Part VII of the Siege of Dragonspear Guide.
Our objective is to travel to the Forest of Wyrms, locate the ruined temple, and search for Keherrem and the wardstone within it. To reiterate, the content covered in this post is not plot-critical; however, it's pretty important in regard to lore, treasure, quests and experience point gains.
Waylay Zone (AR BD0064). The party is again waylaid, this time en route to the Forest of Wyrms. A wyrmling - boxed in by a duo of giants - requests your aid and promises a reward. Take your pick:
- Slay the giants. The wyrmling will be pleasantly surprised and reveal a stash holding 1,000 GP, Diamond, King's Tears, Beljuril and Blood Red Ioun Stone (Dex +1, Weapon Speed Factor +2). Hill Giant x2 (+3,000 Exp ea).
- Slay the wyrmling. The giants will turn on you as backups emerge from the forest. Slay them all, including their leader, whose corpse yields Cold Fury +2 (halberd, THAC0 +2, dmg +2, 1d2 cold, on-hit Slow fire creatures for 3 rounds, save vs. Spell negates). Young Green Dragon (+8,000 Exp), Hill Giant Leader (+3,500 Exp), Hill Giant x4 (+3,000 Exp ea).
Forest of Wyrms
(AR BD7200). The entrance to the ruined temple is to the northeast, atop the rocky hill (annotated on your map as "Cave"). We're winding our way towards it.
Just to your east is some crap to kill and a corpse to loot.
• Hill Giant (+3,000 Exp), Dire Wolf x3 (+125 Exp ea), Mountain Lion (+270 Exp).
Corpse: Composite Longbow +1, Arrows of Piercing (20), Arrows of Dispelling (5) and Stalker Gauntlets (Dex +1, Hide in Shadows +15 [30 for Stalkers], Backstab Multiplier +1 [Stalkers only]).
• Head south to meet the elven ranger, Coogan. Before taking her leave she gives you a friendly warning about spiders.
(Coogan +420 Exp, trivial loot).
• Continue south and slay the winged beasts blocking the path.
Wyvern x2 (+1,400 Exp ea), Baby Wyvern x2 (+750 Exp ea).
• At the junction lurk dirlagraun.
Displacer Beast Pack Lord (+1,200), Displacer Beast x4 (+975 Exp ea).
• Along the eastward-leading path you will spot five spiders scurrying into the nearby Spider Lair. Eew, creepy-crawlies!
Spider Lair
(AR BD0114). Beware the web-based proximity traps and disabling spider attacks... One does not simply walk into a spider's lair without Free Action status...
This is a just a mini-dungeon. Slay all spiders and loot the nests, eggs and seven-legged spider corpse. This yields the Giant Spider Leg, an item for Neera's personal quest: The Call of the Wild Mage - covered in the next post.
Seven-Legged Spider (+2,000 Exp, Giant Spider Leg), Gargantuan Spider x2 (+3,000 Exp), Wraith Spider x2 (+1,400 Exp), Phase Spider x6 (+1,400 Exp), Giant Spider x8 (+450 Exp), Sword Spider x3 (+2,000 Exp), Small Spider x10 (+65 Exp ea).
Nests & Eggs: Aquamarine Gem, Greenstone Ring x2, Antidote, Severance +2 (bastard sword, THAC0 +2, dmg +2, HPs +5, on-hit 15% drain 1d4 and transfer to wielder), Goblin Hide Armor +2 (Con +1, minor Thief skill penalties, Slow Poison on wearer if poisoned, M'khiin only), Spider Egg x5, Spider Web x4.
The Spider Web (silk) is needed by Khalid in Chapter Ten.
Suddenly the lair will rumble as a gigantic beetle burrows inside! If you have an egg on your person the rhino is "friendly" and may be lured away from the mob, to be slain alone (though that's hardly necessary).
The trigger for the rhino beetle spawn is around x=230, y=720 (westernmost spider nest, just south of a proximity trap). Walk over it to make the bugs appear.
Rhinoceros Beetle (+4,000 Exp, Rhino Beetle Shell), Boring Beetle x5 (+175 Exp ea), Bombardier Beetle x5 (+120 Exp ea).
Hold onto the Rhino Beetle Shell. Once you gain access to Bridgefort blacksmith Jegg will be able to forge Rhino Beetle Plate OR shield from them, not both (covered in Part VIII).
Exit the lair and ascend the rocky hill, killing the crap that stands between you and the cave entrance.
Phase Spider x3 (+1,400 Exp ea), Bugbear Veteran (+270 Exp), Bugbear x5 (+175 Exp ea).
Descent to the Temple, Wyrm Lair (AR BD7210).
Morentherene
We now begin our delve to discover the Ruined Temple of Bhaal... but what's this? A sleeping green dragon! To my dismay there is no room for parley. If you approach her or attempt to buff in her lair, Morentherene awakens - hostile! So yeah, buff outside and don't forget Resist Fear. Morentherene self-buffs with Stoneskin (counter: Breach) and then unleashes Dragon Fear, Wing Buffet (causes knockback) and Green Dragon Breath (a poison nova). It all sounds awfully nasty but providing your party is warded against Fear and suitably equipped, they should have no problems dispatching her.
- Morentherene (+14,000 Exp, Dragon Scales), Greater Wyverns (+2,000 Exp ea).
- Corpse: Broken Armor, Broken Weapon, Sable Cloak (Cold Resistance +40%, Immunity: Slow).
- Nest: 3,000 GP, Emerald x3, Diamond x2, Star Sapphire, King's Tears.
Note: As with the Rhino Beetle Shell hold onto the Dragon Scales. Once you gain access to Bridgefort blacksmith Jegg will be able to forge Dragonscale Armor OR Shield from them, not both (covered in Part VIII).
Ok, descend the stairs...
Bugbear Caves
(AR BD7220).
Mobbed by bugbears upon entry to the bugbear cave - who'd have thunk it?
Bugbear Shaman (+650 Exp), Bugbear Veteran (+270 Exp), Bugbear Stalker x2 (+270 Exp ea), Bugbear x4 (+175 Exp ea).
Head south and slay the bugbear chieftain and its support crew.
Loot: Potion of Clarity, Potion of Absorption, Black Opal, 374 GP.
Note: Zaviak's Vision quest may be continued in this cave. Equip the Spectacles of the Spectacle to catch sight of a Greater Shadow. Click the Use Item button, click the spectacles icon and then click on the spectre for a brief dialogue exchange in which you may request it slay the bugbears to the south. You may also slay it outright, yielding +3,000 Exp but no treasure.
Slay the fleeing cultist of Cyric and then descend to the third, largest and final dungeon.
Cultist (+420 Exp).
Ruined Temple of Bhaal
Keherrem
Imprisoned in the jail are Keherrem and two crusader recruits: the missing patrol the Sergeant sent you to find.
You have two options: free them or execute them by means of the switch on the wall.
However, even if you choose the latter you will still have to find the key to the cells in order to loot Keherrem's Badge and deliver it to the Sergeant (to fulfill the Missing Patrol quest).
Where is the key, though? Well, Keherrem mentioned "a big lizard lady"...
The Eyeless Priestess
Also imprisoned down here is Madele, a priestess of Bhaal; and also, you may choose how to deal with her. You will learn from Madele that someone named Ziatar ("the big lizard lady") has the key to the cells (Quest: The Eyeless Priestess).
Madele (+650 Exp).
The door to the north-central ritual chamber is locked; hence, we're looking for two keys.
Head south down the corridor, effortlessly slaying the pathetic pack of wolves.
Worg x3 (+120 Exp ea).
En route to Ziatar's sanctum you will encounter fourteen non-hostile cultists in four separate chambers. Bluff them if they question you (though we'll be slaying them soon, anyway, so it hardly matters).
Loot: Free Action, Neutralize Poison, Cure Serious Wounds, Cure Critical Wounds, Identify, Parchment.
Invisible Stalker x3 (+3,000 Exp ea).
The piece of parchment reveals Madele's thoughts: that she has been hearing a voice in her head, which she believes is that of Bhaal; and that she believes the rule of Cyric High Priestess Akanna is coming to an end.
The door at corridor's end leads into...
Ziatar's Sanctum: Half-dragon Ziatar
Half-dragon Ziatar is displeased to see you, and even more displeased to learn that you slew her sister, Morentherene. Give her a good thrashing and she will wisely cast Sanctuary on herself and begin to self-heal. Dispel the effect (or just wait it out) and slay her for the two keys.
Loot: Ritual Room Key, Jail Key, Plate Mail +1, Two-Handed Sword +1, Wand of the Heavens (3 charges).
If not previously slain cut a swathe through the now-hostile cultists as you backtrack to the jail. Beware their triple backstab modifier and venom-coated blades.
Cultist & Cultist Guard x14 (+420-650 Exp ea), Mad Cultist (+1,400, Potion of Explosions).
Releasing the Prisoners. You may either command Madele to leave and amend her misdeeds, or command her to leave and uphold Bhaal's teachings. Or simply let her go free. The choice is yours (and perhaps the consequence...)
Likewise, you may free or execute Keherrem and co. Either way, you will be granted access to the Crusader Camp and be rewarded with +3,000 quest experience points for each party member (Completed Quest: The Missing Patrol).
But first, let's explore the rest of the temple and see what's been going on down here!
Ritual Chamber, Neothelid
Upon entry a cutscene will fire showing a cultist fleeing in terror as a gigantic worm pwns one of his kind. Enter the chamber to face off against Neothelid, a psionic creature that demands you have Mind Shield status active to resist its Domination Gaze and Ego Whip (you DON'T want your DPS units turning on your squishy party members). In addition its mordswords and poison breath nova may wreak havoc; however, providing the tanks are blessed with buffs, the simple stand & deliver approach should bring about its downfall.
Neothelid (+20,000 Exp, King's Tears, Laeral's Tear Necklace).
Cyric High Priestess Akanna
Akanna (+4,000 Exp, Wardstone, Studded Leather Armor +1, Sling +1, Club +1), Aerial Servants x2 (+9,000 Exp ea).
Chest: 154 GP, Detect Illusion scroll, Rainbow Obsidian Necklace.
Head south through the alchemy lab.
Mutated Crawlers x3 (+650 Exp ea), several potions.
Mask Puzzle
Note the six masks on the wall in this next chamber. Remember the Page From Sarevok's Notes that you found in the Interlude's secret chamber, all those reloads ago? Well, it gives the order in which the masks must be pressed (i.e, 3-1-4). But which masks are 3-1-4? Refer to the below-right pic. Once the puzzle is solved a nearby wall shifts to reveal a secret chamber guarded by a Darkness-casting shadow (Completed Quest: Sarevok's Secret).
Shadow Aspect (+6,000 Exp).
Loot the chest for the Fractal Blade +3 (short sword, THAC0 +3, dmg +3, on-hit 10% 3-image Mirror Image [on wielder], on-hit 50% Dispel Illusion [on enemy]) and Godsbane.
Relinquary: Darskhelin
Darskhelin, an insidious mindflayer (illithid), has infiltrated the temple to overthrow the Cyricists.
Chaotic Commands wards against its Psionic Mind Blast, but you may not have access to the spell (Jaheira does, Flint does not [not at this stage, at least]). However, it's possible to have a stealthy thief sneak inside and loot a CC scroll from the chest (conventional stealth is not broken by Redmoons' True Sight if the thief is cloaked in Non-Detection). Please note, protection from PMB is not essential: it's a save vs. Spell, afterall.
Aside from the 'flayer, the biggest threat is likely to be Redmoons, who casts Teleport Field (annoying!) and unleashes a varied repertoire common to mages of his calibre. The others foes are as EZ as pie, at least on my difficulty setting (reminder: Core Rules). Anyway, rip them all new ones and loot their corpses for treasures!
- Darskhelin (mindflayer) (+9,000 Exp).
- Mohad Flintborn (+1,400 Exp): Battle Axe +1, Large Shield +1, Potion of Power.
- Shallen (+1,400 Exp): Studded Leather Armor, Longbow +1, Short Sword +1, Archer's Eyes (amulet, Critical Hit: ranged +5%, Dex +2 [Archer PrC], Dex +1 [others]), Acid Arrow quiver.
- Teth Si-Nehi (+1,400 Exp): Crimson Dawn +2 (katana, THAC0 +2, dmg +2, Critical hit +5%, on-kill 50% Haste for 3 rounds).
- Jhan Redmoons (+2,000 Exp): Quarterstaff +1, Traveler's Robe, Bracers of Armor AC7.
- Chest: Chaotic Commands scroll, King's Tears, Moonbar Gem, Onyx Ring.
With Darskhelin's demise this optional dungeon-quest comes to an end (Completed Quest: The Eyeless Priestess). (Akanna has your chump change if you left her alive.)
Ok, the cave system and temple have been cleansed of stinking evil, including Cyric cultists and a brain-devouring illithid. Take your leave and return to Boareskyr Bridge, wardstone in hand.
I love fighting against powerful individuals in small groups. I'm not a fan of fighting against 837438274987 weak enemies. Imo this campaign has just a bit too much of the latter.
ReplyDelete:P
Thus far some of the mobs are too trashy, that's true (e.g, three worgs on Core rules? - please).
DeleteI don't mind lots of foes providing they are varied and pose a threat, as the relentless hordes did in the IWD series. I like mage duels, too (Davaeorn).
My problem with Siege, and IE RPGs in general, is that resting to heal/replenish spells is not restricted, meaning resource management is out the window. In fact, Swordflight is the only RPG I know of that bothers to implement rest restrictions and punishing on-rest spawns (see 2nd paragraph):
http://lilura1.blogspot.com/2015/02/swordflight-series-part-i.html
I'm not a fan of resting to replenish resources. I like how the dragon age series handles it. I remember some really difficult and fun battles and not thinking about slowly spending resources while I progress through a dungeon or whatever.
DeleteI'm a huge fan of Vancian Magic IF there are strict rest restrictions imposed and the itemization is tailored to suit. That way, you can have the tactical encounters AND the overall dungeon strategy. This is where Swordflight succeeds and the Infinity Engine RPGs, including Siege, utterly fail. If not, just give me cooldowns and tactical battles without any overall dungeon strategy, a la Dragon Age: Origins, because I find the combat to be more fun in Origins, especially with mods that give you lengthy encounters instead of a series of trivial mobs to kill, with mana/health/stamina regen inbetween each one. :)
DeleteActually, the insane here is A LOT tougher than in the original games. I'm enjoying it so far (Just slayed the dragon and its kids on about the fifth try)
Deleteis there some kind of trigger needed to make the rhino beetle appear? as he never showed when i explored the area?
ReplyDeleteThe trigger is around x=230, y=720. Walk over it to make the bugs appear. It may be that the spawn is jinxed for you. The item code for the rhino beetle shell is BDMISC66.
DeleteI don't know if it's just random chance or not, but in my (limited) experience the rhino encounter trigger seemed linked to the web trap in the same room. Everytime I disarmed the trap I failed to trigger the encounter, and everytime I triggered the trap I then managed to trigger the encounter.
DeleteSo Lil I've been thinking of trying out the swordflight series that you keep raving about. :P
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of heavy rest restrictions but I really do like nwn's system and I like the idea of playing a module with difficult tactical battles.
What is the level range for the series?
HRMMMZZZ
When you encounter waylaid zone where young green dragon and giants fightning if you have "Dragonscale" armor or shield young green dragon will attack you "You Wear My Skin of My Kin" says , Of course you can drop shield before save him then you can pick it up later.
ReplyDeleteIf the player is a paladin, then the player will become fallen if he/she chooses to kill Keherrem and the two crusader recruits in the cell.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know what the spider eggs are for? I'm assuming some quest but haven't found a use for them yet.
ReplyDeleteHey Lil, any chances to pass Neeras quest? Cause i've given her all the items and still no reaction from neera, only "join my party" option.
ReplyDeleteThe Archer's Eyes amulet you find is a reference to Planescape:Torment, one of the Nameless One's companions was an archer, and was turned into a zombie numbered 331 (this number is engraved on the amulet). I was VERY happy when I saw this :)
ReplyDelete