Shadows of Unrentide - The Walkthrough ------------------------------------------------------------------ Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------ Alright, so here goes. This is my first time writing a walkthrough and am doing so on my first run through the game. Here's the plan: I will be writing this walkthrough as a "documentary" of my experience my first time through the game (I wrote the whole thing in the NWN journal). Once that is done, I will add to the completed walkthrough anything I may have missed as well as class/race specific occurrences. Maybe I will even play through the "evil" route. Obviously, if you see something I missed or got all wrong, please drop me a line at JohnnyRTFM@sorcerers.net. Credit will be given as due, naturally. Current version: 1.02 Check for the latest version at Sorcerer's Place (http://www.sorcerers.net) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Version Information ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.0 After about a month and a half since the original release, I find I have received enough corrections and tips to make an update worthwhile. (Not to mention how unbelievably busy I have been). Much, much thanks to everyone who has contributed to this walkthrough. I could not have done it without you. 1.02 More alternate solutions I had missed 1.01 Added a few side quests and alternate solutions I had missed. 1.0 My first run through the game ------------------------------------------------------------------ Index ------------------------------------------------------------------ I. Drogan's Home II. Hilltop West III. Hilltop East IV. Hilltop Foothills V. Elven Crypt VI. Nether Mountains & Kobold Caves VII. Dragon Caves VIII. High Forest IX. High Forest - Gnoll caves X. High Forest - Ancient Hall XI. Anauroch - Night Camp XII. Stinger Caves XIII. Stinger Caves - Temple XIV. Oasis of the Green Palm XV. Tomb of Kel-Garas XVI. Tomb of Kel-Garas - Inner Catacombs XVII. Ao Encampment XVIII. Anauroch - Excavated Ruins XIX. Netherese Ruin XX. Unrentide - Abasi Camp XXI. The Great Library XXII. Crypt Tower - 1st Floor XXIII. Crypt Tower - 2nd Floor XXIV. Crypt Tower - 3rd Floor XXV. Crypt Tower - Hall of the Dead Wind XXVI. Arcanists' Tower - 1st Floor XXVII. Arcanists' Tower - 2nd Floor & Plane of Shadows XXVIII. Arcanists' Tower - High Arcanist's Chambers XXIX. Realm of the Shadow Lich XXX. Temple of the Winds - 1st Floor XXXI. Temple of the Winds - 2nd Floor XXXII. Acknowledgements ------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapter 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------ I. Drogan's Home There is very little to be done here. After some intoductory chit-chat between the PC and the NPCs, a cutscene plays, setting the plot for the game. Once the cutscene ends, you will be thrust into a fight against a number of kobolds. You can fight them or ignore them (if you aren't a melee type) since they eventually run away anyways. Killing a few can give you a bit of starting gear, but even that isn't essential. Once this battle has played itself out, Ayala fills you in on the story behind the raid and the game actually starts. You get 300 XP just for listening to her. If you are playing chaotic, you can also loot the footlockers of the other students for some additional starting loot. Each time you do, your alignment will shift one point toward chaotic. Head downstairs and talk to Riisi, Drogan's familiar. Although she seems to think you are a kobold in disguise sent to eat her, she can be convinced you are one of Drogan's students if you correctly answer three riddles. The riddles are quite easy (Yes, I will be hanged, six) and you are rewarded with 50 XP for each correct answer. Get them all right and Riisi gives you a key to Drogan's room. Back upstairs you find Drogan' room next to your own. Aside from some starting equipment, you learn how to make focus crystals to power your ring. (Note: This is utterly unimportant. I did not use the ring a single time) On your way out, stop and ask Ayala how Drogan is doing. She will ask you to pick up some herbs from the herbalist in town to help treat his condition. ------------------------------------------------------------------ II. Hilltop West So we head out of his house, kill a kobold or two en route to town, and stop by the herbalist's hut. He has two of the herbs you require, but not the third. He suggests asking the cook at the tavern. There is a bit of a situation at the tavern. Maya the cook has been taken hostage by a band of kobolds. Talk them into releasing her for a 100 XP reward and then speak to Maya to get the missing ingredient for Drogan's treatment. For the evil folk, you can help the kobolds fight their way out of the tavern and their leader will reward you with a dagger (vampiric regeneration +1). The berries are still in the pot on the stove. Run back to Drogan's place and give the cure ingredients to Ayala for 300 XP. She will now be able to heal you whenever you drop by. Back into town, stop at the Community Hall and speak to the mayor. He is tanked, so you speak to his assistant instead. She tells you of a problem she has been having with Piper, an obnoxiuos twit of a doomsayer. Head toward the midtown gate to find Piper ranting and raving. Talk to him and you will discover that all he really wants is to get his old sword back so he can "help" defend the town. Since he tells you he pawned it to Fiona the smith, run over and talk to her. She gives it to you free of charge. Give the sword to Piper, he shuts up, the crowd disperses, and the mayor's assistant (whose name I still cannot remember) gives you XP. An alternate solution is to embarrass Piper and get him to admit he defiled a corpse. While at the Community Hall, you will notice two injured people toward the back. Heal them for a 25 XP reward (each). Each person you heal also moves your alignment one point towards good. That's all there is to see here. ------------------------------------------------------------------ III. Hilltop East The first thing you notice after crossing the midtown gate is the halfling caravan. Talk to anyone there and they will tell you of a recent kobold raid they have suffered. Healing each of the injured halflings gives 25 XP and moves your alignment one point towards good. Talk to the caravan leader Katriana and she will tell you of a deck of Tarot cards that were stolen by some kobolds who escaped to the north. Head up to the farmhouse directly north of the caravan. In the ruined tower outside the house there is a pile of stones with some minor loot. The first floor of the house is deserted save for a mouldy crate (Fortitude save vs. disease) containing more minor loot. You can combine the green mouldy stuff with a quartz crystal in the "grinder" in Drogan's room to make a ring giving immunity to disease. Head down to the cellar, take out the kobolds, and retrieve the Tarot cards. Tell Katriana of your success and she will ask you to return the cards to Daschnaya herself. This leads to a little "fortune telling" dialogue in which you are told, well, nothing you haven't already figued out. Just in front of the gate out of town you meet Szaren, a Red Wizard of Thay who wants to set up a mechant enclave in Hilltop. Thing is, the mayor won't hear of it. You can either agree to help him (100 XP) or send him packing (25 XP). If your charisma/persuade is high enough, you can convince him to let the Red Wizards stay. (Rangers have lousy persuade, so I have yet to do this. I'll keep you posted) Another helpful correction here. If you begin Szaren's quest before finishing Piper's, the mayor's assistant will agree to let the Red Wizards stay (no pursuade check) if you finish the Piper quest. Before you leave town altogether, there is one building left to explore. As you near it, Nora Blake comes running toward you pleading for help. Her house has been overrun by kobolds and her husband and newborn are still inside. Not much you can do for the husband since he is already dead, but just wipe out the kobolds and rescue the baby (more than one way to do this). ------------------------------------------------------------------ IV. Hilltop Foothills Following the trail up an incline, an elven ranger named Ferran Valiantheart greets you at the scene of some serious carnage. Looks like a group of kobolds were ambushed by a group of gnolls. Some of the kobolds ran into the nearby elven tomb. (See Elven Crypt below) Ask Ferran what he is doing in the area and he will tell you about how his wife has become deathly ill and he is hunting the elusive Shadow Hart. Though it pains him to kill such a rare and beautiful creature, the horns of the Shadow Hart are a vital component for the cure for his wife. As you traipse around the foothills, you will come across some tracks not belonging to kobolds, but rather are identified as belonging to a stag, though one larger than any you have seen. After discovering three such sets of tracks, a message will display indicating you believe you are getting closer to the elusive beast. The actual location of the Shadow Hart appears to be random. I found it in the hidden copse of trees in the middle of the map, but enough people have told me they found it elsewhere. Kill the Shadow Hart (wherever you end up finding it) to retrieve its horns and return them to Ferran for an XP reward. (You also get the Shadow Hart heart, though I have yet to figure out what to do with it.) Correction: As it turns out, the Shadow Hart can appear in any of several different places. Just hunt around and you are bound to stumble across it sooner or later. The heart of the Shadow Hart can be put into The Grinder along with a quartz crystal to create a Lesser Amulet of Health (immunity to poison and disease). Evil note: You can also kill Ferran and get the Valiantheart longbow (longbow +1). Further along the trail you reach a fork, left for the Nether Mountains or right for Blumberg. For now, we'll go left. Up a slope, you will meet Nathan Hurst, a Duergar friend of Drogan's. His daughter Becka has been kidnapped by a hill giant named Rumgut whose caves lies to the west. All you have to do is convince the idiot giant that this dwarf he has taken for a wife will never grow to be as big as him and he lets her go. You can also agree to a drinking game with Rumgut and use the ensuing conversation to set the girl free. If you end up locked in the cage with Becka, you can escape through a hole in the ground. Whichever method you choose, talk to Nathan again to get your reward (150 XP, Amulet of Natural Armour +1). Continuing north, Deekin (remember him?) catches up to you and rambles on and on about his Master, the white dragon Tymofarrar. No, you won't be fighting any dragons at level 4, don't worry. Deekin just wants to be free and wants you to talk to his Master to make it happen. Head on into the Nether Mountains. A little side note here. As you wander around looking for the Shadow Hart, you will find an injured bear just lying in the snow (western part of the map, about midway up). If you examine the beast, you will find a poisoned arrow stuck in it. Remove the arrow and heal the bear for 100 XP and a two point alignment shift toward good. ------------------------------------------------------------------ V. Elven Crypt The upper level is nearly empty. Beside the fight with the rats, you find only a statue (which will heal you if you pray faithfully) and a locked door. Down the stairs we go to find a couple of kobolds barricaded behind some crates. Take them out with arrows and pick up the assorted swords and whatnot. Through the first door on your left (the one with the scary noises coming from behind it), you will find the spirit of Nilmaldor. He is a guardian of this tomb but, due to a battle with a wraith, is too weak to carry out his duties. He wants you to get rid of a spider infestation for him. The next door down contains the spiders (watch out, they drop from the ceilings). Taking them out is easy enough, just make sure you crush the egg sac to prevent more from hatching. Loot the cocoons for some more goodies and head back to Nilmaldor for your rewards. He gives you a key to that locked door upstairs (we'll hit it on the way out) and tells you of a trick to get rid of the kobolds that have taken up residence in the tomb. Head back down the hallway to the end, then turn right. You will have a couple of skellies and a kobold to fight along the way. You may notice some piles of bones in the walls along the way. Looting these corpses (i.e. grave robbing) shifts your alignment one point towards evil each time you do it. If you don't care about that, or if you are already evil, you can pick up some interesting loot and get some extra XP for killing the wraiths whose sarcophagi you have violated. Turn another right into a section that looks like a double H. At the end of this passage you will find a corpse with a trap around it. Take the sword from the corpse, you'll need it later. Head further south, you will find the entrance to the kobold barricade. Right at the end of this passage, you will find the secret door Nilmaldor mentioned. Go in, grab some helmets, and throw the switch. Knock on the door to the kobold hideout and, after a few stupid questions, you are let in. Two things here; 1.) sheath your weapons as instructed, 2.) do NOT step on the pressure plate. Talk to Urko, the leader, and garner as much information as you can. He will tell you how they stole the artefacts from Drogan's, had two of them stolen during the gnoll ambush, and how the kobold Deekin ran off with another. When you ask for the mummified hand, they all attack, so don't ask for it. Head for the exit, hit the pressure plate and watch the poison do its thing. (You did equip your helmet, right?). Now draw your weapons and slaughter the little buggers. Take the mummified hand from Urko's corpse and grab his hammer while you're at it. There are a few more goodies in the crates (Cloak of Elvenkind and some minor treasure). Only one thing left here. Head back to the intersection where you initially turned right. Go through the other door and then through the first door on your right. There is a spirit here mourning the loss of his sword. Remember the sword you looted from the trapped corpse? Give it to him and he will let you take one item from his treasure chest (sapphire, potion of speed, or amulet of cold resistance (20/-). This should be obvious. Back upstairs and we hit the locked room we passed on the way in. Read the inscription on the marker carefully. "Death becomes life and life becomes death when one has what he wants." Here's how it works. To get to the pedestal without getting fried, you must walk only on the squares "hit" by the beams of red light. On the way out - death becomes life and life becomes death - you must walk only on the squares that were not hit. Oh, and have your henchman stand their ground before trying this. Aside from the Cloak of Asculhorn (Resist bludgeoning 5/-), my paladin also made off with the Valiant Helm (+1 AC, Ultravision 1/day), Valiant Plate (Bonus level 1 spell slot, Charisma +1, Persuade +1), and Valiant Defender (Tower shield +1). My ranger, sadly, got nothing. Now we can bring the hand back to Ayala. You get no XP reward, but your alignment moves 3 points towards lawful. Also, you get to keep the hand - it "points" to the other artefacts. Note: You can also sell the hand to the Red Wizards for 500 GP, and the dragon's tooth for 700. The mask provides immunity to fear and allows you to cast invisibility. ------------------------------------------------------------------ VI. Nether Mountains & Kobold Caves The first cave you come across houses a few orcs but nothing else. Killing the chieftain nets you Eliak's Vengeance (Longbow +1, Massive criticals: 3 damage, rangers only) though. Continue down to the lowest level outdoors and you will find the entrance to the kobold caves. The first section of the caves contains nothing noteworthy, just a few kobold encounters and two ineffective ballista traps that never seem to hit you. Before long, you will come across a large room with a chest in its center (don't open it) and four rooms branching off to the side, one in each corner, and a large locked door as its northern exit. Each of the four side rooms contains a switch to unlock one of the four large doors to the north. The trick is to do them in the correct order (NE, SW, SE, NW), otherwise they all close and you start over. You will notice that each of the large doors has a coloured flag next to it. Equally, each of the levers will have a flag with a colour next to it. Interesting coincidence... Continue through the four large doors, fight a few kobolds (and your first encounter with caltrops) and you find yourself in a vast cavern full of kobold commoners. To the southeast, you find a passage blocked by a massive boulder (which is actually a giant head). This, of course, is the entrance to the lair of Tymofarrar. The only problem is moving the boulder. Head down the next passage over and you will encounter the kobold chief. Tell him you must speak with Tymofarrar and he will tell you it is impossible and start talking about the Master Jumper (you'll see...). Agree to mediate their dispute and the chief releases the Master Jumper from his holding cell. After trading insults, you get them to agree to letting Chief Aziz see the Master once per month. The Master Jumper now heads to the massive boulder and directs his kobold jumpers to jump into a counter-weighting basket thus opening the portal. (200 XP) Alternately, you can just slaughter the chief and his buddies, take the Rod of Ruler and head back to the boulder. A quick search reveals a hidden door with a strange machine behind it. Put the rod in the machine and the boulder raises. ------------------------------------------------------------------ VII. Dragon Caves You have now entered the lair of the Master. There will be a few kobolds there to greet you and some minor treasure for your troubles. Further along the only passage, you come to a herd of oxen in a pen and Klonk "The Freezer." Watch out, Klonk is a tough little kobold. After you do some damage to him, he runs off to lead you into an ambush. Again, there are two ways of doing this. You can either follow Klonk into the ambush and get beaten up really bad (if you survive at all), or you can release the oxen and let the ensuing stampede do your dirty work for you for 200 XP. Guess which one I recommend? The only downside is that it shifts your alignment 5 points toward evil. Finally you meet Tymofarrar, the white dragon Master of the kobolds. He tells you the plot behind the theft of the artefacts, how J'Nah approached him and then attacked him after he betrayed her. He wants revenge and sends you off to the High Forest to find and kill her. You get Deekin's freedom in return. ------------------------------------------------------------------ VIII. High Forest The first cave you come across contains a handful of bugbears and a locked door requiring a special key. Since there is no key to be found, we leave in search of it. Right outside of the cave, to the north, are a couple of bandits talking about getting their loot back to the cave ASAP. Kill them off for some loot (Boots of Reflexes +1) then head off to find their cave. In the northwest (before the water) you will find this cave. Once you kill off all the bandits - and there are a bunch - you will have the key. (Of course, at this point I was very weighted down and went back to town to sell some stuff. Somewhere along the way, I lost the key. I'll get to this my next time through) Beyond the locked door are four skellie warriors. In the sarcophagus is some loot but it also spawns the occupant. In the northwestern corner of the High Forest is a hermit named, conveniently enough, Hermit. Not much of a talker, but he does sell some magic bags which come in handy for all those potions weighing you down. Just next to the entrance to the gnoll caves lies another little cave populated by dragon wyrmlings. Nothing special. You will also find a dragon egg, which you can bring to Hermit for an interesting little tale about some halfling and his ruby pendant. ------------------------------------------------------------------ IX. High Forest - Gnoll caves The layout of the caves is pretty straightforward. What you want to watch out for here is the gongs located all over the place. If you have played IWD2, think war drums. For the time being, ignore any side passages that require you to go through doors. Once you have cleared out all the gnolls in the vicinity, go and release the prisonners from the center of the area for a 200 XP reward. This also moves your alignment 1 point towards good. Giving them 100 GP to start their lives anew moves you another 3 points toward good. As you release them, they mention another stray prisonner, Glendir. He is in a solitary cage just east of the slaves. Again, make sure you have cleared the area of gnolls before releasing him as he needs an escort to get to the exit and will surely die in any combat. Getting him there safely yields another 100 XP. Now we can go and clear out the side passages, taking care of the warden and the beastmaster. There is also a goblin wizard whose notebook may prove useful. Lastly, we go through the heavy door in the middle. Talk to the gnoll chieftain and he will agree to back you up should you choose to attack J'Nah. His only condition is that you do not steal from him or kill any more gnolls. See why we left him for last? ------------------------------------------------------------------ X. High Forest - Ancient Hall When you first enter this area, you will be in a room with five locked doors and a lever in the floor. The first thing you want to do is take the note from the pile of bones and read it. Now, when you pull on the level, one of the doors will open. Be sure to take a look at the colour of the light displayed above the lever. This colour will be the safe path. Every time you reach an intersection in the passage, billows of smoke of different colours will waft down the paths ahead. Follow the path with the smoke the same colour as the light above the lever. At the end, you will encounter an elemental. Once defeated, you will be teleported back to the beginning of the level. Repeat until you have completed all four colours. You get 300 XP for completing the puzzle and the fifth door is now unlocked. Also, a small area behind the pull chain is now open. If you drop a token into the pool and press one of the elemental buttons, the pool will create an item to summon forth one of those elementals. A note about the elementals. As you head down each hallway, you will find a pool. Each pool gives you a hint as to how to acquire the token. All you have to do is cast the correct cantrip on the pool and you get the token. My ranger, for one reason or another, could not cast cantrips (despite his 14 wisdom) so I don't know which cantrip to cast on which pool. Play around a bit and you'll figure it out. Before heading through the fifth door, take the Potion of Elemental Resistance from the chest on your left. This door leads (after a brief cut scene) to J.Nah. She offers a deal similar to the one Tymofarrar offered you. Accept the deal. Now you have an item to kill them both. Do so in the order of your choosing, though you may as well take on J'Nah since you're already here. This fight can be a bit tough, especially since your gnollish allies are decimated in seconds. Use the potion of elemental resistance and some +1 weapons, and you sould be alright. On J'Nah's corpse you find Boots of Hardiness +1, Dragon's Tooth, Magic Staff, and Amulet. Loot the side rooms for some minor treasure and you're done. Once you leave either Tymofarrar's cave of J'Nah's lair (whichever you kill last), Deekin will come to greet you and give you the tower statue. [NOTE: As this has been a point of confusion, you will not find Deekin in his shop or anywhere else until BOTH Tymofarrar and J'Nah have been killed.] With all the artifacts recovered, head back to Drogan to find your master much healed and to earn yourself a nice 2000 XP reward. And now, with the four Waterdhavian creatures recovered, we head off to Luskan... Oh, wait... And now, with the four artifacts recovered, we head off with the halfling caravan to find Garrick. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Interlude ------------------------------------------------------------------ XI. Anauroch - Night Camp The caravan is pausing for the night and, after a brief chat with Katriana, we learn we are under attack. At this point I took Deekin on as a henchman. Much funnier than Dorna. After the ambush, you realise that your guide has gone missing and it is up to you to find him. There are some pretty obvious tracks outside of camp; just follow them into the hole. You find more tracks inside the hole. Follow those (east) and you will be in Stinger Caves proper. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XII. Stinger Caves You want to take it nice and slow here, especially if you have Deekin, since there are traps and ambushes all over the place. The rooms immediately south and immediately east of the first stinger ambush contain nothing more than minor treasure. Still worth looting, though, as there are a few healing kits around. There are tracks throughout the whole complex, so finding Zidan should not be overly difficult. The room in the southeastern corner is the treasure room. In order to disarm the traps, you must destroy the statue. Some items of note include an Amulet of Health, Boots of Elvenkind, and Aurumvorax Armor. Move on to the southwestern room, fight off a few stingers and a commander, and that completes the level. You also get to loot Talona's Strike (Halberd +1, 1d6 acid damage) off the commander's corpse. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XIII. Stinger Caves - Temple Entering the first room, you will find another acid trap and some stingers. Exciting stuff... Beyond that room lies the Stinger Temple. A couple of ghouls and a couple of stingers, but watch out for the High Priest as he likes to paralyse you. All in all, should not be too challenging. Once you kill the High Priest, you get ambushed by a few more ghouls who drop in behind you. Once you have taken care of them, all that is left is to free Zidan. Just kill the altar and he will be free. This earns you 50 XP and shifts your alignment 3 points towards good. A portal appears behind the altar, and there a few hundred GP in treasure at the back. Report back to Katriana for another 1000 XP reward. She also offers you a material reward, but I passed it up. This shifted me 3 more towards good. Are we all at 100 yet? ------------------------------------------------------------------ XIV. Oasis of the Green Palm Halfway to your destination, the caravan has run out of water. Since Katriana so offended the keepers of the oasis on her first trip through the desert, they will no longer tolerate her. Guess whose shoulders this falls on? Wandering to the west, you soon come across the Bedine tribe under siege by zombies. Help them clean up and speak to their leader, Ali Ibn-Musud, to learn how the undead priest Kel-Garas has forced all the water from the oasis. No big deal, all you have to do is kill an immortal. Should be fun. After fighting the zombies and gargoyles in the tomb, you are left with a sarcophagus you cannot open, some rune stones, and a checkerboard pattern on the floor. In order to unlock the sarcophagus, you must place the rune stones on the checker board in the correct pattern. Looking at the banners everywhere, it should be pretty obvious that the pattern is "X" Since there are only 7 rune stones, you must stand in the 8th position to complete the pattern. This yields a 200 XP bonus and, of course, the Desert's Fury (Morning Star +1, +2 vs. undead, 1d8 fire damage vs. undead). Now we head northwest to the Tomb of Kel-Garas. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XV. Tomb of Kel-Garas Straight ahead, just beyond the first set of tracks, is an electrical trap between two gargoyle statues. Again, destroy the statues to disable the trap. You might want to cast Protection from Elements first. Just beyond this, as you cross the bridge, is an undead ambush. The bridge is trapped, there are skeleton archers on either side, and a host of zombies running at you. Don't bother getting fancy here; let the Desert's Fury do its work on the zombies while your henchman takes care of the archers. Another electrical/statue trap lays just ahead. This should be pretty familiar territory by now. In the room to the north are four trapped sarcophagi. The traps are minor, but opening each sarcophagus summons a mummy. In the four, I found: Monk's Belt (Bonus Feat: Improved Critical (Unarmed Strike), Bonus Feat: Weapon Specialization (Unarmed Strike), Haste (10) Once/day), Small Shield +2, Gloves of the Long Death +3. Helmet of Discharge (Electrical Resistance 25/-), and some minor baubles. In the room to the south are a few more zombies and a zombie lord. Loot his corpse for Chainmail +2, a Longsword +1, and the Lens of Deflection (Find Traps 3/day). The chests contain some more minor junk. Now for the big door. Oh God. Four minotaur statues cast Creeping Doom when you walk in the room, which does a nice job of slowing you down while decimating your HP. Someone get me some Raid. What's more, Kel-Garas himself is waiting for you. He seems to run off, but I strongly recommend waiting for the spell to expire before trying to cross the room. Near the other exit is an urn with a healing kit in it. Wasn't that big of them? Outside this room is a door covered by a pile of boulders and a disaster of a trap that spits fire all over the place. There are two floor levers which presumably disable it, but I prefer the secret door route. Rather than facing that frightful trap, you only need to square off against a score of skeletons. Since I wasn't very clear about the secret door bit, it is in the wall about halfway between the boulder door and that fire trap. My Elven ranger picked it up immediately. If you do not see it right away, use search mode. I have also been informed that the levers increase the time gap between the gouts of flame. Slow the down sufficiently and you can run right through. This door covered by boulders is actually part of a paladin side-quest. Beyond the door are four undead monks and, once you get past them, the Master of the order. This guy hits hard and hits often, so good luck to you, but the reward is well worth the effort - a holy avenger. Outside the secret passageway, you are greeted by yet anoter skeleton welcoming committee. Kel-Garas makes his second appearance here and my oh-so-courageous ranger promptly proceeds to soil himself and run away. Once you manage to get in a hit or two, Kel-Garas runs off again. Following the passage out of this room, you are brought to the southernmost room to fight a Skeleton Blackguard and a handful of Skeleton Warriors. Take out the Blackguard as quickly as you can or he'll mop the floor with you. Loot his corpse for Blackguard Armour (Full Plate +1, Divine Favour 3/day), the Blackguard Helmet (+3 to save vs. mind-affecting spells and sonic) and a Greatsword +1. And that's the level. Down we go. Watch out for the fire trap in front of the stairs. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XVI. Tomb of Kel-Garas - Inner Catacombs As you fight off the spectres, you will notice a message about the statue's head. There are two rubies in the eyes. If you want, you can steal the rubies (you'll have to fight the statue for them). At the back of the room, behind the altar, are two trapped chests of minor treasure and a hidden door. If you cannot find the hidden door, you can always go around, just get ready for more statue traps. (Yes, yes, break the statue, disable the trap) This brings us to Kel-Garas, which is a shockingly easy fight. Loot his corpse for the Rod of Blight and the tomb and chests for other goodies (Cloak of Protection +1, Periapt of Wisdom +2, Scythe +2, gems and gold) With that, the temple collapses upon itself and you are whisked outside. All that remains is to bring the rod to the Temple of Lathander to completely destroy Kel-Garas. As you walk into the temple, you find a familiar face waiting for you. Yep, time to fight him again (after a bit of dialogue). He is immortal, remember? Ali Ibn-Musud's men show up and help out. Another ridiculously easy fight. Put the rod on the altar and that's it, that's all. No more Kel-Garas. The rod is replaced by the Rod of Dawn (Cure Critical Wounds, Divine Power, Flame Strike, non-evil clerics only) Evil note: You can converse with Kel-Garas and agree to help him. This shifts your alignment 12 points toward evil and 12 toward chaotic. You get a few hundred gold and a short sword that deals 1d6 acid damage. Oh, and you get the water. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XVII. Ao Encampment Upon entering the encampment itself, you learn that a seriously injured man arrived just today. As it turns out, the injured man is Garrick, the very person you were supposed to find. Speaking with him reveals that the crystal you have been carrying is an ancient Netherese artifact and that some demonic woman has been looking for it. Time to go find that woman... Before you leave, though, have a little chat with Valana. She is a former cleric of Lathander who is beginning to doubt the wisdom in following Ao. Suggest that maybe Ao is merely testing her and earn yourself a 1000 XP reward. If you are playing a cleric, you can also convert Valana to your faith, also for a 1000 XP reward. They seem to be bent on handing out free XP here. Following Garricks directions and walking through the waterfall gives another 1000 XP reward. Apparently (haven't tried this), you can convince the Aoists that you are, in fact, Ao. For this you get 500 XP and a nymph cloak +1. If you talk to the Hobgoblin you can activate a quest to get the minister to allow the hobgoblin to sell the Ao wine. He'll reward you with 2000 GP and 1000 XP for completing the quest. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XVIII. Anauroch - Excavated Ruins You have little choice but to head east, then north. Once you have circled around to the northwest corner, you will come upon a room with a pull chain. Pulling on it makes some rubble fall on your head. Pulling on it again makes more rubble fall on your head. Keep pulling and eventually a Belt of Hill Giant Strength will fall on your head. You will notice a lot of these pull chains, but this one appears to be the only one with something worthwhile. There also seems to be an awful lot of belladonna around here. Not sure why. Continue along the passageways and, about halfway down the western side, you will come across the least intelligent guardian ever created. Tell him you came to collect his master's belongings and you walk away with a Ring of Magic Defenses (Spellcraft +2, Spell Resistance 14, Dispel Magic once/day), a Necklace of Fireballs (Self-explanatory), and some Ointment of Stone to Flesh. I know there are medusas somewhere in this game, so we had better hang on to this. A secret door a little farther along leads to a room full of basilisks. Beyond them lies a "strange machine." There are rune pillars all about the room, but my lore skill is not high enough to translate them. In any case, putting items into each of the urns beside the machine then activating the machine creates a Power Stone whose abilities depend on the ingredients used in creation. Here are the recipes I have discovered so far: Strange machine.... (4) Belladonna + (2) Dragon's Blood = Stoneskin (1) Dragon's Blood + (1) Dragon's Blood = Stoneskin (1) Dragon's Blood + (1) Fairy Dust = Camouflage + Invisibility (6) Belladonna + (1) Dragon's Blood = Haste (6) Belladonna + (1) Fairy Dust = Haste (10) Slaad tongues + (1) Dragon Blood = Stoneskin (6) Belladonna + (6) Slaad Tongues = Damage Resist Spell (4) Belladonna + (1) Camouflage = Invisibility (6) Slaad Tongues + (1) Fairy Dust = Damage Reduction + Immunity to Mind Affecting Spells [Huge thanks to Alex Schnarr for his input here. The following is copied directly out of the email he sent me.] On the far side of the basilisk room is a Sphinx statue. Use the Ointment of Stone to Flesh found on the corpse in the previous room. Myrixamophit the Sphinx is freed. Myr will tell you about a wizard that left a journal in this room at one point but it is no longer there. The journal mentioned an orb that absorbs three defensive spells and then becomes a magical staff that can cast all three back on you at once. He also mentioned a crystal ball near the portal that could shows which button to press next, but also mentions that all the rooms look the same. You can ask the Sphinx for riddles, each answer gives you a formula for the machine. First riddle: If I eat, I grow; If I drink, I die. By my life you live; in my life you cry. Answer: Fire Formula: 6 belladonna in offensive urn creates haste. Second riddle: Without me, you would crawl; with me you stand tall; too much of me and you fall. Answer: Pride. 10 organs from extra-planar creatures in right urn = power stone Third riddle: I saw a battle between griffons and hippogryphs. Each race had male and female members involved in the battle. Each member of both races attacked every member of the other race once. When a male griffon attacked a male hippogryph, they would swipe with their claws. When a male and a female fought, or two females fought each other, they would bite. I witnessed 21 pairs swipe, while 34 pairs bit each other. How many male creatures and how many female creatures were fighting? Answer: 10 males and 6 females. Answering the three riddles nets you 500 experience. There also is a bug here, where if you fail a riddle question, you can say you're leaving, then click "wait, I have a few more questions" and then say no more questions (you can then choose the riddle dialog again). Persuade or intimidate/persuade for a reward and get a ruby, as well. Your reward for rescuing the griffon is an explanation on how the urns work. Left urn is defensive and right urn is offensive. The trick is to have the right number of each component in both urns before it will work. Once ready, using the device makes a stone. Components are listed on pillars. Basically, you choose your own offense and defense from the formulas given on the pillars. You need one offensive and one defensive. East side, SE pillar: When the firey eye of the glowing ruby becomes the attacker's friend, then with the item thus created burn your enemies, bring their end. But join its power with the mighty defender, and your enemy's magic will bend. East side, NE pillar: When thrice the ruby's power is joined with the urn of great attack, then all your enemies will burn, no power you will lack. Or cast your cares into the air, for with defense, turn your foe's greatest magic back. North side, NE pillar: When four of the sweet belladonna roots grow, those who attack you can be made slow. But join six of the roots in a defensive way, and the pace of your own steps will grow. North side, NW pillar: The blood of the dragon, the worst kind of foe, when joined to your offense, backwards your opponents will blow. Defensively used your skin will harden against all woe. West side, NW pillar: Ten tongues of a creature from some other plane, can be used to destroy your foe in an instant of pain. But six in defense protects from air, earth, water, and flame. West side, SW pillar: The gift of the fairy can really be fun, when used on the offense, your opponents it will stun. But defensively used and even when you attack you will be seen by no one. [End Alex's part] This brings us to the end of the side passages. The room in the center of it all has a little skirmish going on among Formians and Slaadi. Oh yeah, there's a big hole in the ground smack in the middle of the room. This leads to the Formian Hive. Formians, by the way, are big sissies despite their appearance. By the by, Formians is an interesting name for these ant-people as "fourmi" is French for ant. Anywyas, after slaughtering a bunch of them, a voice in your head calls to you, offering peace. Speak to the Formian Queen and she will offer to assist you in fighting the "Chaos foes." Back upstairs, the last room remaining is the portal room. Once you open the sliding doors, you see a small cutscene of the hooded figure go through the portal before having to fight a Grey Slaad and a number of Reds. Take out the grey first before he gets a chance to use his spells on you. To activate the portal, you must press a button on each of six statues in the correct order. Looking into the crystal ball will show you the room containing the pedestal you must press next. Unfortunately, the damnable things all look the same. My suggestion is to place one item in each room such that you can tell one from the other. In my case, the pattern was: 51 26 34 though I am not sure if this pattern is constant or random. Either way, you get 500 XP for completing the puzzle. Now all that is left is to go through the portal. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XIX. Netherese Ruin Not much here, really. Just a few Abasi, some statues, a temple you cannot enter, and a hooded figure.... Hmm... statues everywhere, a hooded figure... I wonder.... ------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapter 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------ XX. Unrentide - Abasi Camp So, as it turns out, you are now a slave to some lizard-thing. He wants you to kill ten golems yet does not promise your freedom in return. This should be interesting. Alright, so on though the first door and into the East Fragment we fought some spiders and our first golem. Not nearly as tough as I would have expected. They are resistant to magic, but not overly resistant to greatswords. :) In the same room as the first golem, there is a chest behind a portcullis containing Gargoyle Boots. On now to the North Fragment where a Stone Butler hints as to how the golems can be tamed. More free XP simply for taking a book out of a bookcase. Oh, it tells of three artifacts which, combined, can unlock the seal around the Temple. We'll have to look into that. As you go through the Fragments, you come across the Library, Arcanists' Tower, and Crypt mentioned in the book. Clicking on the doors (though you cannot get in) is worth 500 XP each. Yes, each. The Golem-Maker's Ring is easy enough to find - it is in a sarcophagus in the next room, right where the Stone Butler said it would be. 1000 XP for grabbing it. At 1800 West Alahambra Avenue, you come across Kabbernacky's Guide to Mythals, a 200 XP find, that tells you Heurodis will likely be found in the Temple. What a surprise. We move now to the West Fragment with half of the golems already vanquished. This ring makes them too easy. At the south end of the West Fragment, we find a room filled with wishing wells... Dunno, could not get them to do anything. There is no door leading to the South Fragment, so it's back the way we came. Now heading north past the first door we came across, you notice (at least my ranger did) some tracks in the ground suggesting a spider's nest is near. Is that why they keep dropping from the bleeding ceiling? No matter. Circle around the hallways that ring the Abasi camp and you will find the remaining golems. There is also a shrub in these hallways (how it survived underground for centuries untold, I don't know) which yields the Branch of Giving (Flameberry, Iceberry each once/day). Ashtara does not let you go free just yet, but there are no more restrictions on where you can go, if that makes any sense. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXI. The Great Library As you venture through, taking care of those pesky Ancient Dust Mephits, be sure to check all of the bookcases. Most of them contain only junk, but I foung the Golden Chalice of Lathander (Healing Circle 3x, Light unlimited/day) in one. The northwestern room is full, and I do mean full, of Ancient Dust Mephits and Dust Elementals. Caution is in order. Once you have them cleared out, you find a tome called "The Beggard's Love." Read it. (200 XP) In the book (yes, IN the book) you find a blind beggar mourning the loss of his girlfriend. In the monastery up ahead, you face quite the challenge, fighting off Unholy Priestesses and their Grand Matron (Loot her corpse for a pen and the North Wind Bow (Longbow +3, Resist Cold 20/-, Mighty +3) and a Devil, which you have no hopes of hitting, let alone killing. Run to the northwest corner, into another room, and read the book there. OK, OK, so apparently my ranger was a fairy. Many people have told me the Devil can be killed without too much difficulty, especially if you are a paladin. Now you are down in Hell, where you find Karsus the Archwizard fighting off succubi. Help him out and talk to him afterwards. Ask to read his confession and earn 350 XP. Leave the area, find his book, read the confession, and earn another 200 XP. Write down your tale in the empty book for an additional 700 XP. And now we're off to capture the wise wind. This is definitely one hell of a fight. You earn the 1500 XP reward. A much better solution provided by Sensenei here: In Unrentide in the Great Library you try to catch the wise wind. After coming back from hell with Karus' ink you can write down your story/tale to get to the wise wind. Its really hard to fight him. But try another way. Instead of writing your tale, have a second look in the other book (the beggar's love or something like that). Now you have the chance to change the end of that story. By reading it again you will find Ray as a knight now and his girlfriend alive. Then change the end of Karus' story and read it again. Follow the path to hell and talk to the arch angel. Then read the last book and get back to the library. By changing the two books both people (Ray and Karus) are alive and offered your help to catch the wise wind. Now write your tale with Karus' ink. By reading it you will be teleported and meet Ray and Karus there. Both help you now fighting the wind. Seems like I am the only one who didn't figure this out as I have received similar emails from nearly everyone listed in Acknowledgements. :P ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXII. Crypt Tower - 1st Floor Although it looks intimidating, there is really nothing to this level. Smash all the sarcophagi, kill all the Distrubed, and collect your loot. Traps be damned, they do so little damage anyways. Loot includes Large Shield +3, Boots of the Sun Soul +4, Full Plate +2, Armor of Command (Medium Armour, AC +3, Charisma +2, Persuade +5). ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXIII. Crypt Tower - 2nd Floor Burning Men everywhere and junk all over the floor. Pull a level in the middle of the room and head on upstairs for 500 XP. Some of the loot I found: Mithral Shield (Small shield, AC +2, Freedom) Shadow Robe (Camouflage once/day, Displacement once/day) ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXIV. Crypt Tower - 3rd Floor This floor is a maze with walls that raise and lower. It would be far more difficult if you could not just bash your way through the walls. But you can. Onward. You might want to make a point oof looting the side rooms while you're here; I picked up Mirrored Armour, the Longarm bow, and a Netherese Axe. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXV. Crypt Tower - Hall of the Dead Wind This can be quite tricky and overwhelming. What I found out the hard way is to not bother with the zombies. While that green light is under the Dead Wind, it is invincible. Every so often, the light fades. Pummel it for all you're worth. Once the green light returns, go check on your henchman, who will likely need healing. Repeat as needed. 1500 XP for killing it. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXVI. Arcanists' Tower - 1st Floor I really should not even have to write anything here. There are a few bookcases full of useless junk, a few desks full of useless junk, a fire elemental in a cage (makes a nice candle), and a talking rat. Now what would you do? Yeah. 500 XP for talking to him. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXVII. Arcanists' Tower - 2nd Floor & Plane of Shadows A bit of a mess, this floor. Anyhoo, kill off a couple of Shadovar and run through a Shadow Portal and it's off to the Plane of Shadows for you.... Seems like an interlude between parts of the 2nd level. Use the portals to move back and forth. You need a shadow gem in order to use the portals, so be sure to loot corpses. Here's an interesting tidbit; the Shadovar just keep coming. If you have the patience, you can just camp out here killing them for XP, some minor loot, and a boatload of shadow gems (which sell for 20 GP each to Ashtara). Wander about until you make it to the northeast corner of the 2nd floor and go through the door. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXVIII. Arcanists' Tower - High Arcanist's Chambers A brief cutscene shows something called a Shadow Lich take away the Dark Wind. In the southeast corner, you find a portable door in a trapped chest. This find nets you 500 XP. Use the door's powers to create a door that will transport you to the lair of the Shadow Lich. Time to take back what's ours. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXIX. Realm of the Shadow Lich Try your best to take the mages and healers out as quickly as possible. Fireballs work nicely. Fighting the lich one-on-one is a cakewalk. Trying to melee everyone at once is suicide. You get far less XP for killing this guy (I got 578 though I think it is level-dependent) than you do for the other winds but you can also loot his corpse for the Robe of Vecna (Hey, some people like it). Time to go put this mess on the Ark of Three Winds and see what happens. (Yet another 500 XP) ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXX. Temple of the Winds - 1st Floor Aside from the level crawling with Medusa Handmaidens and Helmed Horrors, I have noticed that there is no option to have Deekin identify your stuff. Considering all the loot you get on this floor alone, that is rather maddening. Some of this loot includes Chainmail of Speed and Red Dragon Armour. You will notice four chests in the "corners" of the floor. Make sure you have plenty of health before heading towards any of them as there are traps EVERYWHERE. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXXI. Temple of the Winds - 2nd Floor There is a door for each cardinal point. Each door has a lever beside it, each of which must be pressed. What you have to watch out for here is the Shadow Demon (looks like the Weird spell). Every time you try to cross the box-shaped passages in the center of the level, he casts some fire spell that covers all the walkways. Make sure you are protected against fire or you may not make it to the other side. Aside from that, there are only Wisps and Spectres to battle to get to the switches. Once you have all the levers pressed, the door opens and it's off to fight Heurodis. THE END. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXXII. Acknowledgements Thanks to the following people for the input to this walkthrough: Ragusa, Luc Beaulieu, some guy from Trico Design who neglected to give his name, Turk Blackwell, Thomas Teh, Mella, rattLE, Regan Galbraith, Drew Lamarra, BigStick, Zac Gochenour, Alex Schnarr, SideStep, Greg Alexander, Patrick Dobson, Sensenei, Norton, Scot Houston, Glenn Stubbs, Max Chudnovsky, Askur Alas ------------------------------------------------------------------ This walkthrough was written exclusively for use on Sorcerer's Place (http://www.sorcerers.net) as will be all future updates. Any use, reproduction, alteration, or distribution of this work without the express written consent of the author and/or Sorcerer's Place administrators is strictly forbidden. (Hint: If you got this walkthrough anywhere other than SP, they ripped me off. Let me know.)