Part 30: Lost For Words

Chapter 20 – Lost For Words


She Never Saw It Coming
ZixZax the Almost-Wise
Bellegar Teleporters


Yara’s Current Auras

• Static Charge Aura – Enemies have an 14% chance of suffering 1 shock of 6 magic damage. (Amulet)
  
• Static Charge Aura – Enemies have an 18% chance of suffering 1 shock of 18 magic damage. (Ring 1)
  
• Static Charge Aura – Enemies have an 18% chance of suffering 1 shock of 18 magic damage. (Bracelet)
  
• Static Charge Aura – Enemies have an 24% chance of suffering 1 shock of 36 magic damage. (Ring 2)
  
• Poison Aura – 10% chance of 36 poison damage over 3 seconds. (Belt)
  
• Poison Aura – 9% chance of 24 poison damage over 3 seconds. (Earrings)
  
• Magic Damage Aura – 6% Chance of 1 shock of 6 damage (Helmet)
  
• Magic Damage Aura – 5% Chance of 1 shock of 20 damage (Amulet)
  
• Spontaneous Combustion – 7% Chance of 12 damage over 1 second. (Bracelet)
  
• Retribution Aura 10% chance of returning 20% of damage taken.(Leggings)
  

Music: A New Dawn



Video: She Never Saw It Coming


(Yara) Well, here I am…




Ow! Ow! Tree branches! Ow! OWWWW!!




What the? … What an asshole.




You only get the one chance to visit this place, through Bellegar’s “hilarious” prank, which he seems to have played on other people before. There is Needleman’s storage. We can’t get in because of the helmet he wears on his head preventing mind-reading. So don’t worry about the storage.

There is a rare vein of gold ore up here. But the real prize is the final piece of the Defenders of Aleroth set, the Vampiric Mace (Vampiric is the style of mace, it doesn’t actually drain health).






We won’t be using this, of course. It is a one-handed weapon, despite being larger than my head.







The bonus from putting points into Unarmed Expertise is illustrated here really well. My normal damage with the huge-ass mace equipped is actually LOWER than my bare fists (by one point). It’s only the magic-damage bonus from the set which makes it stronger. The entire set adds 40-42 magic damage, which is pretty powerful this early on.




(Talana) _{You’re going to see the fortune teller again? Must you do that every time?
Penelope… that’s where I remember the name from.}




The tombstone is adorned by a necklace-shaped bas-relief above which the name Penelope is carved.




The necklace is a perfect match.

A chest appeared from nowhere.




_{Two loving spirits are reunited in death… All very romantic, I’m sure. But if you continue to procrastinate, you’ll be in your grave yourself before we reach the Maxos Temple.}
I’m not going to complain. Maybe she’s having second thoughts about pursuing that fools errand.



We’ve got the second piece of the Blood Echelon set now.



It does have some nice armour enchantments, but health-wise, it’s inferior to my current gloves, and I’ll probably only wear the set once to show it off, since by the time I complete it, I’ll be onto the Annihilator set.




(Madame Sosostra) You have met your fortune, as I predicted! Perhaps you’d like me to reveal more?
(Yara) I would like you to read my fortune again.
You know the price.
(-50 gold) Here you go.
Good. Let us look once more at what the future holds…




I see… darkness… It is him! The Damned One! No! You… Damian, he.. .Get away from me! Away I say!

With that Sosostra fled, abandoning her camp and everything in it.

<sub>Oh, how very, very ominous.
That probably wasn’t a good sign. … Hey…




Where’d that come from?</sub>

That’s the chest which appeared after pulling all four levers. This would have been the perfect place to put a piece of the Wild Dweller’s or Blood Echelon sets.




Those legs are inferior to the current equipment, and I think I sell them.

Music: Maxos Temple Entrance



Video: ZixZax the Almost-Wise


<sub>The Maxos Temple! The desire of all the power hungry, the gateway to your Dragon might.




Oh, what is it now? Did you see a butterfly flapping its pretty little wings?
No…</sub>




Excerpt from “The Last of the Dragon Knights”, by ZixZax the Almost-Wise:
“It was at this time that I, your humble author, first personally met the Last Dragon Knight. I knew right away that their story was of vital importance to the struggle between Order and Chaos. But not even I knew all the strange twists the Dragon Knight would encounter on the road to destiny.”





(ZixZax the Almost-Wise) Hello there, touched-of-Dragon! I a, ZixZax the Almost-Wise.
How do you know I have become part dragon?
It is a most obvious thing for the few who have had the privilege of aeons of life! There were times that the Dragon gift was the greatest prize of all, but now the silly humans hunt the Old Race! Even you did, as your eyes betray! But now you will be forced to see the true hue of reality. Then again, I do trot on ants and who knows how erudite and august they once were!
Tell me about yourself.
I am an Imp Historian, blessed with the knowledge of all the races and all the ages! Pretty impressive job description, no? Do you want my card? It’s on my card! But sadly, even one with my vast wisdom can still get stuck in a dimension he does not wish to live in.
How come you are stuck here?
I am an imp of great understanding, but I cannot travel from dimension to dimension, rift to rift, with the power of words. That is why, to those even stronger than me, I am known as ZixZax the Almost-Wise. Almost, but not quite. I used ancient pyramid stones to open gateways to dimensions, but I had to give them to some human who had to fight the Black Ring and the Demon of Lies, blah blah blah!
Do you mean the Divine?
That’s the fellow, yes! He may have been the Divine, but he didn’t give me back my teleporter stones!
That’s not the interpretation of that story which I’m familiar with.
And now he’s up there with the other gods and I’m stuck in this cockamamie dimension!
(-800 XP) _{Searching ZixZax’s memories for powers, Dragon? I’ll give you some, yes, so spend them wisely.} [+2 Skill Points]


There’s no immediate rush, but don’t neglect to mind-read ZixZaz for TWO free Skill Points.

Yara remembered the mystery parchment scraps.

Can you translate what is written on this scrap of paper?
Sure I can. That’s just a very old form of Common Rivellonian! Yes, good, four pieces and four words! Let’s see… the words are “ancient”, “poetics”, “might” and “wise man”. Strange! Reminds me of a certain phrase… “The old sage whose poetry is power.”



Oh no…
But that’s what the creatures of this valley used to call Bellegar – when Lovis’ citadel tower still stood unspoiled by the ravages of time! That must be it, then. The clue you are looking for is simply “Bellegar.”
_{Bellegar! Bellegar! Bellegar!}
What a description that is! I’d have named him “the old coot whose senility kicked in at eleven!”
I met an archaeologist who needs help with ancient Draconian inscriptions. Any ideas?
He can’t read it? What is it with scholars these days? They don’t know the most fundamental things! Me, I know all. From the writing process of the Angry Tonguelasher Tribe’s epics, to the mating rituals of the now-extinct Zenith Drakes! So give this person my copy of the “Ancient Dragonian to Common Rivellonian Pocket Dictionary” and tell him to shape up!
Bye, ZixZax!
Best wishes, Soon-to-be-Wise!
Soon-to-be-Wise? More like Soon-to-be-a-Dead-Fool.



Wow, where to start? Imps in general, and ZixZax in particular are completely different from Divine Divinity and Beyond Divinity.

To start off with, in Divine Divinity, all Imps talked with a strange quirk, they would randomly insert short exclamations of gibberish that reflected their mood. ZixZax said that it was because the Goddess of the Imps forced the Imps to speak like that. It was dropped from the subsequent games – even the parts of Beyond Divinity where you met Imps on Rivellon.

Imps also had red skin. Now it’s green. And their ears were pointy, but the points went up, and they were shorter, not those huge things sticking out sideways.

They didn’t make a unique model for ZixZax as opposed to the standard enemy Imps, but ZixZax (and all Imps) used to wear more clothing – even in the desert or on a lava planet. ZizZax also doesn't move his mouth when talking.

ZixZax also gets the history of the teleporter stones completely wrong. It boggles my mind how Larian got the history of their very own game wrong. In Divine Divinity, you get one from Lanilor the elf, who had one lying around in his closet. You use it to teleport to the other one, which was lying in an empty room full of skeletons in the Aleroth catacombs. As far as I can tell there is no evidence they were ever ZixZax.

Later on in Divine Divinity, ZixZax did show up and took them from the Divine, but he gave them back willingly when they next met. And in Beyond Divinity, you can meet an “Imp Historian” who may be ZixZax. He gives you a teleporter stone to help you escape a pit. It takes you to the second one in a monster-filled corner. (Later on the teleporter stones vanish from your inventory with no explanation.)

ZixZax also said the reason why he was called “Almost-Wise” was because it was impossible to know everything, so he would always be almost wise.

Music: A New Dawn







(George Gremory) Yes?
Have a look at this book.
My goodness! Where ever did you obtain such a rare and valuable thing? This is amazing! I’ll start to read the Draconian language aloud immediately and translate afterwards!
Uh…
Here we go!

I should point out that it doesn’t make any sense to use a DICTIONARY in that way.




Furfur Comes est magnus, apparens ut cervus cauda flammea. In omnibus mentitur, nisi…




What… what is happening?
*sigh*



Divine have mercy, it’s a summoning circle! Watch out!








My word, what a fight that was!
Your ignorance almost got us both killed, damn you!
Hey, hey! This is just the danger that comes with the job. No need to get all testy! Now, I do think some kind of reward is in order here. So how about I fill that coinpurse of yours? We Gremories are wealthy enough and always properly thank our benefactors! Spend it wisely, Slayer.
“Lost for Words” complete! Reward: 1500 XP, 400 Gold, Bonus Chosen: 750 XP.
_{As you can see, there are many dangers that may be found in some books. Just imagine what perils Maxos’ research will lead us to. And yet we must not falter.}


In Ego Draconis, he offered a selection of Legendary-quality items as a reward, so it was worth turning this one in until much later. In ED, with the revamped rewards system you only get the standard reward. On the other hand, you can now actually find Legendary and other worthwhile magic items much more often, instead of being rare like they were in Ego Draconis.


The demon Furfur drops the third and final piece of the Rivellon Guards set.






Video: Bellegar’s Teleporters


Speak the word so that you may pass
Bellegar!
The friend of the Old Sage may pass!

Music: Festival of Immortals





The teleporter near the tall waterfall by the tower takes you to the top of Lovis’s tower. There are a couple of crawler-type ghosts, and a chest with random loot which would be another good place for a set item. But perhaps they didn’t put one there, because the second Bellegar teleporter leads to a set item already.




Address me correctly so that you may pass
Bellegar!
The friend of the Old Sage may pass!




This is Naberius’ storage. What is the password?
The password is “Ddraigfyre.”
Be welcome in your storage, Naberius.
_{That’s odd.
What is?
You remembered that perfectly.
So what?
Here I was thinking you just had a bad memory, because why else would you be wandering all over the valley instead of going to the Maxos Temple?}

I would save before going in there. It’s a bit more dangerous than usual.

Music: Ominous Surroundings





A key!




Uh-oh.




Three Level 14 skeletons spawn in this tight hallway. It can be very dangerous. But the reward is far better than normal.




_{Sure Naberius, you NEVER experiment with dead humans, oh no!}


In a chest is the shield of the Blood Echelon set.







But the real prize is hidden in plain sight – A skill book on a chair. I now have 7 spare skill points, and will have 8 once I level up, and then I will spend them all.

_{There’s only one bit of unfinished business left. Jagon and the bandit camp.}






She Never Saw It Coming
ZixZax the Almost-Wise
Bellegar Teleporters




Maxos Temple Entrance



The Map





A Short History of Maxos the Dragon Mage


Found Near ZixZax.




If you look at the golden Dragon statues near ZixZax, then can be interacted with. It seems something might fit in the Dragon’s mouths…


Total Bunnies Killed: 4. Since we’re nearly done with Broken Valley, I’ll probably run around to get it up to 10-13 later.


Yara’s Current Auras

• Static Charge Aura – Enemies have an 14% chance of suffering 1 shock of 6 magic damage. (Amulet)
  
• Static Charge Aura – Enemies have an 18% chance of suffering 1 shock of 18 magic damage. (Ring 1)
  
• Static Charge Aura – Enemies have an 18% chance of suffering 1 shock of 18 magic damage. (Bracelet)
  
• Static Charge Aura – Enemies have an 24% chance of suffering 1 shock of 36 magic damage. (Ring 2)
  
• Poison Aura – 10% chance of 36 poison damage over 3 seconds. (Belt)
  
• Poison Aura – 9% chance of 24 poison damage over 3 seconds. (Earrings)
  
• Magic Damage Aura – 6% Chance of 1 shock of 6 damage (Helmet)
  
• Magic Damage Aura – 5% Chance of 1 shock of 20 damage (Amulet)
  
• Spontaneous Combustion – 7% Chance of 12 damage over 1 second. (Bracelet)
  
• Retribution Aura 10% chance of returning 20% of damage taken.(Leggings)
  

Reader Participation

1. Rhode senses that we’re a Dragon Knight. She is less than pleased. What do we say?
a) Tell her that we’re still friends. (I’m still the same person. I’m your friend)
b) Tell her that there was nothing we could do to stop it. (It’s her fault for not finishing the memory ritual.)
c) Tell her that we’re glad to be a Dragon now. (She'll hear this as "Bite me".)