Part 115: Hole, Little Troll

Chapter 89 – Hole, Little Troll


Chapter 89

Only the one video that covers the entire chapter this time.

Video: Chapter 89




(Skulk) Gah! You scared Skulk! Me and the master, we don’t like intruders in the crypt!
What is this place?
The last underground remnants of an abbey, a cursed abbey, yes, where we have ruled for years in the darkness.
(Lucian) _{I do have memories of Ferol and Aleroth, but I didn’t expect the current crisis to bring back so many of them!}


Time out. I’m pausing right here. I know that there was a huge geological upheaval in the area, and now Aleroth is on an island… but look at where Aleroth and the cursed abbey used to be…



That’s a pretty big gap. Both were a notable distance back from the river. This is another one of these things that I’m not even going to try to justify in the narrative. It’s because the expansion didn’t have the time or funding to do areas outside the city. If they did, this is probably another area that we’d have to go look for elsewhere, maybe on the eastern part of Aleroth Island (or farther), and the troll lair would probably be on the southern tip of the island.

Honestly, it such was a miracle that they got the funding for such a great expansion / ACTUAL END TO THE GAME in the first place that I hate to nitpick like this. But it’s my job.




The monks betrayed him, but he took revenge! Traps, traps, traps! Death, death, death!
_{What? No! It can’t be!
You know something?}
And now: the walking dead in the city… men of the cloth, soldiers ‘n’ lovers: drooling automatons all! Hehehe!
Who’s the ‘master’?
The Engineer! The machine intellect! And I am his Chief Machinist!
_{No! I solved that! He went away!
Just like you solved Jake, huh?
I am not amused, Dragon Knight.}
There is no one smarter than the Engineer and nothing is more deadly than his snares! He lives again! He and Skulk, we will rule!
(-15000 XP) _{Haec blasphema et execranda hujus mundi…}
Right. Time to get out of my way, shorty.
Ha! I will not stop you. I invite you to try the traps!


Pay attention when Shulk appears – don’t forget to mind-read him each time. It’ll be useful at the end of this dungeon.



This game is a heaping helping of call-backs. More on the Engineer later. For now, all you need to know is that in Divine Divinity, there was a haunted abbey, and in the basement library was the Engineer, whose main complaint seemed to be that he hadn’t been paid for his job, instead the monks killed him. So you could pay him 1000 gold and he would go away and leave the abbey in peace. 20 years later, you visit the place in Beyond Divinity, where it’s cleaned up and home to a group of Paladins.



Yawn.








Still alive? You must be a bit smarter than I thought.
Why would a little pest like you place traps in an old crypt like this?
I don’t, stupid! The Engineer does! Them monks hired him to protect their library, but betrayed him and locked him in to protect their secrets. So he made them deathless thralls and now all of Aleroth must repent!
_{The abbey had nothing to do with Aleroth, it was closer to Rivertown, if anything!}
This master of yours, was it he who caused the plague of undead?
Who else, silly? Dumb monk, he gave him life and body! Ugly body, not like Skulk! Soon everyone in the city will be dead and his revenge will be complete!
(-15000 XP) _{..faex et sentina poenam in magos prophanos bene constitutam…}
I’ll get you yet, little scamp!
Skulk! I’m Skulk, and you will never make it past every ambush! The Engineer will get you!




Oh gee, more fire. That might be a problem – if I had a broken leg.










*gaak* Poison!




_{That cleared the air…}






(???) Huh? O praise the Divine someone found me! I thought I would starve to death in here, good only for the rats.
I’m sorry to disappoint the rodents.
(Abbott) Not me! Let them eat those undead atrocities instead. But enough about critters. I’m father Abbot, the last living monk who served in the abbey that once dominated the landscape here.
_{After all this time? The place had been long deserted and cursed in my day – seventy years ago!}
In our library we kept many unique tomes. One in particular was a very, very rare copy wherein lay buried in ink, secret sorceries few in Rivellon ever dare to dream exist. To get it, me and my friend Brother Charles summoned the spirit of the Engineer – the betrayed one – in the hope that he would help me retrieve the book.



_{He did WHAT?! After I went to all the trouble of banishing him in the first place?!
How did you do that, anyway?
Well, I had to fight my way past all the undead, then brave the traps in the catacombs, and then… I bribed him.
You… bribed him?
It seemed like a reasonable thing to do. I paid a thousand gold. And then this IDIOT, this colossal IDIOT thinks that the best way to find some stupid old book is to summon the angry spirit of the one he and his monks killed?}
… But once he could walk free again, he in turn betrayed us: took possession of Charles’ body and in his wrath let loose over Aleroth the stalking plague.
The phrase “You will reap just what you sow” comes to mind.
Yes, I should have known to let sleeping hellhounds lie.
_{That was perfectly good gold. I shan’t see that money again.}



Still, no use crying over spilt milk: let us proceed to find a way of stopping the Engineer before we should cry over more spilt blood.
Yes, and thanks to your unforgivable stupidity, there’s been plenty of blood spilled already!
I… I know.
(-15000 XP) _{I saw something glistening in that torch, but I’m afraid to burn my fingers.}
We should go. Any ideas on how to get out of here?
Either we get past the traps or we die. Nothing much for it, I suppose, but to press on. Follow me!


That has got to be the single DUMBEST fucking plan I’ve heard. Number one, if this place really IS the last remnant of the abbey, your goddamn book is fucking gone, pal. Forget about it. This place has been moved and crunched up and folded into a giant mountain.

Number two, did you happen to forget WHY you couldn’t get your book seventy years ago? That’s because the Engineer was haunting the abbey. He was haunting the abbey because you MURDERED HIM.

Number three, the Engineer was sleeping peacefully. He was enjoying his afterlife. And then you decide to suck him back down and ask him questions. He already doesn’t like you, and you think that will endear you to him?

Number four, where the hell have you been? There was a good 15-20 YEARS between the Divine one making the abbey peaceful and Aleroth sucking its crumbled remnants into the bizarre mountain building. That’s plenty of time to come in and snoop around. If you couldn’t find the thing in the 15 years, give it up, pal!

And no, we never learn why this book is that damned important.





This key might be there before you mind-read him, but it’s hard to spot unless you’re looking for it. It opens a tiny chest on the table, which contains…



The fourth piece of the set. Note that we’ve done every other side-quest, and we still only had three pieces of the set.






Proud of yourself ‘cause you made it past those warm-up trials? You have seen nothing yet!
Before I finally lop your head off, tell me more about the Engineer.
The master is the greatest intellect in Rivellon, you ignorant sow! Demon blood flows through his heart and brain. Smart and cold is what the master is!
You know I’ll get by this trap again. How about I throw you some gold and you pull the ‘off’ lever?
Pfeh! Why would I accept your paltry pittance when I can loot your corpse later? Hehehe!
(-15000 XP) _{… pro scelerato mentis ausu jure meretur.}
Better run, tiny troll.
Yes, you come after me now! I’ll laugh, but you won’t hear me over your screams!




Wait! Don’t go any further or you shall be consumed by the very fires of Hades!
You know of this latest ambush?
I had a chance to see some of the Engineer’s plans when he was placing his handiworks in the cloister.
_{That was well over 70 years ago, and he still remembers?}
This magical device is impossible to avoid, and will instantly kill anyone who steps into it. I’m certain there is a way to disable it, but how I cannot tell you.
(-7500 XP) _{I’ll stop the Engineer even if it means my death! At least my sacrifice will give my ally a chance.}
Do you have a plan?
I have not, save sacrifice. The outbreak is my doing, my folly led me to summon the Engineer. I shall take full responsibility for my actions, and pave the way for you to end this madness.
I read Skulk’s mind and it seems to me he was practicing a spell. May be useful.
Brilliant! We may have a chance after all! Stand back and I shall speak it!
Go ahead.
Haec blasphema et execranda hujus mundi faex et sentina poenam in magos prophanos bene constitutam pro scelerato mentis ausu jure meretur.




It worked! That means the time has come to face the Engineer! You go first, for the spell has exhausted me and I need to catch my breath.






_{Hurry, Dragon Knight. The sun is setting. Time is running out for Zandalor. Time is running out for us all.}






Chapter 89




Yes, that trap will indeed kill you unavoidably if you try and walk past. If you missed one of the three mind-reads, the only choice is to have Abbott sacrifice himself. There’s a good argument that he deserves it for his costly mistake, but alive he can still prove useful…

If you missed a mind-read or just don’t like him, this happens.




Alas, I cannot find a way to pass.
Then I must do what is necessary. Farewell, Dragon Knight.