Arcanum, Garringsburg Heist, Part XI

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

This post covers two quests in Tarant which can be tackled at any time. The first is straightforward; the second, more involved.

Simon Plough's Rats

A gnome by the name of Simon Plough is found standing outside his warehouses located at the docks-end of Devonshire Way. He requests that we exterminate the rats in his warehouses:

First, take out the six sewer rats in the storage building and loot the key to the warehouse from the wood chest. Then, take out a dozen more in the warehouse led by a few 4th level prodigious vermin.

[3,100 XP, Good +2] 
Loot: Dwarven Ore x4

The Garringsburg Heist

Evelyn Garringsburg is a human noble found pacing about her home located at 37 Devonshire Way. Basically, thieves have broken in and stolen the Pizarro painting, Kerghan & Persephone:

Having questioning Evelyn about the nature of the theft, the headline in the Tarantian found on the floor indicates that her husband is a long-standing member of the Wellington Gentlemen's Club, which is located at 77 Vermillion Rd.:

First, we question the bouncer standing guard at the locked entrance to the club. Through him, we find out that the drunken James Garringsburg boasted to the patrons about owning the expensive painting: 

If asked, the bouncer hands over a list of patrons for the evening in question. We note that only one patron was not a member of the club on that evening: Rorry Limes.

We question the bouncer about Rorry Limes:

The clerk at the Hall of Records (located adjacent to the Bates Estate) gives us the address of a warehouse property owned by Rorry Limes: 57 Mulligan Bone Alley:

Pizarro painting: Kerghan & Persephone

If we now head over, we find a half ogre watchdog guarding a locked back room with a chest in it, holding the painting:

The watchdog can be slain for the key to the door, pick pocketed or we can pose as someone authorized to collect the painting on behalf of Rorry Limes.

The painting is delivered to Evelyn:

[1,200 XP, Good +3, 300-600 GP]

Or fenced to Thaddeus Mynor of the Thieves Underground, located at 19 Quilton Bend [300 GP].

However, more XP can be extracted from this quest:

After finding out the address of Rorry Limes' warehouse, we return to the Gentlemen's Club. Male PCs will have no trouble getting in, but the bouncer states that females are not allowed:

And he will not divulge the location of Wendell Wellington, the gnome proprietor, who, however, resides at 42 Vermillion Rd. (again, the address learned from the Hall of Records).

Unfortunately, 100 GP isn't enough for Wendell to give us an invitation to the club. We can either service him or slay him and take one from his cold, dead hands:

And now the door to the club reluctantly swings open for females:

Once inside, if we inquire about work, a nameless Dark Elf noble gives us a sealed note to deliver to 36 Low Dervish Row. He warns us NOT to open the note:

Now, the note has the address 57 Mulligan Bone Alley written on it, which is what the clerk at the Hall of Records revealed as the address of Rorry Limes' warehouse.

A trio of half orc thieves are waiting for a courier to deliver the sealed note at 36 Low Dervish Row: 

If we give them the unopened note: [1,000 XP, Evil +1]. 

If we give them an opened note, we only get the kill XP when they turn aggro, but we find the passport of Rorry Limes on one of the corpses...

Either way, we can retrieve the painting and deliver it to the grateful Evelyn:

And the next day:

Note how even the newspaper bitmaps acknowledge the PC's gender.

By doing her dirty work, it's also possible to have the location of the painting magickally divined by Madam Toussaude at 77 Devonshire Way:

However, the divination is considered the reward for doing her dirty work, and overrides another, more useful reward (Charisma +1), so I don't recommend solving the mystery in this manner.

Due to the non-linear explorative nature of Tarant (in which no place is illogically off-limits), it's also possible to come across the painting independently of all of the above, though it would presuppose a character that breaks in and slays people just to see what stuff they've got. When the painting is delivered, Evelyn is suspicious of us because we have returned the painting after she posted her reward. We can push this either way: tell her how we came across the painting for double the posted reward (left pic), or tell her we'll find another buyer (right pic):

In respect to the latter, guards do not come. If we engage with Evelyn again, she calls out for her half ogre bodyguard, Polgrom, who doesn't go aggro even though he's in the room. Odd.

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)