Part 20: Smart Spiders
Chapter 17 - Smart Spiders
Music: "Beyond Divinity"
(Click here to download) (thanks to Grawl)
Mort and D.K. entered the Spider Forest.
Creepy. Even the trees look a bit like spiders.
Uh, 'ello there! You friend or foe? Please, please don't hurt me.
Pathetic! Don't worry, I'm a friend. Good. Very good. Maybe you is looking for some adventure? I… er, I wanted to kill giant spider nearby, and be village 'ero. Promised everyone I kill giant spider in forest, but now don't dare go any further. Need someone to kill spider for me… and be silent about it! Would you do it? Will reward you good… *if* you keep mouth shut about this in village. You do it? Yes, I'll give it a go. Please 'urry back 'ere then, don't dare be alone too long… Don't forget to bring giant spider's leg as trophy for me. Need proof, I do! You're really going to help this pathetic imp, human? I told you, D.K.; my name is Mort. I get the feeling that finding spider legs will NOT be a problem.
You killed giant spider! Give me trophy now! Yes, yes! Am real 'ero now! [laughs]… here's reward, me off… Bye! Oh boy. A non-magical mace. How exciting. We can just sell it. It's not like it took a lot of effort to get.
"About the game" posted:
This place is infested with large spiders. Alone, they're not too dangerous. The problem is that they are rarely alone. They have a very fast attack speed, so more than one can do a good job of staggering D.K. Making sure Mort's arrows are hitting home and not being blocked by a tree is really important.
I had considered giving D.K. a one-handed weapon so he would attack faster, but the only one-handers I've seen recently are pretty much just as slow as the two-handers. The only things which have a pretty fast attack speed are knives and daggers, and the good ones require a lot of agility to use.
Black Spiders can be either black or green, and like the Floogefrog killer, they have the ability to feign their death. This has a distinct auditory sound though, so it's easy to know when that has happened.
The Floogefrog killer dropped the unique item Jergen's robe, and one of these spiders dropped the unique item Jergen's Apprentice's Staff. Both were aimed for magic users, so I sold them.
The forest is also full of spider cocoons which contain items. Usually gold, potions, magic rings or trap components.
As they moved through the Spider Forest, Mort and D.K. heard a cry for help.
Help! Helllppp! Did you hear that? No. Let's keep moving.
It was an imp woman caught in a large spider web.
Help me! It hurts soooo much… please, someone… anyone? Help me! Isn't there somebody who can get me out of here? Leave her, human. What's one less imp in the world? No. Come on.As Mort and reluctantly, D.K. approached, the figure vanished. They turend to hear a scuttling noise behind them.
No wonder these two-legged creatures are considered not too bright… how easily they fell for my illusion… and how blindly they stepped into my trap… Now do you see what happens when you try to help people, human?Mort and D.K. made a break for it, rushing past the spiders. Mort covered their retreat with a few traps.
Talking spiders? Does this seem strange to you? In this dimension? How should I know? Do you think I came to this dimension as a tourist, human?
I suspect this unexpected intelligence is a result of one of the crystal fragments. But I still am not sure if the fragment is in this forest, or if it has a large radius of effect.Mort and D.K. struck off in a new direction.
They interrupted a ritual in progress.
Great Arachaeia, our Goddess, accept this humble sacrifice from your eternal servants! Accept the blood of this unworthy imp as a sign of our dedication to you. … Let it show you, O Goddess, how your spider servants have become a proud and pure race again… with me as your head Priest and servant to guide them. Please accept this offering Arachaeia! Sacrificing living sentient creatures to appease the gods? Amazing! These spiders have achieved human-level sentience! Maybe with a little more time, they could even become as smart as Death Knights.The head spider spotted them.
What's that? An intrusion during our ceremony?! Kill, brothers! Kill those enemies of our race and sacrifice them in the name of our Goddess!
Mort was quickly becoming an expert in trap placement, and destroyed the spiders which were pursuing them.
I don't think we'll find the Alchemist around here. Let's try another part. Agreed.
In another part of the forest were a set of stairs leading down.
You must have been sent by gods! Will you help old imp, maybe? Are you the Alchemist? The one who was recently exiled from the village? No… Been living here long time, you know… long time. But now… now, spiders have changed! They threatening an old hermit's house… no longer safe. Don't know why, but spiders are more organized now, they stronger… they almost an army! The village isn't far. Why don't you leave your home? No! Will never leave home, never! Where would old hermit go, huh? Got no friends, no family… just little place here in forest. Want to stay here, but don't want get eaten by spiders! Need protection! There's a magical amulet nearby… but too dangerous for old imp to go there. Amulet will protect imp against spider bites, would make imp survive! Can you look for amulet in nearby cave? Never mind the imp, *I* could use that for myself! Alright, I'll look for it! Sent by gods, me knew! Go look for amulet in cave now young adventurer!"About the Game" posted:
This quest has a really great reward - Holy Water - so you should always complete this, so you can make a permanent potion.
You can also trade with the old imp, rest in his cave to recover your health and mana, and he can teach Shaman magic to level 5 for 1100 gold each: Insect Swarm, Spikes, Earthquake, and Hammer.
Insect Swarm is Ethereal damage magic, Spikes are Piercing, Earthquake is Earth.
Hammer is the best, it's a magical white hammer which falls and does a healthy amount of damage to a single target, stunning them for some time, and I don't think anything can resist it… including the player characters, which is annoying in a later battlefield when some mages can cast this on you. I bought this spell on the chance that I might want to use it later.
The damn cave we need to go to is hard to spot, thankfully it gets automatically marked on the map. Annoyingly, the amulet we need to find is also hard to spot.
The old man's memory was accurate, Mort and D.K. found the spot he had indicated on the map.
The cave was quite small and infested with mutants, but those were easily dispatched.
The amulet was in a chest which blended in remarkably well with the cave walls.
What? This amulet doesn't do anything at all! There's nothing magical about it! Perhaps it only works for imps.They returned to the old imp.
Gift from gods, you be! Finally! No more spider bites now, no more fear… Old imp wish to thank 'uman! Take this as a reward."About the Game" posted:
As far as I know, this is the only place you can always get a Holy Water. I made a permanent potion of constitution for D.K., raising his health from 465 to 545. Mort's health is 470.
At this point, I also bumped up the strength of the healing spell from 200 to 400 HP healed, which is pretty good considering it only adds about 9 mana to the cast cost.
Mort and D.K. continued carefully making their way through the infested forest. Most of the spiders that detected they attacked on sight… but not all.
Am I seeing things? What creatures walk on two legs, but are not imps? Has loneliness fogged my still newly discovered thoughts? Speak to me, if you can, for I have no heard words, other than mine for a long time. Why are you lonely? It can talk?! It asks why I'm lonely… alas I cannot deny that I'm not quite a normal spider. … I grew up in a large spider family. We didn't think… we just helped each other spin webs and catch food. But then, one day a curse came upon us and we were given the power of thought. … Some of our kind grew beyond mere thought and gained the ability to talk. One spider made himself leader and every spider that was opposed to him was exiled, to die alone. Like me. He's sure making up for all that lost time not being able to talk. Now I'm here, talking to myself, living off the few insects I manage to steal from the webs of others… It's all because of him! The one who calls himself the 'Priest'! If he wasn't leading my people, I'd still be welcome in my own home! Now… if someone could just take him out for me… how about it? Insects? For a spider that size? I don't know what it really eats, but I'm sure it's not just a few bugs. Depends on the size of the bugs. I heard some parts of Rivellon had fire-breathing beetles the size of my head. Yes, I'll get rid of the Priest. I can't believe it. You really ARE taking quests from spiders? Why don't you focus on the task at hand, human? Finding us a way off this rock? Remember? If you could I'd be so grateful. He must be holding his stupid ceremonies, by which he keeps the other spiders under his command, somewhere inside the Necropolis. You'd better start looking for him there. You don't find it strange that you're talking? The only strange thing is that you two-legged creatures finally became intelligent enough to understand us. Maybe you've finally evolved into an intelligent and sentient species? Hope springs eternal! Sadly, he's only half right. There are only two intelligent creatures here, human - me… and the spider!"About the Game" posted:
D.K. is soooo easy to write for. I only hope that I'll be able to do 67% as good a job with Talana in Dragon Knight Saga as I do with D.K..
You might think that we already killed the priest, the Spider priest who was conducting a ceremony, he had a little cutscene… but that was a different one. The priest for this quest has no dialogue or scene. If you kill him before getting the quest, you get no reward. Not that the reward is any good, it's a plain chainmail helmet. Larian has a lot to learn about quest rewards. (The reward for returning the Imp Hero to his wife is two bottles - JUNK ITEMS which serve no purpose at all and are only worth 2 gold or so to sell.)
Also, the necropolis is just a few ruins on the surface, like the ones by the first priest. At least there isn't a dungeon section.
The duo headed towards the ruins the exiled spider indicated.
Greetings. Do not fear… a spider of my age isn't looking for human flesh anymore, nor for a hard fight. … There are other things to life that are much more important, in the end… like making something for our grandchildren to see and admire. … See this gigantic web here? When it's finished it will be the largest one ever built in this forest… or even in the whole world - who knows [sighs]. … I hope I may live to see it finished… if only we weren't running into these problems all the time… What problems? Jealousy runs amok in all races, human, even amongst our own kind. Some of the nearby spiders don't want to see the web completed and come to rip our work apart at night. … These vandals undo our work every night, over and over again. Maybe you could take care of them for us? I would reward you with some old treasures… Yes, I'll do it. Maybe there's still some hope then! I think the vandals don't live too far away from here. Please kill them all, and I'll make sure you're properly rewarded. How come you're a talking spider? I don't know how it happened, but one day my race awoke and found that some of us had finally gained the ability to express ourselves verbally. What a great pleasure it is to sing a happy song as you spin your web, and actually hear your own words. Now the first thing our young hatchlings do is say *mama* … before they attack everything in sight that is not a fellow spider… Charming. Once the crystal is sent to the necromancer. I suspect that they will return back to normal, and I will be glad of it. Goodbye!
Come on, let's go and have some fun… let's destroy this old fool's web again!
Finally, the vandals are dead! Now nothing will hold me from seeing this web becoming the greatest ever weaved in this world. And all thanks to help from an unlikely party, you have earned my respect and your reward, human."About the Game" posted:
I think that you get a charm for completing this quest.
You killed him! It seems that two-legged beasts can be stronger than I thought. Now I can finally go back to my spider brothers… thank you so much, talking two-legs. Farewell.The spider gave Mort a chain helmet. Mort and D.K. continued on through the forest.
Ah, new ears! Is it a murderer, a farmer or a noble that I am delighted to have before me? Have they a poetical soul, I wonder? … Speak! Don't ponder any longer! What is it that brings you to this plane where spiders reign? What do you mean? have you not met the poet of the spiders yet? Not yet heard the rhyming of something that can kill? [laughs] Why are you talking? I'm not talking… I'm composing, you ignorant being… every word is a new verse, a new art form! Could we please go before I throw up? Yes, let us speed like a comet so that you do not vomit. I *will* hurt you, you know.
Spider Babies! No… ANGRY spider babies!
"About the Game" posted:
The spider babies are only in one part of the forest, and they're not very threatening. Area effect traps are a waste despite the large numbers they swarm in, you're better off just hitting them.
One of the cocoons in the spider nursery has the Flamestinger sword. The cocoon has a dangerous trap. I'm not sure if it deals out a damage based on percentage of your max health, or if it just deals a LOT of fixed damage, but it nearly killed D.K. The sword does fire damage, and raises your fire resistance, but lowers your water resistance. This makes it not so great, because the only things you'd want to use it on tend to be water-affinity enemies.
However, these Element Stinger swords do have one clear advantage over normal weapons: They have no penalties to speed, accuracy or initiative, which makes them faster than normal weapons.
There was also another part with two other cocoons that were behind a spike trap. They contained 8 and 9 trap components each, which was nice.
In the northeastern-most area is the Octorr, another one of the unique monsters around. It does water damage, and drops the Wavestinger sword when killed. (Notice a pattern?)
Could this be one of the Alchemist's notebooks? I hope not. I don't like the way it's unfinished in the middle of a sentence. It doesn't bode well. … Let's get out of here, this place is creepy. 
The botanist's camp wasn't the only abandoned camp Mort and D.K. found. There was a larger one, but it was just as deserted.
I don't think they made it. You're right, human. Look over there.
Let us not linger in this place any longer.
A 'uman… here? Quick, get 'em! Imps? Not more bloody imps! We don't want any trouble! Is trick from 'uman? Why you not attack, brothers? They only two, we more…
But they bigger… me not feeling too good today…
Maybe they could do us a favour… for peace? Here we go again… You right, brothers… you show you want peace, 'uman? There is imp in lair of mummy… A mummy… the ones with bandages hanging off? Hmmm, unlikely setting for a mummy… No, no, stupid 'uman… spider mummy… Mummy of spiders captured imp… mummy angry, because we took eggs… You free our brother… we talk peace. Task easy… mummy no big deal for big people like you… So, what about a reward? Reward? Your reward we not kill you… You lucky… we kill many… Maybe brother will reward you…Mort and D.K. headed deeper into the Spider forest.
Uh-oh… Wha-Oh… Uh-oh…"About the Game" posted:
This is another worthwhile quest to pursue, it opens up a new quest, and it is required to complete another quest later on, actually.
I was planning to have a video of this fight, but it MeGui thinks that it is broken, so unless I get requests, I'm not going to bother re-recording it.
Your journey ends here, human. One step further and defeat will be yours! A toy in the web of our queen you'll become, for I am her guard and you are to be stopped! Wow… what a speech. Unfortunately for her, it's going to be her last!
One of Mort's traps weakened the hulking beast.
And some blows from D.K.'s shadow hammer finished it off. Soon they came upon the lair of the queen herself…
A spider queen! Be careful, her poison is strong and her bite makes you feel like your flesh is rotting off…
The tried and true method of leading the queen into a trap worked just as well on the queen as the other spiders.
Ugh, she's leaking poison."About the Game" posted:
This is our second summoning doll. Summoning dolls are supposed to scale to your level somewhat, based on the difficulty of the game. They do not do that very well at all. Mort and D.K. are level 18, and when summoned, the doll is level 8. Regular enemies in Act 1 were level 8 before the end of the damn maze. This doll won't even be able to hit anything, never mind for any useful amount of damage. But I can still use it to defuse traps, and it can open containers so it can open trapped containers to defuse those as well. Other than that, it's garbage. You can't even equip it with anything.
Uuuuhhh… His body is full of poison… we have to cure him first… I think I remember enough of how Horex cured his brother to make a cure with that spider queen's venom… I think we have the right alchemy herbs as well…"About the game" posted:
No synthesizing required, the queen simply drops the cure (which is only useful on this one imp, by the way).
What happened? Where am I…? Where's that eight-legged demon? She's dead. You're safe now. Just what the world needs… another breathing imp!The imp ran off without a word of thanks.
I'd say that I'm surprised at the imps lack of gratitude… but I'm not.
Hmmm… some of the webs here look different. The spider queen must have made them. Now can we get out of here? Yeah…
The Map
The Spider Forest map is so wide that there's a little bit further east, but all of note off the map was the Octorr.
Don't just rush up to get that much-needed poison resistance crystal. There's a trap in front of it. I actually tried to buy some poison resistance crystals for D.K., but I couldn't find any after several attempts, so I gave up, and saved myself some money.
To the west of the queen is a cocoon containing the Level 5 Battlefield Key. This should also unlock level 4. We'll see the Level 4 key later on.
Since (through error), the Raanaar use a Base 17 numbering system, Future Raanaarese chapter titles will continue in the manner above, with a "1 - 5" in the 171 column, and a "0-16" in the 170 column.
Reader Participation Requested
1) Where to next: East Large Mushroom Forest, West Large Mushroom Forest, Lich Cave or Just end the Act as fast as possible?