Part 86: The Return

Chapter 65 – The Return



To Aleroth
General Exposition (long and talky)
You heard that? Crap.




Market Square




Video: To Aleroth


(Spectre) I will take you away from here, Dragon, and bring you to the city of Aleroth – where my true self rots away deep beneath the cobbled streets, kept alive only by my dormant powers. Free me and I will free the Divine in turn.
(Dragon Knight Yara) Lucian mistrusts you, which makes me suspicious of you as well!
His notions are but illusions, my friend, as is the idea you have a choice. To Aleroth we fare. Now.




(Lucian) Be careful, Dragon Knight! Do not risk what the release of this thing may beget for my sake! Here dwells evil. Do not forget!




Video: General Exposition (long and talky)










(Yara) I said I’ll be back.





Music: Market Square




(General Augustus) The Dragon Knight! Where have you been? What has happened? Does Ygerna live and is the Damned One dead?
(-15000 XP)
Seems some misinformation made my previous quest quite futile.
Misinformation? Surely Zandalor was not mistaken in his assessment of the situation?




Like a traveller with Tourette’s tramping through a troll’s lair.
Blast and damn it all to hell! Nothing can stop that maniac couple now!
The Divine could. He is alive and I intend to bring him back to Rivellon.
Bellegar’s bollocks, it cannot be!! Pardon my language, my friend, but this is the most fortuitous news I have heard in a very long! And you have the means to enact this miracle?
I think so, yes. … About as sure as Zandalor was about Ygerna, that is.
And by that I mean, I could be completely fucking wrong and just end up screwing over the entire world even worse than it was before.
Then I can only hope your wisdom and judgement run even deeper than that of the savant sorcerer who shields us all. But even if you can free Lucian, I fear it may not be enough to turn the tide. Aleroth is in imminent peril and she needs the Dragon to deliver her!
If Aleroth is in peril, I must help. What can I do?
Divine, where to begin? As you have most certainly noticed, we are trapped beneath a canopy of Flying Fortresses that threaten to destroy the city.




Ah, actually, I hadn’t noticed that. I’ve only been here for about three minutes.
Fortunately Zandalor has a plan, no matter how desperate, that involves you and Aleroth’s liberation.
So this entire plan depended on my return? What if I never had?
Thought there is no alternative plan, we did send someone on Zandalor’s mission in case you had fallen in the Hall of Echoes. You know her well: it was Commander Rhode who took up the challenge and ventured into the dark.
RHODE?!
Yes, to anticipate your question, she was placed under arrest last time you met. But the greatest Dragon Slayer in history belongs in the field, not behind bars chewing old bread, wouldn’t you say? What a woman, Dragon Knight! I pray I may soon look into her feral yet gorgeous eyes again.
*cough*
Sorry, I drifted away for a bit there. But let us get back to Zandalor’s plan. Here is what he told me: when the fortresses started to appear above Aleroth like black stars in a noon sky, he realised all were doomed unless he sought help. That is why he delved for an ancient being buried in the catacombs ‘neath the city. It lies incarcerated by the most unyielding sorceries known to any living Mage: a combination of locks and barriers. And yet Zandalor removed from it the first spell of protection so he could use it to shield Aleroth.




This was a desperate act: for if what dwells there breaks free, a second Damian will arise. And yet it is him you need to find: the tightly-chained essence of the mad wizard Behrlihn.
_{Hmmm… Zandalor removed a spell from Behrlihn’s prison, and a spectre shows up and brings me here. Not a coincidence.}
If this man is so dangerous, why must I seek him out?
Zandalor knows he cannot hold the shield forever, so he bid me to tell you you will need to contact Behrlihn and persuade him to cede to you the Eye of the Patriarch.
Why is the shield finite?
Right now it is the heart of the city, the life’s blood, that shelters it from death. Yet like any other heart, sooner or later, its beat is doomed to stop.



But I can see you are not in the mood for metaphors. It boils down this: upholding the shield costs a tremendous amount of mental energy that will eventually exhaust even a wizard’s mind. Suffice to say: we have hours, not days.
So who is Behrlihn really, and why is he imprisoned under Aleroth?
I honestly have no idea. This man or creature, was completely unknown to me until Zandalor informed me of its existence. I asked him what he knew and how, but he remained strangely reticent. For the first time since I have known him – and that has been a good many years – I think I saw fear in his eyes. Never have I felt so nerve-shatteringly uncomfortable.
What on earth is the Eye of the Patriarch?
_{He had two the last time I saw him.}
It is a device of massive destruction that will allow is to obliterate Damian’s horror-fueled armada. The logistic particulars are unclear to me as yet, but we’ll tackle those when we get there.
Suppose I find Behrlihn, what then?
Somehow, you will need to persuade him to give you the Eye. Barter with him, promise him everything in return, but do not free him! Even if it means failure, do not set him loose! If you can, bring us back the Eye!



So, let me get this straight. The city is sealed and under siege, and the only means to save it is located “somewhere” underground in a passage that may have collapsed centuries ago - if not during one of the calamities during the Great War that raised Aleroth - and it’s being held by someone as dangerous as the Damned One?
An eloquent summary, Dragon Knight.



And Rhode - who will try and kill me on sight - is already on his trail, with information as vague as this?
Yes and no. Before she set off, Rhode told me she would consult a famous historian. She believes he would know more about Behrlihn and the dungeon he is in. Maybe you should seek him out as well. A scholar named Thaddeus. He is perhaps the most erudite member of the Prancing Seahorse. You know this establishment, do you not? The gentleman’s club?




Of course I don’t know it! Do I LOOK like a Gentleman? Do I? This is only the second time I’ve ever been in Aleroth, and the first time I was kinda busy, remember?! What does some hangout for stodgy old men have to do with this anyway?
Mind you, it’s more than that! Their library is a veritable treasure trove for those with an interest in obscure magic. But I shall keep you no longer unless you have further questions. Time is of the essence. Time is what we lack.
Anything else I can do for you while I’m in the city?
My word you can, but I hesitate to ask even more of you. Once you venture beyond Mardaneus Plaza, you will find a whole district of death: a no-go zone, barred and barren. Not long after you closed the rifts and left to find Ygerna’s soul, an uprising began: an uprising of walking dead. I declared that part of the city lost because I cannot jeopardize the life of one more Champion. Still, if you could find the fountainhead of this plague and let run dry that hellish well, once more all of Aleroth would be in your debt.
There is so much you have told me, yet so much remains unclear. I must speak to Zandalor.




I’m afraid that is impossible! He is rapt in deep meditation and cannot be disturbed. Should his shielding spell fail, Aleroth will fall in a matter of moments!
So once we have this Eye of the Patriarch, what do we do then?
I think Zandalor has a plan, but he didn’t say much about it.
Fan-tastic.
Worries for later, my friend. One of many.
If I am to find this mad wizard, where should I look? Any clues?
The only thing I know is that he must reside in the catacombs that run like mole-dug labyrinths beneath our feet. I have heard the most extensive of them lie directly under the academy on Source Square, but getting there will mean crossing the Styx.
The good news just doesn’t stop coming.
_{The Battle Tower… I don’t know what happened to it. I didn’t have the heart to look and see for myself. I’ll need allies here in the city.}
Can you point me in the direction of some services here in Aleroth?




But of course! What is it you are looking for?
A necromancer.
The best in town would be Doctor West. He’s the city’s mortician and the most avid practitioner of dark lore. He currently resides in the emergency barracks on Mardaneus Plaza down near the city entrance.
An alchemist.
Chanelle’s your girl! She lives on Lanilor Lane. She’s a skilled alchemist and a fine illusionist as well.
A skills trainer.
As luck would have it, two of my best trainers are right here in the ministry. You can find them on the upper floors.
An enchanter.
There used to be one on the first floor of the Phoenix Inn, but he’s long dead I believe.
There’s no enchanter in the city? How is that possible?
There used to be Wesson, but he and his wife vanished weeks ago.
Oh! Oh… Wesson and Ginny… I think I have heard enough.
As you wish.
Goodbye for now, Augustus.
Best of luck, Dragon Knight!

To Find a Wizard: To Boldly Go Where Rhode Has Gone Before
The main quest for the expansion is to find the crypt where Behrlihn is trapped. We have absolutely nothing to go on, save for a suggestion to try and find Rhode. Rhode went to check out a club for research notes, so that’s where we should start too.

Dead Rising
This is another part of the main quest, in that we can’t solve the main quest until we quell the uprising of the undead. Source Square is the heart of the outbreak, but it’s inaccessible. Crow’s Nest is heavily infested with undead.


Video: You heard that?


(Behrlihn) <sub>So now you know who I am; know what lies deep under rock and earth.




Even Zandalor bids you to find me, and you will. Find me. Release me!
You- you heard all that?
Oh, yes.
…Fuck.


Can you hear me now, Dragon Knight?
Lucian? Yes! Yes I can! I guess that’s because Ygerna isn’t in the Hall of Echoes blocking you anymore?
I cannot lend you any aid, but I will try to advise you the best I can.
Don’t bother, O Divine. The Dragon already knows what she needs to do.
Can you point me where I need to go? Either of you?
…
…
Great help so far, guys.</sub>










To Aleroth
General Exposition
You heard that? Crap.




Market Square



Sorry about that massive exposition dump. Nothing much I could do about that. I’m glad the majority voted for the third option, because that’s the one I already recorded with Yara. I had a minor hiccup with Chapter 66 and had to re-record it because for some reason I had no audio. It’s fixed now.

I don’t blame you if you didn’t watch the video, it’s long and talky, but if you did, at least through the part where Yara arrives, you might have gotten a funny vibe from the music.

Did you notice the mind-reading cost for General Augustus? 15000 XP points. That’s what worthwhile mindreads cost now. Some can cost as much as 22500 XP! Useless ones “only” cost 7500 XP.

Behrlihn now takes the place of Talana as the voice in our head. At least we KNOW that he’s evil. Not really much consolation, I suppose. (Lucian doesn’t speak in our head, but I thought I’d add him just for fun.)

We’re now free to walk around and get quests, so I think it’s a good time to mention the geography of Aleroth.


The Maps – The Geography of Aleroth



Aleroth is that island in the middle of the river. All of Act IV takes place here.




Here’s the overall map, but that’s a bit hard to explain, so I made a colour-coded one.




Aleroth is divided into five zones:

• The Great Market / The Ministry _{(Commercial/Government)}
  
• Lanilor Lane _{(Residential/Commercial)}
  
• Mardaneus Plaza _(Commercial)
  
• Crow’s Nest _{(Residential)}
  
• Source Square _(Military)

The three on the left are questing zones, the two on the right are overrun with undead. REALLY overrun – unlike every other place before now, enemies in Aleroth respawn after a while. We can never permanently clear an area. That’s why the Champions have sealed them off.  For the moment, we can’t actually enter the ones with undead yet. 

A bridge over Lanilor Lane connects the Great Market to Mardaneus Plaza, but both the gates to Source square are closed off.

It can be disorienting at first trying to figure out where to go for quests, so I’ll mention that where we get them. The Prancing Seahorse is on Lanilor Lane, but first I’m going to go visit Mardaneus Plaza, it’ll save time.








Anything to get out of this gods-forsaken place.
Good! That opportunistic spirit is exactly what I was looking for. Come, to Aleroth we go!
(Lucian) Be careful, Dragon Knight! Do not risk what the release of this thing may beget for my sake! Here dwells evil. Do not forget!


Say no more! If that is what it takes to bring Damian’s bane back to Rivellon, I will follow your lead
Well said! The time of words is over, the hour of action has dawned. To Aleroth then, without delay!
(Lucian) Be careful, Dragon Knight! Do not risk what the release of this thing may beget for my sake! Here dwells evil. Do not forget!




(General Augustus) The Dragon Knight! Where have you been? What has happened? Does Ygerna live and is the Damned One dead?
Ygerna lives and so, unfortunately, does Damian.
What? It cannot be! How did this happen?
We were all tricked into believing that ‘reverse Soul Forge’ fairytale. We fell for it and failed, let’s leave it at that.
Leave it at that? How can we? They are together again and the whole of Rivellon will fall!
Not if their original enemy can stop them. The Divine lives and I can set him free.
Bellegar’s bollocks, it cannot be!! Pardon my language, my friend, but this is the most fortuitous news I have heard in a very long! And you have the means to enact this miracle?
I do, but the method I shall keep to myself. It is a delicate matter, after all.
Of course! I trust you will see us through like you have done before!


(General Augustus) The Dragon Knight! Where have you been? What has happened? Does Ygerna live and is the Damned One dead?
Ygerna lives and so, unfortunately, does Damian.
What? It cannot be! How did this happen?
It doesn’t matter, General. Believe it or not, but we have more important matters to discuss.
What could possibly be more urgent than the great siege that is about to befall our world? You must have seen Aleroth is under attack!
The liberation of the Divine, who, contrary to popular belief, is still alive. Alive and ready to be freed.
Bellegar’s bollocks, it cannot be!!




But the greatest Dragon Slayer in history belongs in the field, not behind bars chewing old bread, wouldn’t you say? What a woman, Dragon Knight! I pray I may soon look into her feral yet gorgeous eyes again.
You haven’t heard of her since.
I have not, but I hope with all my heart she is yet alive! But let us get back to Zandalor’s plan.


The Dragon Knight! Where have you been? What has happened? Does Ygerna live and is the Damned One dead?
Seems some misinformation made my previous quest quite futile.
Misinformation? Surely Zandalor was not mistaken in his assessment of the situation?
Yes, though he was not to blame for it. Only Damian and Ygerna knew.
Then all is lost! Nothing can halt their black conquest now.
I wouldn’t know about that. … There’s always the Divine, who is still alive in case you didn’t know. Alive and ready to be freed.
Bellegar’s bollocks, it cannot be!!