CHAPTER 20: THE UNDEREARTH

In this chapter, you must travel deep within the bowels of the earth in order to debunk an unholy alliance between the Overlords and the shadow elves of the undercity of Naaz'Tzaraneen.

A) through a recently-discovered entrance in the Heartlands at x70y28, just north of Dagger Keep. From there, you arrive at x24y41 in the Tlaran Caves (see SL Guide); walk south to the bridge at x31y56, go west to x16y56, then south and east to the weird spiderweb at x29y70. Behind this web is a secret door at x29y71, which leads to the Spider cave. In the Spider Cave, use the secret door at x29y80 which is also blocked by a weird spiderweb (leave the Statue of Tlarantale be: this is essentially a red herring), then take the secret door at x41y82 and exit from another secret door at x49y82. From there, walk west to the secret door at x82y84, exit from the secret door at x82y85, then walk west then south to the shadow elf check-point at x66y88. You cross over to the underearth at x66y0 by heading straight south. Once in the underearth, walk S-SW to x43y32: this will be the western entrance of Undermeet (see figure below).

B) through a secret tunnel within the mountains in the southwest area of Artemisia Forest, at x17y82. From this secret door, head to x17y86, which will land you right in the underearth at x80y85. From there, go N-NW to a cave at x71y63 and exit through another cave at x60y61. From there, walk N-NW to x50y43: this will be the southern entrance of Undermeet (see figure below).

 

Amazon village1) go to Artemisia Forest (see SL Guide) and walk to x33y83, where you'll find a dying amazon. She'll tell you that their village was attacked by shadow elves and that most amazons died; the survivors were taken to the underearth as slaves. Then walk to the devastated amazon village and head straight to the queen's hut at x45y87: you'll find a near-dead Scyrella Silverspear whom you'll revive (if you did not play TiSL, then you will not be able to revive the amazon queen). Upon being awaken, Scyrella will join you to avenge her sisters; you will tell her about the enslaved amazons and she will find renewed determination to free them, *then* avenge those that were killed. She will point out to you the secret passage to the underearth near her home (see note 6B above). Note that you can pick up Scyrella anytime during the adventure (if you played TiSL) without having to complete the present Chapter right away..

 

 

 

 

Undermeet2) whether you used the means to enter the underearth described in notes 6A or 6B, you end up in Undermeet (see figure on the left), some sort of neutral grounds where the four main races of the underearth meet peacefully for trade. Each of the four races have their own embassy there as well; it is up to you to figure out how to enter them (you could get some important info and tips about the underearth).

The key of Undermeet is as follows:

x49y31 Earth gnome embassy

x58y32 Shadow dwarf embassy

x48y36 Kobold embassy

x54y39 Shadow elf embassy

x51y36 The Lightless Gloom (tavern and inn)

3) head to the Lightless Gloom. Walk around the place for info and rumors, or simply buy info from the barkeeps there. Pay attention to the one about a shadow elf noble having been captured as slave by the kobolds, and yet without any word or retaliation from the shadow elves. Also in the place, you can hook up with 4 NPCs:

at x87y52: Dagrrr, a brutish but trustworthy dogre (not important to the plot);

at x73y46: Grishpath, a rough but trustworthy gnat (not important to the plot);

at x72y58: Sshisk, an adventurous kobold (important if you do not have kobolds in your party);

at x65y53: Millanys Druhn, a human adventurer sold out to the shadow elves.

4) from Undermeet, head west to the secret door at x28y36, then to the secret door at x16y36, and exit from the cave at x15y39: you have now entered the defensive maze of the kobolds. You will find an illusory wall at x8y21 (with search on), which hides the entrance to Sseshathuur, the kobold city. You will be able to enter the city only if you have at least one kobold character in your party, or if you have Sshisk along with you.

The key of Sseshathuur is as follows:

x11y17 Castle gates

x14y14 Temple of Neralkuur

x10y14 Slave Market

x5y12 General Store

5) go to the slave market at x10y14: a shadow elf noble is for sale there. It is up to you to decide on whether you free her by buying her (with or without attempting to bargain the price) or free her by brute force. Her name is Zeers Nys'Raeneen, of the house Nys'Raeneen, a priestess of Tlarantale. Her house is the ruling house of the shadow elf city Naaz'Tzaraneen. She will tell you that her Matron Mother has made an alliance with the Overlords, an alliance that Zeers perceives as not favored by Tlarantale; consequently, Zeers is a pariah of her house. She seeks to depose her matron Mother and end this alliace with the Overlords; at the same time, she sees in this the chance to seize power in her house and become the new Matron Mother, with her house still ruling over the shadow elf undercity. Zeers will not only make things easier for you while in Naaz'Tzaraneen, but is also a crucial ally against the Overlords and the shadow elves that have allied themselves with the Overlords. If Scyrella is with you, Zeers will pledge to free the amazons once you have helped her against her Matron Mother.

6) with Zeers, head to the gates of Naaz'Tzaraneen (see figure below). While in the city, remember that "when in Rome, do what the romans do".

The key of the shadow elf undercity is as follows:

Naaz'Tzaraneen

x7y61 Gates

x2y82 Black market of noble house crests (a password is required ... up to you to find it)

x13y79 Tavern and Inn

x15y76 General Store

x22y77 Alchemy Shop

x25y80 Magic Shop

x20y82 Weaponsmith Shop

x38y76 Gates to Tlarantale's temple

x3y17 Gates to Slave Pens

x5y85 Gates to House Meer'Golorh

x16y84 Gates to House El'Carlaas

x27y83 Gates to House No'Lareen

x20y72 Gates to House Bel'Yraaz

x27y72 Gates to House Raz'Narath

x52y85 Gates of Tuur Narish (military and magic academy)

x56y79 Gates of House Nys'Raeneen

x64y79 Gates of House Zan'Deezan

x60y82 Gates of House Duur'Nareen

7) head to the gates of house Nys'Raeneen (see figure above); just to the N-NE, you'll find a secret door within the battlements. Enter the grounds and head to the mansion proper at x62y70 for the big showdown with the Matron Mother and General Nyxos Uhn, the third Overlord in this story. If Zeers is with you, then some of the priestesses and warriors will join your side of the fight. After the fight, Zeers will hand you a crest of her house that you will present to the slave pens at x3y71, in order to free the amazons. As Zeers and her victorious priestess-sisters begin to squabble over the rule of house Nys'Raeneen, just leave.

8) with the amazons free, they will seek to leave as fast as possible the underearth in order to find a new home, somewhere on the surface. A thankfull Scyrella will give you a nice parting gift before leaving. After that, it is up to you to explore more of the underearth (along with Naaz'Tzaraneen or Greyshimmers, the city of the shadow dwarves) at your own risk or return to the surface as well.

There you have it! You have debunked the alliance between the shadow elves and the Overlords, and vanquished a third Overlord in the process. You can now tackle Chapter 21!

These pages and their contents (except otherwise noted) are © Pierre H. Vachon (Psion) and may not be reproduced in any way or for any purpose without the express permission of the author.
The Sword Lands and Anarym are © Pierre H. Vachon.

Realmz and Divinity are © and ® products of Fantasoft LLC and Tim Phillips.