CHAPTER 27: TROUBLE IN THE OLD IRON KINGDOM
Here you are in 529 R.R., in the times of the old Iron Kingdom. Since you have about eight months to kill until Primus/Maximus arrives, why not find adventure instead of waiting for it to find you?
[Note #1: you have roughly eight months before Primus/Maximus arrives and takes possession of Kith's obelisk-tower. If you go there too soon, you'll notice that the only way to enter is to have a keryndhoryan with you to put his/her hand in a hand-shaped depression that serves as an opening mechanism to enter the obelisk (this mechanism is similar to what you encountered way back in TiSL, inside Kith's crypt). Thus, you can't enter Kith's obelisk unless Primus/Maximus has already done so.]
[Note #2: take the time to read Oberon's lexicon that he gave you. It contains very important background information that will allow you to understand how things are going in the Iron Kingdom at this time period.]
Feature #1: don't worry if you are reminded of Primus/Maximus' arrival while you are already well set on one of the side-quests available in this part of the story. From your end of the timeline, you have all the time in the world. Tackle Primus/Maximus at your first opportunity (see Chapter 30), then simply continue on your other quest(s). You need activate Oberon's orb of return only once you feel you have done everything that you could in the past.
Feature #2: most of everything described in this chapter (and chapters 28-29) can be done out of order instead of as explained here, should you wish.
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- you land in the Heartland/Central Province of the Iron Kingdom, at coordinates x6y6 (actually, quite near where you began TiSL!). As expected, a lot looks the same ... and yet everything is quite different from your time.
[Note #3: as you wander about the Heartlands Province, chances are you'll encounter marauders and bandits - either they'll be attacking you or you'll stumble upon them while they are attacking a trade caravan. A bit south of Nur'Anaan, it will be instead goblins doing the deed. These encounters are hints as to what is going on in the decaying Iron Kingdom.]
- journey south to Nur'Anaan (see key below) and enter the Sleepless Dragon inn just outside of the town.
Key
to the Central Province of the Iron Kingdom:
x15y6; x17y9; x27y15; x35y14; x12y18; x16y22; x28y21; x8y26;
x13y27; x25y26 - Elven ruins
x8y33 - Kith's Obelisk-Tower
x52y3 - Highgate (Dwarven fortifications)
x70y3 - Old hermit's house (he sells maps to old crypts)
x54y17 - Gates of Fort Friendship
x52y20 - Fort Friendship Tradeway Station
x55y33 - Temple of Agrah
x48y40 - Leatherworks
x50y46 - Hammer and Anvil Store
x47y47 - The Sleepless Dragon
x52y47 - Gates of Nur'Anaan (see key below)
x46y73; x54y73 - Gates of Fort Uppersea
x45y74 - Fort Uppersea Tradeway Station
x9y77 - Gates of the village of the Tribe of the Bloody Bones
(goblins)
x70y74 - River Crossings Tradeway Station
x71y31 - Crypt of the Nuramin Dynasty
Key
to Nur'Anaan:
x53y46 - Ye Ole Armor Store
x53y41 - Kingdom's Lodge
x55y44 - Temple of Codan
x55y48 - Nashima's Exotic Imports
x57y49 - Central Market
x59y44 - Ye Ole Friendship Inn
x59y46 - Zum's All Things Magical Store
x63y46 - Temple of Danuur
x63y48 - Bank
x63y51 - Laeryl's Street Corner Shop
x67y49 - City/Magistrates' Hall
x70y49 - City Business and Trade Center (get a job there!)
x69y51 - Janus' Fine Bows and Arrows
x68y45 - Estates of the Royal Governor of Nur'Anaan
x62y41 - City cemetary
-
inside the Sleepless Dragon, walk to the front desk at x65y60.
The owner, Michiko Moonjade,
will welcome you. Rent a deluxe room - with your deluxe key in
hand, go through the door at x62y60 and then to your room at
x54y65.
- after setting yourselves up, return to the main hall of the inn
and take the stairs at x71y55 to visit the upper floor.
- as you walk by the door of the room at x6y4 on the upper floor,
you'll hear the screams of a wench being hit repeatedly. Rush
into that room.
- inside, you'll be confronting a shady character that has taken
into roughing up women. Upon your entrance, he snarls something
to the effect that his gang have taken over and they can do as
they please. This man is an electromancer and starts casting.
During your fight with him, chances are he'll get help from
ruffians (presumably from his gang). Once the battle is done, the
wench flees as cleaning staff rush in to clean things up - they
are all afraid and one even tells you not to bother Michiko with
this, for she is too proud to ask for help. That same staffer
tells you that a strong group of ruffians have taken over the
inn, some of them even lounging in Michiko's own private
quarters.
- of course, you don't heed this advice! Return downstairs and
walk to Michiko's front desk. While pretending to ward off your
discreet questioning, she'll hand you a note indicating the
location of a chest and a secret lever inside it.
- walk through the door at x62y60 again, and head straight for
the chest in the corridor at x63y66 with search on. You'll find
that this chest has a false bottom - under it, as hinted by
Michiko, you find a small lever. Pull on it to reveal a concealed
door at x64y66.
- once you cross this door, you'll find a sizeable gang of
bandits and brigands. Unhappy by your intrusion, they attack
(chances are that Michiko will come to give you a helping hand).
- After the clash, Michiko tells you that a large group of
ruffians have bullied their way in her property in order to turn
it into one of their bases of operations. She suspects that they
are part of a greater band of marauders that have been
terrorizing the roads lately. She tells you that more of them are
also shacking up in her cellar - she promises to reward you if
you get rid of them for her.
- outside of Michiko's appartments and back in the corridor to
the luxury rooms, walk to the storage room at x52y58. In the
storage room, take the ladder at x51y64 to climb down to the
cellar.
- in the cellar, walk to the loose tile at x28y6. Pushing on it
will reveal a concealed door at x29y6. Walk through it to reach a
secret room at x31y6. As you walk in, you come face to face with
more marauders. After the clash, pick up an interesting map on
the table at x35y6.
- return to see Michiko at her front desk. True to her word,
she'll give you a nice reward (and also a special item, if you
have a human monk in your party).
- having well rested and recuperated, it is now time to
investigate the location on the map you found in the cellar.
- walk to coordinates x64y61 just south of Nur'Anaan, with search
on. You'll find a large trap door concealed in the woods there.
Opening it, you will find a large sloping corridor going
underground: this is the HQ of the marauders.
Key
to the Marauders' HQ:
x10y85 - exit to surface
x11y81 - stables
x9y77 - commisary/mess hall (a battle awaits you there!)
x13y74 - kitchen
x6y71 - door to dormitories
x12y71 - door to leader's quarters
x5y68 - dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x7y68 - dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x5y63 - dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x7y63 - dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x6y59 - dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x15y66 - conference room (a battle awaits you there!)
x15y63 - table in conference room: a map of interest is there.
x17y62 - luxurious salon: Jax Bloodthorne,
leader of the marauders, and his lieutenants are lounging about
(a battle awaits you there!)
x20y66 - Jax' bedroom
x22y67 - working desk in bedroom: you'll find a letter from a
woman named Ariel. She speaks
of "goblin interlopers" and of an apparent boss of hers
and Jax', Stygiax, who is
considering what to do and how to deal with them. She also
mentions someone named Bonecrusher,
who wants to rout the goblins with his "warriors"
x22y69 - Jax' locked (and trapped) chest in bedroom
x19y69 - secret door to the loot of the marauders!
-
once you have dealt with Bloodthorne, the HQ will be hastily
emptied (even the horses will be gone). Deserving a good rest,
return to the Sleepless Dragon inn.
- in the inn, walk to the N-W corner of the main hall. There
you'll find two famous adventurers of the times: Galduur
Ironshield (x53y53) and his long-time friend Raack
Strongbow (x54y52). Walk over to Galduur and
he'll reveal that the both of them have been keeping an eye on
you and your party, waiting to see if you would start taking care
of the marauders. He and Raack will go on to tell you that they
suspect that these marauders are just the tip of an iceberg, most
likely involving someone powerful who is seeking to conquer the
Iron Kingdom.
i) if you did not play TiSL or WiSL: the two adventurers will then depart for Lantharond to fight unruly fire giants there, leaving things in your hands.
ii) if you played TiSL and/or WiSL: you'll be amazed at how Raack ressembles Strider, your comrade of TiSL and/or WiSL fame. Take the chance to explain the true reason for your presence in the Iron Kingdom and ask them for their help against Primus: they will gladly accept and join your party. If you don't ask them, the two adventurers will then depart for Lantharond to fight unruly fire giants there, leaving things in your hands.
-
having well rested and recuperated, it is now time to investigate
the location on the map you found in the marauders' HQ.
- walk to coordinates x75y19 just north of Nur'Anaan, with search
on. You'll find a large trap door concealed in the woods there
(there is a 25% chance that bad guys will be coming out just as
you find this trap door!). Opening it, you will find a large
sloping corridor going underground: this is the HQ
of the bandits.
Key
to the Bandits' HQ:
x2y5 - exit to surface
x7y6 - stables
x13y14 - commisary/mess hall (a battle awaits you there!)
x25y4 - kitchen
x16y8 - door to corridor
x22y8 - door to corridor
x15y10 - dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x17y10 - dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x16y16 - dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x23y10 - dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x23y16 - dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x22y18 - secret door to leader's quarters
x23y20 - conference room (a battle awaits you there!)
x26y22 - table in conference room: two maps of interest are
there. One is the same as that found in the marauders' HQ. The
other is a new map.
x28y20 - luxurious salon: Ariel Firehair,
leader of the bandits, and her lieutenants are lounging about (a
battle awaits you there!)
x32y17 - Ariel's bedroom
x31y14 - working desk in bedroom: you'll find a letter from a man
named Durnon. He speaks about
having set up a functional base of operation near Tanirith and
wonders if Stygiax could send him more mages. He also needs for a
"Lord Maladore" to
send him more troops and asks for Jax's wellbeing
x33y14 - Ariel's locked (and trapped) chest in bedroom
x23y24 - secret door to the loot of the bandits!
-
once you have dealt with Firehair, the HQ will be hastily emptied
(even the horses will be gone). Deserving a good rest, return to
the Sleepless Dragon inn.
- having rested and recuperated, now is the time to look into
this so-called "goblin problem". Taking on a whole
tribe is a big deal - you'll certainly need some help.
- go to Fort Uppersea (see key
of the Central Province above). Approach the Garrison
Commander during the day: he stands at the
steps of his castle at x49y72. Having heard of your exploits at
routing the marauders and bandits, he proposes that you lead a
contigent of troops and knights against the goblin tribe of the Bloody
Bones, their village being south-west of
Nur'Anaan (see key of the Central Province above). Accept his
proposition and head to the gates of the goblin village.
- as you arrive to the gates, the troops and knights (having
followed you from afar) join you in the rush - and the battle is
on.
- once the fight is over, the knight commander bids you to go and
get the goblin shaman-king, Shanaurak,
while he and his troops clean things up and head back to Fort
Uppersea to bring news of the victory to their garrison
commander.
- enter the goblin village and go to the mountain cave at x1y75:
the goblin shaman-king and his best and finest await you there to
make their last stand. Having dealt with them, the tribe's
ill-gotten booty is now yours while what remains of the tribe
scatters into the wilderness.
- return to Fort Uppersea to get your monetary reward from a
happy garrison commander.
- having dealt with the problems plaguing the Central Province,
return to the Sleepless Dragon for a well deserved rest!
Onward to Chapters 28, 29 or 30!
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