Part 30: The Nepharim Fortress and Training

Update 026 – The Nepharim Fortress

This update will be more than just the one dungeon. I'm cleaning up a couple loose ends from the previous updates, as well as finally getting some training done.



“Huh, I haven't been here in a while.”

“What is this place?”




“This used to be a large fort for the Nephar. I think it was the first officially documented encounter too.”

“Let me guess. You came in and killed them all?”

“hssss...”

“Of course not! We were rescuing Prisoners. And grabbing a piece of Demonslayer, I think. Later on.”

“Not to doubt you Sir, Ma'am, but this place couldn't hold children, let alone prisoners.”

“I recall thissss. The Exile Army came through here after the war, and... sssecured the area.”

“Pacified you mean.”



“And we rezeived any better?”

“Enough of that!”








“You guys aren't with the Empire!”

“For the Emperor!”

“Uh... Empress you mean?”

“DIIIEEEEE!”



“Doez this happen often?”

“And what were they saying about an Emperor?”

“I think these people didn't get the message that Hawthorne was assassinated.”

“That doesn't explain their actions.”

“They... have joined the enemy without joining?”

“What, traitors like that? How would they even announce their allegiance to the Empire.”

“The thought probably never crossed their mind.”











“Hello, again.”

“Mission accomplished, sir! We raided the Slith caverns and dealt them a good blow!”

“They worssshipped Sss-Thsss. The attack was juzt.”

You report what you did. He grins viciously. "Well done! That'll show those worms to oppose us!" He has you brought a bag of gold. "Here's your bounty, and, on top of that, I'll even send word to the Castle saying what you did. They'll like that."

In case this hasn't been made obvious already, let me spell something out. These 'Town/Fort Quests' serve two different, but similar function both in-universe and out of it. You see, completing these quests, then heading to the Castle will improve your security Clearance – from Soldier (current) to Magi to Royal. As you advance in Clearance, you will gain access to more areas of the world, which allows you into places where you can advance the plot. It's an interesting way to avoid the open-ended world of Exile 1, where, as it was noted, you could literally get the Orb of Thranli ten minutes in. All you needed was 250g for a boat in Silvar, and knowledge on where exactly to go.

In universe, it's a brilliant piece of social engineering. These Quests are given out to adventurers, people who are taking it upon themselves to fight the evils in the Caves, right the wrong, and all that jazz. The Quests point them in the right direction, and rewards them when a threat is dealt with. The people to complete these quests are those who have proven that they are willing and capable of fighting for Exile. Then they can get a higher clearance to further promote their activities, as well as bringing them into the established order of things better and better.

“Thanks. I would love to get my clearance back up to normal.”






“Are we going to rescue those prisoners yet?”



“With the old Fortress destroyed, we have to find them first.”





At least it's only one of them this time.



“One Bazilisk did thizz?”

“Maybe there were more?”

“Poor sods.”







“This looks familiar.”

“Do theze signss ever work?”

“No.”

“Well, maybe to people who aren't as we prepared as we are.”

“I do not recognizze these configurationsss.”



“I could have sworn there was a magma vein up here a few years ago.”




“{ALARM!}”

“We've got company!”



“You mean, we did.”




There's no way around this. There's no secret passage to work with, and once you walk through those doors, a lot of enemies spawn in. Including a dozen shamans. If you don't watch what you're doing, this could happen to you:



Anyways, it's better to trigger the event, they draw them back down through the entrance where you can take them at close quarters.



“Is that a Giant?”

“Where did that come from?”

“Who cares? Kill it!”



“Not difficult.”



“Guys, some help here!”








“Sssso many.”

“Now all we need to do is find the prisoners.”

“And loot the place.”



“It's safe to turn on the lights now, I think.”

“They haven't finished building this secret passage yet. How unfortunate.”



“Pretty lame armoury, Sir Ma'am.”



“And here is where the warriors slept.”



“Cloze the door!”





“{What is this racket?}



“Damn, so much for the element of surprise. Come on!”

“I have found their leader!”

“You think to slay me, scaled one?”

“No, I will!”





“If only that would help.”






“{Die!}”




“Trap.”

“Completely.”

Picking either bottle results in this:




So don't. Not until much later.






“Really? None of you will have any?”

“I prefer fish.”

“Not enough sauce.”

“I'll pass, thank you.”

“Your loss.”







“I'll keep this!”



Damn, is that the Ruby Key or the Rust Key I have there? I'll need to go back and check.






“Think you can handle thissz?”

“Watch me.”



“Easy!”



“Really? Asp Gloves? Why would anyone want to poison themselves?”





“Makes sense the key would be neaby.”

“And there's a lever inside!”




You actually need to kill the Chieftan and open the lever to complete the mission, by the way.



“Hello?”

One of the Nephilim slaves nods at you.

“We've been sent to rescue you. What's your name?”

It responds with a combination purring/growling noise. You take that as it's name.

“What are you still doing in here? Leave!”

"Waiting."

“Waiting? For what?”

It bows. "We hope only to escape."

“The door is open. run.”



“Watch your spells! It's hard to tell who is friendly and who isn't!”



“Archersz, not friendly.”






“Thesse books hold nothing.”



“Private quarters for the priests shamans?”



“Mozt likely, yes.”

And found on the way out...





The Kill spell on a stick. Will be useful.







“Huh, the road got damaged by the Barriers.”

Interesting observation. Act One isn't separate from the rest of the Act Four. Rather, the Barriers block all progress out of the area, forcing you into Act Two and Three. However, once you get into Act Four, a flag is tripped which removes the Barriers, and allows you back into this region.



“I am honesstly szurprized our boat is sstill here.”



“Let's check in with the Mayor.”



Unsurprisingly, the Mayor has nothing new to say.

“You're back! And the Barriers went down a few days after you left!”

“It wasn't much. Just found the Vahnatai, explained the situation, and they were willing to give us the benefit of the doubt.”

“Oh, that's wonderful news. We started shipping foodstuffs and ore south the moment it was safe to do so. We are in your debt!”

“Anything of important happen while we were gone?”

“No, not really.”

“Then now that we've confirmed the mission is complete, we'll be leaving.”

“But!”

“Bye!”













“I have not missed your rudenessz.”

“I have!”











“I wasn't aware that they were trying to start a town up here...”

“They were, but were burned out.”









This encounter glitched out on me.



I was supposed to get into a massive brawl here, with Exile soldiers as back up. Except the enemy that spawned in was flagged as friendly, and thus I got the 'You encountered an Exile Patrol' encounter instead.




And no real chance to redo it. Oh well. There will be plenty of other fights in the future.






Another random encounter later had my first escaping monster! I have noted before how sometimes random encounters will run away from a fight before you get to them, right? Well, it's also possible for enemies to now run away during the battle. The party is just that awesome!







“They are free, friend.”

It purrs happily. "We thank you for your good efforts in this. My people thank you and wish to help in your war. Goodness to you!"

“Of course.”


“The mission is done, Captain-Mayor.”

He stands and shakes your hands. "I've heard that you led a success revolt. Well done!" He shows you a scroll. "I'll send this to the Castle. This will help you gain a higher clearance. On behalf of Exile and the Nephilim, I thank you."

And that's three Quests fulfilled. In theory, I can get a Security Clearance promotion now, but I still want to deal with the Bandits in the Honeycomb, and do a bit of exploration first.

In the meanwhile, here's the training I have done:




More Intelligence and More SP. Art is coming along nicely as a Priest, and is nearly set for the rest of the game in that regard. Just need two more levels of Priest Spell to deal with the awesome stuff that comes later.




Maxing out Polearms, then a little bit into Strength and Dex. I should save a few levels worth of Skill points for Assassination, as it's been proving its worth this game.




And the same here, save Bashing, not Polearms.




Now having 15 ranks in Disarm Trap nearly doubles herself in that regard. Minor improvements to Strength and Dex will help, but I have plans for her in the long run.




More SP, More Intelligence, what's not to like?




Maxed out Archery and improved Dex. Things should be better for our archer in the future now!