Part 68: Chapter LXVII - Cherchez la femme *A*.
Chapter LXVII - Cherchez la femme *A*.Lots of ground to cover today.
The Temple of the Black Hand is where we'll find the other part of the key we need.
We immediately rescue Nim's dogs from vampiric hounds.
The place is filled with cultists, spooky.
Channeling Khalid might have been the wrong move. At least they die quickly.
They're not as scary when the sun's out.
Edwin and Shar-Teel don't get along, big surprise.
Who could this dagger belong to!?
This conversation was supposed to trigger ages ago, I had to trigger it by console in order for it to appear, it's a good thing I did as well because...
...This guy reacts to it. What could it mean!?
Quite the annoying fight, luckily Sandrah can spam summons.
Not really seeing why this'd be useful for a mage...
Ah, this is the other half of the key we were looking for!
We go back to the tomb...
...Beat up the guardians...
...And find Ghotal's sword. I know just where to g-
...Uh-oh.
Luckily our goals seem to be aligned and he vanished without a fight. Nice change of pace considering how these things usually end with Sandrah in the party.
We go back to Salamander Island, looks like we'll have to beat up someone for him.
They approach us single file and are surprisingly easy to defeat.
We get the key which allows us to unlock the altar in the Northern Citadel, netting us a Holy Symbol of Helm in the end. If only Ajantis could see us now.
I guess the mystery of the dagger will remain unsolved for now.
With the Holy Symbol in hand we can finally enter this area from the Field of the Dead.
Ghotal seems to be up and about. Coming here might have been a mistake...
Sandrah tries to get to the bottom of things but a fight was inevitable. Poor guy...
We find his golden plate on his corpse and the horn and claw of Kazgaroth while we're at it. Just like that this long questline is at its end, though I'm assuming Sandrah Saga has quite a bit to add to it down the line.
This area is home to Wood Elves who would really appreciate to be left well enough alone. I decide to oblige them.
That's pretty much it for Northern Tales of the Sword Coast, some small quests notwithstanding. The first of two mods we'll be finishing this LP.
First we swap Shar-Teel and Edwin out for Kivan and Xan.
Oh, Xan. You know just how to please me.
We talked to this guy before but now we're going to tackle the actual Stone of Askavar content.
Don't be sad, Xan!
The Blueberry Woods aren't really noteworthy, the only thing of note are the tents where we meet a hostile party carrying the first talisman we need.
The chainmail also seems important, I hope this doesn't lead to shenanigans...
...Of course it did.
The area north of Nashkel is home to a spider cave with a necromancer deep inside. We get another talisman out of it.
We'd better leave this place before Xan does something drastic.
This beggar gives us the first talisman after we solve his riddle and buy him a ruby from Feldepost's.
Before we continue we have to make a change...
Remember how Gavin would get messengers summoning him to Kelddath who'd direct him to certain quests? There's one that I didn't include that involved disappearances in Beregost, when I went to Kelddath he didn't have anything to say which is why I left it out of the LP. We're about to solve the case while going for the fourth talisman so we might as well bring him along.
Still dull as dirt.
And he has a child!? We might have to look into it later.
Anyway, this home has two quests that are not related to each other. Awkward.
We gladly take care of these upper-class twits.
This kid has a lead on the fourth talisman, she must be so traumatized.
Oh dear, Xan's getting mopey again. We'd best head upstairs.
Quite the sick puppy, we quickly put her out of her misery.
I never would have guessed Kelddath would feature so many times in this LP, I'm surprised Sandrah hasn't tried to fuck him yet.
Rescuing Rebecca gets us talisman #4.
This area is filled with fighters and clerics, those pillars cast lightning spells as well. I'd find it annoying but compared to Sandrah's content...
I should've known Harpers would be involved, it's a shame we couldn't save her but at least we can avenge her!
Her armor makes Gavin a bit less dull.
With all talismans in hand we go back to Cearwin.
Sandrah deduces that he's a harper, with the promise of information we head to the Wood of Sharp Teeth.
I liked Xan's earlier banters a lot more, right now he's just a drag.
The ruins near the Bandit Camp hold the entrance we were looking for. Don't see it? Neither did I for the longest time....
Steel was drawn, it didn't end well for them.
We get some Harper swords as well as the titular Stone of Askavar!
We head to Beregost and deliver the stone to Aranor. He's not exactly forthcoming with the information. Oh well.
That's TWO mods dealt with in the span of one chapter, I only wish it was more exciting. Overall I really liked both mods and the areas they added.
Next time we'll finally continue with Vichan's quest.