Part 35: Rebel Alliance
Chapter 30 - Rebel Alliance
Music - "On the Brink of Defeat"
Download (Thanks to Grawl)
Mort and D.K. found the teleporter on Ruins Island just south of "Zandalor"'s Ruins. Then they headed to the southern end of Ruins Island
Are you sure the Rebel Raanaar are this way?
No, but it makes sense. The man at the temple marked 5 islands on my map, but only one of them was completely devoid of any features save the fact that it exists. It's as if no one who goes to map the island ever comes back. So either there are Raanaar there, or something really, really dangerous is there? There's always something dangerous somewhere. You mean, something like *that*? Yes… definitely something like *that*. 
Groouuuaaaaahhhh… YOU… NNNOOOOOOO… gluumppffff… PASS!!!!!!! Pardon? Woooaaaeeeggghhh… I GUARDZZ… urrffhhhlll… ROCKZZZ!!!!!! Oh, I see! I don't think this guy is doing this for fun, somehow. What's your mission? I GETZ GREAAAAT REWARDZ!!!!!! SMASHHH YOU, I WILLL!!!! Look what I've got for you if you let us pass! Shiny metal coins! I'll give you 100 of them if you let us go by! NIIIICE GLITTZZZYY THINGS!!! ME LIKE!!!!!!!The creature took the gold and scurried off into the maze of crystals.
Good help is so hard to find.
"About the Game" posted:
These tiny little guys look and sound like little white Water Elementals, but they aren't. They come in big swarms, and unfortunately are completely immune to Ethereal damage, so my new favorite Insect Swarm trap isn't very useful here.
Mort was right, and soon they found a patrol of Raanaar also fighting the monsters off.
Stay out of our way, human. Not very friendly in these parts, are they? I'm just looking.
Well, don't look too long. We don't take kindly to spying. There's nothing to see here. … We don't trust you, even if you helped the other Raanaar. … Humans are full of tricks. We learned that the hard way! And we sure don't trust the likes of your friend… These really are charming lads!Mort and D.K. hurriedly moved on.
Mort and D.K. heard the sounds of a large battle nearby.
"About the Game" posted:
In this act, the best spot to put one of your teleporter stones is on the island with the teleporters to all the other islands. Since nearly all of your quests will start and/or end at the temple, that will usually save you a lot of running around.
VIDEO: Rebels under Attack
There were a few Raanaar trapped by a closing circle of demons, gargoyles and Fragments..
Watch out! We're surrounded!
We'll never make it! There are too many of them! Quickly, help the Raanaar!
There were so many foes that Mort equipped some special arrows which split into additional arrows after firing.
Well met, valiant warrior! We are pleased to see that the demons have more enemies than the Raanaar to worry about. Greetings! I wonder though, does this make you a friend of the Raanaar? Yes, I'm a friend of the Raanaar. Excellent! Your skills could be very useful to our community. We would be honoured if you would join us… Honour? Valiant warrior? It's a good thing nobody pays much attention to me! [Chuckles] Follow us to our camp! We'll show you the secret entrance!
A rebel led Mort and D.K. to a section of crystal wall which seemed like all the rest, until the illusion vanished.
How unexpectedly clever! I'll have to remember that they use this trick.VIDEO: The Rebel Leader
I greet you, human. I've heard a lot about you. Now, may the deeds be replacing the mere word… Greetings. This man sounds more like a scholar than a fighter… You're the first human we're considering trusting after the great betrayal. He means, Damian's betrayal of the Raanaar. You saved our patrol, but we Raanaar know your kind can be deceptive. Can we risk trusting you? What do you mean deceptive? One thing speaks in your favour, human. We know Samuel is chasing you. He wants you very badly, he even destroyed an entire imp village in his search. Well, at least that's *one* point in his favour! But in the end, we will let you make the choice. It is your decision… Decision about what? Will you help is? Will you side with us against your own kind, the human servants of the evil demons? Or will you walk in their path? Human, are you on our side? Be careful now… this is a tough decision. Do we follow the humans in the temple, or do we follow these rebels. I'm not sure which side has more to offer to us… Be careful what you decide, human. We will test your honesty… Speak now: are you willing to help us in fighting members of your own race?"About the Game" posted:
Technically, this is a real choice. You can choose to decline helping the rebels. However, if you do, this will make all the other Raanaar in the camp turn hostile - they can't risk you telling their location to their enemies. The Raanaar patrol that you saved does NOT turn hostile, even if you kill the other Raanaar right in front of you.
But there really isn't any point at all to killing the Raanaar. They are allegedly level 26, but they don't seem like it. They die in one really weak hit, and the game explicitly shows you that you get 0 XP from killing them, and obviously you lose out on the quest XP and quest rewards.
All I've been doing since I got here has been fighting other humans. Yes, I will. I am glad to hear you making this decision. I know, the humans you were deciding against are evil mindless servants of the demons. But it was still not an easy decision, I guess. Hmmm… not really. But as I said, we will put your honesty to the test. Talk to my people in this camp. They might have small tasks for you to do. Help them to the best of your abilities. We will be watching you. … Come back to be later. If I've seen your character, I might have an important task for you… later.
Tell me about your race. We are the Raanaar. This is our world and we will fight for it with everything we have. How is the fight going? It looks like a hopeless cause right now, but we won't give up. Maybe you can help us? Talk to my people and ask them what you can do for them. Then you will prove to be a real friend of the Raanaar. This summoning doll is Elder Anlokam who is under a curse. Asmodheus gave it to me. The doll you're carrying is our leader, the daughter of the High Elder himself… who would believe this? You said, Asmodheus gave it to you? I knew she was a prisoner of the Arch-Demon, so I guess your story could be true. If you really want to help her, you have to bring the doll into the inner sanctuary of the Temple of Raan. Well, looks like that imp was right after all. Who is the High Elder? The High Elder was our honoured leader. Head of the ruling council and head of our Academy. But he was murdered at the beginning of the war… right before the demons came. … What is the Temple of Raan? The Temple of our Goddess Raan, Goddess of war, honour and wisdom. But now the humans conquerors have killed the High Priestess and taken over the temple. They made it a temple of their own god… Raan will judge and punish them! I need to get back to Rivellon. If you want to go back to your world, you will need to find a rift between our two worlds. What are rifts? It is a kind of doorway. Rifts between worlds can only be opened at certain locations. And you need a Raanaar Elder to open it. No one here has the ability to open one, but... The daughter of the High Elder would be able to do it. Do you know anything about a crystal? It would be orange, and at least as large as my head. The crystal? The crystal was located in the inner sanctuary of the temple. It protected our world and prevented the demons from entering it. After it was stolen, the barrier between this world and the demonic planes was weakened. The demons are invincible now, because they can regenerate by sucking energy from their own realm. Are there any small tasks I can help you with? Well… one of our patrols has gone missing. It was patrolling the island to the northeast, where a warlock has made his home. I would like to know what has happened to them. I'll try to find them."About the Game" posted:
It's strange, because we've been killing demon-things since Act 2, and they don't get back up a few minutes later, they seem to stay dead. Perhaps it only applies to powerful demons like Samuel, or perhaps they get up much later, or they return to the demonic plane to heal instead of dying for good. Who knows.
Now we get to choose from 5 Raanaar quests. When we complete 2 or 3 of them, the Rebel leader will offer us a new quest which I will be doing in the narrative. The ones which I am doing offscreen are:
Garbage Monster - A monster has been attacking Raanaar from near the camp. We are tasked to find out why. It turns out that the Raanaar have been dumping their garbage which attracts rats, which the monster hates.
Kill the monster, tell the Raanaar why it was attacking and it's over.
Lost Statue - During the evacuation of the Temple, a statue was buried near the temple. When you go to dig it up, a Temple Guard tries to confiscate it. You can kill him or let him take it to the warehouse. I was considering doing this in the narrative, but the statue is stored in a room which has a guard in it, so I'd have to kill the guard to get the statue, which defeated the narrative reason for not killing the guard who tried to confiscate it in the first place.
Seeing Stone - Near the temple is a seeing stone which can be used to show various areas on the islands. It's an interesting quest, but I wrote myself into a corner by having Mort and D.K. unable to read Raanaarese. To solve this, you need to find a specific Raanaar book from among the random books around, and read the moon-runes to figure out how to disable it. Then you need to remember the name of the author, find his tombstone and get the item from his grave, place it at one of the spots shown by the stone, then use the stone.
Mort and D.K. killed a monster which had been frustrated by rats attracted by the Raanaar's garbage.
Well met, human. I have seen you around here before. Do you take an interest in the ways of magic? Yes, I do. Fine. Then you would not be afraid to carry out an important task for me? It concerns a wayward pupil of mine… Tell me about your pupil. This ex-pupil of mine has always craved to obtain his magical powers the easy way, instead of following the natural and proven path of knowledge. … So when I tried to temper his power-hungry nature, he just left and eventually found a human warlock who took him in as an apprentice. … Now, the thought of seeing his talents perverted by this malevolent crackpot is bad enough… but he might also be forced into betraying the age-old secrets of Raanaar spellcasting and magical arts. … This cannot be allowed to happen, so your task is to persuade him to abandon this foolish path immediately, one way or the other… I bet you the *killing* part us up next… ...Even if it means killing him… There you are! These Raanaar take things far too seriously. I'll show you where the traitor's den is… Now go quickly and report back to me the moment you've cleared up this mess.Another Raanaar asked Mort to retrieve a Raanaar statue buried near the Black Temple.
Ah hero, can we call upon your help again? Maybe… what's the problem? You're familiar with the Temple of the Black Ring, am I right? Well, yes… That's exactly why I need you for this job. You see, my brother was killed by these evildoers. … But, as if that wasn't enough, he was carrying the Ancestral ashes of our beloved father at the time, and… they… *sniff* … took the urn with them. It cannot stay in the hands of his slayers. Something must be done! … Will you get it back for our family… for… me? Yes, I'll try. May my gratitude go with you. You will be well rewarded, the honour of my family is very valuable to me.Mort returned to the Black Ring temple, making a slight detour to retrieve the Raanaar statue from a pit. A guard had wanted to confiscate it, but a compromise was made, and Mort and D.K. hid the body in the pit where the statue was.
We still need to find a way into that warehouse. I guess there's nothing for it but talking to these freaks.Mort and D.K. spent a fruitless hour talking to the cultists.
Ssshh! Come over here… I shouldn't tell you, but… no, no, no… I really shouldn't tell you! Either spill your secrets or I spill your guts. You have three seconds to decide. One… Okay! Okay! I saw the guard who works in the warehouse drop his key in one of the gardens when he sat down to have his lunch! Please don't hurt me! Begone from my sight! You're getting better at this, human. Let's get that key. Be careful though, that warehouse will still be guarded.
Mort and D.K. unlocked the building and slipped inside when no one was looking.
There was a cough from another room, so Mort and D.K. decided to be as stealthy as possible.
What is that… smell?
It's this really horrible old cheese. This must be what we need for the spell. Lets… just … hurry up… I don't want to be carrying this for longer than I have to.
Got it. Let's get out of here.Mort and D.K. returned to Cassandra's house and stole some of her bat guano.
I've come about that warlock you turned into a tibar.
No can do, adventurer. That belligerent fool got what he had coming. I suppose you don't know half the story, so let me tell you. … Nearly every day and night he was here, trying to woo me. I told him plenty of times I wanted none of it. Then he got ruder and ruder, so in the end I threatened him that if he came back one more time, I'd take away his lust for good. … He did come back and so I did just that. I'm sure he doesn't desire me anymore now, so that little problem was neatly solved and it will stay that way. There's nothing you can do to change that! … By the way, when did you last take a bath? You don't smell too good… Let's do it now. Cast this curse, will you…Mort cast the spell Vermin curse from the scroll the Tibar had given to him. Within moments, a horde of rats invaded the building.
What have you done? This is disgusting! My house is crawling with vermin of all sorts! Did that stinking warlock get you to do this for him? Yes, he did. Alright, alright, maybe I was too harsh. I'll get you the potion to cure his condition… Here, take this. Now undo the curse! The curse is one of that warlock's specialties, so he's the only one who can remove it. Only the warlock can remove it. Well, hurry up then, I want this vermin out of here as soon as possible!Mort and D.K. went to track down the Tibar.
I see you have an extra potion on you. Would that be the cure for my curse? Yes, it is. Hah, so she finally gave in, then? What a softie, I knew that curse would be her weak spot. So now let's get to the cure part. GIMMIE THAT POTION… er, if you please…Mort gave the Tibar the potion, and he gulped it down.
Aaaah, that did the trick. Now that I'm back to my normal self, let me see how I can reward you… I know, I'll teach you lots of magical stuff. And I'll recommend you for advancement in rank at the temple.… That should keep you happy. But now I need some time to readjust to my human form again. You can come back later… What about the witch? Now that this stupid hag gave you the potion, I will remove the vermin curse from the witch's house… in 300 years… harharharhar!
Mort and D.K. returned to the Raanaar Rebels.
"About the Game" posted:
2500 rank points for helping the Tibar, only one more sidequest to do to trigger the main quest.
Was your search successful? Yes, I have the urn. I am so delighted. You surely deserve a place amongst the Raanaar!Mort also returned the statue, but as he was leaving, the rebel leader stopped him.
There you are again. It's time we talked about this quest that you can perform for us. Oh joy. *More* busywork! Shouldn't we be worrying about how to get into the temple? Go on… As you probably know, we are very hard pressed to counter all of the attacks launched against us by the various demon hordes on this and other islands. … As a matter of fact, we don't stand a chance if some of the more powerful demons decide to battle us. One item however could tip the balance in our favour. … It has been lost for a very long time, but recently one of out scouts has discovered a very important part of it. You see, the item we're talking about is a sword. And this sword used to be called Red Demon's Bane. … It carries a magical red gem in its pommel, which imbues it with demon slaying powers. It is another small crystal from the same source as the crystal which used to protect our world. The gem however was stolen and the sword itself broken. Yet it is this gem that one of out scouts has rediscovered. … He saw it in the possession of a demon somewhere in the ash forest. It is imperative that you find and restore this gem, together with a newly crafted magical sword, since no sword of ours can hold the gem. … I've heard the smith at the temple is quite proficient at this, so try your luck there, whenever you've recovered the gem. … If you can accomplish this task, we will truly consider you a friend of the Raanaar and aid you in any way we can, including your search for the knowledge of Riftrunning. I'll try. Well, that might actually be a prize worth working for! Yes, I agree. But not right now. We still need to restore Anlokam, which means that we need to get into the Temple of Raan, which means that we need to be first in the Book of Ranks. It's time to pay a visit to the last island, and find out what could be giving a warlock such a headache…
Next time we complete just one more side-quest, which gives us enough points to trigger the next part of the main quest. After that there's only one more side-quest-centric update in the act.
The fourth Battlefield Key can be found in an enclosed area in the western part of the island.
On top of the Weapons Shop/Forge is this little easter egg from Lord of the Rings.
