CHAPTER 31: BACK TO THE PRESENT RESTORED
In this chapter, after much brainstorming with Oberon, you set yourselves on a journey to the Azure Sea Coast of the continent of Anarym, in order to root out Maximus/Primus and the three remaining Mentarchs.
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- once back in front of the temporal portal within the Towers of the Hourglass, head straight to Oberon's study: you will find him there, waiting for you. You won't need to tell him about what transpired, since he followed your exploits in the past through his viewing globe. Like you, he feels somewhat dejected at the turn of events: although the timeline is restored, the dread fact remains that Primus/Maximus and three Mentarchs are now hiding somewhere in the present. Oberon enjoins you to take a well deserved rest while he leaves to consult his collegues of the Order of the Hourglass in order to devise a new course of action - if any.
[Feature #1: if Galduur Ironshield remained with you, Oberon will be quite surprised and aghast, wondering why his temporal protection spell allowed the dwarf to follow you. He will also verify what damage -if any- to the timeline this may have caused.]
- after a good rest, return to the study to speak with Oberon, who is again waiting for you. After much discussion with his peers, Oberon and they have established that Maximus must indeed be destroyed -as long as he remains, in a host or without one, he will always be too great of a threat and is likely to try to alter the timeline again. So, Oberon will be sending you back to the present -the correct one, that is- on the continent of Anarym. The Azure Coast area, to be more precise. He tells you that the Mentarchs were created through magics and sciences that have been lost since the fall of the Lankharh empire. The place where this was done is now known as the Forbidden City, located deep in the Forgotten Valley. In turn, this virgin, tropical forest valley lies just east of the port city of Seacrest, on the Azure Coast of Anarym. Once there, you must find the means to access the Forbidden City -sadly, the Order of the Hourglass hasn't yet found out how this can be done, so it will be up to you. Once you reach the city, Oberon tells you that he'll join you then. The Order of the Hourglass is convinced that Primus/Maximus returned there, after fleeing from you in the past. So, you must find him and destroy him, along with the three other Mentarchs he rescued. Without further due, Oberon simply teleports you to the greater Seacrest area.
[Feature #2: if you returned with Galduur, Oberon will announce that his escapade fits exactly with the historical records concerning his 'mysterious disapearance' and thus poses no danger to the integrity of the timeline. Furthermore, with the normal timeline restored and all, Oberon called upon someone else to join all of you: Strider (of TiSL and WiSL fame). Galduur will be quite happy to see his old friend back, having long suspected him of having quite a long lifespan. Strider explains that many centuries ago, he fell into a potion bath, and this potion soaked through his whole body, making him age only one day for each year that passes. Throughout the years and decades, he was forced to take on many names, including Raack Strongbow, in order to avoid revealing his special nature. Oberon adds that the Order of the Hourglass took a special interest in Strider long ago because of his long-life, him having since then performed many services for them throughout the centuries. Suffice it to say that Strider then happily joins your party.]
- through Oberon's teleport spell, you land at x17y87 in the port of the city of Seacrest (see keys below).
Key
to the Greater Seacrest Area:
x25y18 - Lair of greckles
x29y29 - Tombstone of Librunae
x57y33 - Grag Keep
x72y53 - Hideout of the Highwaymen Band
x79y67 - Lair of giant trolls
x53y72 - The Mystic Sword
x59y43 - Holphus' Quality Bows and Arrows
Edgemoor
x16y1; x18y9 - Gates of Edgemoor
x14y5 - Temple of Lharishar
x17y2 - Moorholme Tavern and Inn
x16y7 - Store of the Misty Dale
x20y6 - Edgemoor Manor
x9y6 - Gates to the piers of Edgemoor
Calember
x15y43 - Gates of Calember
x10y33 - Gates of Castle Calember
x12y39 - Mermaid's Lullaby
x11y42 - Central market
x10y44 - Temple of Ukkor
x8y49 - Store of the Happy Sailor
x7y48 - Gates to the port of Calember
Spring Dale
x41y29 - Spring Dale Store
x41y26 - The Griffon's Lair
x47y31 - Spring Dale pier (you can buy a boat here)
Elven Forest Kingdom of Lorill
x46y4 - Illistyl's Little Store of Everything
x49y6 - Temple of Peldrion Soulkeeper (a.k.a. Essans)
x54y2 - Temple of Staristyl Astrae (a.k.a. Astrane)
x56y9 - Castle Lorill
x58y4 - Loron's Shop of Arcane Mysteries
x63y8 - Temple of Labelas Enoreth (a.k.a. Quanthaas)
Gnomish Town of Goldylock
x75y30 - Gates of Goldylock
x73y27 - Nurin's General Store of Everything
x70y25 - Temple of Segojan Earthfather (a.k.a. Woralduur)
x67y24 - Goldylock Castle
x75y20 - Closed-off mine
x75y22; x75y23; x75y24; x76y25; x77y25; x78y25 - Goldylock mines
Wavyn
x66y80 - Gates of Wavyn
x68y81 - Temple of Agrah
x74y85 - The Farmer's Shop
x75y85 - Wavyn Manor
x77y86 - Lord Wavion's fields
Key
to Seacrest:
x58y49; x58y67; x44y73 - City gates
x23y71; x28y71 - Gates to port area
x16y88; x14y83 - Lighthouse
x22y67 - Temple of Hurme
x25y70 - The Ancient Mariner's Store
x26y68 - The Merry Mermaid
x27y70 - Armors and Such Shop
x29y68 - Temple of Ukkor
x31y68 - Inn of the Sleeping Tides
x34y68 - Seacrest branch office of Adventurers Inc. (you can get
a job here!)
x42y77 - Commander Sura's hideout
x41y72 - Moldon the Halfling's Convenient Store
x41y67 - Temple of Dianchuur
x44y58 - Underwater cave
x59y65 - City and Magistrates' Halls
x57y64 - Bank
x57y62 - Sea King's Lodge
x55y62 - The Lord of Leather
x53y62 - Temple of Danuur
x53y60 - Harlow's Big Little Magic Shop
x57y60 - Rogo's Maps (you can buy maps here!)
x57y59 - Central market
x53y58 - Temple of Codan
x60y58 - Gates of the Royal Estates of Seacrest
x57y57 - Azure Coast Wondrous Imports
x57y53 - Shaliman's Lore (sage for hire!)
-
from the port area of Seacrest, head to the Merry
Mermaid in the city proper (see key above).
There is a chance that you may get the jump by assassins while
wandering inside the place. If you do, and survive, you will find
a map: this map gives the location of a secret hideout. Then, at
your first opportunity, walk to the elf at x51y78: he is Sarin
Moonbow, an elf ranger from Lorill. Accept him
into your group (he is crucial to allow you free wandering within
the borders of the kingdom of Lorill). He also mentions that an
elf high priestess of Quanthaas in Lorill may be looking for you.
- with Sarin now in the group and the assassins' map in hand,
head to the hideout located at x42y77 in the city. Once there,
give the password ("mindbender")
- the woman inside will be shocked to see you. Indeed, she is commander
Sura, at the service of the Overlords
(remember them from TiSL and WiSL?), charged with killing you.
Dispatch her and her gang of psi-warriors. Looks like
Primus/Maximus is indeed somewhere around, and was expecting you,
eh?
[Feature: this episode with commander Sura will be activated only if you get attacked by assassins at least once. After you have dealt with her, there will be no more attempts on your life.]
-
from there, travel all the way to the kingdom of
Lorill. Head for the temple of
Quanthaas (see key to Greater Seacrest Area
above). Lindanyl Goldenfair, a
high priestess of Quanthaas, awaits for you at x11y44 inside the
temple. She tells you that she has been blessed with a recurrent
dream, which commands her to perform two tasks of service. The
first task is a message the dream entrusted to her and which she
must impart to you. The message is the following: "To open
the doors of old Lankharh, one must find a key created in the
golden days of an even older empire". What this seems to
mean is that this so-called "key" may be some artifact
or relic from either the empires of Macremia or Telluria
(remember them from TiSL and WiSL?), which preceded that of
Lankharh. To this effect, she tells you that tellurian
ruins lie north-west of Lorill, near the center
of the Scales Swamps (see
Chapter 32). As for her second task, she is to join in your noble
quest to destroy the Mentarchs once and for all. At that, she
joins your party.
- from Lorill, return to Seacrest. Go to the offices of Adventurers
Inc. (see key to Seacrest above) and take on
the job of slaying the black dragon Black Kiss.
- from there, go to the Griffon's Lair in
Spring Dale (see key to
Greater Seacrest Area above). Inside, you will find Draconia
Nah'Li sitting at x4y34. She is a
self-professed dragon-hunter and dragon slayer. Tell her that you
are hunting Black Kiss: by coincidence, the king of Calember has
charged her with the same task. Why not team up? She can get the
reward from the king of Calember while you still get the reward
from Adventurers Inc. Accept and she joins your party.
- from Spring Dale, go to the tombstone
of the witch Librunae (see key
to Greater Seacrest Area above). She once single-handedly fought
the black dragon in a great battle that not only devastated her
house and the area surrounding it, but it cost her her life as
well. However, her brave and selfless sacrifice greatly wounded
the dragon and it was forced to flee back to the Scales Swamps,
thus leaving the Greater Seacrest Area free from harm. Once at
her tombstone, say her name and she will appear as a spirit. She
knows that you are hunting Black Kiss and wants to help. She
tells you to leave and rest, then return as soon are you are able
to: she will join you and even teleport you to the dragon's lair.
Leave to take a good rest (you may need it).
- return to the tombstone: as promised, Librunae joins you and
teleports you. You land at x12y24 in the Scales Swamps, near the
tomb of the lich Aztranak (see
Chapter 32). Librunae tells you that Black Kiss is lairing on the
upper floor of the tomb. Without further due, enter the building.
- inside, advance slowly but cautiously. You'll end up facing off
with the black dragon and some of her crocodilian pets. Have fun.
Once you kill the dragon, Librunae's spirit thanks you and she
dissipates.
- walk to x15y78 to acquire the hoard of Black Kiss, along with
freshly laid eggs.
- return outside of Aztranak's tomb and head due south to Edgemoor.
Be prepared: the Scales Swamps are very dangerous!
- once in Edgemoor, head to Calember
(see key to Greater Seacrest Area above). There, go straight for
the gates of the castle: Draconia Nah'Li will leave your party to
claim her reward. With final partings, head back to Seacrest and
Adventurers Inc. to claim your reward (you may sell your dragon
eggs at your leisure).
Onward to Chapter 32!
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