CHAPTER 10: DARKNESS OVER SOUTHGATE
In this penultimate chapter, darkness has fallen over all of Southgate. In order to save the city, you will need to weed out all those who remain behind the conspiracy to bring about the prophecy of Zoniax - after all, it is better to have no one profiting from the unfolding of the prophecy, right?
Note: as long as the dome of darkness remains over Southgate (see Chapter 11), the city will be essentially dead. Everything will be closed, shut and/or locked, with no one about the streets - no one that is, except isolated groups of cultists of Gharrok and priests of Shades.
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1)
From Westlyn, head over to Southgate. Once near the city, you
will find yourself immersed in a dome of
darkness and writhing shadows. You will also
find that all of the city's outer gates are shut and locked. To
enter the city, you will need to go through the sewers (see key
in Chapter 4) by entering them from either the mausoleum in the
cemetary (see Chapter 1) or the secret entrance east of the
cemetary (see Chapter 3). Once in the sewers, head for the exit
in Main Sewer Area A that will land you inside the city proper,
in the Lowend Burrough (see Southgate key in Chapter 1).
2) Head over to the gates of the Tradelord's Estates: the guards
there will recognize you from a description they were given. You
will then be escorted inside the Tradelord's mansion.
3) As you arrive in a luxurious study and expecting to meet the Tradelord
of Southgate, you find yourselves instead
facing Mel the Handler! He
explains that his real name is Melcaster Anjun
and that he is the Tradelord, using his "Mel" personna
as a disguise and effective means to discretely hire adventurers
to perform tasks that serve to protect Southgate, its area of
influence and allies (such as Oaklarand). In order to find out
where Shades is residing within Southgate, to expose all of those
involved in the conspiracy to bring about the prophecy of Zoniax,
and to ensure that no one will use Shades' presence to seize
power and destabilize the city further, he proposes a logical,
methodical, "step-by-step" approach of tackling this
tremendous situation:
3A) Is the graveyard problem solved (Chapter 1)? If so, then proceed to 3B. If not, then Melcaster will direct you to solve this once and for all and so you must proceed to Chapter 1. He will give you a seal of officialdom which will allow you free passage pretty much anywhere in the city, even through the closed city gates (do NOT lose this item!). Once you are done (and have read Lanshara's half-finished letter), return to see him to proceed to 3B.
3B) Is the city lake park problem solved (Chapter 2)? If so, then proceed to 3C. If not, then Melcaster will direct you to solve this once and for all and so you must proceed to Chapter 2. If you did, but never found or read Xaria's stack of letters, he will have the Temple of the End of Days reopened by his agents and direct you to search the place thoroughly in order to find tangible proof. If he didn't already, he will give you a seal of officialdom (see above). Once you are done (and have found and read Xaria's stack of letters), return to see him to proceed to 3C.
3C) Was the Shadow Hand taken care of (Chapter 3)? If so, then proceed to 3D. If not, then Melcaster will direct you to solve this once and for all and so you must proceed to Chapter 3. If he didn't already, he will give you a seal of officialdom (see above). Once you are done (and have read Zom's half-finished letter), return to see him to proceed to 3D.
3D) Was Denos Stormbringer taken care of (Chapter 5)? If so, then proceed to step 4. If not, then Melcaster will direct you to solve this once and for all and so you must proceed to Chapter 5. If he didn't already, he will give you a seal of officialdom (see above). Once you are done (and have read Denos' half-finished letter), return to see him to proceed to step 4.
4)
Upon reviewing what you found and unravelled in Chapters 1-4,
Melcaster decides that now it the time to tackle those who remain
at the very top of the conspiracy. Proceeding from bottom to top
of this list, the first head to roll is that of Lord
Arax Dragonspear, an influencial and wealthy
lord of the city who is also the consort of Holy Mistress Xaria
and the purveyor of monies behind the Temple of the End of Days -
if not of the whole of the conspiracy as well. If he didn't
already, Melcaster will give you a seal of officialdom (see
above) and direct you to arrest Lord Dragonspear. Head to the
Dragonspear mansion in the High Square Burrough (see Southgate
key in Chapter 1). After fighting his rent-a-guards, an enraged
and mourning Arax will face-off against you, helped by a captain
Lea Shieldmaster (second-in-command to the
Warlord of Southgate) and the remainder of his personal retinue.
Teach them the the error of their ways. After all is said and
done, you will find on Arax an incriminating
letter from a certain Ajan
Tenmaster, the Warlord of Southgate himself!
Return at your conveniance to the Tradelord to proceed to step 5.
5) Thanks to the letter you found on Arax, you now have definite
proof of the Warlord's implication in the conspiracy. Thus,
Melcaster directs you to arrest Ajan Tenmaster,
corrupted Warlord of Southgate. If he didn't already, Melcaster
will give you a seal of officialdom (see above) - then head out
to the gates of the Warlord's Estates (see Southgate key in
Chapter 1). Surprisingly, the Warlord will be waiting, having
expected your impending arrival. In an attempt to save his sorry
hide, he will accuse the Tradelord of duplicity and of seeking to
seize for himself absolute power to rule Southgate alone.
Unfortunately, his stratagem works somewhat: as he launches
himself to attack you, many (confused) southgayan soldiers and
knights will nonetheless side with him. However, others will side
with you instead. Be prepared for this battle: it is a tough,
long and drawn-out one! Once the dust settles, return at your
leisure to the Tradelord to proceed to step 6.
6) The next head to roll on the 'hit list' is the Magelord
of Southgate. However, absolute proof is
required inorder for Melcaster to give you the go-ahead to deal
with him:
6A) You found and read Rune Blackstaff's letter in the temple of Shades in Oblyron (see Chapter 9): then you have solid proof to deal with Rune Blackstaff and Xane Alchemos, Magelord of Southgate! If he didn't already, Melcaster will give you a seal of officialdom (see above) and direct you to enter the Magelord's Tower via the magical drawbridge (see Southgate key in Chapter 1) - he'll give you the proper passwords for it (selonarak to extend; karanoles to retract). Then leave and proceed to step 7.
6B) You did not find or read Rune Blackstaff's letter in the temple of Shades in Oblyron (see Chapter 9): then you need to return there and get the proof! If he didn't already, Melcaster will give you a seal of officialdom (see above) and direct you to enter via the sub-basement of the Magelord's Tower through the magical diagrams located in the Main Sewers (see key in Chapter 4) once you have found and read the proof - he'll give you the password to activate the diagrams (selonarak). So, head back to Oblyron first to find and read that missing letter, then proceed to step 7.
Key
to the Magelord's Tower:
Main Floor
x16y88 - Exit (to magical drawbridge)
x16y86 - Main hall (a battle awaits you there!)
x13y83; x20y83 - Study hall (a battle awaits you there!)
x13y76; x19y76 - Stairs up to Second Floor
x7y74; x22y74 - Dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x25y73 - Stairs down to Basement
x16y74 - Dining hall (a battle awaits you there!)
x16y66 - Kitchen
Basement
x61y31 - Stairs up to Main Floor
x52y27; x46y32; x54y32 - Dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x57y35 - Storeroom (a battle awaits you there!)
x61y36 - Secret door
x46y37 - Stairs down to Sub-basement
Sub-basement
x56y46 - Stairs up to Basement
x55y47 - Magical diagram leading to secret magical diagram room
in Main Sewers (see key in Chapter 4)
Second Floor
x49y55; x55y55 - Stairs down to Main Floor
x44y50 - Study hall
x45y56 - Laboratory (a battle awaits you there!)
x52y50; x52y60 - Meeting room (a battle awaits you there!)
x53y55 - Stairs up to Third Floor
x59y60 - Luxurious study hall (a battle awaits you there!)
x59y54 - Private quarters of Rune Blackstaff
Third Floor
x84y82 - Stairs down to Second Floor
x84y79 - Conference room (a battle awaits you there!)
x78y79 - Private quarters of Xane Alchemos
x78y84 - Secret door
x81y87 - Secret treasure room of Xane Alchemos
7) Whether you enter the Magelord's Tower through the front door (step 6A) or the sub-basement backdoor (step 6B), head as straight as you can to the Second Floor (see key above).
Note: as long as you do not get the task from the Tradelord of dealing with the Magelord and you don't have a seal of officialdom, then a powerful protective shield will prevent you from entering the tower through the front door or through the sub-basement stairs.
Additional note: be careful while wandering within the tower. Magically summoned guardians will periodically appear to repel the intruders that you are, even if you have a sentry spell active and/or have already dealt with the Magelord (this is an automatic defense system that is always active within the tower).
8)
Head to the meeting room: Rune Blackstaff will
be waiting for you there, along with some his is warlock
assistants, having expected you. Have fun ... and good luck!
9) Then go up to the Third Floor and straight to the
conference room: Xane Alchemos
will be expecting you there. He will be flanked by Zantharas,
Lord of shadow knights and "on loan"
from Shades, along with a couple of shadow knights. Revealing
himself as a Death Lord devoted to Orcas, Xane sounds the call to
rumble. Be prepared for this one folks ... this battle is nasty!
10) Once all is said and done, rummage through the rest of the
tower to your heart's content - if you want to.
11) Head back to give the good news of your success to Melcaster.
While there is much to celebrate at having done away with all the
figureheads behind the conspiracy, one divinely terrible problem
remains: Shades herself. The Tradelord is rather dejected, since
he was certain that the dark goddess was hiding at the top of the
Magelord's Tower - a "high perch" fitting to a goddess.
Offer your own suggestions if you want to, even proposing that
Shades may be in fact inside the Tradelord's own mansion! But
logic and good sense prevail, so the question remains: where is
Shades residing? A resigned Tradelord will set himself to confer
with the High Lord of Southgate
while he enjoins you to try to find the goddess by any means
necessary. Leaving behind the seal of officialdom, you return
outside.
Congratulations! You have eradicated all the
figureheads behind the conspiracy to bring about the prophecy of
Zoniax! However, Shades' darkness remains over Southgate. With
the dark goddess still loose upon the world, what else can you do
but keep at the chase? So, it's onward to Chapter 11!
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