The Let's Play Archive

Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga

by Stabbey_the_Clown

Part 36: Amdusias




Chapter 25 – Amdusias



Temple Living Quarters
A Tale of Two Tomes
Dragon No More



Yara’s Current Auras


Music: Waltz of Woe



Video: Temple Living Quarters


(Yara) I will smash the stone for you!
(Abalam) Thank you mortal! You have made a just decision! Find Amdusias on the Blood Altar and take the stone away from him!




(Adados) Leave while you can, stranger. This is no place for living blood to linger.

(Adarius) Lovis’ cruelty seems undiminished still. We were parted ages ago, and still he is the reason for our torment!
(Adados) We should have poisoned his wine, my brother!
(Adarius) Bribed one of his women.
(Adados) And had her murder him in his sleep!
(Adarius) He should have been thrown off his tower!
(Adados) Drowned in boiling tar!
(Adarius) Burned at the stake!




What is... uh-oh…












(Amdusias) Who are you, pigeon dropping that you resemble, to disturb the peace in my temple?
(-400 XP) Once I figure out how to return to human form at will, I will rule the valley. Until that time, my armour lies safe at least. No one would suspect my password is “Lovis”.


Say the word “Maxos” to Amdusias. Go on, it’s fun! Other conversation options:

1. I’m the first new face you see in centuries and that is how you greet me?
3. I’m looking for a book written by Maxos.
4. I was sent by your old friend Lovis. He’d like his soul back!

Begging your pardon, but isn’t this Maxos’ temple?
Don’t utter that name! How dare you speak of that fool in here!
Who? Maxos?
You defy me! The nerve you show, louse!
Maxos!
Now die and rot, insolent one!




(Talana) Amdusias will fiercely defend the altar, but I have the feeling you’ll have to brave his attacks until we find another way to deal with him.
I don’t think my little bow will even dent those scales. I’ll see if there’s another way.

If you shoot Amdusias with a bow, it seems to have no effect, the same with the reflected damage orbs. Later on there are flying enemies which you can kill with a bow.




(Fendrel) Amdusias, too aspiring; Lovis a tyrant… No wonder you cursed us, Maxos.
(Benedict) Ah, the weasel stirs. What has it been up to this day?
(Fendrel) Day? Your stupidity has drained the meaning from that word!
(Benedict) Infirm of purpose! Amdusias will still be victorious one day!

(Benedict) You may have cursed us, fiendish mage… but Amdusias is still a Dragon. He beat you, yes! He beat you!




The door closed behind Yara as some Black Ring troops teleported in.




That explains how they got in, at least.




Huh, I can’t seem to pick this lock.
I’ve been meaning to ask. Why do Dragon Slayers - self-called servants of justice - teach their disciples how to pick locks? Isn’t that criminal behaviour?
Dragon Slayers wouldn’t be very effective if all a Dragon had to do to stump them was to hide behind a locked door.




There were four chambers on the upper level, with the occupant’s name on a plate by the door.




Francis’ room. This looks like a diary.
This is the diary of Francis: which can mainly be read as a biography of Amdusias, whom he greatly admires. Amdusias was an Initiate destined to become a Dragon Knight, but Lovis turned out to be the better of the two and was chosen over him. He has hated his rival Lovis ever since, but not as much as Maxos: whom he has sworn to topple.
Nothing useful here. Next room…




Fendrel’s room, and another diary…
This is the diary of Fendrel, a priest who was obviously displeased with the disloyalty around him. It would appear he discovered the formula Amdusias used to take the Dragon form. He needed access to the Orbis Arcesso Part I, his own blood, and some Dragon scales from the Blood Altar. Fendrel searched Amdusias’ small room for evidence, but found none.
A lead at least, but that’s the book missing from the library. I need to find it. Hmmm… another book…

Old Maxos Book


It’s clear that no one will ever accuse Maxos of being nice.
He was feared, yes, but he was greatly respected. You’ll not get that by being nice, people will just walk all over you. Take you, for example. Running all over Broken Valley doing every inconsequential task anyone asked of you.
She’s done a fine job of walking all over you since you became a Dragon Knight. You really shouldn’t listen to her.




Another room, another diary. What does Benedict have to say, I wonder…
This is the diary of Benedict, a fierce supporter of Amdusias’ rise to power. He goes on and on about how Maxos is too weak and how men as ambitious as Amdusias should have every opportunity to become Dragons. He despises a certain Fendrel, who lectures other priests about the dangers of defying Maxos, but he’s confident this little weasel will be dealt with soon enough.

For some reason, Benedict’s diary is considered a quest item, but there is no associated quest, so if you pick it up it’ll get stuck in your inventory until the end of the act. I suspect there was going to be some quest about Benedict and Fendrel, but it was deleted for time reasons, and they never fixed the flag.




Here we are, Amdusias’ room. … It’s a little smaller than the others. Hmmm…




Aha!




A chest key, but not for this chest, there’s no keyhole. Maybe the key for the chest downstairs? And what’s this? A vial of… blood? … What’s in that chest, I wonder…
This is Amdusias’ chest. What is the password?
The password is “Lovis”.
Be welcome, Amdusias.









Now’s a good time to put on the Annihilator set I’ve been carting around since Farglow.





I am of course only pretending to find it in Amdusias’ chest for narrative purposes. The set has an axe too, but I’m not using it so I’ll wait until after Chapter 26 to show off three sets at once in a bonus update.


Since I’m no longer using the Defenders of Aleroth chest piece, and hence I lose the bonus Magic Damage, there was no reason to keep wearing the leggings. Especially because they clashed with the rest of the Annihilator set.



I switched to the Wild Dwellers set leggings, which are almost identical stat-wise, except that I lose the Retribution Aura in exchange for +2 Ranged armour and +1 Melee armour. Also, they’re pants, which is good because  we’ll be doing some swimming in a couple of updates. 

All this gear swapping changed my auras around.

Yara’s Current Auras





Yara put on the sturdy armour from Amdusias’ chest, and used the key from Amdusias’ secret room to open the chest.

Here’s the book the librarian was looking for…
This is the first part of the Orbis Arcesso, an extremely rare and obscure book that details many forbidden incantations. This is the book Amdusias used to bypass the Dragon ritual and take the wyrm’s shape. The book concludes with the advice to always have the second part handy, because many reversal spells are to be found in that volume – should anything go wrong.
That’s a smart idea. With the other part of the book, I might reverse the transformation and put Amdusias on “equal footing” with me.


Video: A Tale of Two Tomes


(The Librarian) Hello again, Initiate.
Might this be the book you were looking for?
Yes! There it is! How can I reward you, my good friend?
I should like to have a look at the second part.
But of course! Here you go. And take this book as well. It will prove very useful should you one day become a Dragon Knight.
I must go now.
Fare thee well.
“A Tale of Two Tomes” complete! Quest Reward: 1200 XP, 300 Gold. Bonus Chosen: 600 XP



Dragons in this game do not gain skill points from levelling up, nor do they share the human skill pool. They only gain skill points from pre-placed skill books. In Ego Draconis, the Librarian used to give you a Dragon Skill book. But you don’t get it in Dragon Knight Saga, which is why I crossed that line from the Librarian out.




This is the second part of the Orbis Arcesso, in which you hope to find a way to strip Amdusias from his Dragon form.
This looks long and complicated. I wonder if these chairs are still comfortable?
Lo and behold, after hours of reading, you find the spell you need. As it was with Amdusias, you’ll need some of his blood and Dragon scales for the incantation to prove useful.
I seem to be missing those Dragon scales.
With a dusty thud, you slam the book shut.
Fendrel’s diary mentioned that the scales might be at the blood armour… but Amdusias is flying around up there, and he seems angry at me for some reason. ... Well, nothing else but to run for it.

Music: Lair of Barnabus











Wouldn’t want to do that twice…

Music: Waltz of Woe



Video: Dragon No More


This is the second part of the Orbis Arcesso, in which you hope to find a way to strip Amdusias from his Dragon form. You quickly browse to the part that describes the spell you need. As it was with Amdusias, you’ll need some of his blood and Dragon scales for the incantation to prove useful.
I’ve got the blood and scales, so let’s give the spell a try…
Amdusias is about to be unpleasantly surprised…










This cannot be! What have you done, accursed devil?
(-400 XP) When I find a way to break the curse I will find Maxos and rip off his head!
Wait, what is the word I’m looking for? Ah yes: Maxos!
Curse that name and curse you! I’ll reduce you to a footless, handless, blind lump for me to mock and torture!


This guy is a definite boss. In Ego Draconis he was very hard. He’s not as hard in Dragon Knight Saga, but he can’t be taken lightly. He is only level 13, but he uses level 15 skills like Explosive Arrow, which hurts a lot. I took no chances in boosting my abilities.

I found a Rank 6 Strength-boosting Alchemy formula in one of the chests, and I made as many of those potions as I could. That was only two, because of the lack of harvestable Farghanite in the first half of the game. I got well over 100 Fatfern for Dexterity potions, but almost no Farghanite or Stardust (Intelligence). Anyway, each potion boosts my Strength by 17 points for 3 minutes.





Music: Lair of Barnabus





Explosive Arrows







I shouldn’t have stood in plain sight to cast Healing. I had higher health a second ago.




No! You can’t beat me!! You’re nothing!!! A no one!!!! I am a Dragon Knight!!!!! I am invincible!!!!!!
No. You are already dead.
















I never thought the Dragon Knight would get this far. This is most disturbing. They stand a chance of reaching the Hall of Echoes! That must not happen!
“Dragon No More” complete! Quest Reward: 1800 XP, 700 Gold. Bonuses Chosen: 800 XP, 350 Gold






The book! This is it! Read it, memorize it!



[+1 to All Attributes!]
So that is how Maxos did it! A real Dragon told him where to find the Hall of Echoes and gave him a sigil that may open it. In Aleroth lies a shield, and in the Battle Tower a spell, both of which we will need. That is how we must proceed then: to the Battle Tower, where also lies the Dragon Stone that will grant you the Dragon’s shape.

Hall of Echoes Bound
This is the almost-final main quest of Ego Draconis. It comes in four parts, each of which are quests themselves. Some are easy, some are hard, and right now we don’t need to worry about them. We’ve got other main quests to do first.




The barrier is gone now. Maybe this is where I need to go.

Excerpt from “The Last of the Dragon Knights”, by ZixZax the Almost-Wise:
“The Dragon Knight had accomplished the impressive feat of slaying Amdusias the false Knight, but a greater challenge still lay ahead: Sentinel Island.”




Uh-oh… it’s Damian.






Temple Living Quarters
A Tale of Two Tomes
Dragon No More




Lair of Barnabus



Thousand Strikes always takes control of the camera and does a cool little 360 around the fighting. Those six shots you saw – if you’re not watching the videos, those six strikes take place in only two seconds. It is possible for an enemy to run or move away after you trigger it so you hit empty air.


Yara’s Current Auras








(Amdusias) Who are you, pigeon dropping that you resemble, to disturb the peace in my temple?
1a) I’m the first new face you see in centuries and this is how you greet me?
You are unwelcome, human! As are all that stink of his magic!
Maxos magic, you mean.

1c) I’m looking for a book written by Maxos.

1d) I was sent by your old friend Lovis. He’d like his soul back!
Never! I was supposed to become the Dragon, not him! Now he will remain doomed like I am!

1d1) Maxos sure didn’t kid around when he cursed the pair of you.

1d2) Yawn. Come on now, let’s have that Soul Stone.
I don’t think so, louse! Approach my Altar and you shall die. Remember that.

Any mention of Maxos leads back to the main line, and mentions avoiding Maxos lead to “Approach my Altar and you shall die. Remember that.”




This cannot be! What have you done, accursed devil?
Just thought it was time to clip the phony’s wings.
You took the wings, but not the sting! I’ll reduce you to a footless, handless, blind lump for me to mock and torture!