Part 37: Update 033 – The Waterfall Warrens and the Stagnant Tunnels

Update 33 – The Waterfall Warrens and the Stagnant Tunnels



“That takes care of the poison. We can rest when we get outside.”

“That was... I expected there to be a battle! Not that he would flee!”

“Makes sense. Why fight when your enemy has you surrounded and ready, when you can instead choose the battlefield of your own.”

“A pox on Grah-Hoth, for being a coward!”

“Calm down!”

“I agree. Emotions will not help us here. He could not have gone far, so we must hurry to catch his trail. There is also only one way out of this place, and it is still fortified. It may slow him down.”

“Yes. Yes!”

“Well, what are we waiting for?”








“Oh.”





“We are too late!”





“Such power. This is worse than Remote.”

“Remote was torn asunder by a horde. This was the work of one.”

“I'm not so sure about this any more.”

“Hee hee. How right you are.”



“WHERE IS YOUR MASTER?”

A tiny imp sits in the huge throne, where Micah's son used to. It idly tosses little balls of flame form one claw to another. “I'm Frazzik.” It cackles.

“Answer the question!”

It squeals with delight. “I've been left to give you a little message. Just a liiiitttle message! Heee!” It grins, showing many tiny, red, razor sharp teeth.

“And the nature of this message?”

“Mighty Grah-Hoth cordially invites you to visit him in his new fort!”

“And where would this fort be?”

It rolls around in the throne, twitching with excitement and amusement. “Northwest! Beyond the lake of lava! He summons you there, for a fair fight! You better go, or you're doomed!”

“It is your master who is doomed, Imp.”

The Imp screeches, a hideous piercing noise that's painful and unsettling at the same time. “He's going to kill you ALL! ALL OF YOU! He will have his revenge. He will freeze you are our plaything for years! You will all die, and die slow. Now you know.”

“You first.”



“Was that necessary?”

“Completely.”



“Kill the interlopers! For the glory of Grah-Hoth!”



“Shit!”

“No honour amongst Demons.”





“This is annoying. And hard!”

“I'm certain that we've set some record for demon-slaying by this point.”

“These signs have changed.”




“I think I see what Rook is talking about. Usually, demons are things of terror, death and destruction. See the damage done to this place, and Fort Remote. Yet we are capable of killing them, and at great success.”

“So Grah-Hoths actions are one of one who wanted to see tomorrow.”



“Did those bandits just flee screaming from us?”

“Apparently. Maybe they heard about the Demons?”

“Well, they went north, so I don't think Grah-Hoth went that way.”

“We should explore around, see if we can find a trail.”

“A good idea!”



“Nothing here.”



“Maybe something there, but we can't cross the river to find out.”



“Or we could just go around. What have we here?”



“Pah!”



“And this river is larger.”



“There is a small passage through here, come on!”

“Is it just me or...?”

“It is not just you. Art seems to be concerned too.”

“This isn't a fairy tale. Someone needs to tell him that.”

“It could be the sword...”

“I hope not.”



“Poisonous marsh.”



“But I see something over there.”



“Another one?”




“Um... hello?”

“Witch! Attend me! We are looking for... * hurk *”



“Karmas! Control yourself! You can't just go around accosting people like that!”

“Well, we know where three of the batches are. We can do a good deed for her, and maybe answer Karmas' question while we're at it.”

“We should focus on our goal! Not in helping some old witch in the hinterlands!”



“Speak that way again of those in need, and no force in this world, or the next will stop me from changing your views.”

“You want to go around, challenging the forces arrayed against us, go right ahead! You want to take your silly sword and run around waving it like your manhood, be my guest!”

“But never speak of the innocent like they are playthings. Never speak of them like they are somehow less than you, to bend to your will. I had enough of that, up there, and I won't abide it down here.”

“So take your little vendetta and put it away! This is not the time to be the hero of some saga!”

“We are not here for us. We are not here to slay Grah-Hoth! We are HERE TO ESCAPE FROM THE PIT! And you will fall in line, or you will leave!”









_“yes”

“Good.”



“Hey, while you were yelling at Karmas, I found another piece of mold.”



“We've covered as much of this cavern as we can. We should come back later. What now, Art?”

“That's easy. We head back to the Castle, and talk to Micah.”











“Hey guys! It's us! Open up!”



“What?”

“Orders. There's been an upsurge in activity from the North, and we can't let anyone pass. Not even you.”

“Oh, that's bullshit!”

“Those are orders. But you didn't hear from me that there's been a major drop in undead activity to the east. You could probably come out via Fort Emerald.”






“The scree pits? I am very glad we defeated Drath when we did. This could have been messy.”



“And that fort has been abandoned as well.”





“You guys are so much nicer than the people at Fort Spire.”

“Really? They wouldn't let you through?”

“Nope! Thought we were evil, or possessed or something.”

“I've heard about that. Demonic activity up past the Abyss. Orders came down a couple days ago. You know anything about that?”

“Grah-Hoth escaped his prison, we're on the force to kill him, but have to swing by the castle first.”

“Well, don't let me stop you!”












“Hey Micah!”

“Well?”

“WHAT RITUAL?”

“Oh. There is none.”

“what”

“It's a distraction to keep people occupied looking for a subtle way through Skarragath when there is none. It's worked so far.”





“Sorry, your highness, but it seems like you've caused our leader to have a moment to herself. What do you know of the region to the north-west of the Abyss?”

“Not much, I'm afraid. However, I did receive a message from Motrax. He wishes to inform you that the artefact he was talking about when you last met him is located in the Waterfall Warrens, and that you will need to to advance further.”

“Thank you, your highness. If I may, do you know of where Motrax speaks?”

“The warrens are between the Slith lands, and the lands of the Giants. Enter from the north, is all I can say.”

“Thank you again.”









“Where did we leave our boat?”

“North of Almaria.”











“I'm really surprised it hasn't been stolen yet.”

“Same here.”










“I'm pretty sure we're too far south...”





“Great. Everyone who saw this coming, raise their hand.”




“Sign!”



I want to make one thing clear. If I was doing this for my own amusement, and not for the LP, I know the optimal path through this next section. But instead, I'm showing it off for you all, so that means I make a half-dozen trips through here.

Just watch my food counter.



“You hear that?”

“Rumbling.”



“And the current is picking up.”



“SIGN!”





“That's...”

Meet waterfalls. Officially. They are a water 'terrain' that, when you move one tile above, they will instantly drop you to one tile below them. And you lose a bit of food while doing so. Also, you can't go up them.

You enter the Warrens by going straight west by water from Fort Dranlon, and you leave it in the area west of the Slith Castle where Sss-Thsss resided, or by going east toward Spire.

I hope you all enjoy this, because to get the full map, I had to go through here way too many times!



“We cannot go north, it seems.”



“I have no idea how this is supposed to work from a hydraulic standpoint. Water for both sides of the waterfall come from the east.”

“You're not the one rowing against the current here!”



“Well, time to take the plunge. There's no where to go but over.”

“Art, that's a bad pun, and you should be ashamed for it.”

“Hold on to SOMETHING!”



“Urgh... dry land....”



“At least theres nothing down here to assail us while we recover and check the boat.”



“Nothing here, either.”



“Looks like we're past the worst of it on this end.”



“And the current goes this way.”

“Brilliant observation. What next? Up and down are the opposite directions?”

“I'll up and down you, you idiot!”



“Guys? This looks familiar.”






“Worthless. And the enemy is stupid too.”



“Actually, I was more thinking that over there is Drath's lair.”

“That could be... awkward.”



“I think I prefer another waterfall over going through that dungeon again.”

“WHEEEE!”



All of these dots are Slith villages, which spawn defenders if you approach. I don't feel like kicking a culture when they're down, so I pass them by. This time.



“Hrm this is an interesting offshoot of the Warrens.”









Note the flat 50 damage everyone took. This can kill people!

And look what I found in my inventory after the battle!



I think this is the jerkin I picked up from the Eyebeat lair, as it would be the only armour I've picked up recently. This goes onto Duncan, as he needs the improvement.

“A nice diversion, and a nice set of armor. Well, back to the Warrens.”

“Do we have to? My hair gets wet!”

“We're all getting wet there.”

There will now be a quick montage of interesting sights before I get to the dungeon in this area. Because I hate the warrens.











“DRY LAND!”



“There's something back here. A small cave...”



“Smells like something died in here.”



“Um....”

“A moment.”



“Looks like some sort of shelter near the back.”

“But what slew these men and women?”



“This sign is broken.”





“Not the safest boat, but it will do the job.”



“Kill the Gremlins!”



“Just purge this entire area with fire!”

“Right!”






“Really? More basilisks?”

So don't do what I did, and wander around with the lights on. The enemy can attack you on the boat, and you can't respond. Lights out, people!



Or this happens.



Or this, even when prepared!

The moral of this story is to savescum like a bastard in this dungeon.



“This shelter has seen better days.”




“No interest.”



“I think we missed something.”




“Nope, not better than Smite.”





“I feel like I avoided death there a few times.”

“Don't be silly!”



“No way I can figure this out now. I'll have a look at it later.”

Ring of Speed. 8 charges of the Haste Spell, not auto-haste, sorry to say.



“East or west?”

“West!”

“But the shelter is to the east!”

And we'll do that one last!”



“DAMNED GREMLINS!”



“And Eye Beasts too!”

“Of course. How silly of us to forget those.”

“And there's nothing back here anyways. Come on, let's go back.”






“Hrm?”



“I think it's safe enough for some light here.”




“What is this?”

This is what we came here for. But there's something a little further on that I really, really want.



“How the hell did they fail to disarm that trap?”

“They did, and died for it. No one reset it afterwards.”

“Well, there should be some secret passages around here, so...”



“Fall back!”



I will never grow tired of having enemies walk into my party, take 7 attacks, and die before they do anything.



“So, what do we have here?”




“I know them.”

“That ghost.”

“Those bodies.”

“Is there something down there?”

Everyone with SP gets +1 Magic Lore from this event. I'm not sure what the “unbalanced” thing refers too.

And I think this is the last reference to them in the game. There may be one more, but it won't be direct. Please save all questions until Exile 2, please.





Meet my favourite spell in the game, bar none. Shockwave is the last word in crowd control spells, as befitting its status as a Level 7 spell. Yes, it's better than Major Blessing. What does it do, you may wonder?

It deals damage to everyone around the caster, friend and foe alike. However, the farther away you are, the more damage you take! Combatants adjacent to the mage take a little damage, while those 10 squares away (the 'range' of the spell) take massive amounts of pain!

It's also a vital spell for any solo-run. You need this to clear out rooms when your attacks don't come fast enough to matter. I love it, and anyone who disagrees with me that it's the best spell in the series can go over a waterfall.



“Time to get out of here. We have what Motrax wanted us to get, I think.”

“I think I know what this is, now.”

“Well, don't keep us in suspense!”



“Woo-Hoo!”

“We got the Orb!”

“What does it do?”

“With this?”




“We can fly!”









Map time!

Skarragath and the Prison.


The Waterfall Warrens, and the Stagnant Tunnels



Now, it's time for one last round of training before I push through to defeat Grah-Hoth. Here's everyone's current stats, and please don't forget to note any Skill Potions you want me to dump on people!