ALTERNATE REALITIES
As previously mentioned (see Foreword), most -if not all- of the major plot-related quests in WiSL can be achieved in many ways and/or different order of sequence; hence, you find only the easiest and most straight forward pathways of achieving these quests in the present spoilersheet. However, there are some possible events that can result in major changes in the story, in the endings of quests, or of even the War itself. These are what we call the Alternate Realities of WiSL.
1- You did not play TiSL before playing WiSL
Instead of continuing as the Heroes of the Sword Lands, you begin WiSL as natives of the place. The Heroes from TiSL have apparently gone off to other adventures far away from the Sword Lands; however, you'll eventually come to learn that they have been finally done in by the Overlords.
The really good side of this is that assassination attempts on your party will not happen until you have saved Wailsrond, since no one will be truly aware of your capacity to be a threat to "some" folks' plans and schemes. Aside from having to work hard at establishing your party as the "new" Heroes of the Sword Lands, the only consequence is that some NPCs (from TiSL, such as Scyralla Silverspear) may not join you (although you will still have plenty of choice from other NPCs). In the case of Naryl Thezzat, you will be able to run into her only after you have dealt with Taroth Sark (see Chapter 12).
2- Wailsrond has fallen
Possibility which can happen beginning at around day 20, but which is nullified once you reach Wailsrond and help against an ongoing sharranthine assault there for the first time (see Chapter 11).
You have arrived too late and the sharranthines have ransacked and burned Wailsrond. You need to walk around the fallen city in order to fully assess the extent of the damage; you may even stumble upon a dying Belrion El'Nalam (try to raise him after clicking on the encounter button, once you have spoken to him). Then go see the Lord Paladine to give him the sad, tragic news. The consequence of that is you'll have to take care of the major sharranthine encampments (and compound) by yourselves (see Chapter 11), although you may have the (very willing) help of Belrion as an NPC. Also, Lantharond will break its alliance because Wailsrond fell while Tanirith failed to do anything significant to help the besieged city. Furthermore, Storm will begin attacks on Tanirith itself (this will end once Storm is defeated). Finally, you'll have to fight the battles of Sparklestone, Aranys and Sharranth without the additional help from the wailsrondese, making these large battles that much more difficult (unless you joined Anthraxus - then see below).
3- Anthraxus Storms offers you to join him and you accept
Possibility which can happen anytime once you have defeated Haxor Tharn (see Chapter 11), whether Wailsrond fell or not, but which is nullified once you have routed the Red Claw (see Chapter 12). It is entirely up to you to accept to join Storm or not.
You will be kidnapped by Storm's henchmen and brought to an undeground cave, where Anthraxus shows up to have a friendly little chat with you. He tells you that he wants to conquer the Sword Lands in order to unite the lands against the Overlords and their soon-to-come armies; thus, he never was a true ally of the Overlords, but simply sought to buy time to better prepare against them by "playing along" in appearance. To him, the Overlords are a deadly threat to all non-psionics (which is true).
Upon accepting his convincing and rather sincere offer (that is, if you choose to), you'll probably have to fight right there and then some of your NPC allies (namely Denard Fireshield, Master Athos, Ellai Longroads and/or Belrion El'Nalam), while some will simply leave you (namely Jorale Ramoor, Braggan Stoneheart) or will not be bothered much provided that their primary goals and/or philosophies are not threatened (such as in the case of Riel, Scyrella, Leira and/or Naryl). Alternately, some of the NPCs (such as Braggan) may refuse to join you if you seek them out after accepting Storm's offer.
Note: If you lose your battle with your former comrades, then Anthraxus will rescind his offer and sic his death knights on you for good measure. In this case, the story goes back to its "prime reality", but with having accepted Storm's offer weighting on your conscience (and maybe with a desire in your heart for revenge against Storm for rescinding his offer and trying to kill you?).
Upon getting out of the cave, you'll have to fight your incensed (and betrayed) warband. Likewise, wandering in Tanirith may cause you trouble from time to time, as news of your defection have quickly reached the authorities there (this will end once you will have accomplished all of Storm's travails). Also, folks and important rulers (such as those in Umaldyr) are likely to react quite differently with you. In any case, the order of completion of the Chapters remains more or less the same as suggested in this spoilersheet, but with numerous new twists to the story:
1) The first thing Storm wants you to do is to go speak to Thella Urm, his appointed Herzog of the Heartlands in Aranys (being in Storm's camp allows you to roam freely in Aranys, Sparklestone and Sharranth, without the need for disguises or stealth).
If Wailsond is still standing, then the Herzog will order you to rush to the city and join up with a hastily assembled task force to conquer Wailsrond once and for all; as the dust settles, the sharranthines will ransack the city and you won't be able to do anything about it (you may even want to try to partake into the act itself);
If Wailsrond had already fell (see above), then you'll have to instead track down wailsrondese rebels (lead by none other than Nerellius Pyre) and eradicate them. The entrance to their HQ will be located in the woods south of Dagger Keep.
2) The Herzog will then instruct you to go meet with the Raven who is sheltering in the HQ of the Red Claw (see Chapter 12). The Shadowsilk will ask you to bring a message to Rhodin and his wererats (instead of having to destroy them); then the Raven will give you his letter about having uncovered a plot to assassinate the Lord Paladine, something that Storm does not approve of. Raven asks you to bring his letter to Storm with haste. Before leaving, go to the cell block of the guild to find Nomune: although you won't have to free him, you will know that someone is posing as him. Upon seeing the letter, Storm is convinced that some Overlord agent is behind this, most likely the false Nomune: he wants you to find that agent and kill him. Go back to Tanirith and straight to Nomune's mansion. Upon speaking with the false Nomune, tell him outright that you are there by Storm's order to remove him: then proceed with the rest of Chapter 12 normally with regards to defeating Taroth Sark. Of course, the Guild (and the wererats) will be left intact, but with Sark gone, the threat to the Lord Paladine's life will be no more and Storm will be able to still think of the day when he gets to face off against his former friend in glorious battle. Furthermore, the Overlords will now be aware of Storm's duplicity, something they had been suspecting all along.
3) Chapters 13 and 14: of course, there will now never be a liberation of Sparklestone or Aranys. However, you may have to fight with Tanirith contingents (and/or knights of the Flame) or camps as you wander about the Heartlands and the Eastern Lands; also, Storm will begin little attacks on Tanirith itself (of which you'll be witnessess if you are in the city). Note: these will end once you will have accomplished all of Storm's travails.
4) In case the plague breaks out, simply retrieve the icon as described in Chapter 15; however, you'll simply drop it back in the sewers after trying to enter High Town. Only then will the icon be recovered by others and the plague eventually be eradicated, thus returning things to "normal". You may proceed with Chapter 16 as described if you so wish (especially since you'll still need to grab the Trickster's Deck).
5) Chapter 17: the twist here is that you'll have simply to find the Unicorns and do away with them (i.e. no need of course to free Arcantilivius). However, you will still need to explore the macremian and tellurian ruins because the Stone of Tongues is quite useful if not crucial, and to acquire further clues as to what the Overlords are concocting.
6) Chapter 18: of course, you don't get to liberate Sharranth or to defeat Storm. You are his henchmen and trusted "black ops" <wink>. This whole chapter is essentially replaced with a story-loop concerning Ertham Zoh and his conspiracy to undermine Storm in order to seize power for himself. The assassination attempts by the false Unicorns, and a minotaur chiefson being imprisoned by bandits in a cave south-southeast of Sharranth, will provide the necessary proofs to allow Storm to sic you on Ertham Zoh. This in turn removes the only notable aspiring usurper of Storm's power in Sharranth.
7) Chapter 19: the twist here is that you are sent as envoys of Sharranth to forge an alliance with Lantharond. Storm thinks the Dragonthrone is ripe for such an alliance, especially since Lantharond will have already broken off its alliance with Tanirith and since King Dragonheart will have died and his cousin Erion will have full powers (Red Dragonsbane will not have to be found, nor will he be even if you defeat the green dragon). To gain Lantharond's trust, however, you'll still have to solve their fire giant problem as described in the Chapter. Also, and of course, you'll end up facing off with Zeiia No.
8) Chapter 20: the only twist here is that you investigate the so-called alliance between the Overlords and the shadow elves in order to end it, since Storm himself did not approve of it and since he distrusts shadow elves almost as much as the Overlords. Otherwise, this Chapter remains as is (including helping the amazons if you want to).
9) Chapters 21 and 22: with the three Overlords defeated and the War won for now as far as Sharranth is concerned, Storm liberates you from his service. With a nice "send-off" reward and his thanks, he points out Umaldyr to you as the most likely place to find the remaining Overlords and maybe even their leader. This implies as well that you'll be far away from Storm and thus less likely to turn on him <wink>. Other than this new twist, these two Chapters remain as they are.
Thus, the War of the Sword Lands will end with a strenuous cease-fire, the balance of power being clearly in Storm's hands: he now holds undisputed sway over the Western Lands and the Heartlands, while having a new alliance with Lantharond of the Northeastern Lands (and a potential new "tool"), therefore effectively isolating Tanirith (Coral Towers being quite minor in Storm's scheme of things for now). Because you have defeated the three Overlords, and since it looks as if you could even defeat them all and their leader, Storm's need to conquer all of the Sword Lands becomes less urgent and more a matter of patience, strategy and personal lust for power.
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