Aielund Saga Walkthrough Guide
The award-winning Aielund Saga is an epic, medieval high fantasy D&D 3rd Edition campaign consisting of four sprawling Acts, with Act IV broken up into three Parts. It is one of the flagship heroic adventures for Neverwinter Nights, and a great showcase for NWN mods.
If you're just beginning to explore the jungle of NWN modules, I don't think there is a better introduction than the Aielund Saga, especially if you grew up with classics such as Baldur's Gate 1 and Icewind Dale 1. However, when you are done with the Aielund Saga, I would recommend playing Swordflight: the apex of NWN modules.
Aielund Saga Builds
Most of my NWN Builds are viable in Aielund. However, if you're new to NWN I would recommend:
Example: A deathless Dwarven Defender Aielund Saga Build that has only gone through the first two Acts:
On the other hand, there are no arcane spellcaster companions in Aielund until deep into the campaign. Thus, Wizard, Sorcerer or even Bard make sense. Just note that these are more difficult to play in Aielund if you don't have a good grip on the magic system; as in, which NWN Spells to cast, and when. In addition, casual players may get frustrated by rest restrictions under the Vancian Magic System.
For Weapon Focus NWN, I'd recommend:
- Scimitar NWN
- Katana NWN
- Rapier NWN (if Finesse)
- Longbow NWN (if Archer)
I guess katana is the coolest weapon in Aielund, though.
Aielund Saga Act 1: Nature Abhors a Vacuum
In the Kingdom of Aielund, trouble is brewing. While the king leads an army against enemies in the far west, the poorly-protected realm is under attack from brigands, goblinoids, and barbarians from the east. And rumors of a conspiracy are growing as the remaining military forces do little to stem the tide. Into this vacuum of power steps a small band of daring individuals, who must try to keep the region intact while tracking down the conspirators who seek to divide the land for themselves. - DM Savant.
- Part I (this post).
- Part II: Culdeny.
- Part III: Calespur.
- Part IV: High Plains.
- Part V: Princess Criosa.
- Aielund Saga Item Codes Act 1
Aielund Saga Act 2: Defender of the Crown
Fairloch - the majestic capital of Aielund and home of the royal family. But all is not well in the City of Justice. With the King away and only Princess Criosa to represent the royal family, shadowy conspirators are seeking to kill her and take the throne of Fairloch for themselves.
You and your companions must delve into the heart of the city, brave assassination attempts and evil from beyond the grave while you investigate the real reason behind the war in the west, and discover an enemy far more sinister than the petty villains who seek to seize power. - DM Savant.
- Part I: Defender of the Crown
- Part II: Fairloch.
- Part III: Assassins' Guild.
- Part IV: Attack on the Senate.
- Part V: Stoneguard Mountains.
- Part VI: The Isle of the Dead.
- Part VII: The Castellan.
- Aielund Saga Item Codes Act 2
Aielund Saga Act 3: Return of the Ironlord
With the city of Fairloch safe for the time being, and the Royal family secure at last, you turn your attention now to the West, to King Seamus and the Aielund military in it's struggle to defeat the Ironlord. All seems to be going to plan, until the ancient monster breaks free of its century-old prison and embarks upon a single-minded quest for domination of the land. - DM Savant.
- Part I: Return of the Ironlord.
- Part II: Azurefang.
- Part III: Bracksworth.
- Part IV: Highmarch.
- Part V: Abode of the Damned.
- Part VI: Hall of the Ancients.
- Part VII: The Ironlord's Siege.
- Aielund Saga Item Codes Act 3
Aielund Saga Act 4: The Fall of Aielund
It is nearly two years after the Battle of Fort Highmarch, where you and your companions defeated the Ironlord and saved the Kingdom, only to have King Seamus take the ancient armour for himself. Despite your fears, the King managed to rule justly for nearly a year, before things started to take a turn for the worse. With the King apparently losing his grip on reality, and Aielund in a state of war against all of it's neighbors with no end in sight, something has to be done before civilisation itself crumbles. - DM Savant.
Act 4, Pt. 2
- Part III: The Battle for Bracksworth.
- Part IV: The Lowmarch.
- Part V: The Southern Foothills.
- Part VI: The Tower of Blackwood Glade.
- Part VII: The Ironlord's Fall.
- Aielund Saga Item Codes Act 4, Pt. II
Act 4, Pt. 3
- Part VIII: The Vault.
- Part IX: Osric's Downfall.
- Part X: The Hall of Worlds.
- Part XI: The Dragon's Throne.
- Part XII: Twilight.
- Part XIII: The Eternal Battlefield.
- Part XIV: Citadel of the Saqaarin.
- Part XV: The Supreme Commander.
- Aielund Saga Item Codes Act IV, Pt. III
Installation instructions are posted at the end of this post.
Aielund Saga Walkthrough
Bracksworth aka Bracksford
The adventure begins in the town of Bracksworth, in the Kingdom of Aielund:
We begin in our room in the Bracksworth Inn. Rain can be heard outside, and distant thunder.
Search the room for a chest and an armoire holding articles of clothing.
The cushion on the bed allows us to rest, which replenishes our HPs and spellslots (Cushion of Considerable Comfort).
Note how when we loot the chest, there are actually TWO inventory pages. Remember this as you play or you may miss out on loot.
Note: With the release of v.3.0: Enhanced Edition, Savant has changed the name of the town to Bracksford. I don't want to change every instance in my walkthrough, so just keep that in mind.
Anyway, head downstairs to the common room.
Aielund Saga Companions
There are two companions in the common room that can join our party:
- Dante Colt: Chaotic Good Human Fighter (1): Unshaven, and apparently unwashed, this man seems to care little for social conventions but looks tough and ready for anything.
- Nellise Sanneman: Lawful Good Aasimar Cleric (1): This incredibly beautiful woman is obviously only partly human. She returns your inquiring gaze with a smile.
Note that Nellise eventually gets the Hammer of the Gods spell, which is very powerful.
Aielund Saga: Player Tool 1
The Player Tool 1 Feat was added by Balkoth for v.3.0 of Aielund Saga. We can click on it and then click on the ground where we want our companions to move, or click on the enemy that we want them to attack, among other things. USEFUL. Assign it to a Quickbar slot. To do that, right-click on a quickbar slot, navigate to the Player Tool icon, and click on it. Then, click on the icon in the cell and click on the ground somewhere. The companions should move to where you clicked.
The Innkeeper requests a batch of ale from Culdeny brewery in the north. But to do that, first we need to find the mayor and get permission to leave town. Forget this quest for now.
Speak with mayor Olaf in his office opposite the inn. We need to help him with a troublemaker called Merin, whose home is between the tanner and the smithy. Merin attacks when we move to collect the documents from the drawer, so slay her and return to Olaf: 750 EXP, 75 GP (original: 400 XP).
The mayor now gives us the southgate pass. He wants us to deliver Requisition Forms to Fort Highmarch.
The Half-orc smithy asks us to bring him a node of iron. Forget this quest for now.
Farmers. These are optional quests. The first farmer wants us to clear his barn of rats. Slay them and give the dire rat tail to the farmer: 200 EXP, 50 GP. Then, another farmer tells us about noises in his barn. Talk to the man in the barn and then tell the farmer it was just the wind: 150 EXP, 20 GP.
You might have reached level 2 now. If not, don't be too concerned because you can make up the experience soon.
Aielund Saga: Tomb of the Exiled Knight
In the Scribe's house we read a tome (50 EXP). This is a quest that we can't do yet. The quest is continued in Tomb of the Exiled Knight.
There is an expensive set of Elven Chain on offer from the scribe.
The druid Hasrinaxx is found in a nearby grove in Bracksworth. He sells a useful item for Druids, but it's expensive: Belt of Vines: bonus spellslot Druid 1-3.
In the Paddock there is an oddly mooing cow which we think deserves investigation. It turns out to be two men in costume attempting to catch a wolf. When the wolf actually appears, the two men run off in fear -- still in the costume -- leaving it for us to kill (100 EXP).
Ok, let's get out of this dump.
Aielund Saga: The Road to Highmarch
With the initial questing out of the way, we head through the south gate onto the southern highway.
Fight wolves. Up ahead is a corpse and three chests surrounding a wagon, which we loot for the Raise Dead scroll and the blacksmith's iron node (weight = 100.5). Give the iron to Dante if you can't carry it.
Wolf Den. We keep heading south to the snowy Highmarch Foothills, where we encounter yet more wolf packs and a den packed full of wolves. Killing them all off we come out with 87 GP, a Wand of Magic Missiles and a Darkness spell. At a small bridge we confront an Alpha Wolf.
We arrive at Fort Highmarch and use Persuade to give the Requisition Forms to the Guard Captain (+200 GP, +250 EXP).
We're level 3 now.
The guard captain now asks us to deliver military documents to the mayor. We are time-lapsed back to Bracksworth.
Back in Bracksworth, we return the iron node to the Half-orc smithy (350 EXP, Amulet of Natural Armor +1). The smithy's inventory also expands.
We deliver the military documents to the mayor (100 GP, 400 EXP). Next, he wants us to take out the brigands and highwaymen blockading the north. He hands us a pass to the north gate.
Bandit Blockade
The northern highway carves a path through a thickly wooded forest. Slay the bandit leader and loot his head.
Head north, bash through the makeshift barrier, and cross the bridge into the town of Culdeny.
Important note: With a couple minor exceptions, the rest of this post (Part I) covers the plot-critical path only. This is a streamlined version of my main walkthrough. If you want to read coverage of optional quests, stop reading this post and continue on with Part II instead.
Aielund Saga: Culdeny
Get the shipment of ale from Chelland in the brewery. Then, get Roim to timelapse us back to Bracksworth. Give the Ale Keg to the innkeeper and the bandit's head to the mayor: 200 GP, 300 XP + 500 GP, 500 XP.
Note that the smithy sells masterwork arms and armor. It results in AC +3 over what we had.
The Initials R.B.
Head to the Church and speak to Priestess Celeste. She asks us to check out the crypt next to the church. Enter the crypt, detect a trapdoor on the floor near the statue and drop down. Slay the goblins and loot Urak's corpse at the end of the tunnel for Goblin Orders signed with the initials "R.B". Loot the Gem-Studded Necklace as well, then climb the ladder back up and place the necklace on the statue: 300 XP.
Now, return to Celeste in the church: 350 XP, 300 GP.
Aielund Saga: Rumors of a Conspiracy
Next, go to the barracks and deliver the Goblin Orders to the commander. "R.B" points to Robert Bartlett at the North Shore Trading Company. At the company building, speak with the secretary to learn the conditions of entry for the Gentleman's Club upstairs. At the mayor's office, learn from Donan about the illegal hunting going on in the Calespur Ranges (optional quest). Get the Gentleman's Club Key by persuading or bluffing the mayor. Re-enter the club, head upstairs and speak with both Ronald Bartlett and Robert Black. When they both hurry off, speak with the secretary again and return to the commander in the barracks, who issues a warrant for their arrest: 1,000 XP.
At this point, Mayor Olaf of Bracksworth, Clavis MacTavish in Culdeny as well as Donan the ranger and the mayor of Culdeny all point to problems in the Calespur Ranges. However, Calespur is NOT critical to plot progression: providing we completed Rumors of a Conspiracy and delivered the bandit leader's head to the mayor of Bracksworth, we can speak to him again immediately in order to trigger the Barbarian Threat, which kicks off the next phase of the main quest.
Barbarian Threat
Go and see Commander Redfurn in the Bracksworth barracks. We need to hunt down the half-orc barbarian, Erag, in the High Plains. She gives us a pass to the East gate.
Starting in the northwest of the Southern Foothills, simply head eastward to reach the High Plains. Open the gate to the Barbarian camp, slay the horde and enter Erag's hideout by way of the cave.
Hope you have a torch or the Light spell because it's dark inside. The place is stacked with tanky barbarians but all we need to do is make our way to the southeast of the level. Morik Far-Eagle is inconsequential.
On the lower level, all we need to do is slay Erag in the southwest. Then, loot his head for proof that he's dead.
Return the head to the commander in Bracksworth: 1,000 XP, 1,000 GP.
The Kidnapping of Princess Criosa
Next, head to the inn and speak with the mayor. We need to track down the mercs and save the princess. Exit, and drop down the trapdoor behind the inn. Weave through the tunnel and climb up the ladder to reach the Bracksworth Plains. Slay the mercs and enter the Steel Tiger hideout in the northeast.
Head west, north and then west again to find Criosa in a cell. Recruit her. Then, head east along the northern, trap-laden passageway and then south to find a door leading downward.
Locate Bartlett's corpse (bludgeoned to death by mountain giant), loot it of the note, and exit to the mountain pass.
Battle of Culdeny
Slay the mercenary force led by Commander Robert Black. When looting his corpse of cool items, note that his inventory has two pages.
Return to Culdeny with Criosa: 2,000 XP, 1,500 GP.
Strip Nellise and Dante of their gear before speaking to Captain Vale at the docks.
Act 1 ends.
Pirate Attack
We're on the Redoubtable ship bound for the city of Fairloch. From belowdecks, head up to the captain's cabin to speak with Captain Vale. On the deck, Lieutenant Masterson asks you to tell the captain the ship is being followed. We are timelapsed back belowdecks as the Redoubtable comes under attack by pirates. Head back up to the deck, slay the pirates, swing across to the pirate ship by rope, enter the captain's cabin, slay the pirate captain and loot the chest for the Pirate's Orders. Swing back to the Redoubtable and give the orders to the captain.
Escorting the Princess
We've arrived in the Docklands of Fairloch city. Head up on-deck and speak with the Captain. We need to escort Criosa to the castle. Recruit Ronan and Criosa.
Head down the gangplank and onto the jetty, then take the eastern exit. In the marketplace, en route to the castle and just north of the playhouse, we may get waylaid by assassins. Loot the note from one of their corpses.
Aielund Saga Companion Locations
- Valennia (Barbarian): Docklands inn (Docks)
- Sir William (Paladin): Fair Maiden Inn (Marketplace)
- Maggie (Druid): Tradeway Tavern (Residential District)
So now we have a party of five.
Defender of the Crown quest
Fairloch Castle is east of the marketplace. Speak with the Castellan and enter the King's Court to speak with Duke Montague. Give him the assassin's note. Criosa leaves the party (200 XP). The Duke and Sir Godfrey ask us to track down the assassins hunting Criosa. We are given a Letter of Marque to show Captain Deckard of the City Watch. Deckard is stationed in the guardhouse in the Docklands. He's upstairs. He tells us we need to find the Thieves' Guild in the sewers under the Marketplace.
We learn from Peridoc Dabbenfold that the assassin guild is located beneath an art gallery in the Senate District, north of the Marketplace. Go there and enter. The secret door to the assassin's guild is built into the wall just to the left of Julia. Again, we want a torch or the Light spell.
There are two levels to the guild. Passageways are heavily trapped. We are basically raiding the guild, slaying all assassins in our way. There is a locked door on the second level that can't be bashed down. Employ Knock or Ronan's skills.
Behind that door is the assassin guild leader, Holister Swiftblade. Disperse his illusions and beat him up until he surrenders and gives up paperwork on the conspirators. We can either let him go after he gives up his gear or finish him off and take it from his corpse.
At this point, we can burglarize the Bartlett Estate to the west of the guild (behind the library) and take the Sealed Letter from the desk upstairs, which we can present to Captain Deckard: 700 XP. Head down to the guardhouse dungeon to interrogate Bartlett. From him we learn that we need to investigate Senator Augustus Johnson.
Go to the castle's court and get the key to the Johnson estate from Sir Godfrey. Back in the Senate District, enter the estate, slay the butler and loot the Satchel full of papers from upstairs.
Night of the Long Knives
Head back downstairs, then down into the senator's basement. Take the secret door that leads into Senate District sewers. Then, head west and then north (as per the mini-map) to another secret door leading to a hidden passage at the end of which is the secret entrance to the Senate Building.
Head in, head upstairs and interrupt the in-session senate. Slay the Shadow Warriors that break in, talk to the House Speaker and then beat up Johnson until he surrenders. We are escorted to the King's Court by the Knight Captain, where we give Sir Godfrey the Satchel of papers: 2,000 XP, 10,000 GP.
The Scepter of Transcendence
At court, the Duke gives us Ancient Artefacts From Old Tymes. We are to explore The Feybourne, Stoneguard Mountains and The Isle of the Dead in search of the scepter. This involves slaying a dragon (Deathmist), taking out a horde of Duergar and destroying a Lich.
If you read this far then we are up to here now. You can continue with that link. Reminder: What you have read here is a streamlined rewrite that hammers out the plot-critical path. I posted it to help new players get going.
Take me to Part II!
Aielund Saga Installation Instructions
You don't need NWN:EE to play Aielund Saga EE. This is just what Savant decided to call his update because it was released around the same time NWN:EE was released, and because it is enhanced in that it contains bugfixes, extended dialogues, extra companion control, support for a larger party and a bit more eye-candy. For more info, search this document for [changes].
Ok, so you want to play Savant's Aielund Saga but where do you download it from and how do you install it? Well, this post should help newbies who have never installed a NWN module before.
First things first, make sure your game is patched to 1.69. Even if it's the GoG version I would run this to be sure, as some people have had problems getting community content to work, which the patch seemed to fix each time. So, patch your game!
In addition I suggest you completely back up your pristine Neverwinter Nights install to somewhere safe before you starting messing around with it, just in case you stuff something up. You also need 7-Zip to extract the zip, rar and 7z archives, so grab it here if you don't already have it. Done that? Ok...
Aielund Saga Installation Files
The Aielund Saga consists of four Acts with Act IV consisting of three Parts. Download the files from neverwintervault.org, which I've linked to directly for your convenience:
(the_aielund_saga_act_i_nature_abhors_a_vacuum_313.rar)
(the_aielund_saga_act_ii_defender_of_the_crown_312.rar)
(the_aielund_saga_act_iii_return_of_the_ironlord_313.rar)
(the_aielund_saga_act_iv_the_fall_of_aielund_pt1_307.rar)
(the_aielund_saga_act_iv_the_fall_of_aielund_pt3_307.rar)
Downloaded them? Ok, use 7-Zip to extract the modules somewhere temporary (ie, NOT in your NWN installation folder) and open the first folder (the_aielund_saga_act_i nature_abhors_a_vacuum) to find a readme and two module files inside:
The Aielund Saga Act I - Nature Abhors a Vacuum.mod and
The Aielund Saga Act II - Defender of the Crown.mod
What? Why is Act II in here? It's not, it's just a "placeholder" mod - hence its small size - for when the Saga was in development; ignore it.
Now, place The Aielund Saga Act I - Nature Abhors a Vacuum.mod to your NWN modules folder - normally located in:
C:\Program Files (x86)\NeverwinterNights\NWN (NWN:DE) or
C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Neverwinter Nights (NWN:EE)
- and do the same for the other Acts, ignoring the placeholder mod each time. Note that the the_aielund_saga_act_iv_the_fall_of_aielund_pt3 folder contains two modules, one of which is the Finale.mod. Make sure you place it in, too! You should now have seven Aielund modules in your module folder.
The modules are now installed but we need to grab some other archives, as well, containing many necessary files required by the Saga. Please don't be intimidated by this. I will walk you through it, step by step. And believe me, it's all worth it.
Aielund Hakpack (aielund_ems_finale_haks_v3_1.7z)
Abyss Tileset (abyss.rar)
Ship Interior Tileset (shipinteriordds.rar)
112 Placeable paintings (paintingpack_0.zip)
Aielund Music Selection (aielundmusic_0.zip)
As of Jan-03-2018 (the release date of v.3.0: Aielund Saga: Enhanced Edition), you will also need the following hak:
Early Winter Tileset (mountainsnow_1.7z)
Use 7-Zip to extract all of these archives somewhere temporary; the process may take quite a while because of all the content.
Done that? Ok, let's go through these one at a time...
Open the cep_2_65 folder and navigate to the haks folder. Place all haks to your NWN haks folder. Now, navigate to the tlk folder and place the five tlk files into your NWN tlk folder. If you don't have one, create it. CEP is now installed!
Next, open the aielund_and_ems_haks folder and place aielund_finale.hak, aielund_hakpak.hak and ems.hak into your NWN haks folder. Note that arQon's EMS is optional and somewhat controversial. On the one hand, anti-EMS people complain of its lack of documented changes; on the other, the author (Savant) and the maintainer (Balkoth) recommend it. Play how you like.
Next, open the abyss, elvencity, shipinterior and paintingpack folders and place abyss.hak, ElvenCity.hak, Ship-Interior.hak and PaintingPack.hak into your NWN hak folder.
Next, open the aielundmusic folder and place the 12 bmu files into your NWN music folder.
Now for the new stuff that Savant added with v.3.0: Aielund Saga: Enhanced Edition. Open the mountainsnow_1 folder and place mountainsnow.hak into your NWN hak folder.
Installation complete.
Aielund Saga EE v.3.0 [Changes]
Note that horses as mounts (for you and your companions) has been removed in v3.0:EE of Aielund Saga (due to the potential for bug introduction). Similarly, the Elven City Tileset has been omitted.
v.3.0 of Aielund supports max party of five rather than just three. NWN native scaling of spawns based on party size should keep the challenge up, but I haven't personally confirmed it.
"Bracksworth" has been renamed to "Bracksford" for reasons of consistency with Savant's subsequent novels. Sorry, but I can't be assed updating every instance in the walkthrough to reflect that change.
"Bracksworth" has been renamed to "Bracksford" for reasons of consistency with Savant's subsequent novels. Sorry, but I can't be assed updating every instance in the walkthrough to reflect that change.
Balkoth's Minion Control
Balkoth has released a mod (Balkoth's Minion Control) that will give you greater control of your companions, summons, familiars and animal companions. Employing Player Tool 1, it allows you to command units to move to a certain position, attack a certain creature etc.
Zwerkule's Facelift Haks
Optionally, you may also install Zwerkule's Facelift haks as an override or patch hak. Depending on your PC, these haks may noticeably increase loadtimes and decrease framerates -- for very little if any aesthetic gain.
Download: Mines & Caverns Tileset (biomines_0.7z), Forest Tileset (bioforest.7z), Placeables (bioplcs.7z), Winter Tileset (biosnow.7z), Rural Tileset (biorural.7z), Interior Tileset (biointerior.7z).
Real Skies
Real Skies is also an optional component that you can install as an override or patch hak. As with ZFH, performance may be notably impacted.
Download real_skies169.rar if you have the original NWN or real_skies_102.rar if you have NWN:EE.
In regard to that last one, to be clear, the former is for people who have 1.69 CR Neverwinter Nights: Diamond Edition and the latter is for people who have Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition.
Aielund Saga Version 2.0
We can still play the older verion of Aielund without the EE changes, and there are some advantages in doing so. For example, loadtimes are faster, we can ride horses, and the elven city tileset is preserved. This was the exact version I wrote the walkthrough for. Links are as follows:
Haks etc.: cep_2_60_full_0 -- Aielund & EMS -- Abyss -- Elven City -- Ship Interiors -- Painting Pack -- Music
On the other hand, we don't get any of the v.3.0 enhancements, and there are some bugs and glitches. But then, it's not like v.3.0 is free of bugs and glitches, is it? And I managed to write this walkthrough for oldschool Aielund, proving that it's sound. Naturally, the choice is yours.
EMS Aielund Saga
EMS makes a lot of changes to the rules. If you don't want to use Enhanced Magic System (EMS) in Aielund Saga, simply use the fake hak instead of the EMS.hak by renaming the fake hak to "EMS.hak".
***
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