The Age of Decadence Part #33 - The birthplace of the Gods

Part 33: The birthplace of the Gods

Part XXXIII: The birthplace of the Gods

One last thing to do before going to Al-Akia: investigating the monastery the healer told us about back when we first arrived at Maadoran.

This feels like the time we had to rescue a noble from bandits back in Teron.

Yep, I'm pretty awesome.

Okay, let's cut to the chase.

Another fight? Yawn.

Sounds like these people have a nice setup.

: So, you stayed up here, hidden from the world?

Me, for one.

: Surely you have stories about it. What do they say?

: Do you have an elixir called the Extract of Amaranthus?

Interesting.

There's little to do in the village. Most of the people have only "Thanks for saving us," or "Talk to the Elder," or "The vault is off-limits," dialogue. The Elder himself has nothing else to say and can only sell us reagents. One of the few who can actually converse with us is the guy in white.

Hell, let's talk to him.

: I was lucky. But I've always been lucky when it comes to killing folks.

: You only get one life. Are you sure you want to spend it hiding up in the mountains?

: It's your decision, not mine. Think it through; consider how it would affect the community. If you leave, others might leave too. Without enough people to maintain and defend this place, it will soon cease to exist.

: They will notice you when you're gone, trust me.

Ugh, zoomers.

Very interesting. This was a medical facility.

: Why would a god be locked for eternity?

: Sacred formulae?

Given everything we've seen so far, I don't think these warnings are exaggerated.

: What else do you know about your ancestors?

Yeah, I don't think so.

This fellow with the crossbow is the only other person we can talk to.

: Clearly I'm not with the raiders though.

: None, I suppose. But I will not. I respect your fear and concern. Perhaps I can actually help.

Here's the entrance to the vault.

: I just killed a dozen raiders. You sure you want to be in my way?

Wait, really? That worked? Huh.

Nothing here save for an elevator.

Big place.

There's also a strongbox containing the Extract of Amaranthus, but we don't want it. I'll explain in a moment.

Bor-ring!

We've been on the other side of this door -- the portal in the well led there. It's where we found the sarcophagus that increased our stats.

If we leave at this point, the Elder confronts us and kicks us out of the village, even if we don't take anything. If we took the Extract, we'd be forced to either hand it over or kill all the villagers. Giving the Extract to the healer rewards us with the Regeneration Potion, which gives us +1 hp per turn in combat, but we permanently lose 5 hp. Essentially, it's like the Power Armor's hidden fourth mode, but worse, so forget it. Let's reload a save and get out of here.

: I've been to that village.

: The man lied. There are no vats or elixirs there.

That's our good deed for the day.

Enough faffing around.

: I'm ready to accompany you to Al-Akia, brother.

Don't do that!

: These loremasters need full access to the site. You and your men are to stand guard while we explore the complex.

: Do you see any engineers here? You know why? They won't arrive until the loremasters report back. So the sooner we start, the sooner you get to go home.

By the way, the only way you'll see the inside of Al-Akia is if you team up with Meru.

Time to find the ritual chamber. But first, let's chat.

: Are you really going to sacrifice yourself?

Meru's intentions seem good, but there is that proverb about the road to Hell.

Thanks, Antidas. Fucker.

Oh boy, a bunch of tanks and esoteric machines.

I don't think so.

There are several places where we can go downstairs, but most are dead ends. There's a door across from the entrance that leads to where we want to go.

Looks like the living quarters.

These are Abu Hassan's notes. He certainly was arrogant.

"Won" being a relative term.

I think we can assume it's safe.

Hang on -- the legends say Abu Hassan crafted something that would allow him to visit other planes. Could this be it?

The game didn't show this, but this whole complex is housed inside a pyramid buried in sand.

Abu Hassan was not a popular guy.

Too bad we don't find out his reaction to the Gods breaking free and annihilating everything.

To proceed, we need to use the staircase near the glass columns.

Soundtrack: The Ritual

The music changes to something more sinister.

A Lore of 9 is necessary to perform the ritual. Sabotaging it is probably the smart thing to do, but I want to see what happens.

jesus tapdancing christ

Meru?

oh fuck no

Spoilers: it's Balzaar. You know, Chief of the Demons, the one crippled by Abu Hassan?

um...

Soundtrack: Combat III

Balzaar/Fake Meru is actually a pushover. After all, he's just been transferred into a new body and is still weak. If he was at full power... well, try not to think about it.