannot be opened at this time. In the western corner of the balcony you will find a chest, which is locked presently.

Speak to the well. This is William McWishing Well, the brother of Walter. This Well, too, talks in alliteration. He says he was snatched by the wicked Winter King, Boreas. Ask the Well if you can help it, which will advance the quest. He asks that you try to find another way into this realm and find the scroll that Boreas used to imprison him. This seems like something you will do at a later time.

You can ask William about the chest in the corner, but he knows little about it. No Key could be found for the chest nor can it be opened by lockpicking. But since it is only a level 5 chest, it can be smashed. Within is a bit of treasure and also an item called the Royal Guard Talisman. Keep this last item as you will be using it in a later adventure in the game.

Since there is nothing else to be done here at this time, talk to William the Well again and be whisked back to Walter the Well in Cyseal. It will be awhile before you can continue the Wishing Well quest, so be patient. You can ask Walter if he will grant you a wish. He says he cannot at this time. Later, when you reunite these wells, you will actually be granted a nice wish. Before you leave the Well, check the bushes to the right of the well, near the blocked stairs. Here you will find a chest.

Explore the Eastern Area of Cyseal

From the Well, head to the west. You will soon come upon an area where the ground is literally burning. For the moment, stay to the south of the burning area and keep heading west. As the road turns toward the north, just on the outskirts of Cyseal, you will find a ruined mill with two friendly skeletons standing near the grinding wheel. These two happen to be Blossius and Livia, who were part of a missing expedition. Aureus, the Captain of the Legionnaires, had asked you to find his guard unit that was dispatched to the old church of Cyseal (quest The Undead Scourge).

Blossius will tell you how they came to be Undead and how he and Livia are t-t-t-trapped here. He will give you a quest, The Legionnaire's Will, where you are to find his c-c-c-cuddly wuddly doodle pop wife Maris who is in the town of Silverglen. You will get his Will (Blossius's Will) to deliver to her. When you talk to Livia, she will give you some hints on how they tried to defeat the monstrosity at the Church. Something to do with lava and a temporary path. Blossius says they are the last two of the expedition, so you should probably return to Captain Aureus to report. When you return to Aureus, you will find he is not happy that all of his Legionnaires are dying, but this will end the quest Legionnaires at the Church.

Fighting Firey Foes

Heading north from the Mill, you will come upon burned-out ruins with lava pools and fire covering the ground. You will find lots of Charred-Bone Undead guarding the place. Work you way through the area and defeat all the creatures. Use Rain to weaken them and Bitter Cold to Freeze them to make this a bit easier. You will shortly meet up with the Boss of this area, so eliminate as many of the Undead before you get to the boss.

Defeat the Twins

Work your way to the northeast of the lava-fire area and you will eventually come upon a gigundo fire elemental called The Twins-By-Fire-Joined. What the heck is that? Behind the conjoined Twins is a Charred-Bone Idol that can heal the creatures that aid the Twins and even conjure some new ones. Conjure them a new one. Using Rain and Freezing can work wonders here. When you've killed the Twins and the minions, then kill the Idol thingie. It will keep conjuring more Undead if you take too long killing it. After the battle, pick up the significant loot that the Twins drop. And loot the chest where the Idol was.

Get Another Star Stone

Continue to the north along the west side of the lava area. You'll soon come across an Incandescent Wanderer, a huge demonic-looking thing. Wonder where he came from. Beat it to a pulp. To the north of the Wanderer are a couple of dead bodies - an Unidentified Mage and two Unidentified Combatants. I bet these are the guys you met way back in the beginning outside of the Tutorial Dungeon. Right next to them is a Star Stone. As you approach the Stone, it explodes with magical energy like you've experienced before. Your party will be healed and the Stone will become Inert. Pick it up.

The dead Unidentified cultists have a written set of orders called the Cultist's Orders. This is a message to these guys from Loic, instructing them to find the Star Stone in the King's tomb below Cyseal. They were to deliver the Stone to Lady Attenberah, whoever that is. Seems that they found it, but died trying to return to whence they came. Activate the Waypoint (Cyseal-Silverglen Road) just to the north of the bodies.

Visit the Homestead Using Your New Star Stone

Since you just got a new Star Stone, pay a visit to the Homestead. You will be immediately met by Zixzax. A new Portal has opened and Zix leads you there. The portal is called "To the Inner Chamber". When you arrive at the new location and walk a bit to the north, you will be met by a blue-spikey Demon-like creature named The Trife. It goes on to tell you how bad you look and you should be pitied. It walks away and your characters talk to each other suggesting that you follow it. When it reaches a room down the hall it disapparates. When you talk to The Weaver of Time later, ask about this creature. She will tell you that it is the Instigator, "the beginning of all ends and the birthfather of death and void". Even she is afraid of him. Yowza. You will meet the Trife later in the your adventures.

This part of the Homestead you've just entered will become your own private residence. The green glowing mirror in the bedchamber to the west allows you to change your character's appearance (but not their attributes or talents). This only works for your two main characters and not for Jahan or Madora (or other companions). The balcony on the west side of the room gives you a stunning view of the Cosmos. There is a lovely 4-poster bed with a chest at the foot of the bed, and you will soon notice that there is a similar room with a bed and chest across the hall from this room. Each of these rooms is the private room for one of your two main characters. The chest will allow for remote storage. When you now right click an item in your inventory, one of the 'send to' choices will be Homestead. The item will be magically sent to this chest, or the one across the hall. Very convenient. An even more convenient trick is to send locked chests to the Homestead chests. When you find a locked chest you cannot open because it's beyond your ability or has a magical lock, click-drag it into your inventory and then send it to the Homestead. Open it at some later time when a character has improved their lockpicking abilities.

Down the stairs and across the hall is a second cozy bedroom. This one has a chest that will also allow for remote storage. The bed in either room will allow your party members to rest.

North of these two rooms is a garden-like area with a few plants you can harvest. All-in-all, a nifty place. You may wish to report what you've just found to Zixzax and the Weaver to get their opinion. When you've finished checking out your new digs, then head back to the Waypoint Portal called Cyseal-Silverglen Road to get back to adventuring. Head to the east from the Portal.

A Giant Troll Over the Bridge

Just to the east of the Waypoint Portal you will come to a bridge on which a giant Zombie Troll is pacing about. The Troll is walking on a poisoned surface of the bridge and your party cannot walk on it. Move close to the Troll and initiate a conversation. Unfortunately, the Troll only speaks Trollese. You will have the following four options.

1. Graaar groumpf gromp.2. Grampf grat.3. Grak.4. Graft graf. (750 gold)

Solution: Choices 1, 2, and 4 all result in angering the Troll and a fight ensues. If you choose option 3. Grak, the Troll's response is "Grimp". Talk again, Troll says "Gramb" and will continue to say this. You have will no further response here. However, the Troll seems to be pacified at this point. You can then move the fire barrel from the south side of the bridge entry and walk across along the lower edge of the bridge. Or, you can choose to just kill the greebly thing.

Find a Hidden Cache and a Bunch of Ghosts

Walk a short distance to the east and you will be in a pleasant grove-type area, but with poison splotches here and there. On the far east, right at the southern base of the large tree is a hidden cache - one of the treasures from Gerome's treasure maps you bought.

Look down the stairs just to the south of the hidden cache. You will have to avoid or remove the poison ground. You are now entering the cemetery. This Guide would have you wait to dig up any graves as there are a few things to do first. At the bottom of the stairs, turn to the east. Walk to the east until you see a bunch of ghostly soldiers milling about. Here you can talk to Brandon, Ebenezer, Claudia, Francisca and Quentin. Each has similar things to say, but all will talk about Ebenezer. So speak to Ebenezer. He will tell you his story and that he is looking for a cat named Oscar. This begins the quest The Preacher of Earthly Delights. Here you are to find out why Ebenezer doesn't want to go to the Hall of Echoes and to do this, you need to find Oscar the cat.

It turns out that the cat is actually Unsinkable Sam, who you met in the King Crab Tavern. If you want to finish this quest now, teleport back to the Inn and talk to Sam. You must have the Pet Pal talent to talk to the animals. Sam will relate what he knows about Ebenezer. Apparently old Eb has quite a sordid and savage past, killing and maiming and whatnot. Perhaps you should go back and talk to him again. Confront Ebenezer with this information and he tries to justify himself. You will enter into a discussion with your other lead character. One choice will be to let Ebenezer stay here in the cemetery. You will get a chest as a reward, with typical content. The other choice will anger Eb and all of the ghosts will attack. You get more XP by provoking and defeating them. Either way, you finish the quest The Preacher of Earthly Delights.

The chest sitting near where you dealt with Ebenezer is locked. Bash it open and collect the contents.

The Graveyard Madman

Go back to the west to the stairs where you first entered the area and walk south. You will be in a graveyard with crates and barrels and mausoleums to check out. As you are enter the graveyard, a character called Graveyard Madman will stop you for a chat. He wants to conduct a small experiment, with you as the guinea pigs no doubt. He warns you that the graveyard is full of creatures he placed here. He will then conjure a veritable army of those Exploskeletons who detonate when struck. Shoot the distant ones to make most of them explode. Since some are near the Madman, he demise is assured as well. Or he may be a bit faster than your party and run up to engage you directly. Hopefully, the few Explodo guys that are near your party won't injure you too badly. Of course, you can cast Rain and negate the fuses of the exploding dudes. The Explodo guys drop tons of stuff for your picking pleasure. One of the items you find is a book on how to speak Troll. Now you find it!? Grak.

Old Metal Key Chest Puzzle

There are a number of graves to dig up. Most graves have stuff, traps or enemies to fight. One of them, Joe the Shoemaker, contains an Old Metal Key. This grave is in the area where you fought the Madman and the Explo-dudes. It's just to the east of the stairs. This key is actually part of a key and chest puzzle (undocumented in your quest log). Dig up all the graves in the whole cemetery area until you have four Old Metal Keys. Here are some directions to find the chests and keys. Go south from the Shoemaker grave and look for the grave of Jovel (it has two candles in front of it.) This grave contains a chest that is opened by the Old Metal Key. You will get another Old Metal Key from the chest. A bit further south is the grave of Will Loundy, which also contains a chest with another Old Metal Key. The grave of Nozgaroth, at the north end of the cemetery near where you first entered, contains a chest which cannot be opened yet. Proceed along the east side of the church, and near the Cyseal-Old Church Waypoint Portal, there is the grave of Ezelkir, which contains a chest and another Old Metal Key.

Where Sheep or Weresheep?

At the southern end of the graveyard, south of the grave of Ezelkir, a high perception character will spot a patch to dig up where you will find a book called "The Legend of the Weresheep". The patch of ground is a mound but has no gravestone. It lies just in front of the crypts for Madame M. Montgomery and the "Tomb of unknown ambition". When you read the book, you will begin the quest of the same name, The Legend of the Weresheep. This quest will take place in the land of Faery, so you will get back to it later.

Now go back north to the chest you couldn't open, at the grave of Nozgaroth. Now that you have 4 keys, it will open and give you yet one more Old Metal Key. (You should have 5 in your possession now.)

The Battle of the Church Graveyard

The last chest in this puzzle is in the southeastern end of the cemetery, just before you get to the entrance to the Church. However, you will have to battle through some Undead and such to reach it. There is a large contingent of Undead waiting for you and it is recommended that you hang back and let them come to you and pick them off one by one, perhaps using your own summons to distract them.

When the smoke of the battle clears, go to the southern end of this part of the cemetery and dig up the grave of Wallanzent. When you dig here, you get the last of the chests. This one is opened by the 5 Old Metal Keys and it contains good loot. You can farm this chest if you don't like what you receive at first.

That pretty much wraps up Cyseal; the last task to undertake is to invade the Church for the final confrontation of this area of the realm. You've heard lots of talk about some one, or some thing, named Braccus Rex. Let's go see what that's all about. So make your way to the entrance to the Church.

The Abandoned, Desecrated Church

When you try to open the door, the four statues outside will inform you that only those loyal to the goddess can enter. To gain entrance, the Granite Guardian statues will pose a question for you to prove your loyalty. Play the RSP mini game and win to gain entrance. If you lose, then you fight. They are ponderously slow, but they can hit hard. Freezing and electrical attacks work well.

Once inside, walk past the jumbled pews and you will find a group of Young Cultists waiting to greet you, including a Hooded Man. As soon as they see you, the Hooded Man will say a few words and then disappear down a stairway and close it behind him by sliding an altar over the entry. The remaining minions will attack. They go down pretty easily with your superior prowess. Collect their loot, including a Mortician's Hut Key (this opens the Mortician's House (Undertaker's Hut) that you already visited). There is a locked gate on the west wall. This is opened by a key found on a pew in the northeast corner of the room. Loot the items found behind the gate. Get the Key found here that opens a chest in the alcove on the other side of the hall. While you are in the alcove behind the previously locked gate, your perception person should spot a trapdoor on the southwest corner. This leads to a previously inaccessible area on the west side of the church. Here you will find barrels and crates and a hidden chest at the southern end. This is one of the chests for which you might have a treasure map you bought from Gerome in Cyseal.

Critique the Paintings

When you try to move the altar to access the stairs that the Hooded Man went down, you get a message that some kind of mechanism is required. The solution here lies behind the paintings on the walls. Each hides a button to press, and when all are pressed, the altar will be moved. There are four paintings and four buttons to press.

The Church Underground; You must have Evelyn's Amulet to venture forth

Go down the stairs and you will arrive in a chamber with a large blue magical barrier on the north wall. Obviously, that barrier has to be eliminated. Just in front of the barrier is a pedestal labeled Control Panel that accepts the Enlightened Amulet that you took from Evelyn when you killed her. Drag the Amulet from your inventory and place it on the pedestal and the barrier will dissolve. Just beyond the barrier you will see Zombie Jake standing over a supine Thelyron. When you cursor over Thelyron, you will see that he is infected with Rot and likely dying. Approach and speak to Thelyron. He begins to plead with you, but Jake interrupts and says that Thelyron is receiving his just rewards for failing The Conduit. Say what?

Thelyron will go on to tell you that HE is the one who awakened Braccus Rex. Who would have guessed? Ask him lots of questions about King Braccus Rex. Old Braccus is the last of the mad Source Kings who is responsible for all the ills of Rivellon. Thelyron goes on to tell you that is was he who raised the delightful creatures called the Ghoul-That-Guards-The-Lighthouse, the Baron of Bones and the Twins-By-Fire-Joined. Delightful.

You will also get to pose some questions to Councilor Zombie Jake. A plot twist ensues. . . When the conversation ends, Zombie Jake says he will await you in town and then crawls through the cracks in the floor and disappears. Thelyron dies. [Note: You can sleep on the pallet where dead Thelyron lies. Yuck. Unfortunately, you don't recuperate your health.]

Braccus Rex

Go through the door to the north and confront Braccus Rex. He is the ultimate bad guy of this portion of the game, and he is quite formidable. You can talk with him for a bit to learn how he came to be and his philosophy of life and death. When he is done blathering, he will conjure up three of the Boss Nasties that you fought earlier - The Twins-By-Fire-Joined that you fought approaching the graveyard, The Ghoul-That-Guards-The-Lighthouse, the lighthouse guy, and the Baron of Bones, although without Lady Annah this time. Each one of these guys is a piece of work and all four together will keep you on your toes. You will need your best skills and strategy obtained to date. Your party really should be level 9 for this battle. If they are not, go do something else.

One strategy here might be to send one character into the room to initiate the battle. Leave the others behind the archway. Have the initiator character high-tail it back to the archway and fight from that location. It will delay the monsters from reaching you for a bit. Conjure some elementals (fire and ice are good) or other creatures to take some of the brunt of the attacks. Whittle away at selected foes and heal you party liberally. Eventually, with skill and a bit of luck, you will win the day.

After this epic battle, collect the spoils from the battlefield. A chest in the northwest of the chamber is labeled Braccus Rex's Personal Belongings and he should have dropped the key to open it. In this chest, you will find another Blood Stone that will discharge its energy to heal you and then become an Inert Stone. This will also unlock another area in the Homestead. Don't forget to pick it up.

There is a chest in the northeast that is locked by a magical lock. You might have found a scroll to Unlock Magical Locks, but know that this chest does NOT contain anything spectacular. You might want to keep your scroll until later. Another trick is to put a chest like this in your inventory and send it to the Homestead. You can then open it at a later time. [Note: do this trick and notice that the chest appears in your inventory, but the magical lock icon is still floating in air. And it's called "door" when you cursor over it. Curious.]

Report Your Success to Captain Aureus

Teleport back to town and go to the Legion Headquarters to tell Captain Aureus you defeated Braccus and saved all of humanity. Thus far, anyway. This will end the quest The Undead Scourge. Also go tell your good fortune to Arhu, who is beside himself with ecstasy or something. This will begin and end the quest The Skeleton King's Summoner. You can tell others in town that it was Councillor Jake all along who was conjuring the Undead. Nothing much comes of these conversations, however.

Rest and replenish because you will now be heading out of Cyseal to uncharted territory.

Part II - LUCULLA FOREST WALKTHROUGHList of Quests for Part IIA Source Hunter's JourneyAn A-mount of Healing MagicBeauty and the BeastBicky the BomberFind the Witch!Fun with FungiGoblin TroubleInfiltrating the ImmaculatesInvestigating the MinesThe Angry TrollThe Naked TruthThe Escort JobThe Troll's BountyThe Wild Woman and the Renegade (DLC)Recommended Sequence of Activities for Part II1) Enter Luculla Forest2) Explore Silverglen3) Head east from Silverglen4) Head out south to the cabin of the White Witch5) Explore the Grotto6) Use cultist spell and enter the lake to travel to HiberheimLuculla Forest

From whatever your current location is, teleport to the Cyseal-Silverglen Road Waypoint. Your journey to the north begins here. Walk to the bridge just to the north of the Waypoint and interact with it. You will be relocated to the Luculla Forest.

Walk towards the Waypoint to the north and a fellow named Samid will run up to talk to you. He begs for you to help him. He will tell you about the Immaculates, of which he was once a member. He tells you a horror story about his experience with this Cult and of the leader of the Cult, Loic, who is in Silverglen. He mentions a name you've heard before, Lady Attenberah, the highest priest of the Immaculates. When the conversation ends, he runs off. This will begin the quest Infiltrating the Immaculates. For this quest, you will need to join the group called the Immaculates. If you have Bairdotr in your party, Samid will mention the village of Sacred Stone and this will update the quest The Wild Woman and the Renegade. This conversation will also update the quest A Source Hunter's Journey where the log entry says you should try to seek out the White Witch. Finding this White Witch is a pressing concern, but this Guide would have you travel first to the village of Silverglen.

Bjorn Again

From your present location at the Luculla-Cyseal Road Waypoint, Silverglen lies to the northwest. But before you go to the town, head to the north, using the path to the east of the Waypoint. Not far up the path you will see some large blood stains on the road. Lying near the blood stains is the partially-eaten corpse of Istrid who doesn't seem to have a head. Follow the blood stains to the north and then to the east over a stone bridge across a stream. Just across the stream you will encounter a fellow named Bjorn, accompanied by his wife, Mara, and a packbeast of some sort. Bjorn hails you as you approach.

He immediately tells you that he and his wife are stranded. Apparently they were attacked by highwaymen on their way to Silverglen. He says they were saved by Alfie, the beast standing nearby; apparently Alfie bit one of the highwaymen in half. You wonder if that was Istrid you saw a ways back. Bjorn asks for your help and wants you to escort the group to Silverglen. Bjorn is to become the new Blacksmith of Silverglen. Being the helpful adventurers you are, you agree to this task. They ask that you try to heal Alfie first as they dearly want him alive. You can talk to the injured Alfie (if you have the Pet Pal talent) and get his take on things. Your choice here will be to heal Alfie or not. This begins the quest An A-mount of Healing Magic. You can simply choose to escort the humans and leave poor Alfie behind (you cad).

Alfie requires powerful healing that only a Blood Stone can do. If you have one in your possession, speak with the beast and choose the option to use the Blood Stone. (You don't need to have the Pet Pal talent to heal Alfie). Healing Alfie will complete the quest An A-mount of Healing Magic.

If you don't happen to have a Blood Stone you can obtain one from Loic's study, after you complete the quest The Initiation. Return to Alfie when you have this Stone.

Using the Blood Stone will convert it to a Star Stone and open a new Room in the Homestead. Remember to pick up the Stone. So when you get the next chance, you might want to zip over there to see what's up. Zixzax will give you more of that blarney that you really were once great leaders - sovereigns among the legions of lesser beings. He shares with you the revelations given to him by the Weaver.

Part II - LUCULLA FOREST WALKTHROUGH (Continued)Escort Service to Silverglen

After healing Alfie, talk to Bjorn again and offer to escort the group to Silverglen. This will begin the quest The Escort Job. You will be ambushed by some forest brigands right at the entrance to Silverglen. Alfie is ponderously slow so don't get ahead too far because of the ambush by Forest Cutthroats and a Forest Temptress. Some of them are hiding in the bushes and you won't be able to target them. They will focus their attacks on the citizens before your party members. If Bjorn dies, the wife, Mara, will become the new smith in the village. If Alfie dies, then Bjorn will become the blacksmith, but the loss of his pack animal will sadden him. Similarly, if Mara dies, the others will be saddened. Obviously try to keep all of them alive so all will be happy. After the ambush, follow them to the gates of Silverglen and they will plod off to the Smithy. This will end the quest The Escort Job.

Entering Silverglen

To the northwest of the gate you entered through, you will find the Immaculate Church, the location of Loic. Pacing around just in front of the door is Arhu, as the cat version and not his human form. You can ask him lots of questions about the Immaculates and the village. He'll say a few words about Loic, the apparent leader of the cult in Silverglen. Arhu advises you to infiltrate the Immaculates, and then he skidaddles. This will update the quest A Source Hunter's Journey. You learn from your exploration of Silverglen that the town is full of silver miners who have been converted to acolytes of the Cult of the Immaculates. They say they were saved by the Goddess from the Rot imparted by the ore Tenebrium.

You can enter the Church and see Loic preaching to the congregation. While you might be tempted to interrupt him and have a chat, he will give you quests that you are not ready for yet. This Guide would recommend that you ignore Loic for now and we will come back to him and the Cult at a later time. Use this time to explore the town.

Go back outside from the Immaculate Church and do a walkabout. To the northwest of where you met Arhu, be sure to activate the Waypoint Portal (Luculla Forest-Silverglen). To the west of the Immaculate Church is the village Smithy. Run over there to see how Bjorn, Mara and Alfie are making out as the newly appointed Blacksmiths. Ask Alfie how things are and get an earful. Talk to Bjorn and Mara who can't stop gushing about how grateful they are that you saved them. Trade if you need or want anything.

Right next to the Smithy is Nadia's Shop. Step inside and talk with Nadia. She is glad to see some Source Hunters because she has a problem that only you can solve. She talks about Lawrence, the head of the mining guild in Silverglen and how mining of the deadly ore called Tenebrium seems to sicken the miners. One of these unfortunate miners was her husband Ben. This will start the quest The Naked Truth. In the room with Nadia, you will find her son Sebi. He talks about his mother, Nadia, and the mysterious death of his father Ben. He's seeking the cause of his father's death here in Silverglen.

For a little surreptitious activity, you can steal the key called Nadia's Cellar Key from inside the Shop. Don't go through the door in the shop or Nadia and Sebi will attack. Instead, go back out to the Smithy and enter the room via that door. Then open the trapdoor to the cellar and loot a few things. Once back outside, walk along the path to the north and visit the local Tavern.

The Pickaxe Tavern

Marisa is the waitress of the Pickaxe Tavern. She is the wife of a ghost soldier, Blossius, you met in Cyseal. He gave you a document, Blossius's Will, which you are to give to Marisa (quest The Legionnaire's Will). The Will mentions there is a locked box for Marisa. It is a simple matter to give the Will to Marisa. She wails about the loss of her c-c-c-cutie b-b-b-broody b-b-b-butter c-c-c-cup, but she is thankful to you. However, there is a twist. Blossius asked you not to read the document. But if you are feeling evil, go ahead and read it. Your characters will then enter a discussion where you can decide to give the Will to Marisa as is, or you can decide to alter the Will to make yourselves the beneficiary. Take an Ink Pot and Quill and modify the Will such that it says for Marisa to give you the box. [Note: the box, of course, just contains mundane stuff, so you really don't benefit from taking it. You just get the satisfaction of being evil. Bwa-ha-ha]. Whichever you choose, this will end the quest The Legionnaire's Will.

Talk to some of the Tavern Patrons

There is a handful of patrons in the Tavern you can talk to and trade goods. Mikhail Solomatin sells ingredients. Elwyn sells potions. You may want to buy any Invisibility potions that Elwyn might have. There will be a time in the not too distant future where these will become useful. Ellary sells armor, weapons and scrolls. Paul the bartender just has background info. Trethon sells fletcher items. Aramintai sells Expert Marksman skillbooks. Buy Rapture for your ranger. This spell can save your life. Hiver sells Man-at-Arms skillbooks. Vometia sells Scoundrel and Witchcraft skillbooks.

Bicky the Bomber Blows up Bonnie

In the central room of the upper level of the Tavern, you will find the courtesan Bonnie who is being threatened by Bicky, an Exploskeleton. You will get two conversation choices, 1) to call his bluff, or 2) to try to calm Bonnie. If you pick choice 1, Bicky will blow himself, and Bonnie, to smithereens and you won't receive any XP. With choice 2, Bicky will continue to threaten, but he won't explode immediately. Use the teleportation spell to teleport him to an area outside of the room. He will then detonate, but not kill anyone. Or you can use the Rain spell to put out his fuse and then kill him. Bonnie will thank you for saving her and tell you that it was Frederick who did this. She says she will go downstairs, but you should meet her and talk some more. All of this will begin and end the quest Bicky the Bomber.

You will find Bonnie downstairs, sitting near the fireplace. Ask her some questions about Frederick, who is a regular customer of hers. Apparently, during one of their trysts, she overheard him talking about somebody named Maradino and some secret treasure lair somewhere in the woods. He became angry and sent the Exploskeleton to silence her.

Ruby is the town Harlot who is plying her trade outside of the Tavern. When you talk to her, she offers to take you up to her room - for 250 gold. Agree and follow her to the top floor of the Inn. She will ask that the others in your party give you some privacy. Have the others step out of the room. You get a choice about having a tryst like a witch or one like a nymph. What follows is not what you might have expected. She will sit in a chair and tell you a story. You don't, ah, get it on, so to speak. Afterwards, she will go back to her station outside of the Tavern. She is also part of the quest Beauty and the Beast, so you will be back to see her at another time.

Get Naked with Ramon

Also outside the Tavern is Ramon, who will offer you some quality time with him - for 250 gold. Agree and follow him upstairs to the Brothel Room. He offers to strip you down. Agree and your clothes, and all of your equipment, disappear. Then he asks if you are prepared to face the repercussions of your heinous crimes against the goddess. He will then attack. If you've separated your party, the rest of them will be locked out. Your naked character has to fight with no weapons, but the other party members can still cast some spells even though they are behind the wall. Defeat Ramon and pick up the two keys - Brothel Room Key which opens the door to the room and the Finely Adorned Key which opens the chest on the left side of the room. This chest holds your equipment.

Next to the Tavern is the chambers of Windemere and Hassat. Windemere will sell Hydrosophist and Aerotheurge spellbooks while Hassat sells Geomancer and Pyrokinetic skillbooks.

The Troll's Bounty for Brandon's Retirement

Just next to the Tavern is the Mine Overseer's Office, the office of Lawrence, the Mining Guild representative. When you first walk into the Office, Lawrence is having a heated discussion with Brandon, who is the Overseer of the mine. When they're done, Brandon will then take his leave and go into the courtyard of the Tavern. Follow Brandon outside. In talking with him, he relates to you that his wants to retire and he says his retirement plan is to get hold of some of the ore called Tenebrium which is worth a fortune. In fact, he asks you to find him some, which is in the possession of the Troll King. This begins the quest The Troll's Bounty. When handled, Tenebrium is deadly, so Brandon gives you a box (the Blood Stone Cage) in which to safely store any Tenebrium you find. Brandon wants you to bring him one bar of this ore. You will be getting this ore at a later time.

Lawrence of Silverglen

Go back to the Mining Office and have a chat with Lawrence. He is the representative of the Mining Guild and is responsible for mining operations in Silverglen. Get past his obsequiateness to learn he has a complaint about the goblins and asks for your help. The leader of the goblins is Dreksis, and apparently the goblins refuse to let humans into the mines. This begins the quest Goblin Trouble. Hold off making any accusations from Nadia until a later time. Your characters will comment that Lawrence seems a bit dodgy. You will get back to him later.

Helping Fumble Get Some

Leave Silverglen via the northeast exit near the Mine Overseer's Office. You will almost immediately encounter a giant Troll, Fumble. He demands you pay a toll to cross his bridge, but have a chat first. Ask him why he feels lonely and you will begin the quest Beauty and the Beast. Apparently he is pining for human girl companionship. Well, who doesn't want that. And you might just know a girl - Ruby, the harlot. Scoot back over to the Tavern and talk to Ruby standing outside. Ask her if she is willing to entertain a Troll and she will do it for 2050 gold. She will leave to go find Fumble. Head back to the Troll and see how they are getting on. As you approach them, you can hear Ruby telling him the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Talk to Fumble and find that he is overjoyed that you brought him Ruby and he actually gives your money back.

The Gazebo in the Forest

As you are doing your walkabout in the Luculla Forest, you will come upon a Gazebo that you can interact with. This Gazebo is near where you found Alfie, the packbeast. The Gazebo asks you if you wish to die. If you answer no, then nothing happens. If you answer yes, it asks if you want to die slowly or quickly. If you answer "quickly", the area will be bombarded with meteors. You can run away without taking damage. If you answer you want to die "slowly", the area will be covered in fire traps and oil. When you walk away, the traps disappear, but the oil remains. At the present time, this Guide doesn't know the purpose of this exercise.

Drunken Goblins

Follow the path to the northeast from the Gazebo, past where you met Bjorn and Alfie. Just to the north of that area you will come upon a group of drunken Goblins, who have been sampling the nectar of some indigenous flora. Most of the goblins are sleeping in a drunken stupor. Since these guys are likely up to no good, eliminate them. You will have to deal with some poisonous flowers as well.

Search the area for items and then go west up the hill. The path is covered in traps so be careful. As you get closer to the top of the hill, there are several more traps to contend with. Use the crate and barrel to cover the vents. You may want to just send you perception character to the top of the hill where there is a chest to open. At the top, a stone wall will be spitting fireballs at you. Near the chest is a lever that will shut off the fireballs. Just to the east of the chest is a place on the ground where you can dig. You will find a Barrier Removal Spell. If you have not yet been to the White Witch's cabin, may not know that access to her cabin is blocked by a magical barrier. This spell will remove that barrier. This will start the quest Fun with Fungi, or update it if you have already begun the quest. You will also find a Parchment nearby that says a few words about Maradino, is alliterative verse. Know that there is a fire trap just a step away from the chest, so be careful when you have your character leave the hilltop.

Rumble with Grumble

Go back to where you killed the drunken goblins and continue to the east. You will meet another Troll, Grumble, asking for toll to cross another broken bridge. Ask him about the Troll King. Here you will enter into a RPS debate mini game. If you win, he tells you the location of the Troll King. He also tells you that the cave is protected by a stone barrier and you will need magic to enter. He tells you to talk to another Troll, Archibald, who might have more information. Grumble then demands 1000 gold for safe passage. Pay up or beat the crap out of him. Starting a fight will begin the quest The Angry Troll. Defeating him will end the quest.

Just to the south of Grumble, the fence along the cliff is broken in one spot. If you look over the cliff, you can see a patch of land near the river. There is a treasure chest down there. Use the Feather Drop spell to teleport a character down there. Loot the chest and then have that character use the Pyramid to rejoin the party.

Find the White Witch's Cabin

You've heard a lot about the White Witch, so it is high time you try and find her. The cabin of the White Witch is near where you entered the Luculla Forest and just to the southeast of the Waypoint Luculla - Cyseal Road. It should be marked on your map so why don't you take a hike over there. You will soon come to a footbridge, and on the other side of the bridge, you will see a Shadow Walker spring to life. Strange. Keep moving to the southeast toward the cabin marker, in the direction in which the Shadow ran.

You will come upon an Immaculate Summoner who wants a few words with you. He says that they have captured the White Witch and quarantined her house. He won't let you pass, but you can play the RPS mini game. If you win, he will let you pass. If you lose, the Summoner will disapparate, but vow to stop you if you go beyond that point. A few steps later he will reappear and you will have to fight his minions comprised of Shadow Walkers and Shadow Wanderers. After their demise, activate the Waypoint just to the north (Luculla Forest - Cabin of the White Witch). Loot the chest next to the Waypoint.

Just to your east you will see a huge sparkly purple dome energy barrier. Walk towards it through the gate in the fence and the Summoner will appear again and conjure more of his Shadows to fight you. After their defeat, you need to find a way to dissipate the barrier and enter the Witch's Hut.

Talking to Mushrooms

There are several approaches to dissipating the barrier. You may have already found the spell that will dissipate the barrier. Use it and be done with it.

You can also talk to either of the giant blue mushrooms, one just to the east of the barrier or one to the north. Both are named Mushroom Icari. This will begin or update the quest Fun with Fungi. For a mushroom, it has some things to say. If will offer to play a brain teaser with you (it will ask some questions).

Riddle 1: "The ravenous brute tore down my chartreuse gown, ripped out my silken hair by its roots, wrenched my children from me, and fed me to the hogs. Who am I?" Choices: 1. An ear of corn, 2 a pumpkin or 3 a sheep. Answer is corn. Riddle 2: "I cannot lie: I cannot lay, but only lie. Who am I?" Choices: 1 a politician; 2. A stone, 3 a warlock. Answer is stone. Riddle 3: "I've a neck as long as twice the width of a toad's tail, as many eyes as half the number of seasons per annum, I'm known to cause hurricanes in the far east merely by taking off two minutes too late! Who am I?" Choices: 1. A weathervane; 2. A man; 3. A butterfly. Answer is butterfly.

The Mushrooms have some nice things to say about the White Witch. Unfortunately, after all that, the barrier is not removed. If you go the Homestead and talk to Zixzax about your dilemma, he will tell you that to destroy the barrier, you need only kill the two talking mushrooms. Return to the mushrooms and talk to one. When you mention about killing them, they plead for their life and tell you to find a wizard to help with removal of the barrier. You will enter into a discussion amongst your lead characters as to what to do. If you decide to kill the mushrooms, only use physical attacks against them and not magic. Each instance of using an elemental attack causes another mushroom to appear; water based attacks will heal them.

When you've dispatched the two fungi, the barrier around the house will dissipate. This will end the quest Fun with Fungi.

Finding the Remove Barrier spell

An alternative, and perhaps more satisfying, method to remove the barrier is to search through the forest for a Remove Barrier spell. If you are following this Guide, you may already have this spell. After you've spoken to the mushrooms, go to the Homestead and talk to Zixzax. Mention the mushrooms and the barrier and he tells you that you can simply kill the mushrooms to remove the barrier. When you next speak to the mushrooms, they plead for their shroomy lives and tell you to try and find a spell left somewhere in the Forest by somebody named Maradino. It turns out that this spell is buried in the ground in a highly-trapped are near where you had the battle against the troop of drunken goblins. From the goblins, turn west and ascend the path. Disable or disarm any traps and reach the summit of the hill. Right next to the chest (west side) you can dig in the ground and find the Remove Barrier Spell. With this in hand, return to the Witch's cabin and use the spell.

Entering the White Witch's Cabin

After the barrier is removed and you try to enter the cabin, the Summoner will appear again. This time you actually get to fight him. He will conjure a minion to assist. After you defeat him, pick up his stuff, including an Enlightened Amulet. Now enter the cottage. There's not much to be had here, but there is a green glowing mirror, called the Mirror of Astarte, along one wall. When you peer into the green mirror you will be teleported to somewhere beyond the Witch's house called the Witch's Grotto.

The rooms have been ransacked, but there are some items you can take. Lying on a nearby table is a Closet Key. This unlocks a small closet in the next room that contains a Tattered Diary. The diary speaks of a hidden chest somewhere. There is a portion of the wall on the western side that can be opened by the switch just to the left. Revealing the opening will update the quest A Source Hunter's Journey in your journal.

Saving a Boar

Follow the tunnel from the house. You will come upon some dead wolves and a corpse. Right next to the dead brown dog is a mound to dig. You will find a bunch of Earth Tongue mushrooms. The road splits at this point, to the east and to the north. Your discerning eye may have seen a rat run to the north. So go that way. If you continue to follow the rat, it will lead you to a chest hidden in the bushes. Nice rat. At this location, you may receive an onscreen message from someone to seek her out at the lake. This begins the quest The Lady in the Lake.

You'll soon see another corpse and a dead boar. Just beyond this point you will see an encampment with some cultists. They are beating on a boar named Thuringer. Try to save the boar. When you kill the Cultists, the boar will squeal, or thank you and tell you his story if you have the Pet Pal talent. He speaks of someone called the Guardian who has rescued many wounded creatures within the forest. On further questioning, Thuringer says that the Guardian is the White Witch and she was dragged into the lake by cultists and simply vanished. When you ask about the White Witch's chest, the boar says he knows of its whereabouts and will offer to sniff for it. When you agree, he runs to the alleged location.

He will run a short distance up the incline and begin sniffing. He does not appear to find anything. When you talk with him again, he asks which way and you can respond "to the left" or "to the right", or ask him to "stay". When you say "right" he runs to the location where you found the corpse and the dead white wolf, but he says there is nothing there. Say to "the right" again and he runs to a location that he says is the correct spot. Digging there you will find some of the Earth mushrooms. This can't be the place. Tell him to "the right" again and he will run to a new location. Dig here and you will find the chest. You don't really get anything special in the chest, just the usual choice of stuff that you can farm for something different if you wish. You can talk to Thuringer again but he has nothing new to say.

The path you took following Thuringer has lots of dead animals along the way. Check them for any remaining items. Return to the cultist encampment and take any items you deem useful.

When you walk to the north from the camp, you will come to a precipice overlooking a lake. You will get an onscreen message from someone to seek her out at the lake. If you have not already been contacted, this will begin the quest The Lady in the Lake.

Burning to Meet Some Pyromancers

Continue along the path and descend the incline. Walk to the eastern side of the Grotto, and you will encounter some Immaculate Pyromancers flinging fireballs hither and yon. Engage them and make them cool off a bit. The pyromancers were apparently engaged in some type of alchemical experiments and you will find lots of alchemical apparati.

Meet Some Cultists at the Lake

Continue to the west from the pyromancer camp and you will come to another camp with Artherius the dog, and Vaelanna, the Cultist, leading a bunch of other cultists. When they are vanquished, a voice, the Mysterious Voice, emanates from the lake. This is Almina, a friend of the White Witch. She tells you of a spell scroll needed to enter the realm where the Witch is imprisoned. You will find this very spell scroll called the Cultist Spell dropped by Vaelanna. You will also find Orders from Lady Attenberah, instructing Vaelanna not to let the Scroll fall into the wrong hands. Oops, too late.

Before you use the scroll you just obtained, backtrack a bit and head up the path to the north. If you tried to go that way earlier, you would have gotten an urgent message from the Lady of the Lake to hurry and meet her. There's no hurry anymore, is there? At the top of the path is a chest to loot and a spellbook leaning against the chest. There is also a silver ore vein right next to the chest. Now go back to the lake.

Use the Cultist Spell scroll at the edge of the lake and the entire lake will turn into a portal. Enter the water to teleport to Hiberheim. Know that Hiberheim is a snowy region and you will encounter ice patches during exploration and battles. These will cause your party members to slip and fall which is especially annoying, and dangerous, during a battle. While you are exploring the area and fighting some enemies, you will find boots that make you immune to slipping. You can also use the nine inch nails that you've found and have your blacksmith apply those to your current boots. Works like a charm.

PART III - HIBERHEIM WALKTHROUGHList of Quests for Part IIIA Dark MatterEternal WinterFind the Witch!The Captive in the CrystalsThe Lady in the LakeThe Wishing BrotherThe Witch at HomeRecommended Sequence of Activities for Part III1) Bypass the barrier walls in the entry area of Hiberheim (Hiberheim Cave)2) Clear the main map of Hiberheim3) Enter the Elemental Forge and get spell scroll to remove barrier from castle5) Enter the Castle Prison thru outside trapdoor and find the White Witch4) Enter King Boreas's Castle5) Use staff in Elemental Forge to free the Elementals6) Return to prison to free White Witch7) Finish any unfinished business in Hiberheim8) Visit the Homestead to and talk to Icara, the White Witch9) Travel back to Silverglen/Luculla ForestExploring Hiberheim

You begin in this part of the world on a quiet path leading south. As you walk along the path you will see tall stone Enchanted Sentinels. When you get near them, they will say something and then crumble into a pile of rocks. Just a few steps south, the path will split with one path leading to the south, one leading to the northwest and one leading to the northeast. If you follow the short northwest path, it ends where the Sentinel tells you that you are going the wrong way. If you follow the path upwards to the northeast, you will find a Waypoint - Hiberheim Cave. Just to the north of the Portal, there is a spiky stone barrier and the Sentinel says "not this way".

Some Dead Imps and a Chest

Just to the south of the Portal is a scene where some Imps where slaughtered. You can relieve them of their few belongings. Next to one of the Imps you will find the Imp Maintenance Diary. What could that mean? Just down the hill and to the east of the dead imps you will find one of four chests that are part of the undocumented Last Chest quest. The Dusty Parchment inside the chest designates this one as the Third chest. The note also gives you a riddle: "I am the widow's legs, her shining eyes. I am the season in her two-year life. Which digit am I? [Answer = 8.] Make note of this riddle and the answer as you will use this information after you find all four chests.

Mechanical Monsters

Continue heading toward the south and you will come to a wall formed by stone pillars. The Sentinel tells you this is the correct direction and then shatters into bits. Where is this voice of the Sentinel's coming from and how does it know you are here?? There is a flat rock that functions as a switch to lower the wall that lies just to the right of the shattered Sentinel and just before you get to the pillars. The rock switch is very difficult to see and does not highlight with the Alt key. Have one character stand on the rock and have the others run to the other side. Then, using the Pyramids in your possession, teleport the first character to join the rest.

There is a lever just inside of the pillar wall, that when pressed, lowers the wall, but also conjures a bunch of Mecha-Rodents, both the Alpha and Beta variety. When injured, these mechanized mechanical monsters leak oil. Be careful how you play with fire. These kangaroo-looking robotic rodents will drop metal scraps on their demise.

More Dead Imps

From the pillar wall, head west and then go north up the hill. You will come upon a grisly scene where someone, or something, has slaughtered some imps. Take what few belongings the dead imps still possess. Among the items is an Imp Maintenance Diary. This talks about King Boreas's personal wishing well and a hidden relic. Hmm, wonder what that's all about? [Note: what that's about is the relic called the Royal Guard Talisman that you find/found in a chest near the wishing well Walter McWishing Well.]

Walk to the west from the dead imps and you will soon come to another pillar wall, with a nearby switch that presumably lowers it. However, the switch is locked. Walk to the south and the Sentinel says "you finally made it" and then shatters. Just down the incline you see several small blue mushrooms and your character with perception should detect a hidden mound to dig near the mushrooms. Here you will find a Tiny Golden Key. This unlocks the lever at the wall.

When you unlock the pillar wall, two robot birds, Mecha-Roosters, will materialize to stop you. They belch fire at you if you give them the chance. Kill them quickly. Past the now lowered pillar wall, you will be in a red-glowing area with several poison vents spewing poison gas. Place something on the vents to stop the gas. What you place on a vent does not have to be a barrel or chest. You can place almost any item on the vent. Obviously choose something you don't want to keep. Proceed to the north.

The Life and Death of Almina

Continue on and you will soon find a dying Almina, the White Witch's apprentice. She begs you to free the Witch from whatever clutches have imprisoned her. Ask her lots of questions to fill in the background information about the White Witch and the imbalance of the Elements. One thing she says is that the Witch could not possibly have murdered Councillor Jake. At the end of the conversation, Almina dies and this will begin the quest Eternal Winter where you are to rectify the imbalance of elements occurring here in Hiberheim. This will also end the quest The Lady in the Lake since it was Almina who was in the lake. Place something on the nearby poison vent and loot the chest hidden behind the rocks. Now leave this area, go past the barrier you lowered and the dead Mecha-Roosters, and proceed to the east.

Ice Bombs

As you walk to the east, you will come upon a Watchful Sentinel and an opening in the wall that is being bombarded with Ice. The Sentinel will not attack, but it is invulnerable and cannot be damaged or destroyed. There is a small flat rock just south of the sentinel that will stop the ice bombardment. Have one character stand on the rock, the other party members go past the opening, and then teleport the lone character back into the group. Nicely done.

There is a chest sitting at the top of the small hill to your left, but the path is littered with traps. Be careful. When you open the chest, you will be ambushed by Mecha-rodents. Be mindful that these guys will run toward you and then explode. After that conflagration, loot the area and go back down the hill. Proceed to the east until you see a flight of stairs leading to he north.

Yet Another Pillar Wall

Continue along the path to the east. You will come upon another pillar wall. The flat rock switch for this wall is up the small hill to the east, past the barrels and crates. Here you need to use a similar tactic of having one character stand on the rock while the others walk past the open wall. You can have the group inside pull the lever to lower the barrier. When your characters walk in the area just before the stairs, you will set off an ambush by a bunch of those Mechanized monsters, rodents and birds. What fun. This ambush apparently only happens after you have lowered the wall.

Hiberheim

Go up the stairs and you will now be in a frosty part of Hiberheim. This was mentioned before, but it bears repeating. During your stay here, you will encounter patches of ice where your characters will fall down during movement or during battle. Obviously annoying. You can counteract this by wearing shoes that negate slipping (you will find some of these during your exploration). Another method is to have your blacksmith character attach Nine Inch Nails to your current shoes or boots which grants Immunity to Slipping. Works wonders.

Your goal in Hiberheim is to find the White Witch, who is being held captive by King Boreas. But before you embark directly on that task, take some time now to clear the Hiberheim map to increase your party level and obtain usable items. Follow the road to the north. You will be attacked by a band of White Wolves. After you have eliminated them, click on the Slain White Stag that they were feasting on. The ghost of the Stag will materialize. Have your character with the Pet Pal talent talk to the Stag. He will tell you some background information as to how the elements are in disarray and the spirits of the Realm of Faery are in turmoil. The ghost Stag then disappears. There is a chest to open right next to the dead Stag. Activate the nearby Waypoint (Hiberheim Forest).

Just to the northeast of the Waypoint you will encounter Hilda and her Shambling Mound and Immaculate Enchanter companions. You will immediately enter into a RPS mini game with her. If you win, you get to ask her some questions. She's a real snit. When you ask how she tamed the Shambling Mound, you get to play another RPS game. If you win, she will relate to you how she used Tenebrium ore and a common branch to make a wand that can kill Shambling Oaks. If you lose the game, a fight ensues. After their demise, take the items they drop. Be very careful here. The Shambling Mound drops a weapon called the Shambling Oak Death Wand. This is made of Tenebrium. The character who picks it up will be infected with Rot. You likely don't have the means to cure Rot yet, and you likely don't have the ability to handle Tenebrium without getting infected. Leave that item on the ground. [Note: you may have acquired the Blood Stone Cage from Brandon in Silverglen which allows you to safely carry Tenebrium. However, you have likely not yet gained the knowledge of how to handle Tenebrium. So don't pick up the Death Wand].

From the dead Hilda, continue to the northwest along the path. You will come to an encampment where all the inhabitants are dead. Apparently they succumbed to the cold. Loot them. Head to the west from this encampment and you will discover another encampment, but this time with living Immaculates.

Immaculate Camps

During your sojourn in Hiberheim, you will come upon several camps of Immaculate soldiers. They will challenge you, but if you win the RPS mini game, you can talk with them and get some information and even trade with them. One group talks about how King Boreas is a mad tyrant and how the Immaculates made a deal with him for a Star Stone. The soldier groups were sent here apparently to capture the White Witch and give her to King Boreas. They also tell you it is they who are slaughtering the Imps. Talking with them will update Find the Witch! and Eternal Winter and begin the quest A Dark Matter. In the quest called A Dark Matter, you learn from talking to Immaculate soldiers in Hiberheim that they have slaughtered all the imps in Hiberheim and are still looking for any survivors. The Immaculates are here to create a Blood Stone and are using the blood of Imps to infuse it with power.

If you've learned this information by winning the RPS game, then the Immaculates are no longer hostile. However, this Guide would recommend that you initiate an attack anyway, once you have what you need from them. Later in the game, all of these soldiers will be gone and you won't get the XP for killing them. Do it now.

In the Eternal Winter quest, you learn that there is an imbalance of the elements within Hiberheim. King Boreas, the ruler of this portion of the realm has become unstable and is responsible for the troubles. Apparently he has gone mad with power. For this quest, you must find a way into the castle to put a stop to this. There is an Elemental Forge near the Castle where imps are crafting the Elemental Staff of Boreas. Eternal Winter is the main quest of Hiberheim and it will be one of the last things you do here. Patience.

Just to the north of the Immaculate encampment, you will see a stag who seems to want you to follow. So follow him and you will end up at another Immaculate encampment. They also will challenge you by playing the RPS game. If you lose, you must fight.

Explore Hiberheim before entering the Castle

Just to the north of this camp is a Waypoint - Hiberheim Castle - and the Castle is just to the west of the Waypoint. This Guide would recommend that you fully explore the frozen land before venturing forth into the Castle. Notice that right beside the Waypoint are some Ice Crystal formations. There are a number of these throughout the area, and they can be bashed easily. At times you might reveal something worthwhile. So bash them.

From the Hiberheim Castle Waypoint, go back south to the encampment. Continue to the south and then head to the west. You will find an area where there are some skeletal remains scattered about. At the top of the incline is a chest to loot. Just past that chest are some ice crystals you can bash to reveal another chest. Behind the big boulder you will find still another chest. After looting the chests, begin walking back the way you came. You will be ambushed by a Snow Shaman and a bunch of wolves.

That boulder just mentioned above is actually a giant stone head, with a tree growing out of the right eye. Right in front of the mouth of the head is a mound you can dig up. When you dig, you will find a trapdoor on the ground. This is a secret entrance to the Castle. This Guide would again recommend that you complete the exploration of the countryside before entering the castle.

Liberating a Frozen Elemental

Make your way back to the Hiberheim Forest Waypoint. From there, continue to the southeast. You will come upon a small stone shrine-like structure with large ice crystals in front of it. If you look carefully, there is a creature encased in the ice. When you destroy the crystal to free the beast, three snowmen called Snow Warden pop out of the ground and chastise you for freeing Arroka, an Earth Elemental. This begins the quest The Captives in the Crystals. Seems the crime of the Elemental was just wishing to be equal to all others in Hiberheim. Preposterous, say the Snow Wardens. After the Snowman calls you a pompous blood-bag, you have a decision to make - free the Elemental, or not. You will get a choice, to allow the Snow Wardens to continue to imprison the Elemental, or to allow the Elemental to go free. If you agree with the Wardens, then a fight ensues with the Elemental, with the Wardens fighting on your side. If you side with the Elemental, then a fight ensues with the Snow Wardens, with the Elemental fighting on your side. This Guide says free the Elemental and melt the ice-addled brains of the Snowmen. After you rescue Arroka, you can ask him some questions, but then he takes his leave. There are two other Elementals in other locations to free (or not) and if you have liberated all three of the trapped creatures, this will end the quest The Captives in the Crystals.

You can ask Arroka lots of questions. When you ask about how to get into the Castle, you must win the RPS mini game. If you win, Arroka tells you about a tunnel connecting the prison to the world outside. The location of the tunnel is in the mouth of a great golem's head. Look for a tree sticking out of its right eye. You likely have discovered this already, but we will come back to that location later.

More Crystal Captives

Head north from the last location, hugging the edge of the map. You will soon see another creature imprisoned in an ice crystal. Free this one as well. As before, some Snow Wardens pop out demanding to know why you are freeing a Troll named Haizea the Disemboweler. Oh, my. The Snow Wardens will attack, and Haizea will fight for your side. This will continue the quest The Captives in the Crystals. When you defeat the snowmen, Haizea thanks you and grants you a boon, he doesn't eat your liver. You can now have a chat with Haizea. He explains that he loves to disembowel warm bodies in this realm. At the end of the conversation, he asks you to give him the rift spell. You can agree to give him the spell, or fight him. Killing him nets you some good loot. If you agree to bring the scroll, he will leave and you will find him in one of the cultist groups.

The Guardian

Walk to the north of where you just fought Haizea, and you will come upon a giant beast called The Guardian. This nasty critter is immune to almost everything. Fire damage and fire-based spells work best. He's slow, but packs a wallop when he strikes. Conjure a couple of summons, such as a fire elemental to distract him while your fire spells whittle him down.

After his defeat, you will want to go up the set of stairs. But before you do, walk to the right of the stairs and destroy the ice crystals. Beyond them you will find two chests to plunder.

Now go back to the stairs and ascend. At the top of the stairs you will see three pressure plates. Don't step on any of the plates yet. There is a fourth that is hidden; it lies above and to the right of the right-most visible plate and you must use perception to find the mound and dig it up. Go back down the stairs and grab one of the barrels just to the left of the stairs. Place this on one of the pressure plates. Split your team up and have each one stand on a different plate. Have the remaining party member ascend the stairs to the north. You will see a large metal door in front of you and two other large doors to your sides. Just to the left of the middle door are some bushes that are hiding a lever. Activating the lever will disable the trap and open all three doors. Re-assemble your party and go through the door.

The Wishing Wells

Your were at this location before. Here is where you meet up again with William McWishing Well, part of the quest The Wishing Brothers. In this quest, the first Well you encountered, Walter McWishing Well, asked you to find and return his Brother, William. To reunite the Wells, you need a spell scroll called the Well Teleportation Scroll, which you will find in the Treasury Room of King Boreas after his defeat. Since you don't have that scroll yet, you will have to return to this area. If you didn't do it yet, smash the chest in the corner and take the Royal Guard Talisman. You will be using this a bit later.

If and when you acquire the Well Teleportation Scroll, before you teleport the Well, ask William if he can grant you a wish. He says for 2050 gold he can change the weather in the area. He can wind down the wild blizzard or wipe out the lava-burbling volcanoes to the north. You can pay him directly or start the conversation to play the RPS game to lower the amount or have him grant the wish for free. As it turns out, it doesn't matter which option you pick, the Well will grant your wish for free. My party chose to end the snowstorm. After a few moments the winds will die down and the snow will stop. Lovely.

Helping a Hopping Bunny

In the center of the region, you will see a poor bunny being chased by a snowman called Scar-Faced Warden. If you attack and defeat the snowman, you can then talk to the bunny, Hopper. You must the have Pet Pal talent to do this. Hopper thanks you for killing the snowman, who was chasing him because the bunny nibbled his carrot. Do tell. Hopper will provide you with lots of background information. He will tell you about a secret way into Boreas's castle and asks you to follow him. He leads you to a cliff and says you just have to hop across like he does. Well, as you would expect, humans can't hop across that chasm.

You can, however, use magic. Use the Feather Drop spell to teleport a character that has a Pyramid in their inventory to the landing to the west. Use the other Pyramid to teleport the rest of the party. Repeat this process two more times. One the third landing, you perception person should spot a mound to dig to find a chest. Repeat the teleporting one more time. Now you can enter the Castle from its southwest side. You may have already discovered this entrance without all the hopping about. This Guide would recommend that you complete the exploration of the Hiberheim region before entering the Castle.

Elemental Fight

Make your way to the north, in the region of the Hiberheim Castle Waypoint. Walk a bit farther north and you will come to a region where lava balls are being hurled about, both to the north and to the west. To the northeast, you will see a fight between an Air Elemental, two Ice Elementals and a Fire Elemental. Join in the fun. To the east of the elemental battle, you will find the Hiberheim North Waypoint.

Go back to where the elementals were fighting and proceed to the north. Here you will enter an encampment where there are lots of dead Immaculates and Imps. There is one survivor wandering about, an Imp named Axyx. It seems that he is expecting you to kill him, thinking that you are one of the Immaculates. Talk to him at length as he provides lots of background information. He tells you that King Boreas betrayed the Imps all over a Precious, a Blood Stone. Search the area to find an Imp Maintenance Diary. Read it.

To the south and west of Axyx, you will find an Ice Elemental frozen in a crystal. If you liberate him you will be attacked by the annoying snowmen, who call you an asinine heat sack, infected hog's carcass. Well, I never!. They go on to tell you about the crimes of Antzigar, the elemental. Seems he's not a very nice elemental. You will get a choice of leaving the elemental being to the snowmen, or to free him. If you free him, you will get some advice on getting into the King's treasure room. Anyway, you may choose to beat the flakes out of the snowmen. Get your thanks from Antzigar who actually says you should thank HIM for saving YOU from the snowmen. He will tell you a bit about the King's treasure room, the most helpful being a way to obtain the Winter Ring. To do this, you need a Royal Guard Talisman, and then you need to equip the Talisman when you are standing on the central grate of the treasure room. He knows not where this Talisman is, but if you started the quest The Wishing Brother, then you found the Talisman in a chest near William McWishing Well. Antzigar will then run off into the wilderness. If this was the third of the three Captive creatures, the quest The Captives in the Crystals will come to an end.

The Lava Fields

If you venture to the north-central region of Hiberheim, you will be in an area where lava balls are bombarding the countryside. Continue to the northeast and you will come upon a set of stairs with some fire elementals battling an earth elemental. Finish the battle. Ascend the stairs. At the top of the stairs is a large group of Cultists bent on impeding your progress. They guard the entrance to the Elemental Forge. Defeat them and then loot them.

The Elemental Forge

Now enter the Forge. The Forge is in shambles and there are lots of dead bodies strewn about. At the bottom of the stairs, one Imp still survives, Jijix. Talk with him. With his dying breath, he tells about Boreas, the Staff and Star Stones. Loot the dead bodies of their meager possessions and continue along the hallway to the north.

At the far end of the hallway you will see the infamous Conduit herself directing some Enlightened Immaculates who are casting spells on a Blood Stone. Approach them and get a few words from The Conduit. She tries to justify her actions to you. She reveals a considerable amount of information about herself and her beliefs. When the conversation ends, the Immaculates are transformed into giant beast things and the battle is joined. This encounter will complete the quest A Dark Matter.

Plunder the area and the dead Immaculates. One of the items you will find is a scroll named Orders. This, in actuality, is the Spell that will remove the force field barrier at the entrance to the Castle. Make you way back to the Castle entrance. Fight past the guards and walk up to the force field and interact with it. One conversation choice will be to speak the incantation you received earlier. The force field will dissipate.

The Hidden Hatch and Secret Passage into the Castle

Although you have the spell now that will disable the magical barrier leading to the Castle, why don't you take your party into the bowels of the Castle and try and find the White Witch, who is likely imprisoned there. To the south and then west of the main entrance into the Castle you will find a hatch hidden in the ground. The mound will be spotted by someone with high perception. It lies right at the base of a large head-like rock. When you dig in the mound, you will reveal a secret passage into the castle.

When you go down the hatch you will arrive in an underground cavern area. A passage leads to the north, but it is heavily trapped. Throw fireballs at the traps and then clean up the ground using Tornado. Continue north, deactivating the traps. You will finally reach a set of stairs leading up. At the top of the stairs you will see a beautiful wall of lava - a lavafall? - and a ladder to climb. Climb up.

The Castle Prison

You will emerge in a cell of the prison level and you will see lots of dead Imps in your cell and in adjacent cells. The door to your cell is locked and you can see a lever outside. Approach the door and you will be addressed by a rat, Tyler, outside of the cell. You need the Pet Pal perk for this conversation. He says he will help pull the lever to open the cell if you give him some cheese. Tyler seems to make some effort to pull the lever, but unfortunately, it is too high for the rat and he goes bounding away. Thanks a lot, rat. You can bash the door to open it, or, in the northeast corner of the cell, there is a ground area to dig that will create a tunnel into the adjacent cell. The door to the adjacent cell is open. Free at last.

PART III - HIBERHEIM WALKTHROUGH (Continued)Iron Maidens and Blood Stones

After you get out of your cells, search the area and the dead Imps. One item of particular interest is the Iron Maiden in the northwest corner of the central chamber. You can interact with the Maiden and have a conversation, ripe with innuendo. She invites you to come inside, but you tell her that is not a good idea. After even more innuendo, penetrate her, so to speak, with your weapon. She contains a Blood Stone.

In a cell to the south you will find a human named Dhruin. Open his cell by pulling the ring on the column and talk to him. Interesting little conversation, no? One of the things you get to say to him is "Fancy finding ME here? What business could you possibly have at the End of Time!" This doesn't make any sense in the present context. You will, in fact, encounter several NPCs where this is a choice and it doesn't make sense. Oh, well. [Note: the recent updates to the game have fixed some of these conversations].

Danger up the Stairs

Go to the east of the cell block and ascend the stairs. Just go partway up the stairs. You will "see" some invisible Sentinels lurking about. DO NOT ENTER the chamber. These guys are invincible so you cannot destroy them. Moreover, when you take one step into the chamber, the Sentinels will see you, and you will be incinerated. Game over.

What you need to do here is have someone sneak or turn invisible and quickly run up the stairs to the south. They will then activate the Waypoint Portal (Hiberheim Prison). Have your other party member use the Pyramid system to teleport to this Portal. Nifty. Alternatively, if you watch the Sentinels, they periodically turn to face a different direction. You can have a character time things carefully and avoid their gaze. There is a chest on the north side of the chamber that you can loot as you have your invisible character running to the Waypoint. You want to do this the first time through as this chest disappears once your character has made it to the landing with the Waypoint.

Re-assemble your party at the Waypoint. There is a pull-ring on the column at the stairs that when pulled, will disable the trap where the sentinels were watching. The sentinels will still be watching, but there won't be any damage to your party.

Go up the stairs and enter another chamber with an invincible Sentinel. This one will not see you so you can safely pass by. There are two treasure chests in view of the Sentinel. If you have the talent for invisibility, then loot those chests. If you are seen, lava will fill the area near the chests and you will die.

You Found the White Witch

Continue along the hallway and down the stairs until you reach a large chamber where you can see the White Witch imprisoned in a block of ice. When you click on the ice block, your journal will update to inform you that you need help to remove the ice to free the Witch.

Seems that you are at an impasse here. The only thing to do is to leave the Prison and try to find some device or artifact you can use to smash the ice and free the Witch. You've heard about some Elemental Forge and an Elemental Staff being crafted. Perhaps this is the solution. You've already found the Forge, but you don't have the Elemental Staff. This is in the possession of King Boreas. To get to him, you need to enter the Castle. There are two ways into the Castle. One is through the front door, which is protected by a magical barrier; and the other method is the path that Hopper the bunny pointed out. For the latter, you will need the spell called Feather Drop. To gain entrance through the front door and get past the magical barrier, you need a spell. You should have obtained this spell, called Orders, when you defeated the Immaculates in the Forge. It's your choice as to which entry to use. This Guide would suggest you do both because you will gain some experience and items either way. The most direct way is through the front door.

Gain Entry to the Castle of King Boreas

Teleport to the Hiberheim Castle Waypoint and try to enter through the front door. When you approach the bridge to the entrance you will be attacked by two groups of Ice Elementals conjured by the Sentinels. After their defeat, you will then discover that the entry door is blocked by a magical barrier. If you have been to the Elemental Forge, then you have the spell necessary to remove the barrier. If you don't have it, then proceed to the north of the castle to find the Forge and get the spell. (This was described earlier).

Now use the spell you obtained from the Forge to dissipate the barrier. Read the spell and then interact with the magical barrier. You will get a set of conversation choices; make the correct choice to proceed.

A Delightful Tet-et-tet with King Boreas

Enter the Castle and approach King Boreas. He dost wants to haveth some words with thou. You will get the typical rantings of a madman and then you will have to fight him. This is a challenging battle, but your are up to it, aren't you? Know that Boreas is resistant to ice, fire, air, shock, or knockdown. In fact, these will heal him. He is susceptible to physical attack and to poison. As the battle progresses, he will summon an Ice Elemental who in turn will summon two elemental Fragments, smaller versions of a true elemental. You should eliminate the minions first as they can actually inflict more damage than Boreas himself. Later, he will summon a Fire Elemental and Fire Fragments. Periodically, the large grates on the floor will spew lava, or poison or static cloud. Try to have your characters stand on a patch of snow to avoid damage from the conflagration. Keep whacking away at Boreas and use your own summons to soak up some of the damage. Eventually you will win the day.

After the battle, pick up his Elemental Staff. The Staff is sentient and will begin talking to you. You learn that the other Elemental Kings - the Sovereigns of the Seasons - are trapped within the Staff, and they all begin having a discourse amongst themselves. You will learn that you are speaking to Sua of the Summer Kingdom, Txmista of Spring and Lurrean of Autumn. You have just destroyed their deranged brother, the King of Winter. They will tell you that to release them, you need to destroy the Staff where it was created, in the Elemental Forge.

Destroy the Staff

Trudge back to the Forge and approach the gigantic lava-filled cauldron. Open your inventory and drag the Staff to the Forge. Presto, the three trapped Elemental Kings are freed and wish to have some words with you. This will end the quest Eternal Winter. Sua, the Summer King, happens to mention that you are no mortal, just in the guise of a Source Hunter. Say, what? The Elementals offer their aid to you when you might need it. They go on to tell you that it really wasn't King Boreas's fault for all the destruction, but instead it was a woman with demonic power. She was the one who captured the other Elemental Kings and then gave the Staff to Boreas in exchange for his Star Stone. When you tell Sua about the imprisoned White Witch, he gives you a Fire Rune that will summon him. He will then help you free the Witch. You can try to talk with the other Elemental Kings and even trade with them, but they leave quickly so you might only get to talk to one other.

Free the White Witch at Last

Teleport to the prison (Hiberheim Prison Waypoint) and scoot over to the frozen White Witch. Use the Fire Rune to summon Sua, the Summer King. [Note: the fire rune looks like a shard of ice. Go figure.] Use the rune and Sua will appear. Sua vomits fire onto the ice prison and Icara, the White Witch is free at last.

Talk to Icara, the White Witch

When the ice prison is melted, Icara, the White Witch, will begin a conversation with you. She says it was her sister Leandra who imprisoned her. Oh, my. Exhaust all the conversation options as she has some interesting things to say. She does say something about you being "eternal beings in the guise of minor mortals" - say what, again? Talk to her about Jake's murder for an interesting twist from her perspective. At the end of the conversation, Zixzax will magically appear in the chamber. Both Icara and Zix then disapparate to the Homestead. You should pay them a visit and have some tea and crumpets. This will end the quest Find the Witch! and begin the quest The Witch at Home.

Teleport to the Homestead and run down to the Tapestry. Talk to Zixzax for some more information on Icara, the White Witch. Talk with Icara and gain even more interesting information. In the end of this enlightening conversation, you will have completed the quest The Witch at Home, you will have updated the quest A Source Hunter's Journey, and you will have gotten two new quests: A Forge of Souls and Investigating the Mines.

Your new over-riding task is to find and investigate the White Witch's sister, Leandra. You will start this investigation in the Luculla Mines (quest Investigating the Mines). In the quest A Forge of Souls, you are to find a way to repair the bond between Icara and her sister Leandra. The two have been bonded - soul forged - since childhood, but of recent times, that soul forge has been damaged.

Before you go gallivanting off to start the new quests, there are a few more things to do in King's Boreas's Castle and in Hiberheim. Teleport back to the Castle and enter.

The King's Treasure

You can gain access to King Boreas's treasure room. Go to the northeast corner where the Blooming Sentinel (green) is standing. You can interact with one of the statues that seems to be part of the wall and amongst the foliage. When you click on the statue, it asks for the name of the Earthen brother of Boreas. If you get it wrong, your whole party will die a horrible death. The correct answer is "Lurrean". The magical blue barrier blocking the door to the west will be dissipated. Go through the door and begin to ascend the steps. You will see another of those pesky invincible Watchful Sentinels, this one chucking fireballs. If you are seen by the Sentinel, it will set off the poison trap on the green grate. If you go back down the stairs and to the right (northeast), a character with good perception will notice a switch on the wall. Activating this switch will turn off the poison grate. [Note: it is very difficult to position your cursor to activate this switch. Keep trying. Try using the B key and zooming in real close.]

Instead of using the switch, your party could throw something like an unwanted weapon on the trigger of the trap and this will apparently appease all of the Sentinels. Then just avoid the fireballs and lightening bolts and run to the far door. This door is locked, but is only level 10, so bash it down. There is another door down the short hallway, but pulling the ring on the east wall opens it easily. If you used the switch in the beginning near the stairway, then both doors will be open.

Treasure Fit for a King

The room you enter is filled to overflowing with an immense amount of gold coins. This must be the vault of Bill Gates or something. Unfortunately, you can't take the coins. But there are a number of things you can do. Right in the center of everything is a Star Stone. As usual, when you approach the stone, it discharges and become Inert. Take it.

There are a lot of things of immense interest within the treasure room. On the table to the left of the entrance is a parchment called "The Last Weresheep". Reading this will update the quest The Legend of the Weresheep. Lying on the floor in front the table is a parchment called the Well Teleportation Scroll. This is part of the quest The Wishing Brother. You'll get to use this scroll in a short while.

The far end of the chamber has several chests to open and a huge bookcase on either side where you can find some books or scrolls. At the far end is a locked sarcophagus whose lid is covered in strange runes. These runes happen to be written in Faery. You might have bought the book called the "Forgotten Language of Faery" from Victoria, the friendly orc in Cyseal. If you have this book in your possession, you will be able to read the runes. You will hear a click which means the sarcophagus will now open. You can farm it for more desirable items.

There is one last thing to do here in the Treasury. If you started the quest The Wishing Brother, you likely opened a chest and found an amulet called Royal Guard Talisman. Have one character equip the Talisman and then stand on the grate where you got the Star Stone. Wait a few moments and a magical discharge will occur. The Talisman will be removed and a ring will replace it. The ring is the Winter Ring. Not bad. Not bad.

How do you know you were supposed to do this, you ask? You will get the clue to use the Royal Talisman at this location from Antzigar, a troll that you rescue in the quest Captives in the Crystals.

Find a New Area Within the Castle

There is one last bit of adventure to be had within the Castle. Go out the southeastern doorway from the main chamber and proceed along the rampart. You will come to a walkway that is filled with lava. Use the Tornado spell to remove the lava. Alternatively, just before you go down the stairs toward the lava, you will notice that the stone Sentinel statue to your left is cracked. If you whack this thing, the lava will disappear. There is a teleporter (not a waypoint) at the far end. When you use the teleporter, you will arrive in an unexplored part of the Castle. To the west is a lava-filled room with a locked door. Inside the room is a treasure chest.

Getting the chest from the lava room requires some cleverness. First, cast a Tornado spell into the room to clear the lava from near the chest. Then use Feather Drop to drop a character carrying a Pyramid into the lava room. Loot the chest and then teleport to the other Pyramid. You are so clever. Alternatively, if you don't have the Feather Drop spell, just throw one of the pyramids into the room and teleport to it.

At the other end of the room, up the stairs, you will find a dead Imp with a note describing his last days. How sad. There is a chest to open, but when you do so, the Invulnerable Watcher Sentinel will see you and cause lava to emanate from the grate. The lava won't come all the way to the chest, so your character will be safe standing next to the chest. Use the Tornado spell to remove the lava and make your escape. Alternatively, have one character with a Pyramid in their possession run up and open the chest, then teleport to the other Pyramid. Nifty keen.

Use the teleporter to return to the rampart. Continue to the south to fully explore the rampart area. You will end up at a stone spike gate that can be lowered by the nearby lever. Through the gate you will be near the area where you first entered Hiberheim.

Finish Up the Last Bit of Stuff in Hiberheim

You may have one more thing to complete in Hiberheim before you leave. This is to add some finishing touches on the quest The Wishing Brothers. In this quest you are to reunite two brother Wells, one here in Hiberheim and one in Cyseal. To do so, you need a spell. You just found this spell in the treasury room of King Boreas. Make your way back to William, the Well by using the Hiberheim Forest Waypoint and walking to the north.

Now ask William if there is anything you can do to help. He will realize you have the Scroll and he asks you to use it. Read the scroll and William the Well will be teleported back to his brother Walter in Cyseal. The next time you are in Cyseal, be sure to return to the brothers and resolve the quest. Well done.

When you do return to Walter the Well in Cyseal, you can ask him to grant a wish. He asks for some gold in return. You get 4 choices of how much gold you want to give. Your reward is commensurate with the amount you donate. You can farm this process if you wish. (Pun intended).

PART IV - LUCULLA FOREST againList of Quests for Part IVA Long FuseClosing the RiftFollow the Wizard!Frederick's Blood StoneGoblin TroubleHide-and-MikasInvestigating the MinesLike Father Like SonMiner ControlRogue Dread LordsRoy's MenagerieSlaves and MastersThe InitiationThe Naked TruthThe Troll's BountyRecommended Sequence of Activities for Part IV1) Open new Portal in Homestead2) Find Maradino in northwest of Luculla Forest (desert region)3) Setting out to Find the Luculla Mines3) Enter Troll Cave4) Enter the Luculla mines5) Go to Silverglen and talk to Brandon6) Return to Luculla Mines7) Find a way to escape the mines and find the temple within the mines8) Find Leandra's office and create spell to make dread knights vulnerable9) Return to Silverglen and talk to Loic to begin the Immaculate trials10) Travel to north-east area of the desert to the Immaculate Trial Dungeon11) Complete the trials and kill Loic12) Teleport to Loic's chambers and get blood stones12) Use Loic's teleporter to go to central area of Luculla Forest14) Visit village of Sacred Stone15) Go to the Immaculate Cathedral16) Kill Mangoth; get Star Stone and Vial of Leandra's Blood17) Wrap up things in Luculla Forest18) Travel to the Phantom ForestReturn to Homestead to Open a New Portal

Now might be a good time to return to Homestead and talk with Zixzax. You found some new Star or Blood Stones, and so things should be happening on that Plane. Zix has a new theory about you. That you are not you. What? He thinks you are two souls inside, you and some infinitely great being. Well, why not? Your main characters will enter into a discussion about this.

He goes on to tell you that a new Portal has opened in Homestead - to the Hall of Secrets. When you teleport to the Hall of Secrets, you will meet with Astarte again. What she says does not make much sense at this time. Oh, well.

Within The Hall of Secrets you will meet the Teller of Secrets. She sells two books, the "Ancient tome of Body Mastery" and the "Compendium of Mortal Techniques". Both quite expensive. She also sells a large number of treasure maps, also quite expensive. By now you should have a huge trove of unneeded armour and weapons that you can trade for these items. With the Ancient Tome of Body Mastery you can add +1 Attribute Point and with the Compendium of Mortal Techniques you can add +3 Ability Points. Increase your bartering skills to lower the prices. The Teller will have new editions of these books each time you level up. So come back to her to buy these to increases attributes and abilities for all you characters.

Finding Maradino

One of the activities you are going to want to do soon is to gain access to the Troll Cave in Luculla Forest to gather some Tenebrium in preparation for learning how to handle the infectious ore. You have already talked to Brandon and gotten the quest called The Troll's Bounty. In order to plunder the Troll Cave adequately, you need a spell that can transform the granite in the cave to gorgeous gold. This spell is in the possession of a mage named Maradino. Maradino has a Hidden Lair in the desert region of Luculla. Your party should be level 13 or 14 for this adventure as the creatures will be at that level.

Leave Silverglen and travel west, then north. You will soon reach a group of Immaculates. They detain you and say you cannot travel on the Immaculate Road. If you are on the Initiation quest for Loic, they will let you pass. If you are not, then you must play the RPS game with them. Lose and you fight.

Cross the footbridges and enter the desert region. You will encounter a wandering Goblin Merchant, Kadraskaz, and his pack beast, Ralfie. He is rude to you, but you can trade with him. You can ask Kadraskaz some questions about the region. In particular, ask about the Spider Queen. He won't divulge information unless you pay him or win the RPS mini game. If you have the Pet Pal talent, talk to Ralfie. He says that Kadraskaz is cruel and treats him poorly. Ralfie wants your help; he asks you to kill Kadraskaz. No quest seems to come of this and if you attack Kadraskaz, Ralfie will also fight. So what's the point? [Note: later in a game, Kadraskaz and Ralfie were in Silverglen. My party used Feather Drop to move Kadraskaz away from Ralfie and then attacked him. When they then talked to Ralfie, he had no knowledge that Kadraskaz was dead. This "quest" seems to have gotten no love from the developers.]

Continue from where you met Kadraskaz and travel eastward. You may have an encounter with a number of spiders and their keepers. Try to avoid them if you can because they can be troublesome. Keep moving to the east and you will eventually find an injured cultist, Frederick, lying on the ground. If you speak with him you will begin the quests Frederick's Blood Stone and Slaves and Masters. It turns out that Frederick's Imp slave pushed him off the cliff. You are to find this Imp for Fred. Additionally, Frederick wants you to find a Blood Stone and heal him. You might remember that this is the same Frederick that sent an Exploskeleton to blow up Bonnie in the Silverglen Tavern.

The Hidden Lair of Maradino

Both the Blood Stone and supposedly the Imp, are in a hidden lair at the top of the cliff. Hike up there and your perception person should spot a trapdoor (stone slab) on the ground near the large tree. Descend into the lair.

A short distance to the east from the entrance, you will come to a flight of stairs leading up. At the top of the stairs is a courtyard area, and to your left there you find a room in shambles. You can loot the premises and even use the cozy four-poster bed to rest. To the east is another flight of stairs leading up. At the top of these stairs you will find a room with a locked door that will require a key.

Go north from the rooms and descend to a harbour area. Several plank walkways cross the water. To the east you will come to a garden like area and one of your characters will issue a warning that this place is ripe for an ambush. Sure enough, when you enter the garden, a large plant like thing called a Rafflesia Abdominabla, sprouts from the ground. During the battle, it will conjure some Blooming Rafflesia, small copies of itself.

Across from the large tree, you should spot an area on the ground where you can dig. Someone even left a shovel in case you forgot yours. Here you will dig up the Key to the Study. Be sure to pick up a pumpkin and an apple. You will need these in a bit. Of course, take anything else you might want. Lots and lots of mushrooms to be had.

Meet Yox

Cross over some of the plank bridges to the west and find an Imp named Yox. He seems like Dobby from Harry Potter. He keeps saying things like "No, no, no, bad Yox" etc. With further questioning, you realize this is the Imp that pushed Frederick off the cliff. You will get a choice to let him stay hidden in the cave, or to tell Frederick. It's not a bad idea to tell him to stay put for the moment.

Study the Study

Return to where you entered the lair and ascend the east staircase. Open the door with the key you found in the garden. You have entered the Study of Maradino. There are a number of not-quite dead bodies on the floor, but you can ignore them for now. Loot the chamber for anything of value. On one table you will find a parchment called Latest Research. It describes how to make an Elixir of Courage using a pumpkin and apple. The author of the note was to use this elixir when he encountered some arachnid threat. You wonder if this would give some courage to Yox, the timid Imp. Search the bookcases thoroughly using the Alt Key. You will find some interesting reading. On another table you will find a Weresheep recipe. This latter parchment will update the quest The Legend of the Weresheep.

You can see that there is another room to the north, but it is sealed off by a brick wall. One of the books you find is called Book, and using it will open this wall. On the table of the now opened room are a number of items, one of which is a Blood Stone. Take the Stone as you can use this to heal Frederick. Another book on the table is called Maradino's Secret Files which you will use to enter the Troll's Cave in Luculla Forest.

If you wish to avoid a difficult battle, you might want to teleport out of this chamber now. If you are feeling up to it, then step back into the main part of the Study. The "undead" lying on the floor will come alive and attack. One of them is Maradino's Ghost and he is accompanied by Zalk'um the Forsaken, Kaarul Poisonbreath, Maelodia the Dissonant, Meredith the Evenstar and Kandara Eagleheart. Good luck with this. As the battle progresses and you kill some of the minions, Maradino will resurrect them to fight again. This will prolong the battle, but you gain more XP this way.

After you've cleared this area, go back to Dobby, I mean Yox, the imp, in the north of Maradino's Lair. Make the Potion of Courage (pumpkin + apple; this will be labeled Filter of the Fearless Imp in your inventory) and give it to him. He becomes courageous and runs out to confront Frederick. Chase after him. He is a fast little bugger. When he reaches Frederick, he will have a few choice words for Frederick and then depart. [If Frederick is dead because you killed him before talking to Yox, Yox will discover this and then run off to wherever Imps run-off to.] Either way, this will end the quest Slaves and Masters.

Heal the Slaver, Frederick

Now talk to Frederick (if you haven't killed him already). You now have a Blood Stone and can heal him. When you do so, he becomes incensed and attacks. Kill him, the ungrateful cur. The Blood Stone becomes Inert and you will open a new area in the Homestead. This will complete the quest Frederick's Blood Stone.

While there is more to do here in the desert, this Guide would recommend that you teleport back to the Homestead to see what's up there and get prepared for your adventure into the Luculla Mines.

Get Back to Civilization, Sort Of

You can use this interlude to visit the Homestead to see the new digs. When you return to the Homestead, you are greeted by Zixzax and he apologizes for the state of things. Apparently the Homestead has been overrun by Imps. When Zix leaves, the imps all cluster around you. Talk to them and notice their names for a bit of amusement. What do you call an Imp that hasn't got any eyes? An mp of course. Head to the east where Zixzax ran off to and see the new Portal that has opened. You will notice that the imp nitwits follow you everywhere. Near the new Portal, standing next to Zix is Dark Underlord. Talk to the Underlord to get some background information on why the imps are here.

What has opened is a Portal to a new area called the Hall of Darkness. Use the Portal to get there. The Hall of Darkness appears like an ominous place with lots of bones scattered about. As you begin walking, you will again meet The Trife, who again spouts some tripe and threats. What's up with this guy?

At the far end of the room you will see the demon, Moloch. With Moloch, you will be able to respec your characters and trade stats and abilities. You can 1) boost your reputation; 2) improve you primary attributes; 3) find some Ability Points; 4) redistribute your Talents, Abilities and primary attributes. To boost your reputation, you must give up some attribute in exchange. To improve you primary attributes you must exchange 5 ability points. To gain more ability points, you can exchange 1 talent point. You can redistribute all of your points if you feel your character isn't what you wanted.

If you are done here in the Homestead, then teleport back to Silverglen for more adventuring.

Hiding in Plain Sight

You soon will be entering the Luculla Mines. There are creatures in the Mines that are Invulnerable and you will need to avoid them. The best avoidance is for them not to see you. The best way to do this is to use Invisibility spells or Invisibility Potions. This Guide would recommend that you learn the spells and/or get some potions. You can make an invisibility potion using Air Resistance Potion + Armour Potion (you must have crafting level 4). You can seek vendors that sell potions and buy Invisibility. Get a bunch.

Now might be a good time to find the Luculla Mines so you can investigate them. Icara, the White Witch gave you a task of investigating these mines (quest Investigating the Mines) and you heard from Lawrence that there is some sort of goblin trouble in the mines (quest Goblin Trouble). So, take your party to the mines to find out what this trouble is.

Setting out to Find the Luculla Mines

From Silverglen, exit through one of the eastern gates and continue to the east going past the areas where you dealt with Fumble, Grumble and the sleeping Goblins. Continue along the path and then begin heading to the south, to the lower southeast edge of the map. You will encounter some Orc Troopers standing over the body of a dead goblin. As you approach, they will immediately attack without even a how do you do. Just to the south of the dead goblin is a mound to dig, revealing a chest to loot.

Continue to the northeast and you will come upon the encampment of Garkulda Nightbringer and her Orc buddies. They are not happy to see you and will attack. Liberate them of their miserable life and belongings. On Garkulda's dead body, you will find Orders issued by someone named Grutilda, which apparently grant passage to whoever carries the Orders, and you will find Garkulda's Orders, which are instructions for Garkulda to find Maradino's Blood Stone and then get the Blood Stone in Silverglen. Not gonna happen now, is it?

Following the Goblin Trail

Just beyond the now dead orcs, you will see a short bridge leading to the north. Before you cross the bridge, walk a bit south toward the small white cloud. There is parchment sitting on some barrels. It is from this Maradino character and it says he is watching you. Creepy. There is a chest that you want to reach, but the area around the barrels and crates is trapped. There is a trigger stone just to the right of the crates. Moving the crates will uncover some poison vents.

Now continue across the bridge to the north. Just past the bridge is a Goblin Swashbuckler sitting on a chair, waiting for you, I guess. He will use an invisibility potion, so incapacitate him quickly. Continue across the short bridge he was guarding. You will come to a Waypoint Portal (Luculla Forest-Troll King Cave). Near the Portal you will see a ring of mushrooms and to the right of those, the entrance to the Cave of the Troll King. This mushroom ring is significant. Actually, the mushrooms themselves are not important, it's the area they demarcate that has significance.

Ring Around the Mushrooms

When you were plundering the Lair of Maradino, you found a tome called the Maradino's Secret Files. Stand in the middle of the Mushroom ring and read the book. When you read the book your character will say; "With that it's time to go spelunking for Tenebrium." Do just that. Enter the Troll Cave. [Note: you want to be sure that you have initiated the quest The Troll's Bounty and have gotten a satchel called the Blood Stone Cage, from Brandon in Silverglen. This satchel lets you handle the Tenebrium ore in the Troll Cave without contracting the Rot.]

The Troll Cave and Tenebrium

Go through the entrance of the Troll Cave. Your map will say you are in the Otherworldly Hollow. A short distance from the entrance you will meet Funder. He thinks you are a big faery without wings and talks about another faery without wings - Maradino. You can press him for more information by playing the RPS mini game. He advises that you not let the Troll King see you. Fail at RPS and you fight.

Just past Funder you will see a palisade, and a passage leading to your right. In talking to a rat (with the Pet Pal perk), he advises that you use the passage all the way to the left of the cave to avoid the Trolls. He suggests you bust down the palisade. This path lets you get to the treasure without too much fuss. However, you may be feeling powerful enough to try to contend with the Trolls herein. A short ways to the west of the palisade, you will cross a short bridge and find the treasury room of the Trolls. There is a guard, but he is easily avoided. If he sees you, a fight ensues. It is likely that the Troll King, King Gungir, will see the activity and join in the fray. The Trolls here hit hard and are level 15.

If you feel like engaging them, systematically explore the dungeon and eliminate any opposition if you wish. You can avoid any fights by sneaking or using invisibility. At one point you will find the skeleton of Maradino hanging on a palisade. A fitting end for this guy, no?

In the north central region of the cave, you will find Tenebrium Ore veins. You must have the pouch that Brandon gave you (Blood Stone Cage) in order to handle the ore safely. Tenebrium is heavy stuff so you might not be able to carry too many. You only need one to give to Brandon. A useful trick is to extract all of the Tenebrium you can (there are 20 clumps of ore in the Troll Cave), and then split it up and send all but one clump to the Homestead. Because you are manipulating the ore while it is in the Cage, you characters will not be infected.

Give some Tenebrium to Brandon in Silverglen

Once you are finished with the Troll Cave and have procured some Tenebrium, teleport to Silverglen and report to Brandon. Give one ore to Brandon and then ask him about the secrets of Tenebrium. You will be granted the ability to handle and use Tenebrium. Each of your characters will be granted +1 in the Weapon category "Tenebrium". Additionally, he tells you more about Lawrence and how he ordered men to extract Tenebrium even though he knew it would be fatal to them. Brandon will give you a letter attesting to all of this (Mining Office's Letter). Giving a clump of Tenebrium to Brandon will end the quest The Troll's Bounty. This will also update the quest The Naked Truth. [Note: Brandon will take all of the Tenebrium you have in the pouch. You do want to keep some, so split the ore, leaving one in the pouch and send the rest to the Homestead.] You can use the ore to add Tenebrium damage to some of your weapons if you have the proper level of crafting ability.

You just got evidence from Brandon that Lawrence is responsible for the Tenebrium-related deaths in the mines, and the death of Nadia's husband (quest The Naked Truth). You might wish to put off talking to Nadia and confronting Lawrence at this point until you have visited the Luculla Mines. There is a good chance that Lawrence won't be around too much longer if you talk to the angry Nadia. You have a quest in the mines that was given by Lawrence, so this Guide would recommend you complete that first and return later to discuss things with Nadia.

Continue Looking for the Luculla Mines

Teleport back to the Luculla Forest - Troll King Cave Waypoint. Continue past the mushroom ring, eliminate the Swashbuckler and cross the footbridge into goblin territory. A Goblin Warrior will come to see what all the ruckus is about. Across that bridge you will be in a Goblin fortification with a bunch of nasty Goblins to engage with. Disengage them. Continue crossing bridges and engaging more Goblins. Will they never end?

Next you will come to a camp of Goblins that are all asleep on their cozy little pallets. You could sneak by them, but why? Eradicate them, the vermin. Loot their dead little bodies and go through the gate to the west. Finish off the last of these Goblins and plunder the area. Then continue to the west across the bridge and northward toward more Goblins to fight. Beyond this last group of goblins, you will be near the entrance to the mines. Before you enter, however, turn to the south across the bridge. You will come to a fortification that has two large totems standing at the entrance. When you walk into the area, the totems will spit poison. A lever just outside the gate with turn off the poison balls.

The area beyond the totems is heavily trapped, so tread carefully with a high perception character to spot all the traps. Across the next small bridge, the area in inundated with a poison cloud. There are vents on the ground to cover to turn off the poison, but there are no nearby crates or barrels to cover them with. You can cover the vents with other items such as weapons or armor. There are more traps to spot as you continue. At the end of the path, you will come to a fence and your character will say "... wonder why there are no Goblins here. Perhaps it was for a good reason". This seems to be a dead end

Go back the way you came and head north to the Mines. There are a couple of Immaculates and a goblin Ranger standing at the entrance. Say excuse me, and pass by. Not. Kill them.

Investigating the Mines

Step through the entrance and enter the mines. You will immediately activate a Waypoint Portal (Luculla Mines - Entrance). You will also notice shortly that you cannot Rift Travel within the mines - apparently due to interference from the Tenebrium.

You will hear a voice calling you when you are near the Waypoint. There is someone hiding behind the crates. Move one of the crates and Mikas will appear. He tells you about the enslavement of people for the town of Hunter's Edge and how necromancers in the mine are turning people into undead skeletons to mine the ore (updates the quest Goblin Trouble). He tells you about the Hell Lords who are murderous knights causing massive tremors and killing everybody. This begins the quest Rogue Dread Lords. You then get a choice of telling him to run, or to wait a bit. If you have Madora in your party, Mikas will recognize her and he has some unkind things to say. When you confront Madora with this, she asks for some more time before she tells you. What's going on here, you wonder? Talking with Mikas will initiate and end the quest Hide-and-Mikas.

Right next to where you found Mikas, you will notice that the wall is called Cave-In and can be broken into. Do so. Not far from the hole you created, you will encounter a number of Enchanted Miners with whom you can speak, but they offer nothing in response to your questions. This begins the quest Minor Control, where you ponder who is controlling these skeletal minors. You will also see bodies of dead Immaculates strewn about. This will initiate or update the quest Rogue Dread Lords where you ponder the demise of these Immaculates.

Minor Miner Control

Walk a short distance to the north from the broken wall and you will see some Immaculates, lead by Jaline. Behind the Immaculates is a structure called the Necromantic Bone Totem. You need to destroy this totem. You can try to gain the confidence of the Immaculates using the RPS mini game, but since you need to destroy the Totem, you might as well destroy them. Defeat the Immaculates and then destroy the totem if it didn't get destroyed in the battle. As usual, search the area for stuff. You will find the Priestess' Diary which speaks of the Totem and how it has enthralled the miners. You will also find a Key sitting on top of the packages on the west side of the room.

Go back to the Waypoint and see a congregation of enchanted skeletal miners cheering their freedom. Talk to one of them. He will give some background info and then give you a password "Sadakandras". The skeletons will then crumble to dust as they go off to the Hall of Echoes. Farewell, skeletons. This will end the quest Miner Control.

Imprisoned Miners and an Imp

Walk a short distance to the east from the Waypoint. You will see a locked door to the south. It is level 10, so it can be bashed open. [Note: the key to this door is near where you destroyed the Totem]. When you open the door you will be addressed by Elizabeth, one of a host of Immaculates that are standing behind the door. She thinks you are escaped slaves and she says they, themselves, are hiding from the Night Knights. You will get to play the RPS mini game with her. If you win, they will ignore you. If you lose, you get to beat the snot out of them. Know that one of their number is a Reanimated Troll. Whether or not you fight them, search the room. Pick up the Prison Guard's Diary from the table and read it for some insight.

On the east side of the chamber is a detonator on the ground with a long fuse leading from it. Don't use the detonator yet. Detecting this detonator begins the quest A Long Fuse. If you move your party along the fuse, you will see that the fuse leads to a prison cell area where there are some imprisoned Goblins including Dreksis, and Mittix, an Imp. Lawrence, from Silverglen, asked you to get the head of this Dreksis, so you want to try to do that. Interacting with the detonator, will cause an explosion in the prison cell and kill all inside, including the Imp Mittix who you do not want to kill. But there is an alternative way to enter this cell . . .

Getting some Head

First, go to the outer door of the cell with the prisoners and talk with Dreksis. You may remember that Lawrence, back in Silverglen, said it was Dreksis who was responsible for the troubles within the mine. Dreksis will shout invectives at you but he will answer some of your questions. Since Lawrence tasked you with getting the head of Dreksis, you need to find a way into the prison cell. Right next to the cell door is a lever that will open the door. This will immediately start a fight with Dreksis and his cronies. When they're defeated, take Dreksis' head. You will need to deliver this to Lawrence in Silverglen.

If you entered the cell without blowing it up, you can talk to the Imp, Mittix. He explains why he was imprisoned with the Goblins, calling them hissing ninnyhammers. He will admit that he is "co-responsible", under coercion, for creation of the Blood Devils. You will offer to send Mittix to the Homestead (Shelter Plane) to meet the great Imp Zixzax. Mittix is overjoyed, but he must exit the mine to be sent there as Rift Travel does not work within the mines. Mittix goes bounding off to exit the mine and be magically teleported to the Homestead. (You won't see this happen, but if you visit the Homestead, he is there waiting for you). If you want to finish the quest A Long Fuse, go back to the detonator and use it. Since no one is in the prison cell, the conflagration just makes a satisfying fire-ry boom.

Giving Head to Lawrence

To finish the quest Goblin Trouble, you need to deliver the head of Dreksis to Lawrence in Silverglen. You might want to take a moment to do this now. You can return here quickly after the head delivery.

The Knights will be the Death of You

You now need to make you way through the mines to find the Temple located within the mines. There are creatures roaming about called Night Knights, (or Dread Lords, or Death Knights, or Blood Knights) that are completely invulnerable. And they are powerful enough to kill your party in a few hits. These guys must be avoided at all costs. Later in the game you will get a spell that will make them vulnerable, but, alas, that won't help you now.

Continuing within the Mines

You now have the password "Sadakandras", so proceed within the mines to find the Temple within the mines. If you go north from the prison cell, you will soon encounter a formidable enemy called the Death Knight. These guys are invulnerable. You are made aware of their approach because the ground will shake. Run away. [Note: you will create a special spellbook that will allow you to make the Death Knights vulnerable again. Instructions follow later. Unfortunately, you won't be able to create this spellbook until you escape the Mines. When you do escape, the Mines will be destroyed and you cannot re-enter. So you will not get a chance to kill the Death Knights in the Mines. The only recourse to is avoid them.]

Avoiding the Death Knights

Try this: Have a character turn invisible and have them run to and activate the Waypoint called Luculla Mine - Chasm. This Waypoint is northeast of the starting area and almost straight north of the Prison cell. Then have the same character turn invisible, sneak past the Knights and go to southern end of the area. Avoid all the traps in this area. Have the rest of your party use the Waypoint at the entrance to the mines and teleport to the Chasm Waypoint. (You can't use the Pyramids while in the mine, but you can use the Waypoints). Have the rest of your party carefully avoid the Death Knights by timing their appearance, and run to join with your lone character. Alternatively, you can use Invisibility Potions that this Guide told you to make and bring along. In the southern end of this area you will encounter some Immaculate Metallurgists lead by Kaden. They are hiding from the Death Knights like everyone else in this mine. Kill them or talk your way past them. Read the Parchments and Mine Worker's Log book you find there.

After you get past the Immaculates, either by their death or talking your way past, continue to the southeast. Follow the passage and avoid or disable any traps you find. At the end of the path, there is a Hastily Erected Palisade that you can smash easily. Avoid the patrolling Death Knight and run to the east to find the entrance to the Temple. Near the Temple you will be safe from the scrutiny of the Death Knight.

The door to the Temple is locked and requires a password, which you just happen to have. It's "Mellon" ... or "Open O Door" . . . no wait, it's Sadakandras. The door will open on your command. Enter the Temple and behold all the dead corpses lying about. Search them for stuff. Head up the stairs to the west to find even more corpses. Don't touch the Tenebrium or you will be infected with Rot. Unless of course you've been following this Guide and have gotten the ability to handle Tenebrium. You will discover Deactivated Death Knights here and comments will issue that this must have been the center of creation for the Knights. Each dead Death Knight has a chunk of Tenebrium Ore. You will also find Tenebrium Bars lying about.

Luculla Mines Temple

Once you have gathered all that you want, begin to ascend the stairs to the west. The whole party will be stunned and none other than Leandra appears. She begins to talk to you, a real "captive" audience, so to speak. As many of the villains in this game, and in real life for that matter, she tries to justify her evil actions for the "greater good". When she is finished conversing, she will activate three of her Death Knights right behind you. Remember, you cannot defeat them, so run away like a screaming little girl. Run to the west. While these particular Death Knights are as powerful as the others, they are not as fast as those you've saw earlier. Run. Run.

The Great Escape

At the far end of the hallway to the west, you will see a passage to the north, but it is blocked by boxes and furniture. Remove the barricade and run through the opened passage toward the green mirror, which will offer to teleport the party. The Mirror will give you a choice of destination, library or crypt. Choose library.

At your destination through the mirror, keep running, as you will be bombarded with fireballs. You will reach another green mirror. The choice here is crypt or High Priest's office. Choose the office. At the destination, run to the east, you will see a large blue force field. However, it does not stop your progress. Walk right through it. It is a similar force field dome like that which had protected the White Witch's cabin. You will be in the Office of Leandra.

Leandra's Office

Search the office thoroughly. On several of the tables are some Old Letters, one from Evelyn and one from Thelyron, and another from "I", which is Icara as the letter is addressed to "sister". Read these for some background information. All very interesting. Still another Old Letter is from "Z". Hmm. This latter letter will update the quest A Source Hunter's Journey.

On the east side of the chamber you will find a table with Leandra's Lab Notes. Now this is very, very interesting. You will also find Leandra's Spell. This spell, plus the Vial of Leandra's Blood you will obtain from Mangoth later, can be combined to create a spell that renders the Death Knights vulnerable. Useful, indeed.

When you are happy with all that you have collected, return to the mirror portal and select "Crypt". Take a moment to check out the crypt.

The Crypt

There are four plaques you can read here in the Crypt. Bishop Greevix is a ghost that appears when you read the plaque on the north wall of the crypt. He says he serves Astarte. He gets angry when you say you are a Source Hunter. Two of the plaques along the west wall have an area to dig in front of them. Then center one, the resting place of Cardinal Juliane, gives nothing. The most southern plaque is that of Cardinal Montrek, and the northern is the tomb of the Unholy. If you dig the mounds in front of these plaques, ALL of your party members will die a horrible death. Reload your saved file. You did save, didn't you??

Use the mirror again and this time go to the "Entrance Hall".

In the Entrance Hall, the exit mirror is to the east. To the west there is nothing except a mirror that can return you to the crypt or the library. So run down the stairs to the east. There is a chest to find if you aren't too frantic to escape. Otherwise run along the narrow passage to the north and follow its twisting course. You will come to one final teleport mirror. This one gives you a choice to return to the sun or to the gold within. The mirror says there is no gold to go to. So choose the sun.

You will arrive in the southeastern corner of the Forest, not too far from the White Witch's hut. Whew. That was harrowing. This will end the quest Investigating the Mines.

Know that the Mines are now totally inaccessible as they have been destroyed. Hopefully you got everything you wanted the first time through.

Pay a Visit to Lawrence and Nadia in Silverglen

While in the mines you got some head, that of the Goblin Dreksis to be exact. You need to deliver this head to Lawrence in Silverglen (quest Goblin Trouble). He is really, really pissed that you let the mine get blown up and you get no reward. And he doesn't take the head of Dreksis.

Armed with the knowledge that Lawrence is responsible for the deaths of miners due to Tenebrium extraction, you need to tell this to Nadia whose husband died because of Lawrence. (quest The Naked Truth.) You can go to Lawrence first with this information, and he will try to bribe you to not tell anyone. If you refuse the offer, your reputation will go down even if you accept the bribe. Moreover, you will not be able to report to Nadia any longer. A better solution might be to go to Nadia first and start a conversation about Lawrence. Nadia will require strong evidence of the truth about Lawrence. Show her the letter that you obtained from Brandon. She scampers off to confront Lawrence. After she accuses him, Lawrence will offer her a bribe to prevent her from telling the truth to the townsfolk. His offer is 1000 gold for the death of her husband and all the others. You will get a choice as to how to respond; you can tell Nadia to accept the money, or you can tell her to shout from the rooftops that Lawrence is guilty of murder. With the latter, Nadia will run to the porch and begin shouting. Some townsfolk with gather.

Walk up close to the encounter and you will get another choice; to allow the townspeople to kill Lawrence, or not. If you choose death, one of the men will kick the stuffing out of Lawrence and the quest The Naked Truth will end. Go back to Nadia in her shop and she will tell you that she will "sleep like smooth" and she will throw a great party in honour of her "knight in shining garter". Who could ask for anything more. She allows you to take whatever you want from her shop. If you decide to spare Lawrence, you will find his body later in Northern Cyseal.

Joining the Immaculates

Even though you have been killing them left and right, you do want to join the Immaculates. Go to the Immaculate Chapel in Silverglen and talk to Loic, the supreme local leader of these Cultists. He, of course, has lots of religious mumbo-jumbo to say. Tell him you want to join and you will begin the quest The Initiation. He will then give you a quiz to see if you are smarter than a 5th grader. To pass, give him the following answers in order: question 1, choice 1; question 2, choice 2; question 3, choice 1. Now he tells you that you must begin a "true trial". He tells you to head out of town and go west.

[Note: when the conversation ends, Loic says "I bed thee good luck!"]

Go West Young Man

Leave Silverglen via the northwest exit and continue to the west, then north. If you have been this way before, then you have already dealt with the Immaculates who guard the path. If they are still there, Loic has given you leave to pass without hindrance. Cross a few footbridges and arrive in the desert region of Luculla. Continue to the north, hugging the west side of the map. You will reach a giant skull which is the entrance to the Foreboding Trial Grounds.

Enter the Trial Grounds and proceed to the north from the entrance. You will find a large Trial Statue in the central courtyard that bids you welcome to the Corridor of Bane. You have 3 choices as to which direction to go. Continue to the north, behind the statue and toward the open door. Proceed to the next door. All of your party members will contract the Rot. Go through the open door and enter the Chamber of Burdens. A Statue welcomes you again. This Statue talks about balancing the scales.

A Weighty Trial

In the current area, there is a magical barrier blocking the door you need to pass through. To remove the barrier, you need to use the four pressure plates in the area. Each plate requires that you place items of the correct weight on the plate. The sizes of the plates vary, giving a clue as to the weight required, the largest plate getting the most weight, etc. The plate will "click" if you've placed the proper weight. If the weight is incorrect, over or under, there will be no "click". The first plate on your left as you enter requires 5 kg of weight. Place one of the nearby vases on the plate. The next plate on the right requires 2 kg. Here you can stack items to achieve the 2 kg weight; 2 pieces of leather armor for example. The next plate on your left is very large and requires 7.5 kg of weight. Go down the steps and get one of the wooden barrels which just happens to weigh 7.5 kg. The last plate on your right is tiny and requires 1 kg, the weight of a book you will find in one of the vases or have in your possession. With the last of the items placed, the magical barrier will disappear.

Go through the now open door. The Trial Statue welcomes you to the Hall of Vigilance. In this portion of the trial you are to move four levers. There are three levers in a row whose position should correspond to the hint on the wall. Of the three levers next to each other, the first two, from the left, need to be leaning to the right, as far as possible. The last one needs to be straight. When the levers are positioned correctly, pulling the lever opposite them opens the passage ahead. If you get the levers positioned incorrectly, a Shadow Woebringer pops out of the floor to bring you woe.

Get the Blood Stone and Spare the Chicken

Proceed through the open door. You will find a Blood Stone on the altar in the eastern part of the chamber. As you approach it, it will discharge and heal the party of the Rot. [This will also unlock another portal and room in the Homestead.] Just down the stairs from the altar you will find lots of sleeping pallets, but no sleeping Immaculates. To the east of the pallets is a door, opened by the nearby lever, that leads back to the central Statue.

On the west side of the chamber, past the pallets, you will find Loic, the Immaculate Priest who sent you here. When you speak to him, he asks you to kill the chicken running about and to pour its blood on the altar. He will soon discover that you are no longer infected with Rot and he is not happy about that. He tells you to continue with the ritual and he will be right back. My guess is he soiled his pants and needs to change. If you have Pet Pal, talk to the chicken, who begs for you to spare his feathered carcass.

Confrontation with Loic

Loic will return presently with his Hench-immaculates and he realizes you did not complete the task. The battle is joined. Whip their immaculate asses. On the dead bodies you will find the Luculla Portal Temple Key and the Church Hatch Key. All of this folderol will end the quest The Initiation. Go through the door on the east side and activate the Waypoint - Luculla Forest-Immaculate Trials. Zip back to Silverglen. Enter the Immaculate Chapel, which is now empty of any followers. Open the trapdoor and descend into the basement room.

Here your are in Loic's private office. There is a Waypoint Portal in one corner. There are two Blood Stones on the shelf on the west wall and a note - Loic's Note. The note describes how to make a Blood Stone from a Star Stone. Grab the stuff and then take the teleporter. You will arrive on the eastern side of northern Luculla Forest. The destination waypoint is a two way teleporter between its location and Loic's office. You cannot teleport to other Waypoints.

Finding a Unique Bow

After you arrive from the teleporter in Loic's office, walk directly west from the waypoint. To the west you will see a stone statue next to a pine tree. On the other side of the tree is a stone statue that has toppled over and is hanging on the edge of the cliff. On the end of the toppled statue is a bow. You cannot reach the bow, but you can smash the statue. When you do, the bow falls to the ground below. Run and get it. The bow is Heartseeker and it's likely much better than any you found before. Equip it and kill something. There is a dead body near where Heartseeker fell. The guy has a diary that says he has been seeking Heartseeker and got waylaid by the Immaculates and their trial. He tried jumping for the bow. Unsuccessfully, as you can see.

If you've got good crafting ability, you can boost Heartseeker further. Add another elemental damage (use an Essence), add a bar of Tenebrium for Tenebrium damage, then add a bowstring to increase overall damage. Not bad.

The Underground Passage

A short distance to the south from where you just found the Heartseeker bow, in the central region of the Luculla Forest, there is a cave entrance to the Underground Passage. Walk in a ways and you will come to some type of ruins behind a beautiful waterfall. Follow the path to the upper level and ascend the ladder to enter a large chamber. To the northeast you will see a teleporter (not a waypoint). Don't use this teleporter yet. You will want to explore at bit because you will discover that there are, in fact, several teleporters. There is nothing to fight here, this whole area is a Teleporter puzzle. If you talk to the rats you eventually learn the sequence of Ice, Earth, Fire, Nature in order to use the teleporters.

Go to the upper level and stand in the large central circle to get your bearings. To the west you see a teleporter with a snowflake icon and on your right (east) a teleporter with a flame icon. Take the snowflake teleporter on the west. You will arrive at another teleporter in an area with lots of green plants. Just to the northwest of the teleporter is an area you can dig. You will dig up the ghost of the Weresheep, the Queen of Wool. Have you Pet Pal character talk to the sheep. It threatens you that you will be attacked by hordes of sheep, but nothing seems to happen. The Weresheep is full of sheep, so to speak. Anyway, ask it some questions to update the quest The Legend of the Weresheep. It will tell you that its body is somewhere near a great tree in the Phantom Forest. The ghost says that the corpse enjoys Stardust. What?

Move to the north from the teleporter and Weresheep ghost and you will come to an area with 3 more teleporters. Take the one to the right (east). This will bring you back near the area where you used the first, Ice, teleporter. Move to the large central circle and you will note that the Ice teleporter has turned green. Now use the teleporter to the east that has a fire icon. You will again arrive at the teleporter near where you met the Weresheep ghost. Move to the north and this time, take the teleporter to the left (west). You will arrive back at the original teleporters and the fire teleporter has now turned green.

Move to the central circle and look just to the north of the Ice teleporter. A portion of the wall seems to have a grayish-white curtain over it. That's a hidden passage. Behind the curtain is a teleporter with a water icon. Use this teleporter. You will once again arrive at the teleporter where you met the Weresheep ghost. Head straight north and use the teleporter. Now you will arrive in a large library area with some benches and very tall bookshelves. At the north end of the room are three book pedestals with a book lying on each.

Walk up to the book pedestals and you will be met by an Immaculate Spirit. She introduces herself and tells you that you are entitled to one, but just one, of the three books. These are all skillbooks and you very likely have already learned these skills. If not, take the one that benefits you. If you have the patience, peruse the bookshelves where you will find a few things, mostly spell scrolls.

In the southeast corner of the library, there is an ornate chest that is part of the undocumented quest to find the Last Chest. Inside you will find a Dusty Parchment that gives the following clue: "The ostrich struts upon me legs, gazes through me eyes, flaps me wings, though it never flies. Which digit am I?"

If you are satisfied with your gleanings from the Underground Passage, leave the dungeon and continue your exploration of the Luculla Forest.

The Village of Sacred Stone

If you walk to the southeast from where you found the Heartseeker Bow and the entrance to the Underground Passage, then proceed north. You will come to a Waypoint Portal (Luculla Forest-Sacred Stone) and just north of the Waypoint, the village of Sacred Stone, a village of Immaculates. The guards at the gate challenge you, but if you have the Enlightened Amulet, they will allow you entry into the village. If you don't have the Amulet, they will turn you away.

As an amusing side activity, just outside of the village, you will likely encounter a Enlightened Teacher leading a group of students. Follow them. They head towards the Immaculate Chapel where you want to visit later. The entry bridges to the Chapel are heavily trapped. The Immaculate Idiots will walk right onto the traps and blow themselves up. Not very enlightened where they? Now head back to the village of Sacred Stone.

Upon entering the village, you will get updates to several quests. One will be the quest of Bairdotr if you have her in your party. If you recall, she is looking for her mentor named Jareth and this Jareth may have been taken prisoner by Lady Attenberah here in Sacred Stone. You will have to be on the lookout for him.

The large building on the western side of the village is the Tenebrium Smith's Shop. You will be greeted by Apprentice. He immediately gets chastised by Masamune, the proprietor of the Smithy. The Tenebrium Smithy, of course, sells Tenebrium infused weapons and shields. The shop has tons and tons of Tenebrium ore and Tenebrium bars. There is a wooden staircase in the northeast that leads to the upper floor of the shop where you can loot some things.

Lovely Lady Attenberah

When you approach the building north of the Smith Shop, a human comes running toward you screaming the she is going to kill him, and he then explodes. Yikes. The building is the workshop of Lady Attenberah. Standing outside of this building are two Elemental Demons, Seargiu and Tundrin. Even thought they are guarding the door, they will let you enter.

When you walk towards Attenberah, she interrupts and says that you have to prove yourself more capable than her previous apprentice - the guy who exploded outside. You will then play the RPS game with her. If you lose, she, her minions and the two elemental guards will all attack. If you win, you can converse with her. She is a real piece of work, but deigns to spare a few moments of her precious time. If you ask about buying something, you will again play the RPS game. When you end the conversation, she again wants to play RPS. Lose and you will be attacked. You can go ahead and kill her. The rest of the village seems totally oblivious to the fact that their leader has just been eradicated. Enlightened, my acetabulum.

Immaculate Academy

To the west of the Smithy is the Immaculate Academy presided over by Enlightened Teacher. He feeds you a bunch of the typical blarney about the goddess and the Immaculates. The room is filled with students studying their Magical Tragedies tomes and they have nothing to say to you. Upstairs is the dormitory where you can loot to your heart's content, but there is nothing significant. On the southwest of the room there is a Prison Door Key lying on a desk. The prison door is on the east wall of the academy downstairs.

Immaculate Prison

Enter the Prison and talk to some imprisoned imps and humans for a little information. One cell holds an Orc named Bruthor. All the prisoners ask you to help them escape. One of the prisoners is Francis, the potion seller from the King Crab Tavern in Cyseal. You ask him why he is here. If you attempt to open any of the doors, the guards wandering about will attack. Well, why not do it and help the defenseless prisoners. Defeat the guards and get the Prison Door Key. Release the imps and the humans and they run off. Open the cell to the Orc, Bruthor, who happens to be too big to fit through the door. You can teleport him out with Feather Drop, but he doesn't seem to be aware he is free. Oh, well.

The Red River Waterfall

At the northern end of the village of Sacred Stone, there is a river that runs red. Blood, I guess. You can walk into the river and go behind the waterfall to enter a small cave. Right inside the entrance is a chest you can loot. The location of this chest is revealed by the secrets you purchased from the Teller of Secrets at the Homestead. In earlier games prior to an update, there was a large pile of dead bodies in the small cave. In newer iterations of the game where the new character of Bairdotr was introduced, if you cursor onto the back wall of the cave, you will detect an entrance to a hidden area called the Subterranean River. Enter this area and when you walk a short ways along the path you will come to a larger chamber where you will find Jareth of Homeforest. This is the guy that Bairdotr is looking for. When you initiate a conversation with Jareth, Bairdotr enters the conversation and begs Jareth to return to the Homeforest. He tells her "no", since the Homeforest has become infected with Rot. He then says he does not want to return to Homeforest because he is already among his kind, the Immaculates. Uh-oh.

It turns out that it was Jareth himself who unleashed the Rot in Homeforest and Bairdotr is incredulous. You finally chime in to tell Bairdotr to be wary. Jareth tries to recruit Bairdotr to his side, but Bairdotr will see the light, Jareth will become incensed and the battle is joined. Jareth will immediately summon Gory Taurus, Gory Lupus and Gory Swine to aid him in the battle. Defeat them all to complete the quest The Wild Woman and the Renegade.

If you are finished for the time being in Sacred Stone, head out of the entrance and proceed west. To the west of Sacred Stone you will find the Immaculate Cathedral. You may already have walked near this location. Be aware that the path to the entrance of the Cathedral is heavily trapped. Disarm or explode the traps before they explode you.

The Immaculate Cathedral

When you make it through the gauntlet of trapped walkways and bridges, you will enter a courtyard and see two Orc slavers guarding some humans. They apparently want your blood to give to someone named Mangoth. Not gonna happen. Kill the slavers and the humans will run off. Make sure you have detonated any traps as the slaves will blithely walk onto them and ka-boom.

Down the short flight of stairs is the entrance to the Cathedral. Talk to the two Immaculates at the door and play the RPS game to gain entrance. Or, if you have an Enlighted Amulet in your possession, you can use that to prove your rank and they will gleefully open the door for you. Or just kill the blighters.

Go inside the Cathedral and down the hall. On the left is an archway door that is walled off. Right near the door are to unlit braziers and at the top of the stairs are two more unlit braziers. If you light all four braziers, which are labeled Coal Basket, the wall blocking the entryway will disappear.

Descend into the rubble strewn Cathedral. You will enter the main chamber with a number of pews (Church Bench) lined up in the middle. Walk past the pews and meet with Mangoth at the altar. He is about to kill some humans. Interrupt him quickly and he threatens you as well. When the short conversation is over, Mangoth will disappear beneath the altar and two demons appear, Zalemk'Ath and Thuraz'Ahm. In addition, Immaculate soldiers appear from the shadows. The battle is joined. When you defeat all the enemies, the captives will run away without a word. We will assume they were grateful.

There is a Blood Stone on the altar. When you approach, it will discharge and become an Inert Stone. This will, of course, open a new Portal in the homestead. Go there the next chance you get. For now, search the area thoroughly.

The Cathedral Library

On the west side of the altar, some stairs lead upwards to the library of the Cathedral. Here you can converse with the ghost of The Librarian. She says she knew King Braccus in his better days when he liked to read steamy novels. She refuses to believe he has been dead for centuries. Unfortunately, not much is gained from the Librarian. From the nearby desk, you can acquire the book with an unreadable cover and with unreadable contents. You don't need to read it because it's unreadable. On a table there are some books on how to torture creatures and how to sacrifice creatures. Literature that all libraries should have.

Enter Mangoth's Private Lair

Go back down to the altar. You need to gain access to the stairs beneath the altar. There is a lever on the east side hidden behind a planter. The lever will cause the altar to move. When you descend, you will arrive in Mangoth's inner sanctum. You will be standing on a landing where there is a giant compass on the ground. In the center of the chamber is a room in which you will find Mangoth, but the door to the sanctum is locked. You need to open the entryway to the room. This is accomplished by locating four tiny buttons on the walls within the larger chamber that when pressed, will open the door. Not only do you have to find these buttons, but you need to press them in the correct order. In the northeast section of the chamber there is a book called The Necronomicon of Cooking, which provides the clue to pressing the buttons in the right order. The clue is "E.N.S. West". These are obviously compass directions, and you already have found the large compass embedded in the ground near the stairs where you entered. The first button you are to press (E) is right there at the bottom of the brazier in the center just in front of the compass. The other buttons are located on the outside east wall of the inner room (N), behind the candleholder; on the west of the inner room on the north facing wall (S); and the last just to the north of that button (W). The door to Mangoth's sanctum will open.

When you enter the sanctum, Mangoth will appear behind you and has a few words for you. Do you get the feeling this is conversation is not going to end well? At the end of the conversation, Mangoth will cast some spells, summon a fire demon named Zuram Z'Akjath, and some Void Supplicants. You're protected by the relative safety of the room so use this to your advantage. Try to charm one of the Void Supplicants. Ice and ice elemental summons work good here. Good luck.

When all is finished, plunder the room. You will find many books for your reading pleasure. The series called the Book of the Immaculates I - VI, attempts to justify the use of Blood Stones on "lesser" creatures to further the interests of "higher beings". You will also find Leandra's Diary and a Vial of Leandra's Blood. The Diary is intended for the Immaculate followers to read and describes how to use the Vial of Blood and a spell to make the Death Knights vulnerable again. This will be useful, no doubt. When you combine the Leandra's Spell and Vial of Leandra's Blood you create the spellbook Death Knight Bane Skillbook. Read it like any spellbook to learn the spell. The skillbook does not belong to any particular magical persuasion, so any character can read it to learn the spell.

Proceed to plunder the entire chamber. There are many bookcases for you to loot and add books to your literary collection.

Return to the Icara, the White Witch

Return to Icara, who is presently residing in the Homestead and tell her of your adventures. When you ask her "what's next" she says you must find the Wizard who lives in Hunter's Edge, east of Luculla. This begins the quest Follow the Wizard. She will give you a ring, Icara's Blessing, that marks you as her ally so the Wizard will know she sent you.

You should now have in your possession the Vial of Leandra's Blood and Leandra's Spell. When you combine the two, you create a spellbook called the Death Knight Bane Skillbook. Creating this spellbook will end the quest Infiltrating the Immaculates. Have each of your party members read the book to learn the spell. You won't be using this for a while yet.

Exploring Luculla Forest

You may wish to take some time now to explore other parts of the Luculla Forest. Make your way to the Wayportal Luculla Forest-Silverglen and head north toward the desert region. Soon after entering the desert, you should come upon a huge Spider in the central area of the desert.

The Spider Queen

Wow, the Spider Queen is ginormous. She is also unfriendly. The battle will begin without preamble. She will summon Spider Eggs that will hatch into minions to fight for her. The eggs and hatchlings, when destroyed, will explode and burn you, so be careful. Defeat them all and acquire their loot.

To the northwest of the Spider Queen you will run into a Bewildered Caravaneer. He talks about the Spider Queen poisoning him and his men. Nothing more comes of this, at present, however.

Continue to the west from the Caravaneer. Not far from the Caravaneer, in the north-central region of the desert, you will come upon a bunch of human Spider Worshiper cultists. You can speak with them and learn they are devoted to the Lady of Spun Time. You main characters will enter into a discussion about this group. They will say that the cultists are in danger and need to leave the area, or the cultists seem content and you should let them alone. If you choose to leave them alone, they will go on worshiping the spider eggs and nothing else will happen. Choosing to ask them to leave results in an RPS mini game. If you lose, they go on worshiping the eggs. If you win, they will all run off and the eggs they were worshiping will erupt into spiders. These spiders are vicious as they can burrow into the ground and pop up next to a character and spit poison at them. Oh, the horror. Kill them quickly.

If you now go back to the Bewildered Caravaneer and tell him about the worshipers, he will be happy that you asked them to escape the clutches of the spiders. You did do that, didn't you? You receive nothing for this, however, except the satisfaction of having saved idiots from creepy crawly things.

Zixzax Appears with a Warning

In the far northwest corner of Luculla, you will encounter a lava filled area. When you approach the entrance, Zixzax will appear and say that demons are creeping through a Rift and all of Rivellon and the End of Time are in danger. This begins the quest Closing the Rift. [note: this quest can also be triggered by entering the Dark Forest for the first time]. He says these demons are immune to normal weapons or magic, but may be susceptible to Tenebrium enhanced weapons. The only sure way to stop the demons is to destroy the Blood Stone that is maintaining the Rift. He says there are three paths into the area. To the left you will encounter Immaculates. In the center you will meet up with demons. He says that perhaps the path to the right is the right path. [Note: the left path is the easiest and this Guide recommends you go that way].

You need to be prepared for this quest by having at least one party member with a Tenebrium weapon and having a potion of invisibility or the spell. You can buy a Tenebrium weapon in Sacred Stone, the Immaculate village - assuming you haven't upset or killed them. You can also make your own Tenebrium weapons if you have someone with Blacksmithing and Crafting at Level 4. You can convert Tenebrium ore to a Tenebrium Bar by smelting the ore in a furnace. Then click-drag the Tenebrium Bar onto any weapon except a staff to give that weapon Tenebrium damage.

In the center path and right path you will encounter demons which are invulnerable. Don't go that way. Take the path to the left from the entrance and you will soon encounter a group of Immaculates. You can try to convince them that you're one of them using the RPS game, or get by them if you have an Enlightened Amulet, or you can fight them. This Guide says kill the blighters. You should be able to handle these guys without too much trouble. Beyond this first group of Immaculates is a second group to contend with. Contend with them.

Continue to the north past the Immaculate camp. You will see a green mirror at the end of the path, similar to the mirror portals that you dealt with in the Luculla Mines. Use it and you'll be teleported to the other mirror across the chasm of lava. Talk a few steps forward and you'll be engaged by two Immaculates. Beyond the two Immaculates is a group of tiger-like demons called Void Rams. Even with Tenebrium weapons, these enemies are invulnerable and cannot be killed. Do not engage them. There is a third Immaculate, an Immaculate Shepard, nestled amongst the Void Rams. Do not engage him yet either. You will get your chance to eradicate him shortly.

Instead, have one designated party member, that has a good Tenebrium weapon, use an invisibility spell or drink an invisibility potion. Run forward past the Void Rams, turn right, and go down the stairs and continue to the east. You'll see the large Blood Stone - a tall spikey crystal-looking thing just to the east. Get close to it and holding the CTRL key, keep attacking it with a Tenebrium weapon until it breaks. Once the Blood Stone is destroyed, all the void demons in the area will explode and die. Zix will reappear and thank you profusely for saving the Homestead.

Have your lone character return to the group using a Pyramid. You can now attack the Immaculate Shepherd. Beat him into submission. You can explore the other areas and see for yourself that the demons have been vanquished. You will find a large Rift portal in the center with dead demons, including Ulthrax'Ulkar, the Boss Void Demon. When you see this beast, Jahan, if he is in your party, will have a few words for you. He says that for you to have overcome such a foe, you must "be beyond human - you are divinity, somehow". Wow. Just wow.

The Goblin Village

Travel to the west to the central region of the Luculla Forest. You will soon come upon a Goblin village and to gain entry to the village, you must win the RPS game with the Goblin trapper at the bridge. If you lose, you have a fight on your hands. If you win, the villagers will not be hostile, but they won't deal with you until you have gained approval from the large Totem in the center of the village. Periodically, the villagers will assemble at the Totem and all fall down, as if they are playing ring-around-the-rosy. And then they all melt into the ground. Interesting. It seems they are in thrall of the Totem and it is commanding them to do things. You won't be able to talk to the villagers when they are in thrall of the Totem. Wait until they return to their original positions.

Talk to the Goblin Totem. It says it knows all about you. To appease the Totem and to be allowed to remain in the village, you must answer some questions. The questions directly relate to three side quests you have experienced in the past. The totem will first ask what you would do if 1) you met two guards on a bridge (from the quest Guards at the Bridge), 2) if you met a hungry man who considered stealing a fish (from the quest The Fish Thief), and 3) if you met a wounded beast in the forest (from the quest An A-Mount of Healing Magic). Answer all three questions honestly, the way you handled the situations previously and the Totem will grant you amnesty within the village. If you have not yet resolved the quest An A-Mount of Healing Magic but the beast Alfie is still alive, answer that you would spare it.

You can now talk to the villagers and barter with them. Krashkas sells potions. Sadakandras the Chief of the Goblinsss, sells crafting stuff. Kaotikas sells a few mundane items. Mykus sells a few spells and items. Lotrot sells archery stuff, arrows and arrowheads.

There is a hidden trapdoor labeled Stone at the northeast corner, just outside of the village. In the small cave, you will find Kromkromkis, a Goblin Shaman. He's like the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz, the man behind the curtain. He apparently is using the Totem in the village to control the other goblins. He reveals to you that there is a "mysssterious red ssstone" - a Blood Stone - inside of the Totem. He tells you about when the Totem began to speak to the villagers and they began to worship it. It seems that he is a bit jealous as the villagers now only pay homage to the Totem and not to him. You will get a choice as to your next course of action, to tell the villagers or to let the Shaman continue his amusement. If you choose to tell the villagers, Krom will attack and summon three earth elementals to help him. After his death, you can interact with the Strange Contraption that controls the totem. You will be allowed to give it one command: 1) have goblins dance; 2) shower you with gifts; or 3) have all the goblins in the village be your BFF. Which ever way you choose, this makes no difference in the functioning of the Totem. It will still command the villagers to assemble.

You will eventually want to get the Blood Stone that is embedded within the Totem. You will need to destroy the Totem to get it. This will make the whole village turn against you. Because of their numbers, this could be a difficult battle. You may wish to put this off until you are a much higher level than the villagers. This Guide would recommend waiting to acquire this Stone until you need to unlock a portion of the Homestead.

To the southeast of the village is the Waypoint Luculla Forest-Goblin Village. Just to the south of the Waypoint are a couple of Orcs guarding a human slave. Kill the guards and then talk to the Slave. He will tell you about the hamlet, Hunter's Edge, to the east and how you should stay away from there because of the Orcs. He also mentions the fact that their champion, Madora, has abandoned them. What? At the end of the conversation, he runs off. You can talk to Madora about this curiosity, but she is not yet forthcoming. There is a locked chest nearby which can be bashed easily. The key to the chest is just to the south lying on the ground.

The Sad Deer

Just to the north of the slave you just rescued is a deer called the Sad Deer. Talk to it (with Pet Pal) and learn that something has taken its voice. It says that you are to look to the east. [Note: the Author of this Guide could not find a solution to the deer's dilemma.

The Troll at the Bridge

Proceed north from the Waypoint and you will come to a scene of carnage, with dead humans and orcs strewn about. The apparent cause of this carnage is the large Troll, Archibald, standing a bit to the east. He is accompanied by a mini-me, Amadeus. Archibald, and his son Amadeus, demand you pay a Troll Toll. This begins the quest Like Father Like Son.

In questioning Archibald, you may ask why you need to pay a toll. He says it's because the King of the Trolls has commanded it. If you have already slain Gungir, the Troll King, Archibald will be ecstatic and proclaim himself King. If you haven't yet slain the King, refuse to pay the toll, but promise to make Archi the new King. You will then have to go to the Troll Cave and kill Gungir. Getting into the Troll Cave properly is a convoluted adventure which is described with the Troll Bounty quest.

With Archibald proclaiming he is the new King, he will leave the bridge, allowing you to cross it without having to pay the toll. The two of them walk to the edge of the map and then disappear. You wonder where they went??

This Guide would recommend that you do not cross the bridge they were guarding at this time. Instead, loot the corpses and chest, then head to the north.

Animal Rights

Just up the path a bit and to the east of the goblin village, you will find Roy, who says he is leading some animals to the village of Sacred Stone where they are to be slaughtered. This begins the quest Roy's Menagerie. These beasts are Bruce the sheep. Doreen the cow and Maurice the cow. Your goal here is to prevent Roy from reaching the village. [Note: the conversations have conflicting information; one says the animals are to be slaughtered in Silverglen, another says in Sacred Stone. All in all, it does not matter.] Talk to the animals if you have the Pet Pal talent. Bruce, the sheep, says he is infatuated with Doreen, the cow, and he looks forward to their cute and woolly offspring. Do tell! Doreen is looking forward to the green pastures of Silverglen, to settle comfortably with her husband Maurice. Maurice hasn't mastered the human tongue so you cannot talk to him. Moo.

Now talk to Roy. He is a real twit, but will answer some of your questions. When you ask about the animals, he says he bought them from Bertia in Cyseal and he wants to sell them in Sacred Stone. Now talk to Bruce, the sheep, and Doreen, the cow, again and tell them that Roy intends to sell them for slaughter. They both plead for you to help them.

When you talk to Roy again, you can play the RPS mini game to try to convince him to let the animals go free. Alternatively, one conversation choice will be to buy the animals from him. Or you can simply kill him.

After making your choice, you become the proud owner of a menagerie. Talk to Doreen again and you can tell her to seek her pastures, or go back to Cyseal because only danger lies ahead. When you decide, they all then plod off toward Cyseal, or greener pastures, I guess. Moo. Baa.

Drog

Go up the path to the north. You will see a rabbit named Drog on the path. If you have the Pet Pal talent, have a chat with Drog. He will run a ways north and then stop. He threatens you with eternal flames from the mighty Drog. He claims he is a rabbit without, but a dragon within. Riiight. Nothing more seems to come from this encounter. Move along. [Note: If you kill Drog, nothing seems to come of this either.]

A Gypsy Camp

Continue to the northeast and you will reach a camp of apparent gypsies, including Madam Loenestra, Malbini the Bard and Kirill. There is a motley group of animals standing in front of the humans, listening to the bard tell his stories. Loenestra is a Seer and professes to see the future. She will also sell secrets, not of the map variety, but of locations. She will tell you of one future event, providing you pay her. However, it is NOT recommended to do this. If you choose this option, you gain nothing, and you will not be able to buy secrets from her any longer.

The Bard will sing a different tune if you ask him to. Kirill is, well, something, a satyr perhaps and he too will sing you the song of your choice.

The Pavilion of Life

There is a large Pavilion that lies south of the Cathedral in Luculla Forest. When you interact with the Pavilion, it asks whether you want to live or die. If you choose die, your character will sink in the ground and, well, die. If you choose life, the Pavilion will ask if you want to live slowly or quickly. If you answer "quickly", you will get a Wildfire Skillbook, if you answer "slowly" you will get a Midnight Oil Skillbook.

After you have explored all you can of Luculla Forest, it is time to enter the Phantom Forest and see what's happening there.

PART V - THE PHANTOM FORESTList of Quests for Part VA Forge of SoulsBellegar's BarrelsDistill My HeartFollow the WizardFor Whom the Troll TollsInfiltrating Hunter's EdgeInside the Source TempleRevenge of the Source Hunter (Madora)The Armoury KeyThe Hunt in Hunter's EdgeThe King's Dark DealThe Mad Mage's MazeThe Star-crossed LoversThe Watch is ComingThe Back-Alley TraderTo Be, or Not to BeWar of the StonesRecommended Sequence of Activities for Part V1) Avoid of poisoned area and head south-east to village of Hunter's Edge2) Procure and solve several quests in Hunter's Edge3) Find the Wizard's House4) Enter the Knight's Tomb5) Instigate huge battle in Hunter's Edge6) Return to poisoned area of felled tree (Phantom Forest Waypoint)7) Go to north and defeat ghost army8) Find Cassandra and talk with her9) Enter the Temple of the Dead and burn Cassandra's bones10) Return to Cassandra and kill her for good11) Find the Abandoned Shack12) Fight big battles to find entrance to Source Temple13) Complete the Source Temple14) Explore any unfinished areas of the Phantom ForestThe Phantom Forest

To reach the Phantom Forest/Dark Forest, you need to use one of the two bridges that cross from Luculla Forest to the Dark Forest. One such bridge is found just south of the Luculla Forest-Sacred Stone Waypoint. Teleport there and interact with the bridge.

If Madora is in your party, and you learned some facts about her in interactions with some NPCs, then she says it is time for you to know the truth about her. She tells you that she is from Hunter's Edge, the town you are approaching, and that she did, indeed, flee as a coward. It seems while she lived there, the village was attacked by Orcs who killed all of the villagers. She herself was tortured and thrown into a shallow grave. She survived because she had a Blood Stone and she vowed then to exact revenge on those who invaded the town. This begins the quest Revenge of the Source Hunter.

From your entry point into the Dark Forest, walk south across the bridge. Just on the other side of the bridge is a large fallen tree with green mist emanating from it. Lying right at the end of the tree is the dead body of Alistair. You might remember that Alistair was the obnoxious Fabulous Five member you met in the King Crab Tavern of Cyseal. On his dead body you will find the Maradino Treasure Hunt Flyer. Interesting reading. You can try to run through the fallen tree, but you will be poisoned and die. [Note: don't bother trying potions or spells here. You need a special item, an Amulet, to allow you to walk safely through the fallen tree area. You will be getting that amulet in due course]. Your only option at this point is to continue to the southeast.

Just south of your entrance into the Forest, you will find the Phantom Forest Waypoint. Continue traveling southeast.

A Rumble at the Bridge

A bit south of the Waypoint you will see a bridge with a troll and some humans. As you approach, you will realize that the troll, Rumble, is trying to negotiate with an Immaculate Slave Master. This begins the quest For Whom the Troll Tolls. When you try to cross the bridge, Rumble will say to you that he feels that all travelers, including the slaves, should pay the toll. The Slave Master chimes in that not all warm bodies are people and he shouldn't have to pay for the slaves. You get a choice to pay the toll, or let them resolve it on their own terms. If you pay the toll, all will be happy and the Slave Master will give you an Enlightened Amulet to ensure your safe entry into the village. If you choose the other conversation option, a fight will ensue where you will fight the Slavers and Rumble. With the latter option, you will get the Amulet from the Slave Master's dead body. If you decide to pay the toll and then ambush the slavers, you will still have to fight Rumble when you return to the bridge. Keep in mind that if you pay the toll, the fate of the slaves is preordained. If you defeat the slavers, then the slaves run off and can determine their own fate. Either talking you way past or fight your way past will end the quest For Whom the Troll Tolls.

Continue to the southeast to reach the outskirts of the village. Cross over the stone bridge to the west and meet with Hortun, an Undead merchant. He has a number of things to say about the village of Hunter's Edge, none of them good. Apparently a tribe of Mountain men affiliated with the Immaculate Cultists has taken over the village and there is trouble brewing between the humans and the orcs. This begins the quest Infiltrating Hunter's Edge.

Talk to the Animals

Near one of the ruined buildings you can find the mage Arhu, in his cat persona. He too gives you a dire warning about the village of Hunter's Edge. The village is now run by Orcs who are in league with the Immaculate cultists. The leader of the Orcs is Grutilda. The tribe of Mountain men humans in the village is lead by Jahrl. Apparently there is intense rivalry between the two factions and Arhu suggests you exploit this by getting them to fight each other.

Standing near Arhu is a cat. If you have the Pet Pal perk, talk to her. She will tell you her name is Jinxika and she tells you of her former idyllic life here in the village. She asks you to try and save three humans in the village who were very kind to her. The three of them have hidden themselves away from the orcs and cultists. She will go on to tell you that the orcs have employed rats to help them, lead by one among them called the Ratcatcher. She implores you to eliminate the rat scourge and save her three friends. Thus begins the quest The Hunt in Hunter's Edge.

Near the two cats is a small plot of Barley. Take some as you will use this in a quest later.

Exploring the Village of Hunter's Edge

When you approach the village gate, you will be stopped by a Mountain Warrior. If you have the Enlightened Amulet, he will let you pass. Otherwise you have to play and win the RPS mini game. Entering the village ends the quest Infiltrating Hunter's Edge.

This Guide would recommend that you explore the village and talk to everyone. You will gain lots of inside information as well as acquire some new quests. Some of the quests can be completed fairly soon after their acquisition, other quests will involve more time and investigation.

Hornless Gorag is standing in the courtyard as you enter. He has nothing to offer. Just to the left of the entrance is the grain mill full of sacks and such. Talking to both the Tribesmen and the Orcs near the mill reveals they really don't like each other and are only minimally tolerant. You will get to play this to your advantage later.

In the center of the village is a fountain full of skulls. Skulking about the fountain is Michaelis, a skeleton. He seems to be looking for a new head among the fine skeletal selection in the fountain. He gives you some philosophical talk about Souls and where they reside in the body. Talking with him begins the quest To Be, or Not to Be. If you continue the conversation, you will get a choice at the end where you can tell Michaelis not to worry, that the person and his soul are one and indivisible, or you can to him that his soul is lost forever. If you tell him his soul is lost, he will turn to dust right there in front of you. With the first response, that he still has his soul, he seems happy with runs to the fountain to select a new head. This will end the quest To Be, or Not to Be. If you talk to him again, he doesn't quite understand that he has switched heads. He now thinks he is the Mayor. Your characters will make a few comments to each other and Michaelis truly believes he is the current Mayor.

Talking with the Orcs and Humans in the Village

Standing around in various locations are a number of characters you can interact with, either to gain information or get a quest. You can talk to the Downcast Dog who is walking about near the central fountain. When you speak with it (pet pal) it cannot talk, but it barks to the north in the direction of the forest as if it's trying to tell you something. Gysonn is an orc found near the gallows. He has a few items to sell. Stabigg the orc is standing near the Tavern and sells some magical items.

Ogmer is the Executioner and is standing near the gallows. He will collect any dead bodies within the village and then hang them in the gallows. You can check out the bodies for items. The Immaculate Necromancer near Ogmer has some information for you. She says that the Blood Stones have been stolen and he thinks the orcs did it. [Note: you will have the chance during your stay in the village to tell the leader of the orcs that some of her "boys" have not been faithful orcs. She will proceed to kill them. Each of the dead orcs will be collected by Ogmer the executioner and you will find their corpses hanging in the gallows.]

Nurt is standing in the alleyway across from Ogmer and the gallows. He sells Tenebrium weapons. Talking with Nurt will begin the quest The Back-Alley Trader. If you tell Grutilda, the leader of the orcs about this guy, he becomes the Back-Alley Traitor as she will walk over to him and kill him. Ogmer, the executioner then walks over and takes the body and hangs it by a noose.

The Ratcatcher is standing in the alley to the left of the Tavern. He says he was tasked by the All-Mother to find some missing villagers and he uses rats to do this. This will update the quest The Hunt in Hunter's Edge.

Jahrl and Grutilda are standing on the porch of the Orcish Tavern and having a conversation. Listen in for a while. Jahrl is the leader of the humans in the village and Grutilda is the leader of the orcs. Talk to them to discover, not surprisingly, that they both are a nasty piece of work. They will talk with you if you tell him you are Immaculates from Silverglen. Don't tell them you are Source Hunters as this angers everybody and you will have a massive fight on your hands. At the end of the conversation, Jahrl will want you to follow him to his headquarters which is in the Warehouse just across the courtyard.

Go with Jahrl and talk with him at length to learn lots of backstory. He will divulge the whereabouts of some prisoners who might know the location of the missing villagers you are seeking. The prisoners he mentions are in the torture chamber below his headquarters. He also talks about the Blood Stones that were stolen and this begins the quest War of the Stones. Apparently a Mountain man named Garrick, who was guarding the stones, has gone missing. Jahrl also gives you dire warnings about Grutilda, the leader of the Orcs, and her plans. He asks you to find proof that the orcs stole the stones.

Acquiring and updating some Quests in Hunter's Edge

You met the Orc, Hornless Gorag, earlier standing just inside the main entrance outside of the Millhouse. When you now ask him about the break-in at the warehouse you get to play the RPS mini game. When you win, he will tell you that it was he who killed Garrick, the Mountain man guarding the Blood Stones.

Fredar is in Glen's House, east of the building called Mill. He talks about Gural, the orc next to him being in a panic because Gural lost the key to the Armoury. Talk to Gural to find out he did indeed lose the Armoury Key. This starts the quest The Armoury Key. The house has a trapdoor down to the basement. There are a few items to take from the basement, but be sure to pick up the book from the table. This book is called The Art of Whisky, and describes how to make whisky from barley. Reading this book will begin the quest Distill My Heart. From the basement, you can see into the Armoury of the orcs.

If you wish to complete the quest The Armoury Key now, know that the key is hidden in Hershel's chest in the cellar of the Tavern. Hershel is the bartender in the Tavern. To get access to the tavern cellar, you must convince Hershel by playing the RPS game. You have two options once you have obtained the key. You can give it back to Grutilda, the orc leader, or give it back to Gural, the orc who lost it. If you give the key to Gural, he will be thankful and he says "go 'an 'ave this" as if he is giving a reward, but you get nothing. If you give the key to Grutilda, she is also pleased with you, but angry at Gural, and she will leave the Tavern to kill Gural. The quest The Armoury Key will end. [Note: you can still access the armoury without the key. When in the cellar of the Tavern, teleport one character using Feather Drop, plunder the area and then use the Pyramids to rejoin the party.

There's Love in the Air

As you are wandering about the village near Glen's House (the Mill house), you will overhear an orc and a tribesman professing their love for one another. Yuck. These two are Olfrig and Ulor the orc. This will begin the quest The Star-crossed Lovers. Talk to them both. Ulor will tell you that it is treasonous for orcs to fall in love, all their devotion must go to the All-mother. They will both plead with you not to tell Grutilda and let them love each other in peace. You can swear you will not reveal them, or you can say you cannot make any promises. If you tell them you won't promise anything, then a fight ensues. If you renege on your promise and tell Grutilda anyway, she will leave the Tavern and kill Ulor. The despondent Olfrig will then commit suicide. This will end the quest.

The Tribesmen's Warehouse

A conversation with Jahrl will update the quest The Hunt in Hunter's Edge. For this quest, Jahrl told you that there are some prisoners in the torture chamber who might be able to help you find the missing villagers. Note that the text in your log calls Jahrl, Leonard. Didn't know you were on a first name basis with him, did you? This conversation will also update the quest Revenge of the Source Hunter if you have Madora in your party. Jahrl told you about Norok the Spinebreaker, the orc who mutilated Madora and killed many of the villagers. Norok is on the top floor of the inn. Lastly, the conversation with Jahrl will begin the quest War of the Stones where you are to find out who took the Blood Stones and find the tribesman named Garrick who was guarding the Stones.

If you have Madora in your party, she will want a few words with you. She now knows that Norok the Spinebreaker is still in town and he is the one who mutilated her and left her for dead. You will get a choice as to how to respond to Madora.

Behind Jahrl is a Mountain Warrior sitting in a chair. Right next to him is a locked door. If you try to open the door he interrupts, but if you have talked with Jahrl, he gives you the Key to the door. The room behind the locked door is apparently where Garrick was guarding the stolen Blood Stones. There is a chest in the room with some items, but nothing else is to be gained here.

Talk with some Others in the Warehouse

There are three tribesmen playing cards in the back room. Julian, Richard and Lemy don't have much to say that you haven't heard already.

In the north end of the Warehouse is a trapdoor guarded by a Mountain Warrior. Talk with him to learn about the prisoners below. You will be allowed to use the trapdoor to enter the prison. Talk to some of the guards to get a feel for the situation. They will talk about Lorr, the torturer and his goblin sidekick, Kansada.

To Torture or Not to Torture

Enter the torture chamber in the basement and talk to Lorr and his goblin sidekick Kansada. Tell them you want to try to break the prisoner. You will then get several options: 1) you can challenge Lorr that you are a better torturer than he; or 2) play the standard RPS mini game. With the first option, Kansada will then proceed to give you a test. A test of knowledge, not torturing ability and Lorr is not so sure this is his forte. Kansada will ask the questions. The answer choices are 1) ring of roses or *4 pointed star; 2) *pus of trollsboil or bile of banshee; 3) the lips or *the nose 4) 3 long minutes or *30 short seconds. If you choose the choices with the *, you will win the game. Lorr will also answer the same questions. At the end, Kansada will tally the results. If you win, they run off to the room at the east end of the jail. If you fail the quiz, nothing happens. Instead of the quiz, you can you play RPS. If you lose, you will start a fight, with all guards in the prison, not just Lorr and Kansada. [Note: some of the answers to these questions is provided in the tome on the table called A Guide To Elegant Torture, Volume I.]

If you play the RPS mini game, a successful persuasion will allow you to talk to Nolan for a short while (if you lose the game, Lorr and Kansada will attack). After speaking with Nolan, a conversation between the main characters will commence - you can choose to kill him (no!) Or you can try to get him to stop shouting. He will mention a secret doorway in one of the cells. When you pick the second option, to try to silence Nolan, then all the guards will attack.

When you have defeated them all, pick up their stuff, including the Key. There is one cell with a magical lock on the cell door. Use Feather Drop to teleport a character into the cell and then use your Pyramid to teleport out again.

Now talk to Nolan who suggests you also try to save his friends locked away here in the prison. When you unlock the cell with the prisoners, they thank you but say they can't leave without Nolan. She suggests that one of the cells may have an escape route. This escape route is in the last room in the northeast. A small button on the west wall will open a hidden secret door. You will likely find one more Mountain Warrior in this room who didn't join in the fight earlier. Have him join now.

The hidden button is embedded in the spiderweb on the west wall of this room. When you press it, the bookcase on the north wall moves and reveals a passage. Go back to the prisoners and tell them that they can flee. Now go back to Nolan and he will run to the hidden passage called the Forlorn Tunnel. Follow him. He and the other two prisoners will be waiting for you. You now need to lead them safely through the tunnel.

Freeing the Prisoners

Just ahead and across the bridge are some Night Caps and Spore-Infested guards. Once you have defeated the fungi, talk to Nolan again and ask where the hidden refugees are located. He will tell you that the entrance to their hiding place is concealed by a massive black boulder behind the house near the village gate. You will find the key to this entrance in one of the wizard's beehives. Talk to the other released prisoners and they will be so grateful that they tell you of Grutilda's stash of loot. The entrance is from her office in the Tavern. You will get your chance later to loot this stash.

For now, follow the tunnel and exit to the surface. You will appear on the western side of the village. Re-enter the town and continue your adventures.

Cheese and Rats

You talked to a cat (Pet Pal required) named Jinxika just outside of the village. He asked you to get rid of the rats in the village. This is an optional part of the quest The Hunt in Hunter's Edge. The rats are controlled by an orc called the Ratcatcher and the rats have been tasked with finding the missing villagers. There are several rat holes in the village. To get the head rat to come out, combine a flask of poison with a wedge of cheese to create poison cheese. Place this near one of the rat holes. The Rat King will come out to sample the cheese. You can talk with him. You learn that the cats helping the humans is all a ruse, the rats just want cheese and don't really care about the humans who hired them. When you say that a cat has recruited you to kill the rats, he then implores you to kill the cat and not the rats. He says he will wait for you in the tavern cellar for a second consultation. You can talk to the cat again (he is wandering about near the fountain with all the skulls). When you tell him he should leave, you get to play the RPS mini game to convince him. Alternatively, do what the Cat asked - become a Pied Piper and rid the village of the rats. Later, you will get a chance to confront the Rat King again in the tavern cellar.

The Orcish Tavern

Enter the Tavern and see what's going on there. Talk to Hershel, the bartender. When you ask him about the Armoury key, you get to play RPS. Win the game and he will divulge what he knows. Turns out that he took the key to the Armoury and placed it in a locked chest in the cellar below the Tavern (this updates the quest The Armoury Key). Talk about other things and learn that giving the orcs some whisky might be helpful to make them less combat-ready. This will update the quest Distill My Heart.

Distill My Heart

If you read the book The Art of Whisky you will learn how to make strong whisky that you might want to give to the orcs. The items you will need are a bucket, which are found all over he village, and some barley, which is found near the entrance to the village, on the outside where you first met Arhu (you will receive Sack of Barley). Take the bucket to a well (there is one outside of the mill) and fill it with water (drag the bucket onto the well). You now have a Bucket with Water. Take the Sack of Barley to the mill at the western end of the village. Use the barley on the mill wheel to grind it; it will now be called Sack of Grist. Use the Sack of Grist on the Bucket with Water and you will receive Wort. Use the Wort on a Pot Still, which is found in the basement of Glen's House, just east of the Mill. With this last processing, you will receive a barrel of Spirit. The recipe says that the Spirit needs to ferment for a decade or two. Come back in 20 years to finish the this quest. Wait, that's not right. You might be clever enough to realize that Zixzax can help because he knows how to manipulate time. Teleport to the Homestead and ask Zixzax to age your Spirit into fine Whisky. He will disapparate momentarily and then return with 30-year-old Whisky. Give the barrel of Whisky to Hershel and he will give it to the orcs. They will all begin to dance around with lampshades on their heads. Well, not really, but they do get drunk.

Talk to Grutilda

You can have a chat with Grutilda, the leader of the Orcs, while you are in the Tavern. She has a lot to say, so exhaust all the conversation options. You can use this opportunity to have Grutilda actually kill some of the orcs for you. If you tell her about the orc and Tribesmen who are in love, she will leave the Tavern and go seek them out. She will then proceed to kill Ulor the orc and Olfrig, the human, will commit suicide. This will end the quest The Star-crossed Lovers. Keep in mind you may have promised the lovers that you would not tell anyone. You can also tell Grutilda about the orc who is selling Tenebrium weapons (Back-Alley Trader). Again she will leave the Tavern and kill the offending orc (with him dead, the quest ends). If you have obtained the Armoury Key, tell Grutilda that Gural lost it. She will proceed to seek him out and kill him (this will end the quest The Armoury Key.) If you have killed the Rat King, tell Grutilda that the Ratcatcher has lost control and she will once again leave the Tavern and kill the Ratcatcher. In each of these occurrences, Ogmer will come and collect the dead orc and hang him on the gallows. While all of the above may seem a bit tedious to do, know that eventually you will join in a huge battle between the orcs and the tribesmen, so eliminating some of the orc warriors will give you a little advantage.

Tavern Upstairs

When you go upstairs in the Tavern, you will be exposed to a grisly sight. Many of the bodies of the original villagers are still lying about, on the floor or in their beds. The last grisly sight to be seen is the Orc named Norok, who is the one who tortured Madora. Watch him for a while. He sits on the couch, he pines about his lost toys and he jumps onto the pile of pillows in the corner. Cute, is he not? In fact, when you begin to talk to him, your characters will comment that he is just a giant child. Madora, if she is in your party, will then chime in and talk to Norok. Madora doesn't take this well... you will learn from further conversation with Norok that his 'mum' made him do the terrible things to humans, and he didn't know they were terrible. He thought he was just playing games with them. Madora is visibly troubled by all of this, but she says that this "child" will continue to do evil things and you must kill him. Now the fight begins. Killing the adorable lug will end the quest Revenge of the Source Hunter.

Orc Tavern Cellar

In the north end of the Cellar, you will find the chest owned by Hershel. If you've talked with him, you can open the chest. However, when you attempt to do so, the chest explodes. You will be damaged, but not lethally. Open the chest again to get the Armoury Key. If you go back later to talk to Hershel and inquire why he trapped the chest, you will get two conversation choices. If you pick the choice that says Hershel tried to kill you, he becomes angered and a fight ensues. The other choice will be forgiving to Hershel and you can continue to deal with him.

Near the chest you will find a rat's hole called Rat Palace. Place a wedge of cheese in front of it to summon the Rat King (you might have to click on the rat hole to make the King appear). If, at this point, you decide to kill the Rat King, attack him. He will conjure some Slain Cat ghosts to assist him. This battle is not a pushover. The Rat King will continue to summon more Cat Ghosts as the battle progresses. Try to down the Rat King first and then concentrate on the summoned Cats.

Now head back to the Cat, Jinxika, who is near the skull fountain. Jinx will now tell you about the location of his friends. This is the same information you got from the prisoners you freed from the Prison. Go now to Ratcatcher and he will threaten you, and then cry great sobs of tears. If you now go tell Grutilda that the Ratcatcher has lost control of the rats, you will get a choice to leave him alone, or have Grutilda punish him. Logically, your characters say that if Grutilda kills him, there will be one less orc for you to worry about. Go watch Grutilda exacting her punishment on the hapless Ratcatcher. Satisfying.

Finding the Wizard's House

You've heard a lot about some villagers who have escaped the clutches of the Tribesmen and the Orcs. You've learned their whereabouts and how to get to their hiding place. Their hiding place is under the Massive Boulder behind the house called Ransacked House and near the Hunter's Edge Waypoint. You need to smash the boulder to remove it. When you smash it, a trapdoor is revealed, but it is locked. You were told that the key to this trapdoor is hidden in a beehive near the Wizard's house. Go directly east through the village and continue east until you find the Wizard's house. You will know you are in the right place when you see some animated brooms sweeping the ground, like those in the Disney movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

When you approach the front door you will see several orcs and humans standing outside. If you watch them for a while you will notice that they are playing the RPS game with each other to see who will enter the house. The house is trapped, so when one of them enters, he is instantly killed. Talk to Jagor, the leader of the group. When you ask why then need to enter the house, you will get to play RPS with him. If you win, he will answer your questions. If you lose, nothing happens. Go around to the back of the house. You will see a lovely garden and in the courtyard you will see a ginormous telescope. Using the telescope will show you the same maelstrom that you saw using Zixzax' scope. Search the beehives and you will find the key called Key Found in Beehive. This key will open the hatch to the missing villagers.

Along the wall of the garden you will find one of the chests that is part of the Last Chest undocumented quest. This one calls itself the last of the four sisters. It gives this clue: By the unicorn's horn, by the cyclops' eye, I stand the last sentinel guarding Nothingness. Which digit am I?

Note: you can enter one room of the house at this time, but don't walk too far in and don't open any containers. Try it and see why you shouldn't.

Finding the Missing Villagers

Return to the trapdoor of the missing villagers. Descend into the Hidden Cellar. You will immediately meet the Mother, along with the father and a child. You can respond nastily to her and start a fight (now why would you want to do that??). Or, more appropriately, you can tell her the truth as to why you are there. You will learn that the wizard's name is Zandalor and that he has traveled through the Phantom Forest to the ancient Source Temple. They were given a message from Zandalor to deliver to the White Witch. If you have the ring called Icara's Blessing, they will trust you implicitly. The Mother will deliver the message which states that you are to follow the wizard to the Source Temple. To do this, you need an amulet that the wizard has stored in a small chest atop his bedside table. Then, once in the forest, you are to find the Forest Spirit who will give you a rune needed to enter the Source Temple.

The Mother goes on to tell you that to enter Zandalor's house, you need to use the portal nearby. She gives you a crystal to activate the portal. She warns you of the traps within the wizard's house. She leaves you with one final thought: the last thing the wizard said was "She is coming. I only hope I can reach the temple first. If she finds the portal..." Hmm.

She then asks you to help them escape. To do this, you need to find a Waypoint portal in Zandalor's chambers.

At the end of the conversation, a cat will be teleported into the room. You can speak with it briefly, but nothing comes of it.

The Wizard's House

Have the character with the crystal (Portal Activation Crystal) given to you by the Mother interact with the green portal and then use the portal. You will arrive in the wizards house with fireballs exploding all around. No one will be injured at first. You are actually standing on a pressure plate. When you all step off of the plate, the whole room will explode. Walk one character to a safe location over by the stairs and the bear rug. Have that person go upstairs.

The floor upstairs is heavily trapped, and, what's more, the traps will disappear as you get close to them, so you need to remember their location. Go to the room on the right (southeast of the area). There you will see 4 candleholders. Light all four. This will activate the portal in that room. Use that portal to be teleported into the next room to the west. Here you will find a lever on the floor. Using the lever will make the magical barriers on the doors disappear. Now enter the last room on the west, being careful of the traps on the floor. Flip the lever (called the House Defenses Master Switch) in the room with the Waypoint portal. This will deactivate all traps. Go back downstairs and use the green portal to teleport back to the family.

Tell the mother that you have cleared the way. Before they depart, she tells you that the wizard used to whisper the word 'Icara' to a locked chest in his chamber. Useful information.

Search the Wizard's House

Re-enter the wizard's house and search it thoroughly. On the first level, partly hidden by the bear rug, you will find Zandalor's Scroll. The scroll says to use it in the spot between the dining table and the mirror. This will reveal a trapdoor to the south of the dining table. This leads to a cellar area with lots of scrolls to pilfer. You will see a locked door to the north room. The key to this door is on the top floor of the house or just break down the door.

There is a small room on the southwest of the first level whose entrance is blocked by a bookcase. On the same wall as the bookcase, near the barrel in the corner is a tiny switch. Press it to make the bookcase disintegrate and you can enter the room.

Now go upstairs and search thoroughly. Here you will find a book called the Secrets of the Source Temple. In the southeast room, when you try to open the chest, you will get a question that asks "who's the grandest dame in town?" The Mother of the missing villager family told you it was "Icara". Sure enough, that opens the chest. In the southwest room, you will find the Titan Dictionary, a book on how to converse with Titans. In the last room with the Waypoint, you will find the Phantom Protection Amulet in the tiny Jewelry box sitting on the cupboard. On the small table near the couch you will find a Journal that describes someone named Shearah. Seems that this journal might belong to Icara. The Wizard's Cellar Key is near the chair.

Your next major goal is to go to the Phantom Forest and find the Forest Spirit. But before you do so, finish up some things in Hunter's Edge.

Follow the Bloody Trail

In front of the Tribesmen's Warehouse your perception character will notice some blood stains on the ground. They are red and will glisten as you walk by. Follow the blood stains and they will lead you out the west gate of the village and into the countryside. You will end up at a temple called the Knights Tomb, where you will confront some orcs who tell you to leave. Play the RPS game. Lose and you have a battle on your hands. If you win, they let you pass and you can continue to follow the blood stains. You will finally reach a large circular grate on the floor where you party members will make comments about someone being thrown down the vent. This will update the quest War of the Stones.

To open the gate to the tomb, you need to pull three levers. One of them is right next to the large circular vent in front of the gate, the other one is on the right (east), between the statues. The third one is to the left (west) of the door. It is behind an illusionary tree - when you walk close to the tree is disappears and reveals the lever.

When you go through the open door, there is a large statue with an embossed sign in front. The sign gives you a warning, in Titanese, that none shall pass the titan guards. Note: the translation will only appear if you have the book called Titan dictionary that you found in the Wizard's House.

Head down the stairs and activate the Waypoint (Hunter's Edge-Knight's Tomb.) At the end of the large courtyard, you will be stopped by a Watchful Guardian. He talks to you in Titanese, with the translations attached if you have the Dictionary. You will play RPS. Win and you can pass. Lose and you have to fight the four Eternal Guardian statues standing along the side. Know that the Guardians are ponderously slow, but they hit really, really hard. They can kill a party member with one strike.

When you win, ask the Guardian a few questions for some background. He will tell you that a great warrior is entombed here and a Curse of Cold was placed on his tomb.

Footprints in the Stone

Up the stairs, you will come to a courtyard where the very floor can kill you. There are no visible traps, however, when you walk on the stone floor, your characters will get the "Warm" effect or the "Chilled" effect. If they are chilled, with the very next step they will be killed by a lightning blast. This is regardless if they are protected by Immune to Electrified. They must step only in areas where they get the warmed effect.

There are two ways to get past this puzzle. One is to have a character with very high perception (11). The character will spot footprints in the stones, that once spotted will remain. The person can follow the footprint path without experiencing damage. The other method is to summon a Fire elemental. This beast can also perceive the footprints. Have the one who summoned the Fire Elemental follow the footprints so the Elemental keeps discovering new parts of the path and summon a new Fire Elemental when the previous one disappears. Either way, make sure the pathfinder character has a Pyramid. When he/she reaches the stairs to the north, then teleport the rest of the party to rejoin.

Open the door and proceed into the foyer. There is a corpse at the foot of the stairs and two guards, Myrthos and Moriendor, standing by the Tomb of the Knight. Search the corpse to find a Note and a Broken-off Horn. Your characters will notice right away that this is Garrick and he was killed by an Orc. You need to report this to Jahrl.

Talk to one of the two guys standing at the Tomb of the Knight. They seem to be looking for some red imps (quest The Watch is Coming). You guess these are the bunch of imps now residing at the Homestead. Apparently these two are part of the Watch that serve the demons of the realm of Nemesis and they've been tasked with returning the renegade imps. They tell a grisly story about the imps. Your responses are ever skeptical. At the end you will get a choice. You can lie to the Watch and say the imps are sunning themselves on the beach, or you can tell the truth. If you tell them the truth, they give you a tome, Mystical Tome, which grants 1 attribute point. The imp band will be gone from the Homestead and neither Mittix nor Zixzax has anything to say about it. Curious. If you lie to the Watch, the imps will still be at the Homestead, oblivious to anything happening around them. [Note: If you lied, the Watch guys go off to try to find the missing imps. Later, go to Cyseal South Beach and find the Watch at the bridge that you crossed early in the game. You can overhear them complaining about counting grains of sand, and maybe they should check the realm of Faery. They disapparate and the quest ends.]

Open the sarcophagus at the top and experience a Blood Stone discharging to become a Star Stone. Take the Inert Stone and return to the village of Hunter's Edge. You might want to make a side trip to the beach of Cyseal (Cyseal Beach South) to deal with the Imp hunters and then make a stop at the Homestead to discover the new things going on there.

Horn Aplenty and a Big Battle

You are now about to start a huge fight in the previously quiet town of Hunter's Edge. You need to return the Horn you found to Jahrl. However, you might want to complete the quest Distill my Heart. Here you will give the 30-year old Whisky to Hershel at the Tavern. This will end the quest and all the orcs will now be drunk.

Run over to the Warehouse and show the incriminating Horn to Jahrl. He becomes incensed as you would expect and he vows revenge on Grutilda. He then asks you to join in the battle and undo every last orc. He will gather his men and run to the Tavern. From outside the Tavern, he calls for Grutilda. They will have a few words. Grutilda begins ranting and raving, she even insults the Conduit.

The battle is joined. The Jahrl is the first to succumb to the Orcs onslaught as Grutilda uses a Blood Stone on him. Systematically defeat the orcs and Grutilda. Not easy, but doable. Afterward, the Tribesmen all take off to find the rest of the orcs in the western part of the village. And then they all troop up to the wizard's house to finish off the last of the orcs. Talk to one of the Tribesmen and get your parting farewell. This will end the quest War of the Stones.

Go back into the Tavern and confront Resk, Grutilda's imp sidekick. Kill the little bugger. While you are in the Tavern, use the Key you got from the corpse of Grutilda, to access the hidden treasure room if you have not done so before. Press the Torch on the side of the fireplace to make the cupboard move. Go down through the trapdoor and loot the premises. Interestingly, Hershel, the bartender seems totally unaware that you just killed all the orcs. Oh, well.

Exploring more to the Phantom Forest to Forge Some Soul

Now that you've completed things in Hunter's Edge and acquired two items that you took from the Wizard's House, the Phantom Protection Amulet and the Titan Dictionary, you are ready for further adventure in the Phantom Forest. From wherever you happen to be, teleport to the Phantom Forest Waypoint. To the east is a large felled tree that you were unable to walk through because of certain poisonous death. Select a party member who can become invisible (spell or potion), and also has the Amulet and a Pyramid.

Have your character equip the Amulet and walk through the felled tree. You will find some corpses, human, imp and orc, on the other side. Guess they didn't have an Amulet did they? Proceed to the north and you will soon be clear of the poisoned area. When in a clear area, teleport the rest of your party to the exploring character. Just to the north of your location are some Source Tainted forest denizens to contend with.

Forest Victims

On a large tree to the east of the fallen tainted tree is a Corpse, the Forest Victim. The Victim will tell you about Cassandra. He says the Temple is not all it seems. He says to "Lower the bridge. Find her bones" ... Hmm, you say. This will update the quest A Forge of Souls. You will, in fact, find a number of these Forest Victims, with each giving you some hints about finding Cassandra.

As you are walking to he north, you will notice some ruins just to the east of the path. There are some large stone Sentinels guarding the ruins. These ruins will be important, but for now, pass them by. Continue to the north.

As you move to the northeast, you will see a set of stairs to the north. A large tree to the east of those stairs has another of the Forest Victims who tells you that only the dead can enter the temple. Hmm, you say again.

A Ghostly Encounter

Follow the path along the west side of the area, north of the fallen tree. You will need to fight your way past some source-tainted creatures. Further to the north you will encounter a large group of Ghostly creatures, including ghost furniture and wagons. After you defeat them, continue to the northeast. You will come upon an area with lit torches. To the east of the torches is the Phantom Forest North Waypoint.

Near the Waypoint you will encounter a Frustrated Boar. With the Pet Pal character, ask the boar's what's up. Apparently it has lost its voice and it points towards the path to the east. If you follow the path to the east, you will come to a barricaded area with lots of orcs and goblins. This Guide would have you return to this area at a later time.

From the torches to the west of the Waypoint, follow the road to the north, through a part of the Forest that appears to be dead and dying. You will soon reach Cassandra, sitting on her stone throne amongst a huge pile of dead bodies.

Cassandra, Queen of the Forest

Cassandra isn't very friendly, but she will talk with you. She will tell you that she is the Queen of the Phantom Forest and is the sister of King Braccus Rex. She goes on to tell you that her brother, Rex, transformed her into a lich and she has been contemplating revenge by attempting to reforge their souls. When you reveal that you killed her Brother, she says she will allow you to roam in her woods at your discretion. When you ask about the soul forge, Cassandra tells you that she will give you the spell to repair a soul forge, if you kill the mage Arhu. She wants Arhu dead because he stole something from her.

You can find Arhu still skulking about outside of Hunter's Edge. You can initiate a battle right away, but be aware that Arhu is quite fast and powerful and may kill one or two of your party members before you even get off one spell. If you instead tell Arhu that Cassandra wants him dead, he will offer some explanation. He says he did indeed steal 4 bluish crystals from Cassandra and he uses them to power the Stasis Blasters that guard the town of Cyseal. Arhu will tell you that you can destroy Cassandra, even though she appears to be invulnerable. He says you must find and destroy her original corpse, which would then render her vulnerable.

So you have a choice here: try to kill Arhu, or find a way to kill Cassandra. The author of this Guide took the option to kill Cassandra.

A Big Head

Just south of the entrance into Cassandra's area, there is a giant stone Titan Head. Interact with the Head and start a conversation. To understand its language, you must have the Titan Dictionary you got from the Wizard's House in Hunter's Edge. The Titan Head calls you Guardian and you can ask why this is. He will give you some history of Braccus and Cassandra. When you ask if there is any way to defeat a lich, he tells you to burn its bones. The real problem is finding those bones. You are told that Cassandra's bones rest in the Temple of the Dead, where only a corpse can enter.

Head back to the west of the Forest to where you saw the ruins. The Sentinels defending the ruins are invulnerable, but you can use the spell that destroys the invulnerability of Death Knights. You did create this spell, did you not? Don't step too close to the ruins or the Sentinel as the area will be inundated with lava and you will burn to a crisp. Cast the Death Knight Bane spell on the Sentinel, shoot it with an arrow, and it will crumble at your feet. Nifty. There are four of these Sentinels and each will create a lava area when it sees you. Cast the spell and watch them crumble.

In the center of the area is a pile of dead bodies and a lever. Next to the lever is an embossed sign that says: "The Temple of Death welcomes only its likeness." It seems that somebody has to be dead in order to enter the Temple.

Have one character, with a teleport Pyramid in their inventory, stand in the center of the circle. Have the rest of the party kill that character. Pull the lever. The dead character will be translocated into the Temple of Death. Have the rest of the party use the Pyramid to teleport to the dead character. Use a Resurrection spell to revive the dead one. You're now good to go.

The Druid Dungeon

You all arrive in the Chamber of Corpses. There are a few corpses to search and a few items to collect here. Just to the north is a large skull that is a Cave Entrance. This leads to the Druid Dungeon. Cross the bridge to the west and enter a large chamber replete with piles of corpses.

Straight to the west is a large sarcophagus. When you open it, a poison cloud is released and a bunch of Buried Undead are summoned. Defeat them and then search the rest of the area. Head to the north to find a raised bridge. Use your Alt key to detect an Oddly-Shaped Skull to the left of the bridge. Use the skull to lower the bridge. Cross the bridge and continue along the path. You will come to a stone bridge over a chasm. Use the Oddly-Shaped Skull to the left of the bridge and it will raise. On the other side of the bridge is a pack of wolves waiting to make you their breakfast. These guys have cutesy names - Deathpaw, Frostbite, Nightfall and Dreadfang. You should be able to make short work of them.

Just over the bridge and beyond the wolves you will come to an intersection with smoke clouds to the north and east. As is typical, you can place the nearby barrels over the vents to dissipate the smoke. The smoke clouds will not damage you so you can just walk right through them. Head to the north first. You will come too a stone archway with vines covering it. You can walk right through the vines. Continue to head to the north, avoiding the traps on the ground. At the end of the passage you will find a desk. There are two books on the desk, an Invulnerability Skillbook and a Druid's Alchemy Notes. The alchemy book gives instructions on how to make a Perception Potion. There are several empty flasks and a large number of ingredients on the shelf behind the desk. Make some perception potions if you don't have a character with a high level.

Go back to the intersection where all the smoke was. Head to the east. On the east side of the smoke, you will perceive a chest, guarded by some floor traps. The chest has the typical chest items to take. Just to the north of the chest is seemingly a solid stone wall. However, the wall is illusionary so if you walk right into the wall, it will disappear and you can continue to the north.

Burn Them Bones

In the chamber to the north you will see the gravestone of Cassandra. Right in front of the gravestone is an area to dig. When you dig, the bones of Cassandra will pop out. Search the bones to get the Key of the Source King. Then burn the bones with a fire spell. This now makes Cassandra vulnerable and you can return to her to end her miserable life once and for all.

In the left eye of the stone idol head behind the grave is a Blood Stone. If you have been following along, and if you got the Stone from the Totem in the Goblin village, then you should have a total of 15 Star Stones and/or Blood Stones. To finish the game, you need a total of 14 Star Stones. You should use your Blood Stones to convert them to Star Stones at your convenience and then check out the areas that are opened within the Homestead.

There are a few more areas to explore within the Temple if you have the urge. Head south from Cassandra's grave and cross the rickety footbridge. Follow the winding path. You will come to a large chamber that is an alchemy laboratory with some large glass containers of colored liquids. The proprietor of this laboratory is Alchemist. Have a few words with him. He has lots of alchemical ingredients to trade is you are so inclined. He says that at one time he was a Master Alchemist, but he now serves only Lady Cassandra. At the south end of the lab is the Phantom Forest-Alchemy Lab Waypoint should you wish to return here.

Search the Lab for a few items. One item you will find on a desk is a Bottled Voice. You will discover that this item will be used to restore the voice of Wolgraff, the companion character added to the game in a recent update.

Defeating Cassandra

Teleport your party to the Phantom Forest North Waypoint and head northwest towards Cassandra's location. When you begin to talk to her, she is obviously afraid and she pleads that you stay away. At the end of her bleating, she will transform into some kind of "thing" and a number of corpses will be animated to fight for her. During the battle, she will summon more of these undead to help. Upon her defeat, the quest A Forge of Souls will end. Search the area and pick up the Soulforge Repair Ritual. You will use this to restore Leandra's soul forge to Icara. However, before you embark on this adventure, there are a few more things to do in the Phantom Forest.

Where, oh Where has My Little Weresheep Gone?

To the north of the Phantom Forest North Waypoint you will find a huge tree with glowing letters written on it. Interacting with the tree will give you a scrolling credit roll of sayings and pontifications of the Kickstarter contributors. If you drop a Stardust Herb in front of the tree the Weresheep will appear. When you begin a conversation with the Weresheep, it seems to be getting hungrier - for you. You can try to kill the sheep outright or you can play the RPS mini game to collect its wool. If you win, the sheep goes bounding off and you get a piece of Weresheep Wool. Use the Wool in the Elemental Forge in Hiberheim to get a special set of armor. The pieces of armour you receive are Weresheep Boots, Bracers, Helmet and Armour. Know that the Weresheep is surprisingly powerful and can kill a character in one or two hits. Whichever way you decide to deal with the Weresheep, this will end the quest The Legend of the Weresheep.

Just to the east of the large tree you will find an Immaculate dude named Imal the Squealer. When you approach him, the sounds he utters are like those of a boar. He is holding a terrified bunny in his hands and the bunny escapes as you get near. It seems that this guy is the Voice Thief. This ends is a battle with Imal conjuring some Immaculate summons to aid him. Upon their defeat, pick up the book called Imal's Research. This book speaks of how he lost his voice and the potion that can be made to restore it. For this potion you need Voxwood, which you just found on Imal's corpse and a Bottled Voice which you found in the Alchemist's lab in the Temple of the Dead. Reading this journal will begin the quest A Voice in the Wilderness. With these two ingredients, you can restore the voice of Wolgraff, a companion character.

Exploring More of the Phantom Forest

Just to the southeast of the Phantom Forest North Waypoint, you will encounter a Dread Orc Slayer who doesn't seem pleased to see you. He will be backed up a some nasty Goblins and an Immaculate Flameweaver. Be aware that there are a lot of traps in the area.

Head north from this last encounter. At the top of the path you will find two goblins sleeping peacefully on the edge of a broken bridge. Say nighty-night goblins. Just a bit to the south of the now dead goblins is a Void Demon, and behind him are some Orcs and Goblins. These creatures are guarding the entrance to the Source Temple and you may wish to come back here a bit later.

Bellegar Again

Just to the southeast of the entrance to the Temple of the Dead, you will encounter the strange mage Bellegar again. You met him once before in the Primordial Cave in Cyseal. He is standing amongst some barrels and will say a few words (not as a conversation). This will begin the quest Bellegar's Barrels. He tells you that you can choose one of the three barrels and then he disapparates. When you choose a barrel, the others explode and the quest will end.

Death Knights can Still be the Death of You

If you venture into the south central region of the Forest, you will run into roving Death Knights. Remember, these guys are invulnerable. You should have, by now, created the Death Knight Bane spell. Use it. Know that this spells makes the Knights vulnerable again, but it will wear off in time. You will likely have to re-cast the spell in a prolonged battle.

Following Wizards

Your party is likely at the level where you can successfully make your way through the southern and eastern parts of the Phantom Forest. From the Temple of the Dead, begin walking to the southeast.

Is it for Greal?

To the east and south of the fallen tree and the Temple of the Dead, you will encounter an elemental named Greal. She seems pleased to see you in the tainted woods. She says she is the apprentice of her mentor, the Forest Spirit. The Forest Spirit, Shearah, is dying because they were attacked by a terrible demon, Balberith. She, Greal, says she is now an easy target for the Lich Queen. This will update the quest Follow the Wizard.

At this point, you may be interrupted by Jahan, who wants to bare his soul to you. I hope that all he bares. Anyway, he says he used to be the King in a faraway realm and lost his love, Hiraka. Long story short, Hiraka was also a demon and was draining Jahan's life and soul. It turns out that Jahan has been seeking this Balberith demon himself for nearly 1000 years. This will begin the quest The King's Dark Deal.

Motley Crew

Just to the west of Greal, there is a motley crew of Long-Lost creatures along with Baeltog the Adventurer. They are not friendly and will start a battle immediately. To what purpose were they here, we will never know.

Continue walking in a southerly direction. Be aware, and beware, of the roving bands of Death Knights. Once you have made them vulnerable again, poison damage and Crushing Fist and Boulder Bash work well. You can also freeze them to make them immobile.

After moving in a southerly direction, begin walking to the east. You are heading for the Abandoned Shack, which is marked on your map. Fight you way through more Dread Knights. A little further to the east you will enter a swamp area and encounter some Cyclopses - a Cyclops Bonecrusher, Cyclops Elementalist, Cyclops Shaman and a Cyclops Tidehunter. These beasts apparently are summoned by a creature called a Watchful Eye.

Wow, That's a Big Pile of Gold

Continue to walk eastward, along the southern edge of the swamp. You will fight more swamp beasts. You will also come upon a huge pile of gold (Glimmering Pile of Gold) just sitting there on the ground. This is actually the location of that weirdo mage Bellegar. Interact with the gold and Bellegar will appear (this should be the third time you've seen him.) He spouts some awful rhyme and then gives you a Waypoint that will teleport you to his Maze. This begins the quest The Mad Mage's Maze.

Be Amazed

If you decide you want to see this Maze, use the teleport system and go to Bellegar's Maze. You will arrive in a small chamber and at one end you will find three locked doors, 3 levers, a chessboard and a chicken. On the chessboard squares are items of food - a bone, cheese and fish. When you pull one of the levers, the chicken transforms into another animal - a dog, a cat or a rat. The levers have labels, so you know what animal will be transformed. Each animal will seek their preferred food from the board. When the animal has eaten the food item, another food item will replace it at random. The animal will only move at right angles, not diagonally. Three of the squares on the board are highlighted in green. You need to make the animals reach those green squares. When they do so and the food item is eaten, one of the doors will be unlocked. Unlock all three doors and claim your prizes. Amazing.

The Abandoned Shack

If you took an excursion to Bellegar's Maze, return to the Phantom Forest and make your way back to where you found the pile of gold. Continue through the swamp to the east toward the marker indicating the location of the Abandoned Shack. Eliminate any swamp denizens. When you approach the Abandoned Shack, it will be guarded by a host of creatures, including a Cyclops Spiritcaller. When they are defeated, enter the Shack. There are a few items to procure on the upper level, but your main goal is to use the trapdoor and go into the basement.

The basement has a central cage area where you will find Shearah being held captive. Speak with her to learn of her plight. She tells you about how she has tried to protect the creatures of this area, but Balberith has defiled all. She says he has taken an ancient rune from her, one of only two in existence. The rune grants access to the Source Temple. Ask her about the Source Temple and she says only the most devout Sourcerers are allowed into its deepest chamber. She divulges a secret. Verbatim, her secret is: "When you enter the temple, stay close to your right. Eventually you'll run into a weak wall. A well-placed strike will cause it to crumble, and you find yourself within the High Templar's Office. There you'll find a teleportation mirror which will deliver you to the portal to the First Garden."

On the other side of the room you will find Balberith. He, at first, appears as a normal human. If you have Jahan in your party, he has a few words for him. Recall that Balberith has laid claim to Jahan's soul and Jahan's time on earth is nearly expired. Balberith and Jahan will exchange barbs. When you mention the Forest Spirit's rune, Balberith will begin to try a make a deal with you. Depending on your party make-up and your previous exploits, he may try to make a trade - Jahan for the rune. Alternatively, Balberith may reconsider any deal, transforms himself into his Demon persona and the battle is joined.

[Note: One example of a slightly different experience is if, during the game, you mostly didn't agree with Jahan's statements during conversations with him, or your characters chose mostly egotistical / heartless responses. Here Balberith may propose that you kill another demon (Raalzen Ax'aroth), who resides in the North. Raalzen is a fire demon and each element, besides fire, obviously, works on him. If you don't get this choice now of fighting Raalzen, you will get a chance later.]

Balberith will summon 4 Slave of Torment souls in the four corners of the room. These souls actually make Balberith almost invulnerable. He will use the Tormented souls to heal himself. Periodically, Balberith will summon swamp denizens to fight on his side. Keep Balberith occupied, but try to kill the Tormented souls first. When they are disposed of, he is weakened and your damage to him will increase. Whittle him down until he succumbs. On his demise, you will receive the Magic Rune Stone and the Swamp Prison Key. If you have Jahan in your party, he has a few grateful words for you.

Unlock the cage containing Shearah. She refers to you as the Guardians, as have many of the creatures you've encountered and saved during the game. She says she will remain there to regain her strength, but the whole Forest will thank you. There are some Cyclops Floaters and a Mysterious Stranger in cages along the north wall. There does not appear to be any way to release them, nor can you interact with them.

Make Your Way to the Source Temple

Leave the Abandoned Shack and walk to the northwest, fighting any foes you encounter. To the northwest of the Shack is the Phantom Forest Swamp Waypoint. To the east of the Waypoint you may encounter animals that you can talk to. They will thank you for killing the demon who had imprisoned the Forest Spirit.

Just to the northwest of the Waypoint you will see an area of poisoned ground. Hanging from a tree is a corpse and hidden in the bushes is a chest. Remove the poisoning, but when you enter the area you will be ambushed by 4 Source-Tainted Spiders. Just north of the last area are some stone stairs that are guarded by Immaculates and their Tame Void beasts. At the top of the stairs, watch out for the wandering Death Knight.

The Entrance to the Source Temple

Continue up the stairs and you will come upon the stone-walled ruins which are the entrance area to the Source Temple. You will have to endure four major battles to reach the Temple. Which battle you have first depends on which direction you enter the ruins. If you approach from the west, you will first have the pleasure of encountering Raalzen Ax'aroth, a giant Fire Demon. He is accompanied by Tamed Void Rams. Oh, boy. Being fire-based, these beasts are more vulnerable to the other element types. Defeat them and continue to make your way through the ruins.

If you've approached from the east and south, then you will first encounter some orcs lead by Kaalgruda Cloudpiercer. Kaalgruda uses a crossbow and most spells work on her. The viable tactic here is to use ooze and fire to try and get them all at once.

Head north into the ruins and find a group of orcs at their orc camp with Zuridraskaz to welcome your arrival. The goblin Zuridraskaz is invulnerable to elemental damage; it will heal him. Kill the minions and then concentrate on Zuridraskaz using physical damage. Be careful of the mage in their group who will use the teleportation spell to move one of your characters into their group. Kill this mage early to prevent this and to prevent him from healing Zuridraskaz.

Not too far away from where Zuridraskaz is and to the south of Raalzen are some Immaculates and their hench-creatures, including Braogg Spiritchaser.

The last Boss creature you will encounter as you approach the Source Temple is the huge Death Lord. At the start of the battle he is invulnerable to everything as are all Death Knights. You need to cast the Death Knight Bane spell. Even after that, he is still invulnerable to water and ice. He has several Immaculates that assist him. One of these may even make the Death Lord invisible, so be prepared for that. There is also a roaming invulnerable Death Knight. You might be able to lure him away from the group so you can dispatch him without having to fight them all at once. It is beneficial to have your own summoned creatures to distract the Death Lord. In fact it may be crucial to do so, as the he hits extremely hard in melee range. The Death Lord can be knocked down and stunned, so use that to your advantage. The priest will resurrect any fallen comrades, so dispose of him at your earliest convenience. After the conflagration, search the area for items and pick up the Letter. Read it.