Part 90: Lanilor Lane
Chapter 68 – Lanilor Lane
Heleon
Lanilor Lane
Temple of Nimir
Baldini’s Bouquet
Music: Lanilor Lane
Music: Lanilor Lane Vocals
Video: Heleon
(Yara) Minius should stay behind. Enthusiasm does not live up to experience.
(Minius) But it’ll be the death of old Aulus!
(Aulus) It most certainly will not, you rascal! Just make sure the wine is cool and plentiful when I return!
And there he goes. Divine protect him!
I bloody well can’t! And I wish everyone would stop asking! But maybe you could protect him too… please? The entrance to the temple is just down the street! I’m going to the Phoenix Inn, Dragon Knight. I can only hope Aulus will survive.
I pulled the second Rune Handle you can see there. That’s two that are lit up now. 
(???) Hey, I know you, do I not? … No, no you don’t. Yes, the adventurer, the hero knight. Just the woman I need! 
How does everyone know me on sight? I wasn’t here very long the only other time I was here.
Dragon Knight! Oh, fortunate hour for us both! I am in need of aid and you will have the honour of assisting me! 
Really? I do not appreciate, you know, the pompous palavering of a commoner. (Heleon) Commoner? I am the illustrious Heleon, unrivalled healer! My potions are a legend and have saved the lives of scores of Champions, but I seem to have run out and it’s such a bother having to go and fetch them. You, however, are an accomplished adventurer and I’m sure you’ve fetched all sorts of things in your day! Fetch some potions? That’s the most uninspired request I’ve heard all day! Never mind that, Dragon Knight: think of the reward! What’s so special about these potions of yours? Ha! They are the subtle mixture of the best and rarest saps of plants with a thousand varieties of healing powers. Only I know the secret and it shall die with me. None shall receive its magical blessing anymore and the ages will scream my name in torment, for a paradise will be lost! Marvellous! Holy crap. 
(-15000 XP) To think I found this ancient formula for healing potions by sheer luck. I hope my creations never end up in some other healer’s hands, or they’ll figure out the recipe and have no use for me anymore. So you don’t use magic, but a secret formula to heal? Ssshh! Not so loud! Look, I really don’t know how to heal, okay? I admit it! But what does that matter when my brews heal every wound they touch and devour every disease they meet? Those healer snobs would laugh, but they cannot know! Especially Bernard! I am Heleon and I am the greatest doctor in Rivellon! G’day Heleon. Good health be yours, Dragon Knight!Video: Lanilor Lane
It’s the collapsed bridge.
(Ransid) The saviour of Aleroth! A word, a word!
Dragon Knight! Oh, I beseech you, help me, help me! Do I have a special “I’ll help you, whatever it is” sign above my head or something? No, but it’s just that the Champions don’t do anything for us citizens! I want to retrieve my mother-in-law’s earrings, you see, but the playhouse… it’s haunted!
I see you’re not going to score any points on coherence. But… but… ghosts! In the theatre! They’re all dead in there, and I can hear them whisper. … They’re plotting my doom or something. Damn that Mara, the woman never liked me! But I need those earrings! They’re valuable and I’m broke. Please bring me those jewels, so at least I can buy a loaf of bread! You know, if you want bread I can give you some. And someone has left the entire contents of a sandwich shop strewn from here to the Great Market, too. Oh… that’s very kind, but I’d rather have those precious earrings. If you don’t mind. Hehehe!
(-7500 XP) Such vermin should be rounded up and burned. A black heart, but a weak will… How I abhor it! Tell me a bit more about this playhouse. It’s just down the street. Used to be very popular. People from as far as Broken Valley would come watch the shows! But then one night they performed “Chambers of Blood”, a play as famed as it is infamous. It’s about a group of women who form a secret cabal of sorceresses that wants to invoke the spirit of Astaroth so they may bear him the Demonspawn that will bring them power and riches. Only those foolish actors accidentally used the Blutsporn Edition of the drama, which includes real incantations! I don’t know if it was Astaroth himself that was summoned that night, but whatever it was: it slaughtered everybody in the theatre before disappearing. The place has been deserted – and haunted – ever since. I have to take my leave. Aye, I understand.
Jewellery in Law This taffer wants us to get his mother-in-law’s earrings from the Playhouse’s dressing room so he can buy booze. We’ll want to go there For a piece of our ultimate gear.
Just for the record, all that dialogue was real – except the “contents of a sandwich shop” line. Larian upped the snark factor more in the expansion, and hung a few lampshades as well.
(Kaan) Over here, O scaly one! Please don’t be afraid to part with your gold. My wares are worth it! Kaan welcomes you, scion of the wyrm. I hope you have brought much gold and riches for us to trade with! What is a goblin trader doing in Aleroth? I desire riches, Dragon! Gold, gems: real treasure! And goblins, what do they barter for? Skins, troll teeth, coloured pebbles, a nice piece of wood to carve a totem from! I left those gewgaw-gatherers and went to the city where all are welcome if they bring gold… even if they be goblins! (-15000 XP, -25% Discount) Lower prices mean less gold, but more sales: which equals more gold… Should I venture it?
I have no idea why anyone would buy the Broken Valley helmet unless they really liked the look.My 2-handed sword using warrior bought the Blood Blade, because its damage outstripped that of the other two-handed sword he was using. But I didn’t read the description, that’s a ONE-handed sword. Meaning, you can carry a SECOND ONE as powerful as that.
Yeah, Two-Handed weapons are pretty inferior compared to dual wielding. Especially because the bonus damage from specializing is huge for dual-wielding and small for two-handed use.
(Astridax) Dragon Knight! It is indeed a most fortuitous, yet prestigious, pleasure to make your acquaintance. Pray, may I, Astridax, suggest a highly piquant proposal, the positive conclusion to which will nominate us both as the beneficiaries of considerable copiousness? If the reward is as extensive as your vocabulary, I’m all ears. Capital! Here is the notion I want to adduce in the – I think – indubitable hope it will meet with your most ebullient approbation. I am a necromancer, a connoisseur of the deceased; a puppeteer of those in the most precocious state of worm-caressed hebetude. New experiments leave me in need of a triad of jewels that inhere to individuals who only quite recently did end their somatic existence and by means of which I can bind their spectral quintessence, thus rendering me their de facto master. Bring me these gem-set desiderata, and I promise you a most generous gerdon. 
(-22500 XP) None so shrewd or I can coax them to minister to my every demand. Acumen is the key. [Intelligence increased by one.] You lost me at ‘capital’. I see. Please bring me, should you find any, the jewellery of citizens that have not long ago passed away. Three should do the trick. I hope that shed sufficient elucidation on my preceding exposition.Writings of Astridax
Sinister Motives This quest is to bring a guy three jewels so he can enslave the souls of dead people. He’s not very nice. It’s the flipside to a quest to give the jewels to the next-of-kin. Each gemstone is its own quest, but to simplify, the thread will just vote on all or nothing.
(Aquila) Should Damian and his armies break through Zandalor’s shield, we Champions will have to fight a foe more pernicious and deadly than this generation of our order has ever battled before. But let not this frighten you or weaken your resolve, for this is not the first time mankind has faced the might of the Black Ring and prevailed. The Divine is no longer with us, but let his memory and especially his example be a guiding force for you and relish in the thrust of your sword through the very belly of the vermin that sides with the Damned One!
(Britannicus) Thank the Divine we’ve got officers like Aquila! General Luxurius would tell us to go after Damian en masse so he can have a go with Ygerna.
(Kaimi) I am a General of the New Order, but I am humbled by your presence nonetheless! May your might inspire those who will fight here today!
(Cornelius) You know what helps against nervousness? Beer! And lordy lord was I nervous, Dragon Knight!
(Talbi) We seekers stand by the Champions, Dragon Knight. The pride of Rivertown shall help deliver the freedom of Aleroth! (Claudeus) I’m ready, Dragon Knight! Come what may, we’ll kill ‘em all! Still um… you’re not going anywhere, are you?
(Bert) I’m afraid I can’t let you in, Dragon Knight. This is a private residence. And who is it that lives here? Sir Gula, the renowned adventurer. Always out in search of new mystery and riches. But I think he tossed his helmet in the ring because he has locked himself in his room and we haven’t seen him for weeks. Why did your master lock himself in? Couldn’t tell you. But if I’d venture a guess, I’d say he’s studying some treasure he found. Or perhaps he got himself a nasty sickness from some weird swamp vixen or something. I’ll be back. If you like.
(Mieke) Divine, standing guard is boring! And why do we even bother if the Black Ring is about to attack?
(Hedda) You know what I heard?
(Rhoda) What’s that? Zandalor is actually a werewolf and soon he’ll eat everyone in the city afore the Demons can get here! I knew it! It’s the beard, you know, the beard gives it away! Wow. This really takes me back. You’ll never guess who I met in the forest last month! Really? Who? A fellow named Bellegar! Spoke a rhyme and next I know, I spent two days as a rabbit! Oh, I know him! He’s a madman, he is! I still have nightmares about those lecherous leeks! I’m not even going to ask. Did you hear about Source Square? I’ve got it on good authority some old evil has awoken there. No kidding! The Dragon Knight! You know, they say you have burned down entire fortresses! But that’s nonsense, right? You see all these winged castles I’ve painted on my armour? You know what they say? That if you kill one of them walking dead, its soul merges with yours! Well, me husband always says I have only half a brain, so I guess I’ve room to spare. Have you heard about Damian? Oh, don’t even mention him! Correct! ‘Cause if you say his name real fast a couple a time, he shoots out o’ the ground and grabs you! Really? Maybe you should tell Adele! She’s been a spinster all her life!
(Isaiah) I reckon there are long-lost family members amongst them walking dead in the city!
(Ebeneezer) That so, Isaiah? But how would you recognize ‘em now that the worm has got to ‘em? If there’s two sitting on a bench doing naught more, we can be sure them is our great-great-grandfathers or something! Ha! See that young scallywag over there, Ebeneezer? That’s the Dragon Knight everyone is going on about! That so, Isaiah? Kids these days, eh? Not content being plain ol’ human, no! Need to spout fire and the like. Where will it end? Enslaved by Damian like all the rest, most likely! What a way to end your days! You’re that Dragon Knight what used to be a Dragon Slayer, aren’t you? Youngsters these days, can’t ever make up their minds one way or another! Never mind me, Dragon Knight. I’m but an old man with nothing much to say. And what is there left to talk about anyway? Damian will be here soon enough. I heard that there Dragon is bad news, Ebeneezer! That so, Isaiah? What makes you say that? They tell me it travelled to Broken Valley and Sentinel Island. And what was left when it went away? Poisonous mists and Flying Fortresses! … The Temple of Nimir should be through that gate. I should go. Do not blame yourself for failing to save Broken Valley and Sentinel Island, Dragon Knight.
(Willy) There you are! You’re ready to cleanse my house from its foul Assassin’s Guild presence, right? You know what I’m going to need? A nice, big axe. Alas that I lack the coin… Oh… er… I guess I can provide you with some more gold. Here you go. Don’t take too long now! The little idiot doesn’t know you don’t use weapons? Ha! Well done, Dragon Knight.
Gold Received: 500.
That thing to the right of the chest is the hatch to the Temple of Nimir. The key opens the chest.
Before entering the Temple of Nimir, I have an XP Debt of 195,000. Also, I should note that virtually ALL of that debt was accumulated while I was wearing enough +Mindread gear to reduce the XP cost by 50%.
That seems like a lot, and I’m not done yet, but this dungeon expedition will show that it’s actually not a big deal
Music: Dungeon Heat
Video: Temple of Nimir
The enemies in this dungeon have a lot of skills, Rush Attack, Whirlwind, Battle Rage, Explosive Arrow, Healing, Fireball, Firewall, and probably more.
When all is coloured green… only then, the trapped shall be seen. If we’d sent in Minius, this is where we would have found him, alive, but trapped behind a false wall.
There’s a series of levers that open some walls and close others. The puzzle isn’t hard. The goal is to open all the walls (which turns on green lights), and then…
It opens up a wall with a treasure chest (containing over 2000 gold – that’s a lot for a chest), an Iron and Gold Ore vein, and Minius (if you sent him). But he’s not here, so moving on…
There’s a section of cave tunnels in the temple. It has Earth Roots and Black Rose to harvest, and Venom Stone and Droxlerite Ore veins.
Still no sign of Aulus. The book says “Sometimes the only way forwards is backwards”, but that’s a hint for a puzzle up ahead that was removed from the game. It means nothing now.Video: Baldini’s Bouquet
(Baldini) At last! Finally a mortal found this sad spot of unhallowed ground! I don’t know. Ideal place for a picnic, I should think! You know not whom you make light of – do you, wanderer? Baldini is the name. Perfumer to kings and queens: the finest nose that ever was. Why would someone who spreads cologne in palaces end up here? My genius caught up with me! I made the most fantastic, finest fragrances in existence. But alas, in the end, my inspiration withered like the rose petals in my laboratory, my place of creation. A true genius reaches no peak he can’t surpass. Exactly! Which is why I set out to find the flower that doesn’t exist! I know a think or two about long searches, though at least my goal exists. I did find the flower! But after plucking it, I was overwhelmed by its aroma and fell to my death. So I waited for someone to find me, hoping all the while my perfume might still me made. I lived far away from here, but a niece of mine lives in Aleroth. She probably resides there still. She is called Chanelle. If only you could bring the flower to her and tell her I sent you, I’d be eternally grateful. It is still up there: high up near the ceiling of this vault.
(-15000 XP) When I was all the way up there where the flower grows, I noticed a button hidden at the back of a chest.
(-15000 XP) I wonder what it does? Tell me about the flower that doesn’t exist. During my long years as a perfumer, I exhausted every ingredient that might produce a smell. So I searched for something – anything – that I had not yet heard of. I knew very well that there was not one flower that I did not have acquaintance with, so I dubbed the object of my pursuit ‘the flower that does not exist’. It was here, in this forgotten dungeon, that I found it: alone, mysterious, unexpected. It’s scent was unlike anything I ever experienced and when I plucked it, like a Divine retribution for daring to tear from the earth such beauty, it intoxicated me and so caused my death. Goodbye, Baldini! Goodbye, friend of ghosts!
Baldini’s Bouquet This quest involves some rare death-defying platforming action… which would be more exciting if I wasn’t immune to fall damage. Still, it’s a nice change and is pretty fun. Unfortunately, it’s rather hard to follow in screenshots, so I’m not going to bother. Watch the video if you care to see it. I fast-forward through my screw-ups.
I can’t see a way to get up there. I think the button might be there whether or not you mind-read him. The mind-read is just a hint. The Chest has 2000+ gold.
There’s the flower… and on the back of the chest… sure enough, there’s a button. Hmmm…
Now I can reach that chest!
This is our first piece of the Dragon Wizard set. The chest also has 1500+ Gold.
How fares your quest for the perfect perfume? I plucked the flower, but I have yet to bring it to Chanelle. Good! I think she lives in the upper part of Aleroth, on Lanilor Lane. I still haven’t found Aulus. But there was one branch I didn’t explore… I don’t think that Lanilor Lane counts as the upper part of Aleroth. But I guess I didn’t see any houses on the Great Market level.
Wow! Look at all that…
… oh no.
Heleon
Lanilor Lane
Temple of Nimir
Baldini’s Bouquet
Congratulations! You killed Aulus! If you had watched the video, you would have seen me mind-read Aulus and learn that he was wounded. That’s what you get.
Anyway, beside Aulus’ corpse, in one of the chests…
This is how much XP Debt I have AFTER clearing the Temple of Nimir. Just 40,026. I got 154,974 XP from clearing that dungeon ONCE. It will respawn, and now that I’ve cleared the quests, it’s effectively the third dungeon for grinding XP. It will go down as I level up, of course, but they give so much that it’ll take a while to be useless.
Maps
A detailed map of Lanilor Lane.
Lanilor was an elf from Divine Divinity, one of the healers who worked with Mardaneus in Aleroth 70 years ago. Back then, Aleroth had apparently dwindled from its former glory to a tiny village – who knows why it shrank, but it must have.
The current incarnation of Aleroth is only 50 years old, dating back to the time a group of possessed Paladins massacred the citizens of Aleroth. The painting mentioned that the “likes” of Mardaneus stored documents in the Prancing Seahorse. It couldn’t possibly have been Mardaneus himself, since he was dead long before the Prancing Seahorse existed.
There were other healers there as well, Joram and Otho (human and dwarf), and the lizard Goemoe. He and Mardaneus (Divine Divinity spoilers) were killed when the Council of Seven was slaughtered by the Demon of Lies. I don’t know why only Lanilor gets a mention, the others aren’t spoken of again.
The Temple of Nimir.
To Boldly Go Where Rhode has gone Before: Rhode went to the Prancing Seahorse on Lanilor Lane to search for information on Behrlihn.
Bark up the Right Tree: There’s a strange tree on Mardaneus Plaza blocking our way. A soldier thinks we might find a dictionary in the Prancing Seahorse on Lanilor Lane.
Seahorse Salad: A woman called Ursula has turned some of the members of the Prancing Seahorse into vegetables, and she’s locked herself into the Forbidden Archives. We need to find the vegetables so we can get in.
Damsel in Distress: Servus in the Ministry wants us to check up on his wife at their house in Crow’s Nest. (backburner)
Trail of Deceit: Hansel in the Great Market wants us to retrieve his diary from his house in Lanilor Lane.
Spectre at the Feast: Caracalla wants our assistance to avenge his death in Crowell’s House in Crow’s Nest. (backburner)
First Aid: Peter in Mardaneus Plaza wants us to get a Healing Orb from the basement of Healer’s House.
Old Dog or New Tricks: Messalina in the Circle of Trust Inn wants us to tell her soldiers to hurry up and clean out the Temple of Nimir in Lanilor Lane.
A Swindler Swindled: Willy, the con man wants us to deal with assassins in his house on Lanilor Lane.
Earrings in Law Ransid on Lanilor Lane wants us to retrieve his mother-in-law’s earrings from the haunted playhouse on Lanilor Lane.
Mind over Matter:
- Virginius in the Great Market wants a compass.
- Cesca in Mardaneus Plaza wants a toy zeppelin.
- Doctor West in the Circle of Trust Inn wants a new type of limb
- in the Circle of Trust Inn wants her special “Bellegar” coin returned.
- Valeri on upper Lanilor Lane wants a Raccoon Rune.
Persons and Places of Interest
There are no quests associated with these people or places at the moment, but they’re worth remembering. There will be more later.
- Rune Handles – Bellegar placed 5 of these in Aleroth. When they’re all pulled, something will probably happen. Handles Pulled: 2/5
- Laniel – Lives in Hansel’s house on Lanilor Lane. Weird guy, a loner, mysterious chanting is heard in his room occasionally.
- Kenzo – A Black Ring spy who infiltrated Aleroth. Whatever his plan is, it can’t be good for the city.
- Halliwell – A holy man, a General in the New Order, with a disfigured face. Behrlihn thinks he’s worth keeping an eye on. He’s staying in the Circle of Trust Inn, but isn’t there now.
- Wild Willows Manor – An insane asylum in Crow’s Nest. It would probably be creepy enough even if it wasn’t in the part of the city overrun with undead.
- Sir Gula – An archaeologist who in recent weeks has become reclusive, abandoning his dig and shutting himself in his house on Lanilor Lane.
I think Aulus should stay behind. Let’s give young blood a chance. Yes, young blood and lots of it when those undead get to him! Don’t be a sore loser, Aulus! The Dragon Knight has spoken and I shall be the one to attain victory today! (-7500 XP) Thank the Divine they haven’t noticed my wound. I may need a healer, but I’ll be damned if I let another die in my stead. You are wounded, Aulus. It would be wiser to let Minius go. And here I was thinking I hid it so well. Wounded? Well, that settles it! I am going and I’m going at once! I shall see you soon, Aulus, never you worry!
(Minius) Hello? Is somebody there? Someone who’s not a monster? Anybody there? I’m trapped in here! It’s cold and dark and I forgot my sandwiches! Are you still there? Please get me out of here! I’m too young and handsome to die!
Oh dear Divine, it’s you! Am I ever glad you decided to scour this dismal place!
(-15000 XP) I wonder what that key is for. But I don’t want to take it from a skeleton’s hand. Those catacombs give me the creeps. So that was you I heard squealing like a frightened child. I was not! I merely voiced a sentiment of trepidation in a very many manner. The things that were in here… but I did fend them off! Damn my greed, though, I went straight for the treasure chest and BAM! Locked in! What’s in there is yours. You saved me, after all. Good day, Dragon Knight, and thank you! Good to see you’re still in one piece. Quite! Now I’m getting out of here before anything decides to change that. (Baldini) At last! Finally a mortal found this sad spot of unhallowed ground! What do you know! A ghost with a request! Or to be more precise, a duty unfulfilled: a dream that has yet to come true! (Baldini) At last! Finally a mortal found this sad spot of unhallowed ground! Why is it a sad spot? It is where I perished – a great loss to this world! Baldini is the name. Perfumer to kings and queens: the finest nose that ever was. And how does that nose relate to this sad spot? My genius caught up with me! I made the most fantastic, finest fragrances in existence. But alas, in the end, my inspiration withered like the rose petals in my laboratory, my place of creation. Still being a bit vague there. I knew I would need a whole new ingredient, which is why I set out to find the flower that doesn’t exist!Reader Participation
EDIT: I modified question 1, so you can vote individually on each item.
1. A necromancer wishes for some items belonging to recently deceased people so he can force their souls to serve him in death. The first item belonged to the mother-in-law of a drunk who wants the earrings so he can buy more booze. What should we do with Mara's earrings?
1a) Give the item to the necromancer.
1b) Return the item to the rightful heir. (Default = 1 Vote)
2. There’s a dispute between a Healer and a Soldier over some zombie corpses. The Healer wants to study them to see what can be learned, the Soldier has orders to burn them. What should Yara decree?
2a) Burn the bodies.
2b) Let the Healer study them.