Part 27

Since we just left this area recently and know there are some docks here, our first step on our road to the high seas is to return to the smuggler's dock near Waterdeep.



"What business have ye here?"

"And what business have ye asking?"

"Perhaps I could help ye reach yer destination… say, for a mere 20 pieces of platinum."

"And ye'll not be getting past me without that fee, either."

"20 platinum!? And with passage still to pay for after? Are you out of your gods forsaken mind?"

"I think you have deeply underestimated the cheapness of some of our party members. We'll be going now."

"Perhaps Neverwinter? There were docks there, and we're still owed a couple of favors."



"Wherever we go, there they are…I think we're the target of some vast conspiracy of dwarves vagabonds."

"The Neverwinter River springs from the heart of the Neverwinter Mountains. It was in those mountains, and toward that heart, that our ancestors delved. Sadly, all that remains now are the crossroads."

"So… you want us to visit there? Is that where we're going with this?"

"Screw it, we're evidently going to get no peace until we go visit all these dwarven ruins."



Our journey does not begin on a smooth note. There are some surprisingly dangerous random encounters out there in the wilderness, and this one popped up about a step away from that last dwarves encounter. Unlike some of the previous games you can actually walk through mountain areas in this one… you're just not going to like some of the enemies you run into. Luckily cloud giants don't have any resistance to fire.



"Well, we're just north of Daggerford, so this must be what they were talking about…"

"It's either that or we're about to wander into someone's living room. Either way, it promises to be entertaining."



"…doors. Either we're in a dormitory, or this place is even stranger than it looks."

"To the west is the first, to the east is the last, and all eight lie between… I think we have to start by going west first, and then go through all the doors somehow."

"Well, it certainly beats the sane option of just walking down the hallway. Who'd ever consider doing something like that?"



The trick in this first dungeon is one of perspective flipping and space warping. To get to the other end you have to go west (which looks like it's back the way you came, but isn't, and then alternate going north and south through the doors, taking a step to the east between each set. You'll find that your party is suddenly changing direction with each step, so you have to watch the compass carefully to stay on the path. It's a matter of trial and error more than anything else, and your prize for finishing this one is a warm glow of satisfaction and nothing else.



"Did those dwarves ever live here, or is this just something they built for the fun of tricking unsuspecting groups of adventurers?"

"Who was it again that insisted that we track down all of these hidden dwarf constructions?"

"You'll thank me when we're no longer being followed around by dwarves and having them stage phony meetings to try and not-so-subtly suggest that we need to go visit their stupid halls."



"If I remember correctly, the clue here was to "seek the least likely exit, for it is only through it that you shall ever leave. And yet, I see three doors that all look equally likely."

"The fourth wall doesn't have a door. Isn't that the least likely exit possible?"

"It's official, we're doomed. The dwarves who built these have the same mental processes as Galen, and him having the solution to a puzzle means the world will end within the next hour."

"That's a bit ha… umm… did the room just spin for everybody else? Which way were we going?"

"Away from all the doors. This place is creeping me out, and I feel like somebody's just watching and waiting for us to make a mistake."

Similar to the last puzzle, this one makes use of forced perspective flips and the draw distance to create a puzzle. You have to continually move toward the wall with no door, and quite often you won't be able to see where that is because it's too far away. Once you finally reach the wall, you have to walk straight in to it in order to escape. Like the previous segment there are no rewards for finishing, but unlike the first puzzle you are punished for failure by having random groups of monsters show up if you take a wrong step. You can't rest, so this area can be lethal in fairly short order.

After several more days of journeying...



"This should be the last one, unless some more dwarves pop out of nowhere to give us another destination. The fact that we haven't seen any of them since we started doing this is a good sign."




"At least this actually looks like a place that people lived. The clue for this one was about a crossroads, so…"

"The real question isn't about the crossroads, it's more a question of why they left… or what drove them out."



"Quick, start making a map of everything we've seen!"

"And… done! One straight corridor leading to a crossroads!"

"How very helpful… now, shall we see about the exit?"



The third dwarven "puzzle" isn't really that much of a puzzle. The only place you can use the area map is in the center square, but other than that there's nothing special going on here. There are a number of small rooms like this one with enemies inside that you can fight for a pittance of treasure. It's not really worth the effort, but if you really feel you must it's doable.




"You… we met you right before the dwarves showing up. You set them on us!"



"Well, somebody seems in a great hurry to leave…"

"And I think I see the reason right over that hill. Hopefully that last speech of his means we're done."

"If we've wasted enough time on this, then I have somewhere I want to go while we're in the neighborhood. It's not like those pirates are in a hurry."



By sheer coincidence, this is what I ran into one step after dealing with Ragbar. Random encounters can be serious business in this game, and this is one of the more dangerous. As a note, the prize for completing all of the trials is indeed wisdom… in the form of experience points. About 10,000 for everybody, which sounds impressive until you realize that it's only about 5% of what we need to gain a level. 2 or 3 decent encounters would be worth as much.



Just to the west of Longsaddle is the Tower of Twilight, which the helpful guard at Harpell's home refers to. It's not marked on the map or anything, so you get the fun of poking around the wilderness to find it.



"This actually looks kind of pleasant for a wizard's tower, especially one with a name like the Tower of Twilight."

"You say that no..wait, where did the sun go?"



"You're not the only one… it sounds like another woman crying out."

"Between the "Tower of Twilight" and this, I'm beginning to be a bit suspicious that this Harpell is one of the good guys."




"Nah, it's perfectly normal to have some kind of undead monstrosity that's clearly the soul of a murdered woman around the base of your tower. It's… what you call it, atmosphere."



A single undead creature, even with a -1 armor class, has a lifespan measured in seconds with all of our front line troops in easy reach. On the other hand, this is a unique sprite so at least it's something different to look at. I have no idea what abilities this thing might have had, because it didn't live long enough to get a turn.



"Perhaps this tower is just terribly bad luck for women?"



"I think all the undead here make it terribly bad luck for anybody. We just probably haven't stumbled over any of the men who have passed through here and into the afterlife."



"It looks like this is the closest thing we're going to find to a front door… must make it dreadfully inconvenient when he has to go out for groceries."

"That's what servants are for. And besides, I don't think he walks anywhere he could take himself magically."




"C'mon, we met you like a week ago after saving your town from monsters. Can't we get a bit of a break here?"



"…you just want us to clean out your basement for you. Did you lose too many servants to the task and decide that we'd do instead?"

"Right now it's even odds as to whether we're going to do what he says and hope for a reward or tear this tower down around his ears. Either way the things in the basement still have to go… so, north or south?"

"Considering that we shall have to go both ways, one is as good as another."




"What is wrong with you wizards? Can't you have normal giant spiders in your basements instead of lightning spiders?"

"Only if you want to be boring."



"Is there at least something other than spiders in this wing?"

"Oh yes. Definitely no spiders here."



"On second thought, we should go back and ask if we can have a do-over and get some more spiders instead."



Another unique sprite, making two for this dungeon. This fight is actually a bit of a problem, as this iron golem can only be hurt by +3 or better weapons. Considering that Galen is the only person with one of those, we have a problem. It can also do 20 or 30 damage per swing and is immune to magic… but we eventually pull through.



"Wasn't that little villain who reassured us about the spiders here? I think he needs a good thrashing for that."



"You may advance."

"So is that it? What do we get for cleaning out the basement?"



"No. No, that wasn't the plan at all. It's not like you had a sign up saying "magical training here" or anything like that."

"Generally we just do good deeds and people shower us with various rewards… so this is a bit outside the bounds of normalcy."



"Fine, I'll do it! But this had better be worth it."



"Please, be comfortable here. And if you, Zanros, would come with me…"



"And then you shake it on up."

"I'm still not clear on why you'd want to magically put a fruit inside of a nut, but if you say so..."

"I'm quite sure that none of us want to know. Can we leave now?"

"That might be best for everyone. Neverwinter is still waiting for us."

Character Snapshot





Levels for both of our mages this time around, granting them new spells and a small parcel of additional HP. You can see that Zanros has a slight lead in XP now, since that's all that the special training with Harpell actually accomplishes. This update covered most of the side quests available in the game, but there's still at least one more waiting around the corner.

Next Update: Neverwinter and the Isles.