Arcanum, Gilbert Bates Estate, Part X

(Part X of Arcanum Walkthrough for Troika's cRPG Definition of 2001, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura).

Gilbert Bates

This post continues the main quest from P. Schuyler & Sons. In that segment, we learned that the initials "G.B." on the ring stand for Gilbert Bates. Thus, we are seeking an audience with him. Note that speaking to Bates is not actually plot-critical: we can progress the plot simply by reading his journal. However, Gilbert Bates is one of the best characters in the campaign, so I recommend not skipping over him if this is your maiden run of Arcanum.

Gilbert Bates Estate: Gates

At first glance the Bates Estate evokes Fort Knox: its gates are closed, the doors are locked and 40th-level guards are stationed outside, but several weaknesses can be exploited in order to gain access to its opulent interior.

Brute-force aside (slaying the guards and bashing down the 100-strength door), the main ways to get into the estate are twofold: openly (honest) and under-handedly (cunning).

• Openly includes protecting Bates' prototype steam engine from Appleby's saboteurs or informing the guard captain of Appleby's intent to sabotage the prototype steam engine, both of which cause the guard captain to grant us immediate admittance.
• Under-handedly includes persuading the guard captain that we are friends of Bates (when we have never even met him), unlocking the door under the effect of stealth, posing as an estate servant by wearing a disguise or infiltrating the estate via the sewers accessed in the cemetery.

If we enter openly, or under-handedly via persuasion, we don't need disguises and we can freely bring our companions into the estate. But if we enter by means of disguise or by way of the sewers, we MUST keep our disguises on or the guards will attack us, on-sight, because Bates has been getting death threats. Moreover, if we pose as a servant, we logically cannot bring in "riff-raff" (companions).

In addition, it is only if we enter openly that we don't have to make excuses to Bates as to why we are standing before him. And it is only if we protected his prototype that he greets us warmly, having heard of our good deed (though this is very minor, just for flavor, and impacts nothing important).

Let's break it down:

Persuade the Guard Captain that we are Friends of Bates

Under-handed. The persuasion dialogue is filled with options to tell tall tales, and there are many deadends and fails woven through it, but if we avoid making assumptions about Bates as well as avoid making extreme exaggerations about our relationship to him, such as "I once took a bullet for Bates" or "I loaned him a large sum of money", it's pretty easy to negotiate:

Another persuasion option:

[2,500 XP]

Protect Bates' Prototype Steam Engine against 
Sabotage by Appleby's Agents

Open & Honest. This quest stands in direct opposition to the Evil-aligned one given by Appleby, which is to sabotage the prototype:

The battle against the saboteurs is staged in the Bates factory located at 18 Ten Hands Alley:

In order to trigger the spawn, stand by the prototype steam engine at the back end of the factory floor, wait until midnight (advance time: evening, advance time 4 hours), and slay the three guards that magickally teleport into the factory:

Return to the Captain [800 XP, Good +10]

Inform the Guard Captain of Appleby's Intent to 
Sabotage Bates' Prototype Steam Engine

Open & Honest. This option becomes available when we have pretended to accept Appleby's request to sabotage the prototype, and then decide to rat him out:

[800 XP, Good +10]

After that, Appleby daftly all but admits his guilt if we visit him with a trollface stamped on our countenance. Indeed, he winds up dead:

Infiltrate the Bates Estate via the Sewers Accessed in the Cemetery

Under-handed. This option is the only one that doesn't require dialogue, quests or the involvement of any NPC whatsoever. It is the way of the self-sufficient thief. The sewer tunnels that lead to the estate are accessed via the cemetery. The tunnels are linear and there are no enemies, but there are several traps and locked doors to negotiate, so it's no cakewalk.

Once inside the estate, we need to wear the disguises found in the storage room chests or the guards will attack us, on-sight. Every companion that accompanies us MUST wear the disguises found in the chest in order to pass themselves off as Bates' staff.

If we are stealthmasters and infiltrating solo, we can employ prowling or invisibility to acquire Bates' journal from a chest in his master bedroom, but we can't talk to Bates disguiseless because his bodyguard goes aggro.

Either way, we are in.

Gilbert Bates: Foremost Industrialist of Arcanum

Bates is found on the Mansion's first floor. He is always under the protection of his half ogre bodyguard, Chukka (whom we can actually recruit as an Arcanum companion later in the campaign). At night, Bates retires to the master bedroom, and Chukka guards its entrance.

If we arrived under-handedly, Bates doesn't exactly welcome our presence but we can admit our guilt and he doesn't seem to mind. To be clear, we don't need to even speak with Bates in order to advance the plot: instead, we can read his journal (which Appleby wants). Or read his journal and speak with him (though Bates doesn't like the fact that we read his journal).

The Journal of Gilbert Bates

Both the Bates dialogue and the journal result in the Black Mountain Clan (BMC) being marked on our map, which is plot-critical:

Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8.

The dialogue is immense and multi-threaded, but here are the key points:

The old gnome who gave us the P. Schuyler & Sons-forged Gilbert Bates' ring at the crash site was actually a dwarf called Stennar Rock Cutter of the Black Mountain Clan. He was an old friend of Bates, and Bates is "the boy" SRC told us to give the ring to at the crash site. The ring was given to Gilbert by his father, and Gilbert in turn gave it to Stennar as a token of friendship.

Gilbert Bates didn't invent the steam engine, and never claimed to. The technologist Dwarves whom Bates admired invented it. Stennar first showed the steam engine to Bates when he was 14 years old. It was the robed figures who told Bates not to reveal the origins of the steam engine. This caused Appleby to charge Bates with being a fraud.

The Dwarves didn't want to employ steam engine technology for digging purposes. Bates modified the steam engine to power pumps that could drain the mines, but the Dwarves mocked the idea.

Gilbert Bates monetized the steam engine and became immensely wealthy as a result: the greatest industrialist in all of Arcanum. He didn't do it for the money: he did it to gain respect from the Dwarves, to become a member of their clan, but the Dwarves mysteriously disappeared before he could gain vindication.

Gilbert Bates sent out search parties in order to learn the fate of the BMC, but many parties were slain while doing so, the Dwarves were never found, and the robed men tracked Bates down and told him to stop. Out of fear, he did.

Gilbert Bates doesn't know what Stennar meant by "the Evil", but Virgil thinks the Panarii scriptures can shed some light on the matter. (In Tarant, we talked to a Priest in the temple located at 7 Lion's Way, but he couldn't tell us much).

Ultimately, Bates wants to know why Stennar was slain and how the murder pertains to his relationship with the BMC. So the Black Mountain Mine is our next port of call as it relates to the main quest.

Now that you know the location of the Black Mountain Clan, you need to search their mines for clues concerning their disappearance.

Note that Virgil has progress-based banter:

There is much more to do in Tarant before we move on, though.

cRPG Blog	8. Thieves' Guild Arcanum	17. Ashbury Arcanum
ARCANUM (Index)	9. Cassandra Pettibone	18. Isle of Despair
1. Arcanum Walkthrough	10. Gilbert Bates	19. Wheel Clan Arcanum
2. Shrouded Hills Arcanum	11. Garringsburg Heist	20. Durin Stone Arcanum
3. Bessie Toone Mine	12. Madam Toussaude	21. Stillwater Arcanum
4. Jongle Dunne	13. Ancient Maze	22. Qintarra Arcanum
5. Doc Roberts Arcanum	14. Dernholm Arcanum	23. Bedokaan Village
6. Amulet of N'Tala	15. Black Root Arcanum	24. Persuasion Master Arcanum
7. Tarant Arcanum	16. Black Mountain Mines	25. Caladon Arcanum (to the end)