Zuma Path 1 (Part III: Subtlety of Thay Walkthrough)

Part III of the Guide to Subtlety of Thay, a NWN2 module for Obsidian's cRPG of 2006, Neverwinter Nights 2.

Zuma: Path 1

Quest: Who is Zuma? Head over to Zuma's Deals located just across the street from the City Watch, and give the proprietor (Zuma) the Note with Instructions that you found in the Dragonjaw cave. He will then reveal to you that he is a Red Wizard of Thay and give you an ultimatum: accept his job offer or prepare to die. There are two, mutually exclusive paths springboarded by this quest, which I'll name PATH ONE & PATH TWO.

PATH ONE: Accept the job. Zuma orders you to return to Borgen and convince him to abandon the investigation. If you agree to do this Zuma alludes to there being more work for you, grants you a vendor discount, and will buy stolen goods from you.

• Ok, you don't even need to pull the wool over Borgen's eyes.. he is a lil' too confident in the Watch's ability to weed out Thayans. Completed Quest: Who is Zuma?

• Quest: The Many Facets of Thay. With the watch no longer sniffing around his shop Zuma entrusts you with a package (a magically locked box) and orders its delivery to Watchwall.

• Exit town by the southern gate and follow the Glarondar road east and then north towards Watchwall. Before you reach the river a couple of highwaymen of the Watch (police) cross the bridge and head your way. Take your pick:

a. Take cover (Hide DC-22). My character was unable to do this, having no points in the skill. Your backup is Diplomacy (DC-16, 20 XP, Chaotic +1) but it's actually a bribe that really hits your back pocket (-200 GP).

b. Walk past, whistling to yourself, as if nothing is afoot (Bluff DC-16). Fail the check and it's as above.

I'm not sure what happens if you fail the social checks in a. and b. (and I refuse to reload over and over until I fail).

c. Slay them (Chaotic +3, Evil +3).

The transition marker to the next area lies in the northeast of the map.

• Watchwall Camp. A burly archer who isn't in on the smuggling ring will question you in the field. State your name and business to cruise through this situation. If you obnoxiously refuse and then provoke him to arms a Half-elf who is in on the ring will step in and lead you away, telling you what an idiot you are.

• Follow the road northeast towards the Wall and enter the Watchwall guardpost built alongside it.

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• Inside, a bodyguard will stand aside and allow you to speak with Quintius, the captain and ringleader of the smuggling operation. Quintius will take Zuma's Package off your hands and throw you some coin for the delivery (50 GP, 50 XP). Completed Quest: The Many Facets of Thay.

• Quest: Help from Thesk? Next, Quintius has another job for you.. basically, Zuma's supplies are no longer profitable enough so he's instead gonna deal with Shadowlords of Teflamm from Thesk.. the job is to find out what is holding them up in bringing the goods through a series of caves that lead under the Dragonjaw Ranges. With Zuma off your back there is no problem in taking this job, so you might as well. Quintius throws you the key to his footlocker, the (random) contents of which he makes available to you.

Why is everyone pointing at me? Don't they know it's rude?

• Before you leave ask about his old friend, Borgen.

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• Ok, the way into the caves is through an old crumbling mineshaft located at the rear of the building. The rope breaks as you drop down.. well, that's just great.

• Old Minshaft (dungeon crawl). From your starting position head north into the next chamber and slay the Blooded Goblins and their warchief, being wary of their DC-11 Fear-inducing War Cries.

• Smash your way through the barricades and ancient roots hanging down to reach a secret room with a Thomil lumbering around inside. Slay it and loot the three treasure piles for gems and gold.

• Backtrack and head north until you reach another chamber with goblins lurking about.

• Off this passage is the Chieftain's Quarters... it's a Blooded Ogre. You may rest in here once it's slain. Loot the chest and wine crate for nothing fancy, just gold & potions.

• Head north and bash through another barricade to reach the northernmost passage, along which you can only head east.

• Quan Yan & Drakkhen are fighting some bull-headed Baphitaur at the end of the passage. These are the Shadowmaster smugglers that Borgen sent you to look for.. at least, what's left of them.

• When the battle is over speak to Quan. The story is, the company lost their map and just started wandering in the general direction of the mines. Over this period of days the Baphitaur hunted them and managed to kill six of them off... Daturra the scout will show up and give a report. Looks like we'll be up against more bull-heads...

• The wagon segment. Ok, these guys will team up with you, but not as companions.. they just follow along. The object here is to follow the wagon as it runs along the tracks that lead to the mine's exit. In addition you need to protect the wagon from the Baphitaur mobs that will attempt to destroy it along the way. The wagon is basically an NPC with hit points.. if it takes too much damage it will be destroyed, the shipment will be lost, and Quintius will NOT be happy.

• Wait, what does the lever do? It blows up a boulder in the far south. This allows you to access chests holding random treasure. It isn't necessary to pull it.

Chest: Trivial treasures.

• A bat-like Cloaker is flitting around in one of the caves.

Chest: Contagion scroll, Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds, Healer's Kit +1, Amethyst.

• Slay the Baphitaur Lord at the end of the tunnel and loots its corpse for 88 GP and Darksteel Greataxe.

• The wagon will come to a rest at the end of the tunnel.. See the rope hanging down? That's how you get out. The Shadowmasters thank you, say their goodbyes, and remain in the mines to unload the goods.

Chest: trivial treasures.

• Report back to Captain Quintius in the guardpost to receive your reward (450 XP, 300 GP). He also vendors the shipment to you. If the wagon was destroyed and the shipment lost as a result, you of course get nothing but a dismissal. Completed Quest: Help from Thesk?

Next up: Part IV will cover the SECOND PATH springboarded by the Who is Zuma? quest. 

Then, Part V returns to the main quest for the murder in the museum.

Back to NWN2 Index.