Exile 3: Ruined World Part #78 - The Keep of Rentar-Ihrno

Part 78: The Keep of Rentar-Ihrno

Update 072 – The Keep of Rentar-Ihrno

“Why are we on the other side of the road?”

“To cross to the other side!”

“Perhaps it's more to follow the river.”

“A supply point? A path off the beaten track?”

“You know what? I'm tired of attempts at negotiations. We'll just kill them all.”

“Really? Must be the rearguard.”

Food and a healing potion.

“And back on the road.”

“Ominous. Really, really ominous.”

“...”

“We all know there is no more time for words.”

“Oh come on! Let me use my baby to get around some enemies at some point!”

“Attack?”

“No other choice.”

“Focus fire! Take down the Basilisks first!”

“And that's it. Nothing stands between us and the Keep.”

“We can only hope.”

“Art-Iktah. I know why you are here. But know, that while my people will oppose you, I will await you in the central chamber.”

“Owwie!”

“Art!”

“Come on! The gates are open, we need to get inside!”

“Come on, break down already!”

“...”

“That's a lot of them.”

“It does not matter.”

“Come on!”

“They are endless!”

“No, they aren't.”

“That's most of them. The rest are coming in pairs and the like. We can deal with that.”

“I wonder what that room with the lava in it is for.”

“Power?”

“Probably. But it's not what we need to deal with.”

“This is interesting.”

“Pressing the button!”

“Yay! I win again!”

“I suppose that button opened this gate.”

“These must be the vats we need to activate. Please let these be the vats we need to activate.”

“What do you expect to accomplish, Art-Iktah? This is not your path.”

“Is she going to keep doing that thing the whole time?”

“I think that's the lava in the room above us, the channel it takes to flow upwards.”

“I agree. But it's not what we're here for.”

“Is there any way to deal with this safety valve?”

“No, not from here.”

“I know that sound!”

“Oh, isn't this cute.”

So, each of the four vats we have to activate are guarded. Going clockwise around the map, the first are Alien Slimes and Dark Wyrms.

“Yeah, cute. These things were barely a threat months ago.”

“Observation ports? But how do we activate the vat?”

“Button!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOO! The Button has failed me!”

“There is another one on the other side. Perhaps we need to deal with them in order?”

“Yay?”

“Yes! The vat has opened!”

“But the channel is incomplete. We need to activate the other one, I think.”

“I will!”

“One down, three to go.”

“We'll have to go back up to the main floor. There is no way to get to the other vats from here.”

“Right, let's keep going then.”

“I smell cooking!”

“They are attacking? With kitchen implements?”

“None of them would even consider peace now.”

“Not even the children.”

“I guess even this place must have a trash pit.”

“Seriously, I know the language. My translation work should not be this bad.”

“They're not good enough.”

“I do this for you, Art-Iktah. The Empire hurt our tribe and yours. Ours moreso, I know you would agree. This is for both of us.”

“Oh, shut up you xenocidal hypocrite!”

“Wouldn't that be genocide?”

“No, it is the nature of the target. The other.”

“We should start from the one closest to the vat.”

“Yay!”

This quadrant is defended by Nagas and Iffrit. And a couple Ur-Basilisks for taste.

“My button pushing skills are amazing!”

“Well, Rentar-Ihrno? What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Exile has earned a place of safety in my vengeance. You would have had a place of honor, but you made your choice to rest. I respected that, for what you did.”

“Is Rentar-Ihrno trying to ... apologize to you?”

“Perhaps?”

“A place of repose.”

“Repose in more ways than one now.”

“This lock defies me.”

I tried, I really did, but nothing came of it.

“It looks like the next way down is behind that large room there. Now we just have to figure out how to get there.”

“Huh, testing labs.”

“And alchemical ingredients.”

Seriously, at the end, the only potion I ever brewed was the required Greymold back in Exile 1. Don't invest in the skill.

“We can walk through all this.”

“It still hurts!”

“Tight corridors.”

“Just perfect for Rakshasa.”

“I'll lay down Anti-magic, and you can beat them down.”

“Done! Now to push buttons!”

“Looks like we need to start from the first one this time.”

“Don't forget the one between those two!”

As puzzles go, this one is pretty tedious. As a finale, it's quite lacklustre until the last moment.

“Ready on the healing.”

“I wonder if there's anything of use in here?”

“My brain hurts!”

“Random Basilisk.”

“I'll give this one a try.”

“That justifies nothing.”

“Hey, does anyone else smell that?”

“I think the entrance in this corner is hidden.”

“One way or the other, no one will pick up these blades.”

“Because they won't be needed...”

“Or they'll all be dead.”

“I got this.”

“Where is it?”

“There is something important in this room, but I can't figure it out.”

What happens here will be described in the Epilogue.

“Ah, here we are.”

“The plan, or your part in it, was simple. Exile would stay safe in your caves. You had claimed them, but they were not yours. The Empire was on the surface. Our vengeance would be had on them, leaving you safe from our anger. You are our friends.”

“More buttons!”

“Ah, the local defenders. Undead.”

“And that's the last one!”

“Our vengeance would be upon the Empire. They would be scoured from the world for their crimes. And then your people would be able to return to the surface in peace, the smallest measure of what we owe you for the salvation of our Ancestors. And we would stay in the caves, content in our isolation. All would be rewarded by their actions.”

“One last defence?”

“Come on then.”

“Explain yourself to me, Rentar-Ihrno.”

“There can be no more words. All you had to do was leave us be, and you would have been rewarded with all you desired.”

“There's so much in the way!”

“Come on! Push through!”

“Argh! There's so many!”

“AAGGHHH!”

“RENTAR-IHRNO!”

“You fight like a cow!”

“Your words will find no purchase on me.”

“GO GET HIM, RED!”

“I'll be with you in a moment.”

It is possible, in theory, to kill Rentar-Ihrno in combat. In truth, it's not worth the effort.

Erika, on paper, is outclassed here. However, despite having most of her SP drained by the hordes of Eyebeasts, she still has two tricks up her sleeve. The first is that all her spells cost her 0SP, and the other is that she is invincible.

It's also not an easy fight to get everyone through. And at this point, I want everyone through.

I try to cheese the fight in the best traditions of Exile 2 by parking in the next room over, and casting Shockwave over and over again.

Except that Shockwave has been nerfed badly in this game – it no longer ignores LoS.

“We're past!”

You also can't activate this encounter in combat. And if you didn't have Erika's Activated Amulets – she will still show up, but Rentar-Ihrno will teleport you away up to four times when you approach, forcing you to fight your way through again and again and again.