Thea: News of the World

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

While the expedition is out looting stashes and fighting "Spor" (large talking snakes), the village gets a lot of visitors during the Festival of the Goat. Some old guys called the Dziody come to the party and teach Cooper some folklore, and a trio of knights Ald Firstshot, Atheren, and Schulz Wenzel arrive - confirming the eclipse was more far reaching than initially thought.

A familiar dwarf also comes later on: Thorgrim, having escaped Riva himself after the judge Bosper Jarnug decided to execute anyone that helped or had connections to the team during their time there. Not only did he hang Stipen and Yann, he made an alliance with the pirates and slaughtered all members of the Guild. "Do you have any good news?" quipped Talarian, to which Thorgrim nodded. He had come across an abandoned gold mine on the way over. That lifts spirits somewhat.

Lastly, the village is visited by the demon Theodore. He is impressed with what they've managed to achieve and tasks the people to cure the land from the shadowy darkness that has befallen it. He provides a location to start the quest and once more vanishes, leaving Hermit's Lake to do the heavy lifting. That's just typical.

Obviously I can't do it: who else will sit on all these tree stumps!?

Riva: Screwed

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

Thanks to the late hour the team has a really easy time infiltrating the castle, avoiding guards and dealing with a handful of sleeping ones in a non-lethal fashion. Eventually they come across the torture chamber where they find one of the wizards they are meant to rescue strapped on the rack. Wolfy doesn't hesitate to lead the attack.

What sort of wizard gets captured anyway?

While the fight itself is easy, the problem comes after due to a read error/bad file. Story wise, I suppose this wizard is dead, so the party has no choice but to try find the others and sure enough there are locked doors present they don't have keys to. "Well someone must have them!" exclaimed Talarian, and so began the mass murdering of every living soul in the castle.

It's worked before! :P

Alas, against all logic - no one had the key(s) and as the dawn approached the team retreated back into the sewers with as much loot as they could carry from the treasure room and armory. Using the tunnel that lead beyond the walls they then escaped into the woods to try their fortune elsewhere, leaving Judge Bosper Jarnug's reputation of screwing his enemies intact and another victory under his belt.

Pity that Riva comes to a close on this game breaking bug, but I'm sure this is not the end of the story.

Riva: Moon River

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

Mama Cori had just teleported across via magic mirror into a strange room when Mandara ambushed the rest of the party, immediately knocking them out (no combat, guess they didn't stand a chance).  The Feylamia then came for Mama Cori, but since she had all the proper items equipped basically incinerated Mandara on the spot with her moon lantern.

Everyone else got beat up!

With the monster dead, Cori dragged the rest of her team back to the Guild HQ to recover. During the two days it takes to rest up, the Trademaster gives them information that other travelers - a party of mages - was arrested not long ago and taken to the castle for interrogation. Believing these mages to be potential allies, the team is sent out to rescue them.

Conveniently the Guild had found a secret, watery path from Mandara's chambers that leads into the castle walls. The only problem was there was a water dragon who made his home in that passage, and since that entire fight takes place on a raft it is left up to Cooper's archery to slay the beast while everyone else takes turns tanking.

That's a fat dragon.

The strategy pays off and soon the dragon (who is nowhere near as bad as Arkandor) is slain. With no time to waste they advance into the stairwell that leads them up into the castle.

Riva: Hunting the Fey

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

While the Guild HQ in the old sewers serves as a place to get bedding, food and has a small armory to store things, the team is not allowed to simply use it for free. The Trademaster tasks them with first eliminating their greatest threat in the sewers: Mandara.

Apparently sucking people dry made her prettier?

As it happens, her lair was recently discovered nearby so the party makes their way over there. A set of grates blocks the initial entry so Talarian is left to hold the lever while the rest of the party advances. They only get a few paces in when they hear Talarian scream. Wolfy's ears twitch as she ...

Oh my!

Fortunately he's ok: Mandara just decided to kiss him. That's what he says while pulling up his pants awkwardly. :P

Anyway, Mandara likes messing with the party without actually attacking as they delve deeper into her home, which clearly was the base of whomever hunted her before since there are details on how exactly to kill a Feylamia. It's pretty much like a vampire, except she only feeds on elves.

Oh, and she has a weakness to moon light which begs the question: why is there a moon shard and a moon lantern found in her abode? And why does she attack at night? Stupid monster. There are other interesting decorations here too, like a portrait of a woman trying to "get out" of a painting with monstrous shapes behind her and mirrors that teleport people around when touched.

It is in one of those mirrors that Mandara attacks.

Riva: Accused

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

After curing Braxwolf of the numb skull illness he caught during the sea voyage, the party is apprehended by a number of guards and taken to the castle where they are charged by Judge Bosper Jarnug for the murder of Malnodir Elin! The sole witness is Gorm the grocer, who Wolfy tortured previously. Fortunately Gorm's testimony is so bogus, Bosper is forced to let the party go free.

Hey maybe he's a fair judge after all...

They take this time to purchase the gear they had to ditch in the sea, and to visit Thorgrim who again is just in his house (with his axe) and offers to rejoin the team. When Braxwolf asked how he escaped the pirate ambush, the dwarf simply replied "Coz I smelled a trap, you idjits!"

Thorgrim doesn't stay long though, because the very next day Tarik finds the party and warns them they are now wanted for the murder of Gorm the grocer! Thorgrim, being the awesome ally who the party literally saved from death, obviously stands by them through thick and thin.

Or not.

With the ungrateful dwarf gone, Tarik advises the party to go to the new Guild HQ in the deeper sewers because the guards won't be so inclined to let them go this time. With not much other choice the party retreats into the cesspool beneath the streets.

Riva: Ocean Interlude

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

It is dusk when the party enters the tavern to meet with Malnodir Elin, the potential witness against  the evil judge. As soon as they enter they are knocked out and wake up bound and without any inventory items. This seems to happen a lot in this series. Also of note: Thorgrim is missing! There's no time to ponder on his fate though as the captors make their entry: pirates!

Again? Really?

Apparently the team is now on board a ship and are being offered the chance to join the pirate crew (or die). Nice that these guys have a similar recruiting methodology with the Guild, proving both factions are moronic and should be eliminated. Anyway, the idiots leave the team alone to decide - giving them time to free themselves, break out of the bildge and explore the vessel.

A young kid named Yann joins the team early in the escape, claiming to have had enough of the pirates abuse. His knowledge of where things are proves valuable in collecting the party's missing gear, avoiding combat, navigating towards the stern, and escaping via rowboat.

That last part involved jumping into the sea though, and there was a somewhat painful sequence of each member slowly drowning while you decide what gear to discard. Retain too much weight and its insta-death time. Lots of plate armor was lost at this point, but at least the party survived and rowed back to the safety of Riva. Upon docking, Yann gave his thanks and his farewells, running off to his new found freedom.

Riva: Law & Order SVU

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

During the celebration the Holberkians present the party with yet another quest hook: a young Holberkian girl who claims she was "gifted" to the orcs a few weeks ago by a local grocer named Gorm. Thanks to the recently bought town map in their possession it doesn't take long at all to find his shop at which point Wolfy Eyes goes all Jack Bauer on the Elf Grocer.

Violence is always the solution!

Gorm reveals he was just the delivery method and that the actual "deal maker" was local judge Bosper Jarnug. While the judge outright denies this, the team does find out some dirt on the guy from local go-to info guy Tarik.

Apparently Bosper likes convicting innocent people (regardless of gender) who he fancies so that he can sleep with them. More interestingly is that he was very sick a while back to the point of being near death but somehow recovered despite all the healers claiming he was a goner.

Tarik says he will help the team by scheduling a meeting with Malnodir Elin, Bosper's ex who might have useful info against him. As an aside, Tarik also mentions that the "ghost" of the local watch tower is just a prank by "the guild" to keep people away from their headquarters. The party checks it out regardless and finds it to be pretty convincing!

At least she didn't mess her pants...

Riva: Artful Device

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

After drinking a lot of health pots the party ventures deeper on the fourth floor until they find a strange chamber with a mosaic. A troll attacks them here but upon defeating it, it changes form into that of an elf. Wolfy recognizes him to be the scum they helped free from the orc fort long ago!

Lord of Ants and Rats...? :P

This encounter is actually pretty cool, because it's basically a "solve the mosaic" puzzle but with a timer, and after every [x] amount of time the shape shifter attacks using a different form. Too bad for him, his elf lord and knight shapes were easily handled. Solving the picture somehow kills him for good, and activates a strange sarcophagus at the mosaic's base.

I like switchy tile puzzles!

With no other dead character in the line up, they decide to throw Thorgrim in and lo and behold - he comes back to life! Sort of. Apparently he's still petrified? Having at last, finished with the tower the team heads back to Riva to report the good news and to celebrate! Oh, and to unpetrify Thorgrim fully thanks to the healer - this costs a fair bit of ducats. The Holberkian's literally throw a feast in their honor for saving their dogs who somehow made it back on their own across the river... Awesome.

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.