Part 69: Those Who Roam in the Sewers

Chapter 52 - Those Who Roam in the Sewers

Music - "Those Who Roam in the Sewers"
Download (Thanks to Grawl)


Previously on Divine Divinity:



Hold there, lizard! What are you doing in a civilized village?
I am an outcasst, human. My peopless are a hard racce and have little time for thosse with gentle naturess. Sssss. Only in Aleroth could I find ssuccour and teaching in the healing artss.




Goemoe, you're a lizard! Do you know anything about the activation scroll your people use to work the teleporters?
I know nothi... Ssssss. Very well, Jeremiah. You ssaved Mardaneusss and you have proven your honessty. Ssss. Yesss, I admit it. I have the teleporter sscroll containing the activation ssspell of the lizardsss.
Could you give it to me please?
Zandalor gave you the sscroll of the mages, did he? He must trusst you very much, Jeremiah. Ssssss. And I trusst the good Zandalor. Yess, yesss. I will give you the sscroll, human. I do not think I am misstaken about your character. Ssss.
Many thanks, Goemoe.


Chapter 52 - Those Who Roam in the Sewers

26 Sembten 1218

I had a brief breakfast at the Ducal Inn to keep up my strength. Then I went to get much-needed supplies.

Maybe I should take Richard or Wouter with me.
_{No. Not Wouter.}
Why not? He looks pretty strong. I could use the backup, what with my magic being blocked.
_{If you take Wouter with you, then all three Marked Ones will be in the same place, and if you all should fall...}
What? What if we all die? What happens?
_{The world will meet its certain doom.}
... Fine, I'll ask about it later. I don't intend to die under that castle. And as for Richard... no... I can't. I don't even know if Jenna is there. If I take him and he dies...
_{You should take him anyway. Your life is just as important as Wouter's is. You need protection.}
...No, I've made up my mind.




Hello Geoff. I'm in the market for a big damn sword.

"One-handed? Two handed?" he asked in reply.

I... Just give me the most powerful thing you've got... that I can lift.










With the sword taken care of, I just needed some special potions.

How many strength potions do you have? The biggest you've got.
Ah... I'm afraid I'm all out, I just have the one left, and it's small. But if you come back this afternoon, I can...
That's too late. What about your largest size Health and Stamina potions? If you have some I can brew the Strength potions myself.
I've got 3 each.





Thank you.

I started to leave, but remembered something.

I haven't been there myself, but it's extremely likely that Stormfist is protected by the most powerful magical traps around. It could be extremely deadly. You may want to protect yourself with potions or enchantments if you're serious.

Oh! I almost forgot. Those purple potions, they protect against magical damage, correct?
Yes.
How many do you have?







Where's the entrance to the sewers?
Inside my house, under the planks. Be careful, there are Lizard people down there.
Don't worry, they'll never see me.








Crap.




Halt ssmoothsskin. Thisss iss our domain, we do not allow your kind to wander freely.
Stay your blades! I mean you no harm. I am a friend to the Lizard people.
No smoothsskin humansss are friendsss. They hunt usss, persecute usss. Throw ssstonesss at usss. Sssteal our landsss and drive usss underground.
I don't have time for this.
I am truly sorry for the hardships my race has caused yours, but I am speaking the truth.

I very slowly reached into my pack with one hand, and drew out the scroll Goemoe had given me.

My friend, the lizard Goemoe gave me this, the teleporter scroll of your people. I have no quarrel with you, I only intend to pass these halls to the underground entrance to Stormfist Castle.

It had the opposite effect from what I intended. The lead lizard's eyes seemed to swell with rage. He snatched the scroll from my hand.

Goemoe? You ssspeak the name of that OUTCASSST here, and ssshow usss proof of hisss treachery?! ... The clanchief must be informed of thisss betrayal. I will go at onccce.
Uh oh... this isn't good.

As he hurried off, he shouted one final order back.

Kill the ssmoothsskin!




I chased after the lizard in orange, but I almost immediately lost it in the darkness.

The lizards behind me were charging. I prepared to cast a fireball, but hesitated.

No... that won't help.

Instead I turned invisible, and followed the map Rob had given me.




Well, here I go...

The lock on the door looked complicated. I checked it for traps and found none, well, none that I could detect. I experimentally turned the handle, and to my surprise the door swung open easily.

That's... odd.

I hesitated to enter.

_{Do you have another choice?}
... No.

I climbed up the stairs. My shields vanished, and once again I felt the interference preventing me from casting spells, as I entered the anti-magic field which surrounded Stormfist Castle.




All seemed quiet and calm. There was no sign of any guards or trouble, which paradoxically, was itself a sign of trouble.


Nearby...









I heard a sizzling sound and turned to see that my way out was now blocked by a magical forcefield. With my own magical abilities neutralized, there was nothing I could do about it.




poo poo. I was afraid this might happen.


Next Time: Just After the Nick of Time





Behind the Scenes

You may have noticed that I haven't included a map of the sewers. That's because it would only hurt the narrative. The developers took some liberties with the geography of the sewer system. While it is not strictly necessary to join the Thieves' Guild to find the entrance to Stormfist Castle required to advance the main plot, it's much more obnoxious if you don't join. I'll explain why in the Fake Update for the sewer system.

What's fake in this update?

•  The shot of be buying the Singing Blade from Geoff was real, but I never actually sold it in the first place, except for the purposes of taking the screenshot of buying it. 
•  Walker doesn't sell potions that big. What I couldn't find or make, I bought from Goemoe and Mardaneus. 
•  I did extensive photoshopping of the shot beneath Lain's house so it could match... 
•  The large shot of the lizard was from a wallpaper image from Larian's website. 
•  The entire conversation between Jeremiah and the Fanatic Lizard was faked, but it actually fits perfectly. I didn't lose the Lizard Teleporter Scroll, but since the only thing it activates is one teleporter in the Verdistis Sewers which we'll never visit in the narrative anyway, I decided "why not just have them take it?" 
•  I photoshopped an image to show that barrier inside Stormfist Castle wasn't active yet. It always was active.  

Here's the original shot of the sewers under Lain's house (compare and contrast):