Zagash the Terrible, Companion quest, Part XIX

Part XIX of the Swordflight Walkthrough. Continuing from Part XVIII: Bloody Blades: Hrangarak & Gunkruzelle. Swordflight (2008-2022) is a NWN Module for Neverwinter Nights 1 (2002).

Yes, there is a lich in Ch.II of Swordflight. And guess what? Not only is he non-hostile but he can join the party as a companion as well!

In order to meet up with him, we need to have gained access to the City Gates of Calimport. In this zone there is an inn called the Desert Dragon's Tavern. This inn is mostly reserved as a gathering place from which we may recruit several companions to accompany us into the Forest of Mir, the Marching Mountains and the Spider Swamp.

Inside, the innkeeper tells us of an unusual guest staying on third floor:

It turns out to be a lich going by the name of Zagash the Terrible!

Zagash tells us an amusing story:

He gives us a negative energy rod with which to heal him:

As with the other companions recruited at the tavern, Zagash also will not follow us into Calimport city:

I like how every companion has something unique to say (even for something like this), as opposed to just a generic DM message such as "You can't take companions into Calimport city".

Being undead and arcane-capable, Zagash is one of the most powerful companions in Swordflight Ch.II. His pre-battle buffs and utility spells are as follows:

[cf. 16th level Hrangarak]

Unlike Hrangarak, though (whose companionship is limited to Bloody Blades), Zagash, like Barazh, Snajagh & Talu and Kelem & Chelys, will accompany us through lengthy plot-critical segments of the campaign. Each companion has their own motive for joining the party, each has its own quest or is part of one, and each has its own interjections (some for flavor and others skill-assistive).

In short, Zagash's motive is that he has been cursed and had his phylactery stolen by the aranea, so he has as much reason to hunt them down as the PC does. Indeed, more, because the PC is neither nerfed to 15th level by a curse nor reliant on a phylactery. :P

Zagash's situation is grave.

Logically, though, neither Snajagh, Kelem or Talu will tolerate Zagash's presence in the party. Thus, if we want a party of four, Chelys and Barazh are our only other options. Still, as I reported back in 2015, the all-evil crew is not only fun to adventure with but pretty powerful as well.

Zagash's lair lies beneath a barrow-mound deep within the Forest of Mir.

We won't be able to penetrate into the lair unless Zagash is present, as only he can point out its secrets:

From the above-screencapped entryzone, we can take the hidden door on the left and move down the secret passageway to a lower level.

A specter greets its master upon our arrival:

I go for the "release the hounds!" option.

By the time we have moved into the next chamber, most of the goblinoids have succumbed to fear as Zagash's Bone Golems go on the rampage. That means we can just perform a mop-up job and take out the stragglers.

Zagash, by the way, sports an aura of fear that I have found to be of great utility in my playthroughs. In fact, we disposed of eighteen addled invaders in this first segment, including a few bugbear shamans and champions. There is a collection of crates in the chamber, too, which the thieving goblinoids have filled with Zagash's possessions. Good loot is found within them, including weapons tailored to the PC's weapon focus. It all adds up to "nice".

Having slain the enemies and picked the place clean of loot, we descend deeper into the lair. Down here, Zagash reveals another secret to us:

We release Zagash's negative energy bomb and then slay a dozen or so weakened goblinoids down the hall. There is a torture chamber as well:

Under cover of stealth, the PC scopes out a rather nasty encounter outside Zagash's lab and library. These earth elementals have been conjured by the custom aranea:

Nothing we can't handle at our level, though (16th). Having looted the chambers, we descend to the depths of the lich's lair.

The PC bashes down a gate behind which annoying aggro is camped.

Then, the party bullies their way through the gate and rips the aggro new assholes.

After that, an aranea pack gets its ass handed to it, too.

In fact, Zagash's fear aura can send them all scuttling away in terror if we get his positioning close enough. Chasing them into the chamber, we find a few bugbear raiders to slay as well.

The phylactery, however, has been removed from the pedestal in the central chamber:

***

This quest is continued after we have been through the Spider Swamp, returned to Calimport, and taken out Zeaxua in the sewers [link, pic]. In other words, quite a long way into the campaign.

In the section of the sewers in which we take out Zeaxua and the wererat leader, we find a chamber holding Zagash's phylactery:

And so concludes the companion quest for Zagash the Terrible. This was a very good characterization; I enjoyed reading every line even though I had read them back when I wrote my initial review. The interjections and banters are readable as well (there is no waffle, and they are not long-winded). One of the two banters I have screencapped here.

I think if Zagash was a companion in Baldur's Gate 2, or some other commercial cRPG, he would have been a fan favorite. It would be cool if we could bump into him again, later in the series.

Neverwinter Nights	Swordflight Chapter 3	Buried Ruins 2	Thieves' Guild	Mazar's Golems
Swordflight	Swordflight Alignment	Buried Ruins 3	Goblinoid Army	Precious Metals
Rogueknight Interview	Swordflight Walkthrough	Buried Ruins 4	Orc Army	Hammer & Anvil
Swordflight Chapter 1	Shifting Sands Inn	Calimport	Dragon Cult	Bloody Blades
Swordflight Chapter 2	Buried Ruins 1	Zataroth	Aranea Base	Zagash the Terrible