Part 86: You really CAN get ANYTHING at Leptine's General Store!

Chapter 64 - You really CAN get ANYTHING at Leptine's General Store!

Music - "A Sense of Disorientation"
Download (Thanks to Grawl)



Previously on Divine Divinity:






We were told, here in Verdistis, we could find... ahh... women with special talents, if you know what I mean.




She's setting herself up as competition to old Afrasam's whorehouse if I guess aright.
Maybe you should ask your husband. I've heard he's been "asking for Magdalena" a lot at Afrasam's Tavern lately.
WHAT?! THAT BASTARD SON-OF-A-HALFLING! I'LL CUT HIS PHILANDERING PECKER OFF!!
That wasn't necessary, Jocaste. Don't fling rocks from inside your own glass-walled house! I've heard you've often gone to Afrasam's to "ask for the handsome Yaniz" of late!




How is Magdelena keeping? I would very much like to see her again.
Ah, this can be arranged, my friend. Please go to merchant Leptine and tell him Afrasam sent you.




New dimensions of pain, you say? Does that involve licking of boots and calling you mistress?




You're a summoner? Could you help me to increase my skill at summoning?
We might as well start immediately! First, you will have to bring me some ingredients we need to perform the lesson. You'll need a piece of wood from the Talking Tree found only in the Dark Forest... With your present level of summoning skill, you'll need a certain book on summoning. Unfortunately I don't have a copy. The only one I know of was in the possession of Sir Patrick and I sent Penumbra, a good friend of mine to... err... borrow it from him. The third thing you'll need is a certain wine of the correct vintage. You'll have to ask Pierce, the wine merchant. Just mention my name, Corinna the Summoner. He'll know what you need.


Chapter 64 - You really CAN get ANYTHING at Leptine's General Store!

I returned to Medicius.

Well, well, if it isn't my young apprentice.

He laughed.

Have you managed to secure the herb I desire? I do hope the tree was not in one of its foul moods.
Yes I was able to find your precious herb.




Here, I found Buad's journal. Perhaps it could be of interest to you.
Astonishing! My thanks to you!


I headed back to Verdistis. I realized that I'd never been in the General Store before. Perhaps that place had something which might be helpful. Maybe a book "How to Storm a Castle: The Complete Guide". You never know until you look.





Do you import items from other regions?
Why yes. I receive food and clothes from the south. Fine crafted tools from the dwarves and wines and herbs from the elves also arrive here.
How goes business lately?
A lot of my customers are from the farmlands. I do a lot of business with the farmers nearby. As a matter of fact, I urgently need this bill taken to farmer Hugh.
Hugh! I know Hugh, I wouldn't mind a chance to talk with him again. I'll do as you ask and deliver the order bill to Hugh.
That's mighty fine. Please take this bill to him as quickly as possible.




Everyone's heard the disturbing news. I really thought Doctor Elrath was an honest and decent man, I guess I was mistaken! Well, thank you for finding out who was responsible for ruining my crops. Here, take these gold pieces as a reward!
Thank you, Hugh. But I'm also here on business. Leptine, from the General Store in Verdistis, as ked me to deliver this order bill to you by hand.
I'm afraid I can't accept this order bill, Jeremiah. Leptine hasn't paid me for more than two months! He gets no more 'til the old bill is dealt with.
How embarrassing. When Leptine asked me to deliver the note, he never mentioned there would be a problem.
The problem with Leptine is that he's no head for figures. He's already poured a fortune into that store, but he just won't accept that the business just isn't earning enough to cut a profit.
How much does he owe you?
He owes me 2,741 gold coins, poor man.
You're kidding me.
It's partly my fault. I should never have let him run up such a huge bill. I'm pretty sure that Leptine can't pay back such a huge sum with the economy the way it is. I hope you understand why I can't accept this order bill, Jeremiah.

I closed my eyes and sighed.

Money makes the world go 'round... but how come it's always MY money?

Here Hugh, take these gold coins and deliver Leptine the requested amount of grain.




I don't know either. I must have a hole in my head as big as the one in my coinpurse.

Hugh laughed.

Be well, Jeremiah
You too, Hugh.


I returned to Leptine.

Welcome back friend! Do you still have that order bill? Look I really am in sore need of the grain. Please be as quick as possible.
I talked to Hugh and he told me about your... debts.
Oh my, how embarrassing! I didn't realize my credit was running so low. And I still need to pay the dwarves for the last tool shipment! I thought Hugh would understand my current financial situation. I'm sorry for the trouble caused to you.
Do not worry. I have settled the debt in your name and Hugh promised to deliver the grain requested.





I finally had all the things I needed for Corinna's summoning ritual - the book:




The branch:




And the wine.




It had all been much more complicated than I had anticipated, but these things happen.




Right. I finally have all the items you've asked for... The stick, the book and the wine.
Excellent! Right, hand me that bottle. I've got a thirst on me like an Orc on payday.

She took the wine from me and swigged deeply, right from the bottle. The wine which I had gotten myself hit over the head and dragged in front of Sir Patrick for. The wine which had almost cost me my hands. That wasn't the real kicker though.

She made a sour face. "Yeuch! This wine isn't as good as I'd hoped it would me! You can keep the bottle," she said, thrusting it back into my hands.

You've tricked me! You wanted wine for yourself?!
Don't be angry. The wine was the payment for a certain plant from my garden that you'll need for your training. Go and get it, it's the one with the orange-veined leaves. In the meantime I'll go down to my summoning cellar. Follow me, if you are ready, then we can start the lesson immediately.
This had better be worth it.




I got the plant she wanted and entered the cellar.

VIDEO: Corinna's Successful Summoning ((Incomprehensible) Voice Acting)





I got an uncomfortable sensation of Déjà vu.

It was only a drat dream.
I'll do it!

Corinna took the plant from me and placed it in the circle with the others. I stood in the other empty pentagram.

JACANTE ERIUS PETITUR FORSAMEN!




Unlike my nightmare, this time the demon stayed obediently in the circle.

ROBARANTE CRISUTAMUR SATUARIAM
LIBERATE HOSATURI VENIBUS GANTUR!
ISHANTUR ASAMARE HECIBUS DANTUS QUIMINI ANASTANTIS
EXITUR MANIBUS VENTUR!

The demon vanished back to where it had come from.

IT WORKED! IT WORKED! - Ahem... I mean, of course it worked just as I expected it to. You did very well my friend. Now come, let me help you increase your summoning skills...














Thank you Corinna. I'm sure that these skills will become invaluable to me.
No problem. Now you should go wash up.
Wash up?
Yep.

She grinned and handed me a note.

Penumbra came by. She's taken a fancy to you. Follow those directions and meet her there.

I read what was written on the paper.

OK, huh... I know this already...

Corinna smirked. "Now why doesn't that surprise me," she said.

It was getting a bit too late for more roaming in the Dark Forest at night anyway, so I had a quick bath and returned to Verdistis.




Maybe I should get some flowers. You can never go wrong with flowers. Well, unless she's horribly allergic, or there's an angry bee in them, or she gets cut on the thorns, or... you know what, I think I'll skip the flowers.




I have spoken to Afrasam. He said to ask you about a chance meeting with some companions?
Hmmm... You say Afrasam told you this? Did he mention any names?
Names? You mean Magdelena or Yaniz?
Yes, yes, I see you are trustworthy.

Leptine put a "Back in 5 minutes" sign on the door, then closed and locked it.

Come with me, I'll show you the way.




I followed Leptine past an area marked with a sign reading "PRIVATE: KEEP OUT"




XP 58,000

Leptine left, but watched me, so he'd know when to re-open his store.

If he has to do this all the time, no wonder why his store isn't doing well. Then again, if he has to do this all the time, why isn't his store doing well? Is he not getting a big enough cut?

I pushed some of the parcels out of the way.






As my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, I heard the sound of packages being moved back over the trap-door.

So, this is the Verdistis brothel.

There were several scantily clad women - and men - around. I ignored them and went to talk to the bartender-looking fellow.




Um, I'm looking for Penumbra? I'm Jeremiah Liro.




"Special Treatment"?
Don't worry, Mister Liro. She's expecting you.

VIDEO: The Special Treatment







I was struck speechless as I took in the entire room.







There was only one thing I could say to this.

"Oh, Hell..."








"....YES!"






I had been injured before; I had suffered great pain from my battle wounds, so I thought that I was no stranger to pain. What I hadn't considered is that injuries sustained in battle were generally random, due to the movements of the combatants as they attempt to out-guess and out -maneuver each other. While this could result in incredible pain from injuries piling onto already injured areas, it was something entirely different from thoughtful, methodical, inflictions.

I took some time to marvel at the wonders of the human body.

I'm sore in places I didn't even know I had!

Still... I was looking forward to the next time I could see her again.


Next Time: A Boaring Story





Behind the Scenes

Ahem. Well, you asked for it... More on that at the end of the "Behind the Scenes."

The next two updates are part of a two-part side-quest. The only other remaining side-quest updates are almost at the end of the act, and the only reason that they're that far is that they could not actually be started until after I'd done almost everything else in the main quest. I tried looking for a way.

Hugh

I discovered that you can go back and talk to Hugh after each stage of the Elrath quest. I never actually did that, and it isn't necessary.

After that, you get 1000 fake gold coins as a reward from Hugh. That's right, fake. They won't stack with your other gold and you can't use them to buy anything. Someone screwed up somewhere.




I found out where the key I found fits. It opens a cellar of the Blue Boar Inn, filled with barrels of the same poison the Orc had.
Hmmm, you must find out where these barrels come from! I suggest you interrogate Splinter, the barkeep of the Blue Boar Inn, he must know why those barrels are in his cellar.
I guess it's possible to enter the cellar and leave without ever talking to Splinter, but it takes a lot of extra walking to get this line, just to go back.
Splinter told me that the cellar where I found the barrels of poison is being rented to Doctor Elrath.
Doctor Elrath? I don't think he can have anything to do with this, he is a good man. Go talk to him about this, I'm sure he has a reasonable explanation, he can't be involved in this!
It turns out Doctor Elrath is behind the poisoning of the harvest! Not only that, but he was also responsible for the plague in Rivertown! The same plague he was supposed to be curing!
WHAT!? That is disturbing news...
We merge back into the line shown in the narrative now


The Brothel

The prostitutes here charge you 250 gold a session, but because you saved her from the Thieves' Guild, you don't pay anything for Penumbra, regardless of how many visits you pay her. (In case you're wondering, she doesn't say anything different after your first visit.)




Each prostitute has a different set of dialogue, but I'm not going to show them all. You get the idea.




One short fade to black later...




You only get XP from the first one you sleep with. Penumbra's session counts separately so you still get XP for that.




Your choice of prostitutes is NOT limited by your chosen gender, so yes; you can have gay sex if you choose. The "romance" quest later on - and I use that term extremely loosely - does only let you choose the opposite of your own gender. That one won't be part of the narrative because I hate it.




This man is called Jacob. All three options end the conversation. You only get one chance to choose though.

And what does your wife have to say about this?
Be gone, fool!

I prefer a male companion.
Ahem... each to his own preference I suppose.


If you choose the "I prefer a male companion" option when you're playing a woman:



Whatever option you chose the first time, the next time you speak with Jacob, he'll only say this:

Ask for the special treatment. I hear it will cost you a pretty penny, but the word is it's certainly worth it.
Special treatment you say? Thanks, I shall keep it in mind.

After that you can talk to the bartender.

I have heard good things about the special treatment available here. I think I shall try that if I may?

If you haven't rescued her from the Thieves' Guild:
Ahh, unfortunately that isn't possible at the moment. The girl isn't available right now. Please ask again in a couple of days.

After your session with Penumbra, you're reduced to 10% of your health, and your stamina drains for quite a while, even if you stand still. Once you enter the "Special Treatment" room far enough to trigger the conversation, you lose control of your character, they automatically run to Penumbra (even if as the player, you might prefer that they run away).



Divinity 2: Ego Draconis Reference
There is a reference to Penumbra in Divinity 2  If you do a certain quest, you can meet her granddaughter Antumbra. Before you ask, no, there's no information about who Antumbra's grandfather was. 


What's fake in this update?

•  You do NOT learn how to Summon a Death Knight from Corinna, she only teaches you Banish. I only pretended to learn it, because I'm not wasting a skill point on that. 
•  Obviously, Corinna doesn't tell you where to find Penumbra, you have to discover the brothel on your own, free her from the Thieves Guild, then complete her quest to get her dagger back.