Enderal: Top of the List

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The search for Tara leads past a pus beetle hive to an Arp filled ruin where it becomes evident that Tara and her cultist buddies all killed themselves - probably part of the same group that I previously found at their island resort. Esme is obviously unhappy with the find.

The desert knights don't like being disturbed.

As she wants to be left alone I warp back to Ark and find every single guard hostile to me as I am now Ark's most wanted! Fortunately they don't give chase into the Undercity where the few remaining Rhalata, now led by the First Seer, grant me protection for my previous service - even from "Crocco" the previous most wanted man in Ark who had come to take back his "crown". A single Rhalata literally obliterates him and his crew.

For this I decide to help them out by killing the Blind Miner. It turns out he is one of a handful of legendary creatures that have books written about them. The lore for him indicates that a particular totem weakens him so I craft one and find it is super effective. Without his invincibility, he's just another lost one. His one handed axe is a magnificent bonus as it is one of the best weapons I've seen.

Insight: As I found out in this session - it pays to read books!

Enderal: Winning until you Lose

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Before we can start the ambush, the Father reveals he knew about Tharael's plan all along. Furthermore, those children he took from the orphanage were all dying of disease and he tried save them the only way he knew how: transcending them into simulacarums. In fact, his own body guard was once Tharael's best friend and Tharael himself is in a false body.

Unable to process this, Tharael beheads the body guard and begins to fight the Father (who I'm pretty sure is a dragon in a mannequin). I stick to the plan and partake in the epic fight, sniping the Father and his summons while Tharael holds his aggro.

It is a long though simple battle for a well placed sniper, and we take the Father down... until we don't. He literally gets up and defeats us with his voice. The last thing I remember is him leading his chosen Rhalata to the ascension chamber, stating that us merely "existing" is punishment enough.

When I awake properly, there is a gaping hole where the ascension chamber once was. Tharael, standing at the edge says he saw it go in a bright flash of light. He doesn't know if the process worked or if the temple simply killed them all. What he does know is that he doesn't deserve to live and commits suicide by gravity... stepping off the cliff.

It was all for naught.

Insight: When the Father summons illusions one will always be beside Tharael, and the second one beside YOU so look out!

Enderal: Temple of Abomination

[Part of the Cursed story line]

It isn't long before the Father summons me, having heard good things from the First Seer. There in his lab he describes the Rhalata belief that one must transcend their own body. He even has simulacarums (fake bodies) that he had tried for years to ascend to but the process is flawed.

To this end he is assembling an expedition to an ancient temple from a past civilization that already achieved this, and wants me as one of the mercs on the tip of the spear. I accept and we ship out post-haste. I am grouped with Tharael and a female sell sword named Zar'ah to be one of the many squads exploring the temple.

Tharael watches the giant rise.

Horrid abominations are fought within, including one tower sized one, and Tharael executes Zar'ah as a sacrifice to get one door open to reach the ritual ante-chamber. As planned, he then summons the Father and his bodyguard - sealing the gate behind them. The time for murder is now!

Insight: The towering abomination moves FAST. I barely had enough time to shoot him down from the very edge of the room.

Enderal: Kidnappers

[Part of the Cursed story line]

As the graduation ceremony will take time to prepare I head on back to Arkham and find card-shark Esme in the district, and give her the log book from the Morning Dew which indicates her girl, Tara, disembarked early to meet a noble in town. I help her snoop a bit in the absent noble's residence until she gets a new lead to follow.

Afterwards we part ways as Tharael makes contact and wants to take me to the Rhalata temple to meet the First Seer. Goes without saying they are a strange bunch, and the First Seer assigns me a test to kill a defector hiding among savages and return her heart.

This is pretty easy, and the defector herself asks for death as she suffers from prosopagnosia (can't see faces) so I oblige. This impresses the First Seer who says words of my deeds will reach The Father's ears. Just as planned. While that happens Tharael and I revisit his childhood orphanage deep in the Undercity which is now crawling with Lost Ones.

Prosopagnosia as depicted in Hannibal.

There he spills the beans on how the Father bought children, his friends, from the caretakers. Those children were never seen again.

Insight: Can't get by through archery alone anymore as the mob density just keeps going up. To this end I'm using a sword and shield when an enemy horde draws near. It also means I open by sniping the hardest hitters first - enemy mages and those carrying two handed weapons.

Enderal: Arena Upset

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Warping back to Ark from the starship, I make it just in time for my next arena match - this one against a giant undead brute, except he is immediately cut down by a Rhalata thug who challenges me instead. I beat him easily and he teleports us out upon surrender - introducing himself as Tharael.

The fight that didn't happen.

Having experienced my combat skill first hand he asks for my help in killing the leader of the Rhalata - "the Father". As he effectively ended my arena career (no one fights friends of Rhalata as win or lose they would die), I agree and start out by helping him shake down some lowlife in the Undercity for information. A lowlife he kills afterwards.

While he has to set a few cogs in motion before the next stage and because we are near the ruin of the Blind Miner, I opt to go exploring again - this time sneaking past the invulnerable Miner and clearing the rest of the massive ruin of Lost Ones as well as the hive of spiders at the very end.

Insight: I used the same solution for all the arena fights - run forward past the enemies and time stop, then jump up to the rocks on the left, which is a safe sniping spot.

Enderal: Arkham

[Part of the Cursed story line]

On the way back to Ark I run into a Golden Sickle caravan getting raided by some black clothed thieves who flee after a short skirmish. I initially thought they were Rhalata but apparently they belong to a different guild called the Petrified. Odd name.

The Golden Sickle guild master, Mael, is very impressed when he hears of my combat prowess and hires me on as a protector. The first job is to simply deliver a letter to a Dijaam, rival merchant representative who I find in the bath house. This simple task evolves into a dinner with the enchanting merchantess at the nearby tavern which goes well but is totally crashed by Lishari, now returned from her dig site, who has had too much to drink.

She works fast...

I must have too as on a whim, I decide to purchase a house in the Nobles District of Ark... which I call "Arkham" (couldn't resist).  The next morning Mael tasks me with reconstructing the trace poison used by the attackers of his caravan crew. Poison he believes was supplied by Dijaam. Argh. To clear my head I go win more arena fights.

Insight: Yes, you can name your house and you can manually decorate it too, though I am glad there's an auto furbish option that just costs a little more money to put it into a functional state.

Enderal: Bad Guys can't Jump

[Part of the Cursed story line]

As Ark is massive, I decide to explore its dark underbelly first where all the poor, sick and unwanted folk are. The city guards don't even patrol down here, leaving it up to the brutish enforcers of the Rhalata cult who happily extort beggars for money. Meh, I've seen worse.

They ignore me for the most part, and let me reach the deepest mine shafts beneath the city where I find some really tough bandits. Luckily there is a handy scaffolding I can jump to to snipe all of them down. Ah, jumping - the skill of heroes!

I suppose the Blind Miner classifies as a boss monster...

The mine shafts also lead to an ancient ruin filled with Lost Ones, but one in particular - "the Blind Miner" seems immune to everything I can throw at it so I'm forced to retreat back to the surface via teleport scroll as the elevator I used to come down has broken (as in bugged broken).

Insight: That elevator issue could have been a game ending bug. Make sure you have teleport scrolls handy - everyone seems to keep handing them to you anyway. Or look up the no clipping cheat so you can "fly" back up.