CHAPTER SEVEN: BUT IN THE MEANTIME ...
In this chapter, you get to proceed with side-stories that are directly related to the Overlord conspiracy, and yet stand apart on their own. These can be completed at any time while you are proceeding through Chapters 1-6; all they do is provide more clues, direct you to new potential directions, or provide you with some of the answers (or more clues) about the Overlords, who or what they are, where they come from, and what it is they are truly planning behind their disruptions of the Sword Lands.
1) Arvoranaan. The small furfoot community is begining to suffer from the inattentive and corrupted knights of the Flame; lately, marauders and trolls often make raid on the community. There is not much to do there except witness what is going on as a result of the knights' corruption. However, you can also hook up with Daneel Nimblehands, a "street-wise" rogue with a strange mix of Brooklyn and medieval accents (as a little tongue-in-cheek humor). Like a bitter-sweet necklace, Dannel is both a boon and a burden: in many places, having him will open doors and chests without you to sweat over the locks and traps; on the other hand, having him in your party will bar you from entering places (like Tanirith's Hightown, Wailsrond, or the castle grounds of the king of Lantharond, for example) because of Daneel's "tortuous" past and reputation. In any event, you may choose to have him in your party or not (he's not crucial to the story); if you do take him in, then there is a chance that he'll eventually split up and go his own way out of boredom: once he does that, you may find him again in Tarterys Island (see item 2 below) where he can really facilitate things for you there.
2) Tarterys Island. As mentioned in Chapter Six, getting in trouble with Tanirith's law can (and will) land you in Tarterys Island. If this happens, your are stripped of all your gear (and money) and spellcasting is not possible; once in the jail, you have two choices: A) wait out your 7-30 days sentence, or B) deal with the prison's "boss".
A) Wait out your sentence. Then, there is not much for you to do, other than search (i.e with the search button on) the main floor of the prison for useful items. Regularly, there are food drives (every five days), where you'll have to fight with the other inmates (who'll be fighting each other as well) to get scraps of food (you will be given a choice about that; however, bear in mind that you need food to heal normally). In addition, bullies under the prison boss's leadership will come down from the second floor (see 2B) to take away food from the inmates for themselves; there's a good chance that they'll come for you as well if you have food with you. In any event, once your sentence is over, you are given your gear back (and spellcasting is restored) and brought back to Tanirith.
B) Deal with the prison boss.
- If you had Daneel Nimblehands in your party and he bailed out on you, then you'll meet him again in the prison at x19y44. He knows the easiest way to get to the prison boss, Halem El-Yessef, who happens to be the Pirate King that was deposed by Nurale Darkstrome (with the help of the Overlords, of course). Accept Daneel again in your party and he'll give you a password to say to the bullies who guard the stairs to the 2nd floor at x31y44.
- Alternatively, you can i) beat up bullies who come and steal your food, then go see those guarding the stairs and tell'em you want to join their gang; or ii) beat the bullies guarding the stairs, then go on the 2nd floor and tell'em you want to join their gang; or iii) just plow through all the bullies in your way (but in this case, you'll have to fight Halem also right there and then).
Whether with Daneel's help or by impressing the bullies by beating some of them up and then asking to join them, you'll be brought to speak with Halem at x46y40 on the 2nd floor:
- a) if you have already defeated Nurale Darkstrome, he'll ask for your help to break out forcibly of the prison;
- b) if you haven't dealt yet with the Pirate Queen, he'll make you a deal by you accepting to help him defeat N.D. and him helping you escape unseen from the prison.
If you accept to forcibly break out, you get to fight alongside inmates and bullies against prison guards all the way out to the gates of Tarterys Island, where you have a chance to change your mind and switch sides in the final battle (if you do that, and Halem is killed, you will be pardoned by the Commander of Tarterys Island, with your gear fully restored and set free!). If you accept to escape unseen with Halem, you will manage to escape but without your gear, with Halem as an NPC (once you defeat N.D., he'll leave in order to try to reclaim his title). If you refuse to help Halem to break out or escape unseen, you get to fight him (and if you defeat him, then you'll be fully pardoned by the Commander). However, if you break out with Halem all the way (i.e. you don't switch sides), you will be able to escape by winning the final battle (and get back your gear), but don't ever get caught breaking the law again in Tanirith or it will be truly game over!
3) The Mind-Mage of the Tlaran Caves. You came across the mention of that guy (sub-commander Marath) as the seeming coordinator of the Triple Axis (see Chapter Five) on behalf of the Overlords. To get a good clue of where he could be hiding is by going to see the farming family just north-east of Wailsrond at x44y58. They have been terrorized by a "mind-mage" which held dogres in his thrall; this man wanted the Writ of the Ancients which had been entrusted to the farmer (through his grand-father). Accept to find and retrieve the Writ and you'll be told that this mind-mage resides somewhere in the Tlaran Caves.
A) In the Tlaran Caves: go through the secret door at x12y26 and walk west to the secret door at x7y26. Then go south to the dogre village.
B) At the dogre village, fight the dogres at the gates, then walk straight to the chief's hut at x9y40. The chief will offer a you a deal: defeat the mind-mage that is holding his tribe in thrall. Accept, then go straight to the mind-mage's building at x6y39 (alternatively, just have it out right there and then with the dogre chief, then go to the mind-mage's building).
C) First floor of the building: go to the statue at x83y41, walk over it again and use destroy magic or bash the statue (this eliminates some of the mind blasts that you feel when you walk inside the house). Then go through door at x83y45, use the secret door at x84y47 and go east. Pull the lever at x88y45, and go through door at x80y43. Disable the other statue at x72y44 (as for the first one), then go through the secret door at x72y42 and take the stairs at x75y41 which lead to the second floor.
D) Second floor of the building: go to the study at x52y41. You will surprise an interesting conversation between sub-commander Merath and a certain lady Overlord acquaintance of yours. Deal first with Merath and his dogre mind-slaves, then go to the communication globe at x57y41 for another fun talk with General Qui. Look around the study for interesting items and important papers (don't forget to use detect secret and the search button!). Go through the secret door at x57y44 and help yourselves to Merath's stash of goods! In one of the chests, you will find the Writ of the Ancients. Get back out to the dogre village, deal with the dogre chief (if you did not before), then get out of the Tlaran caves.
E) Go back to see the farmer near Wailsrond and hand him the Writ. Not surprisingly, his "muse" tells him that the Writ is destined for your party ... so you get to keep it (see Rest of TiSL).
4) The Buried Temple of Erond. This lost temple is in the Tlaran caves. Go back to the caves, and deal with the trolls lairing in the small cave at x13y11. From the cave, walk straight west to x8y11, then north to x8y7, and west to x4y7. Walk through the secret door at x4y5, and then enter the temple. Inside the temple, go to the secret door at x27y19. Walk west then north to the secret door at x25y15, and take the stash at x25y13. Then walk to x24y13 with the search button on: you'll find important items there, which will allow you to pass the energy barrier at x32y15-x33y15. Then go in front of the altar and hit the encounter button: choose to pray to Erond AND to place the icons on the altar. Once you do that, the well behind the altar will lit up, awakening the Oracle which will give you some interesting revelations about the Overlords.Then walk back to the surface or deal with step 5 below.
5) The Shadow elves of the Tlaran caves. In TiSL, the shadow elves play the role of interested observers, not sure if they should join with the Overlords or whether they represent a threat to them. They do cause some trouble to the dwarves of the Dwarven Halls (see Chapter Five), but that is "business as usual" as far as the shadow elves are concerned.
A) Help the dwarves again. From where you arrive in the Tlaran caves (about x45y45), go to x68y15 where you'll find dead bodies of dwarves. Use the secret door at x73y14, and stumble north-eastward in the secret tunnels (these lead near Dwarven Halls). Fight the shadow elves in the outpost you find and go up the mine to let the dwarves know. Then get down again and back to the Tlaran caves.
B) Deal with the shadow elves. In the Tlaran caves, go to the secret door at x29y71 and then to the spider cave at x29y80. Fight your way through spiders and walk to the secret door at x41y82, and to the corridor at x49y82. In the corridor, walk to the secret door at x82y84 and then to the gates of the drow outpost at x77y87; deal with the drow there, then get it on with those at the outpost proper at x74y87. There, you'll find interesting clues at to where the Overlords are hiding! Finally, go check out the larger drow outpost at x66y85: there is nothing to do there in TiSL, except remember where it is for WiSL <wink>
6) The Western Lands. There is not much to do there is TiSL. Sometimes after you have defeated A.D. and his castle is destroyed, soldiers from Sharranth will take over Aranys and refuse any adventurers in. Furthermore, the pass at x0y1 north of Aranys will be open, allowing you to access the easiest way to the Western lands. Try to enter Sharranth by any means you see fit ... you'll just be ousted. Essentially, everything in the Western Lands (including the mansion protected by a magical barrier and the minotaur community) are there only for you to look at in TiSL (as a wink and a nod to you for getting this far) and to give you a taste of what the Warlord of Sharranth is about; however, there'll be plenty to do there in WiSL (including dealing with ole Anthraxus Storm himself!) ...
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