Riva: Round Two

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

While in town to buy missile weapons (after fleeing from the tower) the team recruit the barbarianess Mama Cori and warrior Talarian Design to fill out the roster, dropping what's left of Allison and Dalian with the Temple of Ben Kingsley. Since no replacement for Thorgrim (NPC party slot only) is found, his corpse continues to be dragged around which is kinda strange in that it helps carry things.

Anyway, now armed properly the team returns to the tower and with Mama Cori acting as "winch person" (staying behind to operate the lift: the politically correct verion) they return to the slab that blocked their return on level 2 which happens to be easily openable from the entry side. It simply closes again when the party passes through - trapping them again. If that was designed to piss people off, it's doing a good job.

They find the gnoll making mage and his new gnolls right where they left him. This time everyone focuses fire on him first, and Cooper manages to land an arrow right into the mage's face: killing him instantly. The rest of his creations are easily dealt with afterwards, and it turns out they were guarding the next stairs up.

You look familiar...

There on level four, a familiar wizard awaited. Toranor!? AGAIN? This time he also summoned ghouls to the fight, and cast terror spells which sent all the party fleeing. All but Cooper, who got knocked out by ghouls (continuing his running gag with them), and Talarian who ended up soloing the entire encounter and with 4 hit points left - somehow won! Not bad for a first day on the job.

Riva: Oh Gnolls!

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

The elevator is manually operated so Cooper Mantly stays behind as the "winch man" while the rest of the party advances to next floor, which is inhabited by undead of all sorts. Predominantly skeletons with various gems socketed in their eyes that are then used to open puzzle doors.

Hi!

Around half-way through a heavy slab falls behind the team, blocking any option of escape so they simply push through the undead, finding stairs up to level three which features really long and empty corridors, for good reason too. Half of them are illusions!

Saving throw: success!

Finally the party finds a laboratory where another wizard is assembling... gnolls? So that's what the dogs were for. Without hesitation the team enters combat against the dog-men and the magician, with Dalian charging straight for the spell caster only to make a horrible discovery.

Dog men sure look like gnolls to me.

The heptagram the mage is standing in shields him from all melee. Also, he's not so much a mage - he's a TURRET with unending magic! In just three rounds Dalian gets blown into pieces and the rest of the team, without a single ranged weapon or ability, are forced to retreat.

Badly injured and ill equipped for this fight, there is no option but to return to town - using the only exits available from the tower: they jump out the illusionary halls and land painfully back in the garden.

Riva: Toranor

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

Pushing on into the wizard's garden, the party encounter (and kills) the steward whose sole purpose seemed to reveal his master's name: Toranor. After harvesting all of Toranor's herbs it's time to enter the main tower itself and the party hits a roadblock in the form of a double locked door!

I hate being defeated by doors...

There's no recourse but to back track all the way to the city to purchase more lockpicks, and they get the local healer to cure Allison of rabies while they are at it. Upon their return they finally open the door and in the very first room run into... Toranor!?

The wizard isn't happy with the intruders and puts up a massive fight, turning both Allison and Thorgrim into statues while badly wounding the rest of the team. Finally, Darth Targetter manages to kill him - just like Vader vs Kenobi, only with less light sabers.

The rest of the floor is only inhabited by a small crew of rogues who are easily beaten, and is packed with various supplies. It doesn't take the party long to find an elevator up though.

Riva: Dog Gone

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

While on the way to the inn the party comes across an angry mob mistreating a Holberkian (half-orc). That seems to be the racist segregation here where as in Star Trail, people didn't like elves. Thinking on her feet, Allison comes up with a good diversion to save the poor sod named Ordo.

She then sends the mob after her make-believe "orc attackers"...

Upon escorting him back home safely, they are rewarded with a quest hook: a nearby wizard has been abducting pet dogs to use in nefarious experiments in his tower. Not sure how he knows this, other than the wizard flat out telling him, laughing manically and then teleporting away.

It's still a more solid lead than anything they have with the recent murders so it's an easy choice to go after the wizard first. After a quick boat trip across the flooded river they reach the swamp where the wizard is said to live. Allison's high tracking skill helps pin point the path to his tower though it still leads them through swarms of giant EXP draining mosquitoes and mobs of swamp rantzys!

Not these rabid gorillas again!

Fortunately the team has no issues dealing with the green monkeys this time around, and eventually come to the wizard's small fortress, the main door to which is unopenable. Fortunately, there's a rotting wooden door at the back that provides entry to the kennels, and the party immediately sets all the captured dogs free. A few feral ones needed to be put down though, and one of those manages to bite Allison.

Riva: Level 0 Gumshoes

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

The next day the party is back on the streets where they learn there have been more murders in town. What better way to start an investigation by getting the lead investigator back? Yep, they find the dwarf Thorgrim (and his axe) back at his home - waiting like an excited puppy to be let back out and go adventuring so he rejoins the team.

Let's solve some crimes!

They don't get far before they get their first guild assignment though: one delivered by the local informant Tarik. They are to conduct a stake out on a suspected pirate in town. Yep, the guild doesn't like pirates and vice versa being business competitors and all.

Talking directly with the mark gets nowhere so the team takes turns over the next few hours doing nothing but hiding behind a single tree to watch his home. Eventually in the early hours of the morning the guy makes his move, with the seven man party tailing him. LOL.

It's not seven for very long though as the less dexterous party members begin lagging behind in the darkness. Dalian falls off a pier, Darth and Thorgrim walk into a lamp post (possibly same one), Allison trips over into some garbage, Cooper walks into a wall and Braxwolf uses his boots of speed right into thorny bushes.

Fortunately Wolfy Eyes manages to keep up, finds the house the mark went into and then after reassembling the team - bust in to find a pirate meeting in progress. Needless to say all the pirates are killed and a list naming other pirate conspirators is hand delivered to Tarik's house right after.

Riva: Railroaded

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

Whoa!

After slaying a large wolf pack in the woods, the team found themselves back at the Riva marketplace to sell all the loot they had gathered from the mines, and to cure Allison's numb skull illness. While doing so, an agent of "the Guild" - saying their leader wanted a meeting in an abandoned warehouse at midnight. She also promised they wouldn't be killed.

"Well, surely with that guarantee we will be fine," announced Braxwolf Storm, so the party went to the meeting and promptly got hit by sleeping gas. Only when they awoke as bound captives did "the Trademaster", the leader of the guild, show up... and then he basically forces them to join, because there's no option given for doing anything else. Railroaded much?

Upon accepting they are each given a super secret wristband that lets guild members recognize each other. These are even color coded so you know what role/rank each member holds. Seriously? The guards in Riva must be stupid.

Armbands? You expect us to see that through our helmets!?

They do learn something useful though: that there are old sewers far beneath the city which are accessible from each temple (yep, all the priests have wristbands)! Unlike the regular sewers, the old sewers skewer with space/time and serve as a method of fast travel. Thank god they aren't annoying as the Old Sewers in Wizardry Online though.

Riva: Is this Moria (Level 2)?

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

The only way to get to the stairs down was through a booby trapped tunnel set to collapse but Allison's keen eye spots it right away and lets the team traverse it with no issues. A smaller number of orcs waits below, along with some undead dwarves and what appears to be Darth's worst nightmare.

High Arachnophobia. It's a thing.

Despite his panic all the combat here is pretty straight forward and soon the team has run of the entire level, taking time out to even play an axe throwing game which somehow, Allison wins. Meanwhile Dalian proves he should never use thrown weapons.

I dunno, throwing an axe into stone seems pretty cool...

Now there's a real problem they encounter here: the only path further into the mine is blocked... supposedly by deadly traps as suggested by a nearly dead orc in the junction nearby but in reality it is made impassable by a corrupted file! With not much else they can do, the party returns to the surface - satisfied they killed all the orcs present. Just for good measure they also intentionally trigger that cave in near the stairs to trap any survivors that made it deeper in.

Hopefully there's nothing too important they missed in there that will stop the game later on...

What the corrupted file looked like? :P

Riva: Is this Moria (Level 1)?

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

A large orc contingent has taken up residence in the mine, and one that meets the party almost immediately. Fortunately after the pretty tough entry encounter the rest of the place it pretty manageable to explore as the orcs must have sent most of their number to that initial battle. Interesting to note that unlike the previous two games, enemies don't seem to flee any more - which is great for loot and xp.

As for the previous dwarven inhabitants? Well...

They died.

One of the rooms happens to be a nursery, and while Dalian tries to play with a wooden horse, Darth searches each cot thoroughly to uncover all the secrets of the mine holds. Neither action turns out to be very wise.

Dalian killed the horse.

-5 Charisma. Ouch.

Riva: Stipen

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

After stripping the corpses of the drunkards and leaving the bodies to feed the vermin, the party comes across a wizarding academy in the woods along with one flustered student named Stipen who is seeking help to pass his final exams... which is technically cheating, but the party votes in favor anyway.

Assisting the hapless, level 1 wizard who quickly catches a cold from simply being outdoors turns out to be a simple treasure hunt type affair that helps explore the region which is bordered by the city to the West, a flooded river to the South, a forest to the North, and a mountain range to the East - which actually conceals the path to the nearby mine.

Stipen the coward refuses to go there though.

Near the end of the test, Stipen leads the team to some ridiculous boots with wings sticking out of a rockslide. Braxwolf tries to retrieve them but instead gets pulled into a small cave where he must duel the previous owner because... he's undead?

It's a tough fight too!

Ultimately, Braxwolf wins, collects the shoes (of speed) and returns Stipen to the university where he graduates. He does get a lot of magical gear for passing that test but the team decides the kid will need it more. Instead Stipen leaves them some potions and lets Braxwolf keep the dead man's shoes. With the coward gone the party decides to return to the mine that seems to have been broken into by force, if the smashed stone door at the entryway is any indication.

Riva: Not Responsible

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

Mandara doesn't stay with the team long, because the first thing she does is open a secret passage which leads them right into "the Guild", that nefarious crew that resides down here. In a most perplexing chain of events, the party is taken hostage briefly and then is immediately set free by a swarm of rats.

Someone's playing Dishonored down here.

Lost in the maze of tunnels (auto moving), Allison leads the party to a dead end where the Guild finally catches up to them, only to then have Mandara fully vampire out and begin feeding on the pursuers. With that entire mess going on the team flees to the surface, and by chance come up beside one of the giant town gates. Deciding it's probably best to let things settle down they exit to the nearby and generally pleasant country side of green rolling hills.

By chance they come across a group of eight Thorwallians who ask them for ale. Since the party isn't carrying any, they apologize and state the truth. The drunkards don't believe it though and choose to attack anyway. The last choice any of them will ever make.

Drink responsibly... OR DIE.

Riva: Suspiciously Familiar

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

Now is a good time to mention that while finally, every NPC has a unique face in Riva, there are quite a few, "familiar" ones lurking about.

Isey also pointed out that the elf king was David Bowie!

Anyway, after selling all that laboratory junk to Meg Ryan, the party is accosted by a woman in distress claiming her husband was murdered! She takes the team into her home and detective Thorgrim discovers that the elf victim had all his blood drained from his body, with two puncture marks on his neck. At the same time, Allison locates a secret passage behind a bookshelf leading into the sewers but before they can explore it the local guards come shortly after and kick the team out of their investigation.

That's ok though as there are many sewer entrances readily available from the street. The thought of going into an enclosed space frightens Thorgrim though, and he leaves the party. REALLY? A claustrophobic dwarf!? Anyway... In the very dark and smelly tunnels the team bumps into the local "rat catcher" who is herds a swarm of rats past them and further in they find an ugly looking critter that no doubt is a vampire, probably the same one that murdered the poor elf.

Wolfy doesn't agree with this line of thinking and instead befriends the creature, a woman named Mandara - inviting her to join the party.

Awkward.

Riva: Customer Service

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

At one of the local pubs the team learns that there's a fair bit going on in Riva: tales of a haunted watch tower, orcs occupying a nearby mine, a crazy wizard conducting experiments across the river and a shady organization called "the Guild" (thieves guild) that conducts business in the sewers where the local guards fear to tread. Ultimately the lead they first decide to tackle is much simpler: undead rising at the local graveyard.

It's all about customer service! :P

Upon entering the cemetery, detective Thorgrim immediately identifies a false grave - the very first one inspected, and with a little digging find a ladder down into the "tombs", which actually turns out to be a cozy underground house / laboratory. The undead are organized by type in pens and and are guarded by a golem each. Dutifully, the party destroys all of these vile creations easily though some do manage to get jump scares in.

What is it with Cooper and ghouls?

Whoever is running the show isn't home though, so Darth Targetter suggests they do the next best thing. They loot the place dry of any and all items, and set fire to the rest as a big F.U. to whoever was behind this mess. They speak to the grave-digger afterwards and he's not very helpful (bad at customer service remember?)  and Thorgrim begins suspecting him to be the mastermind. Unfortunately any proof they might have used against him has already gone up in smoke. 

Riva: Effing Elves

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

Turns out that stay at the elf village wasn't as relaxing as previously hoped, since the party awakens from their drunken stupor at the port city of Riva in much the same state they were in after slaying surviving the dragon Arkandor. Thanks for kicking us out without patching us up elf king! At least they still carry the small fortune in ducats they had earned. Also gone is the square by square movement, having been replaced with a more Daggerfall type feel.

So future. Wow.

The first order of business is to refit the team into adventuring shape, and that involves visiting the central market to buy new gear, resting up one entire week at an inn, and recruiting new members to fill the empty party slots including an adventure hungry dwarf NPC named Thorgrim (and his axe), as well as replacing Shintar's bones with Darth Targetter. His arrival prompts a most interesting message.

Start at level 6? Sure!

While this doesn't bother Wolfy Eyes who is currently level 8, nor the level 12 NPC Thorgrim, it doesn't bode well for the rest of the party: Cooper Mantly (level 5), Dalian Tanker, Braxwolf Storm and Allison Nexus (all level 4). This disparity is what happens when veterans get killed! :P

Star Trail: A Reward of Good Will

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

With the "stoned" dwarf in tow the team runs out the back exit of the dungeon and right to Elsurion Starlight, who whisks the team and the (stoned) dwarf Prince Ingramosh (since when was he a prince?) away on his boat! After tending to everyone's wounds and "thawing" the dwarven prince, the elf ambassador spends weeks in closed negotiations with the little fellow while the rest of the team relaxes at the elf village.

Victory... In a year or two, I guess?

For their heroic deeds the surviving party members: Braxwolf Storm, Allison Nexus, Dalian Tanker, Cooper Mantly (possibly still frothing at the mouth) and Wolfy Eyes (the only original member to survive the quest) get an audience with the legendary elf king.

It's a very "subtle" smile. Also, the words are really cut there. :P

Their reward is the King's protection and free travel across elven lands. Which pretty much is the same as "nothing" in the grand scheme of things. It's amazing that finding Grimring was actually a more profitable experience! Oh well. At least there is a celebration party for the alliance union - and so our heroes end this chapter the same way they began the quest. Getting absolutely drunk!

Star Trail: The Dragon

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

BBQ Breath!

Arkandor is not just a tough bastard, but a real bastard. Not only does he have a huge well of HP but he has a wide array of attacks, breath types and magic spells that plays havoc with the team. It also eats Allison's strongest spell - literally catching the blast with his mouth and chewing, receiving minimal damage (fully animated)! Still, each party member manages to reach the dragon and begin hacking away at the beast. Not surprisingly Cooper (who is still frothing at the mouth) is the first to go down after inhaling a large dose of poison breath.

Dalian gets knocked out a few rounds later from a tail swipe before Arkandor casts a spell that breaks Wolfy and Shintar's secondary weapons (the primary weapons having broken already on their own). It follows this up by charming both Braxwolf AND Allison to fight on his side, so not only do Wolfy and Shintar now have to punch the dragon - they have to do it while avoiding attacks from their own allies.

Fortunately with some clever maneuvering Braxwolf and Allison end up fighting each other in a stale mate: Braxwolf can't hit the nimble elf and Allison can't hurt the heavily armored knight with her staff. This leaves the two veterans to freely continue pummeling the dragon with their fists, until Arkandor decides to pick up Shintar and devour her. Good animation with this one too - complete with spitting bones out afterwards.

Finally, having used up all the tricks in the book, Wolfy lands a final uppercut that makes the dragon concede the fight.

Except for the one I ate! She was tasty!

Star Trail: Arkandor

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

That's a lot of cultists!

With no way to go but forward, Allison acts as the fake wall detector for the team as they fight even more ghouls and skeletons. There is also a large cultist presence at the end of the second level that the team smashes through before heading down to the deepest floor, which is strangely better lit than the one they just came from. There is also a strangely high tech, four digit combination lock on one wall that takes a little time to crack. Most annoyingly though, a wizard pops out of nowhere and AGAIN steals the Salamander Stone!

Erm, we -did- bring the stone to Lowangen...

This floor is host to numerous undead and a strange pillar puzzle where Braxwolf discovers the name "Arkandor", who must be the big shot of this dungeon. The team also runs into a Heshthot demon (long time no see!) which Wolfy and Allison put down with some effort. The terrible sense of dread becomes too much for Wolfy Eyes though and she considers leaving the party just like Korima did.

Fortunately Shintar talks her out of it.

After destroying more undead and slaying even more cultists the party reaches the final chamber where they find a dwarf who had been turned into stone as well as Lord Arkandor himself... who just happens to be a dragon!

Star Trail: The Devil You Know

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

With no weapons shop in town the party spends a few days getting their weapons repaired and purchasing some supplies from the local healer: a small batch of strength potions and a large amount of whirlweed (a HP restoring leaf). When they are finally all set they return to the vault where Wolfy, strengthened by a potion, is finally able to bust down those resilient doors. The statue they find behind one of the doors sends a shiver down Shintar's spine as she recognizes what cult they are dealing with here.

The Nameless God, not sleeping this time.

Apart from cultists and their trained war dogs there are also ghouls lurking the halls, which terrify Cooper Mantly.

I think Cooper needs to level a bit. :P

He should have been more worried about the tusk tigers in the much darker second "supply storage" level though. The tiger's chamber was right after a five section crossbow trap that badly injured the team and pretty much guaranteed no going back and forth from that point on. While the big cats were put down they did some damage of their own, and infected Cooper with a pretty bad malady.

Uh, I'm sure he'll be fine...

Star Trail: Home of Ingramosh

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

The healer at Tjolmar cured Dalian's disease easily, and as per tradition, the team celebrated at a local tavern (with brothel services) and learned that Ingramosh, the dwarf they were supposed to deliver the Salamander Stone to was actually a resident of the town! It takes a bit of sleuthing to discover the correct house but upon finding it Korima is overcome by a sense of dread and leaves the team there and then.

That was sudden.

Behind the door they find the competing adventure party who had been pursuing them! It's a bloody combat in close quarters but since the party is properly armed this time they manage to slay all the opponents, avenging those who had fallen before them. This is also the only house with an interior map, and Allison soon finds out why: a secret door leads into vaults beneath the town!

Apart from poisonous plants, cave spiders and a cave troll that Dalian provokes just for fun there are also strange cultists living down here. It doesn't take long before the team's progress is blocked by solid doors that cannot be unlocked magically or busted down but more importantly it doesn't look like the team can rest in this vile place. They decide to head back topside to rethink their strategy.

Star Trail: Drug Addicts

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

"High" priests? Either we're getting somewhere or these guys are stoned.

After many annoying hours of exploration and slaughter the team finally reaches what seems to be the main chamber where they run into three stooges: Hensger (far right), the robber who told them about Star Trail in the first place, and some dude with a red beard.

Definitely stoned.

Turns out the whole "find Star Trail" quest was a trick - an initiation for the robber guy to raise his rank in the order of Phex. Since there's an option to just leave at this point amicably, Shintar decides to take it, resulting in a non-combat conclusion to the whole affair and emerging outside the Temple of Phex in Tiefhusen. Gotta say that's a pretty stupid initiation though: the team literally just finished killing EVERY OTHER PRIEST in that place, just so one guy can get promoted. Phex is turning out to be the moron god of this land, and his followers are definitely drug addicts.

Worth noting that the team also left with a good deal of loot from there, most of it magical and one piece that was just strange...

What do you expect from this place? :P

After buying new weapons and selling the extras the party returned to the Tiefhusen healer who again proved his uselessness by being unable to cure Dalian of his disease. This time though, Wolfy also had no luck no matter what she tried. Not willing to lose yet another team mate Shintar decided to lead the team North to the next closest town, catching the river ferry to speed up travel time. Within a day they had reached Tjolmar.

Star Trail: Phex Dungeon

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

After resting up at the inns at Tiefhusen, the full team finds Hensger again and after paying him 20 ducats the shady man leads them into a dungeon in town and locks the entrance behind them! What a douche! With forward being the only valid option the team begins exploring the winding maze littered with secret doors that is the "Phex Dungeon" (according to the automap).

It also has the cover art from the first game on the walls.

The place is also inhabited by mummies, skeletons, skeleton warriors (tougher version) and priests that enjoy using blinding magic. It doesn't matter though as with the overly armed team steamrolls through everything the place throws at them, making use of the spare weapons they brought in as their primaries begin breaking. During one combat, Dalian contracts Battlefield fever though (I assume it means he thinks he's Rambo) - which makes all the back and forth mapping and puzzle solving a little time sensitive.

Memory mini game! :)

Good time to note that the combats are set and fixed, meaning after awhile the place really is emptied out yet still manages to be a frustrating exercise of navigating empty halls. An overwhelming despair finally hits some of the party.

You'd think this would happen more often!