CHAPTER 32: JOURNEYS IN THE SCALES SWAMPS
Your search for Primus/Maximus and the means to reach the Forbidden city goes on. However, your search will lead you to wander throughout and all about the dangerous, disease-carrying insect-infested Scales Swamps. But since you already had a "taste" of this harrowing landscape, it should now be easy for you ... right?
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after having rested in Seacrest, head back to Adventurers Inc.
and take the job of destroying Aztranak.
- then head to Edgemoor. There, enter the Moorholme
Inn and Tavern (see key to Seacrest in Chapter
31). Sitting at x52y28 you will find a lone cathoon ranger. His
name is Mrrysh Walksfar, of
the honorable Leorrh Nrresh Pride in the Forgotten Valley. His
Pride is threathened by evil Mayaltecs and
he seeks help. As you accept to help him, he provides you with
more explanations. His pride is peaceful, living off hunting and
farming. The Mayaltecs have not always been evil, but snake
priests have poisoned their brains of late. Now they want to
destroy the Cat People. Mrrysh is also searching for Tecoltitan,
an honorable mayaltec warrior and friend who also fights to drive
away the evil from his own people. Mrrysh ends his narrative by
telling you that you all must go to the Forgotten Valley and
fight the evil snake priests as soon as you can travel there.
After handing you a map to the Northern Area of the Forgotten
Valley (see Chapter 33), he gathers his gear to join with you.
- having hooked up with Mrrysh, leave Edgemoor through its
northern gate and re-enter the Scales Swamps.
Key
to the Scales Swamps:
x15y83 - Old watchtower
x13y22 - Aztranak's tomb
x60y15 - Lizard men village
x40y50; x41y51; x44y51; x38y52; x41y53; x44y53 - Tellurian ruins
x44y55; x46y55; x42y56; x44y57; x46y59; x48y59; x50y59 -
Tellurian ruins
x63y84; x71y81; x71y76; x78y77; x81y75; x79y65 - Troll caves
x76y62; x73y60; x67y57; x62y63; x69y60 - More troll caves
- in the swamps, head straight for the old watchtower (see key above). As you approach, an old, dirty and greying druid opens the door to shoo you away. His name is Chlorophus and he is quite mad - but also quite dangerous. Refuse to leave and fight him, along with his swampish pets. Then enter the old watchtower.
Key
to the Old Watchtower:
x26y43 - exit
x27y41 - room with water fountain
x31y39 - stairs (hopelessly blocked and useless)
x24y38 - laboratory
x20y37 - stairs (hopelessly blocked and useless)
x25y35 - locked water-filled pen (a battle awaits you there!)
x27y35 - locked water-filled pen (a battle awaits you there!)
x31y32 - stairs (hopelessly blocked and useless)
x26y31 - Chlorophus' private quarters
x21y30 - door
x20y29 - chest holding Chlorophus' valued belongings
x30y30 - locked cell. Here you will find Ssyslak,
a lizard man ranger, chained to the wall and near-death from
thirst and starvation. Free him to feed him and give him water.
He tells you that he is a pariah among his people, which all too
often stand on the dark side of things, something that always
went against his own principles. Still, he was tolerated for he
is the best hunter and tracker of his village. But lately, evil
snake-like human priests have taken over his village, claiming
kinship with his people but in truth beguiling them into becoming
their puppets (well, well - snake men again?). These snake
priests are enticing his people to actually march against those
to the south, for their own dark plans. He spoke out against
those evil strangers -but then was forced to flee in order to
save his life. He decided to make the trek to the south and warn
the good peoples there, perhaps even recruiting help to free his
village from the dark influences of the snake priests.
Unfortunately, he was captured by Chlorophus, who has been
experimenting with crocodilians and seeking to mutate them into
powerful monstrous versions. The crazy druid told Ssyslak that,
since he is a lizard man, he wanted to try the process on him to
see what would happen. Looks like you saved him just in time.
Accept him in your party - he will give you a map of the Scales
Swamps (see above).
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from the old watchtower, head straight north - all the way back
to Aztranak's tomb (see key
above and Chapter 31). If you feel like it, head north-east
instead to explore the Tellurian ruins
(see key above). However, you will not find any kind of
"key" there. So it must be somewhere else, right? So
... back to Aztranak's tomb and enter it one more time.
- back in the tomb, walk over to x15y77 with search and/or detect
secret on. You'll notice that the slab of old marble on the floor
there can be slid over, revealing a flight of stairs going down
in a dungeon.
Key
to Aztranak's dungeon:
First level
x2y50 - exit
x9y50 - column-statue of Aztranak
x10y42 - throne room
x10y33 - throne
x10y58 - chapel dedicated to Orcas
x10y66 - altar
x19y50 - study room and library
x24y48 - bedroom
x24y52 - small kitchen
x12y50 - if you approach this location with search on, you will
find a small button on the wall there. By pressing it, a wall at
x5y52 will slide away to give you access to the stairs at x3y54
and allow you to go to the second level.
Second level
x1y3 - stairs to the first level
x6y6 - locked fountain hall
x11y6 - water fountain (a battle awaits you there!)
x19y6 - hall of columns (a battle awaits you there!)
x25y4 - secret door
x27y3 - secret door
x27y1 - lever. Pull on it to empty the water fountain. Return to
the fountain and pick up the skeleton key lying at the bottom.
x16y18 - wall with demonic bas-relief. The skeleton key will
float and shatter, making this wall sink to the floor and allow
you passage.
x15y18 - Aztranak's crypt
x11y15 - Aztranak's sarcophagus. As you approach, Aztranak
will rise in his lich form and attack you (with some help). Once
you defeat him, he will rise again, but this time in his
arch-lich (true) form. Have fun. If you defeat him, walk over to
the opened sarcophagus to pick up the tellurian
electro-key lying inside.
x6y18 - secret door
x1y16 - Aztranak's treasure room!
[Note #1: at this point, you can opt to return all the way back to Seacrest, in order to claim your reward at Adventurers Inc. If you choose not to do this at this time, it may take a long while before you will be able to ...]
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back to the surface, and now that you have found the tellurian
key, you decide that you should tackle those snake men that have
apparently taken over Ssyslak's people.
- head eastward and cross the bridge (x60y18) to the gates of the
lizard men village (see key
above). As you near the gate, Ssyslak will tell you that it would
be better to try to enter the village at night. Once it is well
past 10 PM, go to the gates and use spells or items that can
teleport, phase, vaporous form or fantastic wings, in order to
cross the gates silently and without waking anyone. Once on the
other side of the gates, be sure to be endowed with a sentry
spell in order to avoid any trouble.
- inside the village's fortifications, head straight north to the
cave at x39y13 to enter the lower caves.
Key
to the lower caves:
x39y14 - exit to surface
x39y11 - communal cave. A host of lizard men, including their
chief Ssloors. He will babble
something about them being true followers of Sseth (a.k.a
Neralkuur). (a battle awaits you there!)
x44y7 - private cave of Ssloors
x29y4 - chapel dedicated to Sseth. Lizard men shamans, later
joined by snake men priests, are there. (a battle awaits you
there!)
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after the clash in the chapel, Ssyslak tells you that he knows
that more snake men are hiding somewhere, outside near the
village. Leave the lower cave.
- back in the village, exit through the gates and head for the cave
at x73y18. After dispatching the snake men guards there, enter
the cave and head to the secret door at x77y19. This door leads
to the dungeons of the snake men.
Key
to the dungeons of the snake men:
x73y9 - stairs to surface
x77y9 - door
x77y5 - dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x77y13 - dormitory (a battle awaits you there!)
x80y9 - secret door
x82y9 - chapel dedicated to Sseth. A snake man highpriest in
charge of this operation is here, attended by numerous snake men
priests and warriors (a battle awaits you there!)
x87y9 - statue of Sseth
x87y14 - dormitory
x87y4 - private quarters of the snake man highpriest. There, you
will find a letter from a Holy Queen
telling him of the need to secure all of the valley for the Holiest
Ones. Curiouser and curiouser ...
- back to the surface, Ssyslak will leave you. His people having left the village upon the death of their chief, he knows they will eventually come back. Hard times are ahead for them, and he aims to help as best as he can - even if he will always remain an outcast.
[Note #2: at this point, you can opt to return all the way back to Seacrest, in order to claim your reward at Adventurers Inc. If you choose not to do this at this time, it may take a long while before you will be able to ...]
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having dealt with the snake men that sought to control the lizard
men, now is the time to help Mrrysh and his people. Walk to the
great river of the Scales Swamps (see map above) and cross east
by following its banks. This will lead you to the Forgotten
Valley.
Onward to Chapter 33!
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