Part 103: Heart of the Dragon

Chapter 75 - Heart of the Dragon


Music - "They Whom have Left Long Ago"
Download (Thanks to Grawl)



Previously on Divine Divinity:




Whose castle is that? ... And who do I expect to answer that?




Is there really war going on between the dwarves and the elves?
By Gods there is! These arrogant creatures attacked us unprovoked. And the imps are angry about something as well, so I've heard.


Chapter 75 -Heart of the Dragon




It was not easy to retrieve this artifact. And I do believe someone neglected to inform me that the catacombs were infested with monsters?




Excellent!
Tell me more about the Heart of the Dragon.
The heart of the Dragon is guarded by a dangerous sect of lizards that lives in the mountains. Recently, they attacked and seized a castle which belonged to the imps.
The imps were attacked?
Yes. The sect has now moved completely into the imp's castle. You are to sneak into their midst.
You wish me to obtain this artifact?
Indeed! I shall mark the sect's location on your map. Be very careful, though, this sect is commanded by a dragon rider and I fear you may have to slay him in order to obtain the artifact?
A Dragon Rider?
You seem familiar with them.








You could say that, yes.


Studying the map, I realized that I'd been near that castle only four days earlier - when I was searching for the Holy Grail. At least it wouldn't be terribly difficult for me to find my way back there.




As I headed for the castle, several large, aggressive forest spiders started attacking me from a nearby ridge.




Play dead.





I arrived at the plateau where the castle was perched, and followed it until I found a crude staircase, suitable for climbing.




It didn't look much different from the other fortresses and castles I'd seen, except that the entrance was flanked by two statues of imps. I noticed something familiar off to my right.




It was a teleporter platform, although the symbol on the platform was unfamiliar.

I guess that's a teleporter for the Imps.

I headed towards the building in the castles center. It was completely silent. It was only the sudden tingling in my tattoo that saved my life.

_{LOOK OUT!!}

Without knowing why, I instinctively dove to the ground, skinning my hands on the rough gravel. I heard a whooshing sound as a blade scythed through the air, right where my neck had been a second earlier.




A lizard mage had sprung out from hiding. The sneak attack gone, it started casting a spell. Another one came from beyond the walls at the entrance. I hurled a stream of fireballs at both before they could get a spell off.

That was too close.

Once again, the castle was shrouded in silence.




The opening hallway was quiet. There was a foul smell in the air, the smell of death and decay. The source was obvious: there were several dead lizards and imps lying around. They seemed to have been dead for a couple of days. A large book caught my eye.




The rest of the book was indecipherable. I headed for the door opposite




Without warning, several lizards silently charged out to attack. By now my instincts were finely honed, and an accurate spattering of fireballs soon finished them.

None of them even said a word. They just threw them selves at me with a fanaticism I haven't seen before.




There were stairs leading down into the heart of the plateau. The air coming from below was just as foul as the air up here.




Once again, everything was still and silent. I was starting to detect a pattern.

They know I'm here.

I investigated a room to the right. It was an abandoned dining room, with remnants of a meal still remaining on the table. Once again, my only warning was a slight movement of air.

The lizards moved with single-minded determination, paying no heed to self-preservation. That was fine with me.




This could be a dangerous pattern. I should be cautious.

I proceeded through the silent rooms.




I fended off another attack, because I was expecting it.




No keyhole. And the stench seems to be coming strongly from there.

I pulled the lever on the wall and the door swung open. The passage beyond was not fitted brick, but the carved natural stone itself.




Gack! Well, that explains the smell... I guess the last of the imps retreated down here... and were trapped.

As I headed further down the hall, I heard the clattering of skeletal feet, not the dead silence which marked the presence of the lizard cult.




This is a relaxing change.




A few cleverly placed castings of Burning Wall helped things go smoothly.




I reached a locked door. Beyond the gate, I heard nothing. I thought I knew what that meant. I pulled the lever and the gate rose.









I headed into the midst of the lizards.

VIDEO: BOSS: Ssaragab







I hadn't been paying attention, and had left Burning Wall as my readied spell. That wasn't going to be much good against most of the Lizards in the room, so I switched back to Hell Spikes to finish off the rabble.




The biggest lizard was also the fastest one. Even if I predicted his next move, he'd just move away from my Hell Spikes, and retaliate with blasts of lightning.




No need to rush around like that.




Even with his speed cut to almost nothing, the lizard was still dangerous...




...but not dangerous enough. With the thunder lizard dead I got the chance to look around.




How the hell did a DRAGON that big get in here?
_{In all likelihood, it's not a Dragon, but a Dragon Knight.}
A Dragon Knight?
_{One of the six races who has been taught how to transform themselves into Dragons. This one probably walked in here in the form of a man.}
Wow... How come I've never heard of them?
_{They are a most secretive group. However, once you become the Divine One, you could rally them to your cause to fight against the Black Ring.}
How will I find them? I've never even heard of them until now?
_{They will hear of you, and once you become the Divine One, your powers will grow greatly.}




Did the lizards get a discount on you guys or something?

VIDEO: Burning Wall is AWESOME






I was now in the habit of checking every cell for ambushing lizards, and that came in handy for other reasons..




This is the Imp teleporter scroll. I guess they won't mind if I take this.




I reached the destination, it appeared to be a stone wall. Somewhere beyond, a Dragon Rider lurked. This time, it wasn't going to run away. I had to face the same kind of enemy which had almost killed me, all alone.

Well, here goes...


Next Time: The Dragon Armor Restored





Behind the Scenes

Okay, Jeremiah didn't really see Wouter getting toasted by the Dragon Rider, but he felt it.

Sorry for cutting if off there, but I wanted to do the boss fights some justice, instead of cutting them entirely out of the screenshots. I haven't finished writing the last part of the next update, so splitting the update lets me post this today instead of making you wait longer.

By the way, there are only about  (not counting behind the scenes, fake updates and others) TEN  updates left in the LP.

ONE.

What's fake in this update?

• Nothing really, although I spiced up the encounters with the lizards to make them at least a bit interesting.
•  The Dragon Knights thing is from Divinity 2, actually, but I thought it would be a good idea to tie the games together.