Toggle Background Color
Update 5: Look but don't touch(or alternatively: 
)
"The title of this update doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."
There was only one vote for going for the chest, but I decided to go get it anyway (since it isn't really a sidequest) If you are in a safe area (that is, one that you've already cleared of enemies) a good way to look for treasure off the road is to go into your map mode like this so as to get a sense of your surroundings. Areas behind hills, such as where we are right now are usually places to find chests or other containers giving out treasure.
Of course, that doesn't always happen. There is a spell and in later chapters, an item, that helps with looking for treasure chests and the like off the road though.
Going from map mode back to the main screen, I see that there is indeed a treasure chest in this area. The game is being a little nice here by having it exposed with no trees or brush in the way. This will change as we continue to progress in the game.
Moredhel Wordlock chests will automatically take you to the puzzle, whereas every other normal chest that you haven't already opened, will give you the option to attempt to open it.
"Huh, well I don't see why wouldn't we open it immediately."
"Perhaps the reason for not opening chests you come across right away will be demonstrated later on?"
"Woah. I just had this sudden sense of foreshadowing. I'm sure it's nothing though."
In this instance, we are taken to the lock-picking screen, which for the most part is self-explanatory.
To the left is the type of lock that you have, and to the right will be the number of lockpicks that you have on hand as well as any keys that you've picked up.
Certain keys will fit certain locks. Typically, the lock that we have here is called a 'Peasant's lock' which our key here would open without issue.
Sometimes it just doesn't work though. That's okay because we also have some lockpicks, and Locklear knows a thing or two about picking locks.
He's also a bit smug about his ability as well.
Anyhow - we've opened the treasure chest that Squire Phillip mentioned, I'm sure there will tons of fantastic supplies inside. It'll be a veritable Christmas!
Oh.
Or not.
The armor is standard, and unless somebody has a lower condition armor then that, it'll just be sold off in LaMut for a few coins. The shell falls into the category of 'Gems' in this game. It doesn't serve any particular purpose in combat or adventuring, but pretty much exists for the purpose of selling in shops. What sucks is that shells give you probably a sovereign at best.
I mentioned before that Locklear could open the chest because he had talent in lockpicking. The reason that I know this is because by right clicking on your character portraits, you can open up screens for them individually that shows off not only their current health, stamina and status, but also just how talented they are at various skills.
We can also get a general comparison between characters here. Gorath for example is a killing-machine, but he is kind of hopeless when it comes to playing a lute or picking a lock. Still, we could train up those stats if we wanted to.
How do you train a stat? We already know of one way in that you can pay certain individuals like to help boost a stat. Training with Sumani would go a long way towards increasing each of the character's combat ability. The other way to do it is to select which stats you want your character to focus on.
See how some of the sword's bubbles are red now instead of blue? That's because I've actively selected them, and so as we go along in the adventure, Locklear's stats on those will (supposedly) increase, albeit slowly.
Training stats really comes into play in battle. If you go along and fight enough people, your active characters will continue to get better at fighting (and in Owyn's case, better at casting magic). It is entirely possible to spend a good deal of time in Chapter 1 exploring the map, fighting and getting enough gold to make our heroes into ubermensch, but I find that puts off game balance a bit in later chapters.
I can also use the character status screen to check on what spells Owyn knows. The list is pathetically small and not terribly useful at this point.
Heading back towards LaMut, I find a scenic graveyard just outside of town.
Aw... she sounds she was a lovely person in life.
So let's dig her up! 
Guess we need to obtain a shovel first before we can do some proper graverobbing. 
"Why would we do this? Who digs up bodies to look for treasure?"
"This is an adventure game, Owyn. We will search every little thing possible, and knock on every single door along the way."
"But..."
"Every. Single. Door."
We continue to head south of LaMut towards the mines.
They are off on the small blue path just ahead, but the game is also giving us another treasure chest to open.
Thanks game! 
I'm not going to show every chest I encounter, but I will use this one to show off the armor and weapon descriptions and modifiers.
Apart from the flavor text here, there is some very important information.
First, we learn that this is repairable. That is good. we want to have high quality armor. The second is the 'more info' button.
Which gives us a bit more information. The modifier is just a mere 15%, which won't absorb much damage. There are no resistances active on the armor at the moment, though later there will be items that we can apply to armor (and to our weapons) which will either give them resistances to certain effects, or in the case of our weapons, allow them to inflict a certain kind of damage.
The racial modifier indicates what race the armor is designed for. In this instance, there is (apparently) a benefit for humans wearing the Kingdom Armor, but in my opinion, this matters very little as armor designed for say, a Dwarf or an Elf will work just as well on our characters and will always be better then the standard Kingdom Armor that we have here.
Let's also examine our standard broadsword.
What's worth noting here is the modifiers that the sword has in combat. With a broadsword equipped, we have a +10 to our accuracy in combat when thrusting with the sword. We have a -5 accuracy when swinging it, but if we do connect with a swing, then we get a +7 bonus to our strength (more strength meaning more damage inflicted).
"assistance to us, assuming they don't take exception to Gorath here. Do we investigate or not?"
Yes
No
Oh god, we're blind! The torches on the wall are useless!
Whenever you are in a dark place, you'll be forced to have some kind of light source, otherwise you'll be flailing around in the dark. While you can do that for a bit in the main screen, it's near impossible to see where you are going in the overhead map screen.I'm pretty sure this doesn't effect your statistics in combat, but I could be wrong.
I had Owyn light a torch, which brought the light back to normal here.
If I didn't have a torch for whatever reason, I could have always had Owyn cast this spell as well. I'd much rather use a torch then use up any of Owyn's precious health and stamina though.
Time to explore! We've got a Brak to hunt down and kill! 
""Bah! I thought I 'ad a Braak Noor.""
"Beastie?"
"Beastie, aye! 'alf a week ago we 'eard something fierce a'bayin' in the mine, terrible cold like. Of course a dwarf knows the sound instant whether he's heard it before or not - Brak Nurr. Curse of every hole delver since first dwarves took up hammers."
"I've never heard of them."
"No one has in quite a while, laddie. There 'asn't been a Brak Nurr in the upper mines for well on since Delong the Great laid claim to the Kingdom of the Isles. We thought we'd laid low the lot o' them but the kobolds are stirring them up on their quest."
"Kobolds?"
"Your folk call them gnomes. They used to worship a dragon what lived down here, but when the dragon disappeared, they thought the dwarven folk 'id him away. Every now and again their leader Feydhir takes a notion to undertake a holy quest to find him. This time they must've woke up a clutch of Brak Nurr. Now the Nurr have collapsed the main passage an' kilt thirty of our kin. We've a reward to whomever can do it in - if you're of a mind and 'ave the spirit that is."
Topic: Brak Nurr
"I'm not saying we're interested in killing your Brak Nurr, but if we were looking for it, what would it be like?"
"'alf again your height, and a'made of stone, like living rock they are. From out their nostrils they breath a green mist but I'd be wary of getting too close to look, for they'll drop a boulder on your head sure enow. We've already 'ad a few bravos what's come in to try a hand at killing the beastie, but there's not much they've been able to do themselves beyond get themselves so mangled they needed the help of a temple. I'd be as wary of them though as I would be of the beastie. They, none of them, want else but then to claim the gold that we've offered to the creature's slayer."
Topic: Temples
"The way things have been going for us recently, perhaps we would do well to seek a little help at the temples as well. Where are the closest ones?"
"We dwarves don' much dawdle outside o' The Grey Towers or Stone Mountain, but as I ken, there's a Temple of Killian betwixt Zun and Hawk's Hollow. I think there also might be a Temple of Ishap here close, but I can't recall exact where that would be."
Topic: Armor Repair
"The barkeeper at the Blue Wheel Inn at LaMut suggested you might be able to repair our armor."
"If we weren't digging ourselves out o' this pretty mess, aye, we could do something for ya, but we're all tied up to a man. Pardon my saying so, but we've problems a bit more pressing than dealing with dented armor. You might a try a hermit what lives near 'awk's 'ollow. He's gained something of a reputation for himself over the past few years."
Topic: Swords
"If you can't repair our armor, do you at least think you could do something about our swords? I hate to be difficult, but we're really in a crucial situation."
"Are you deef, laddie? I told you 'afore we 'aven't the time to go repairing things at the moment. We're in a crucial situation ourselves if you 'aven't noticed!"
"We would be willing to pay you."
"I'm sure ya would, just as sure as I know the dwarves below would be willing to pay to get out from under the rock! It's a question of time, time! Bah! Look, if I show ya a trick to sharpening your swards, will ya promise not ta be bothering anybody else in the mine? I think I can turn a 'andful of sovereigns to advantage in LaMut and 'ire a few strong backs."
"You have my word of honor."
"That shall 'ave to do. I'll teach ya quick a little about weaponcrafting, but I'll expect a fee of 50 sovereigns for my trooble. Do we have a deal?"
I can just barely afford this. Probably better things to spend my money on, but...
Yes
No
"You'll have the gold before we leave. Now, let's see this trick of yours."
"Watch what I do and carefully. I don't want ta be repeating meself more often than necessary. First off, ya'll want ta have a wheetstone 'andy. Without it, my trick 'ill be as useless as knees on a fish. The most important thing ta keep in mind is the angle at which ya draw the blade 'cross the stone... It's like this."
"That's interesting... You sharpen the blade so the metal's edge has contrary planes. Opposite sides, opposite directions in the grain. Should make for an interesting cut."
"It'll make for a cut that yar opponent won't quick forget. The weaponcrafting lesson's over, lad. We've both got more important things to get to."
Bye!
"Thank you for your time, Naddur. I hope you can get things straightened out down here."
"We'll be fine, soon as we're through some o' this rock and the Brak Nurr is laid low. Ya canna keep us down."
"I didn't think so. Perhaps we'll meet again."
These are the best pop-ups to see.
The areas highlighted in red show in the increase. Locklear's weaponcraft has gone up 10 points, from 45 to 55%, so that isn't really that bad of a deal. It'll be an even better deal once we actually have a way to sharpen our swords.
Unlike the wide open maps outside, when you are in caves or mines, you need to explore and map the place out yourself. The mine has various twists and turns.
Some lead to dead ends.
Others lead to doors. Not all of them will be locked, but this one is.
It is also a new lock. If Locklear was better at picking locks we might be able to get this one open.
He isn't though, so we'll have to leave this door for now and hope we find a key that might fit the lock later on.
Walking a bit ahead, I decide to nap for a bit and receive this message.This is the game's way of telling you that enemies are nearby, which won't allow you to rest.
This can be a pain in the ass in later chapters, as you will want and need to rest to regain your abilities, and because enemies are everywhere you can't.
Walking out of the narrow hallway into this opening, we come across a new kind of enemy, a rogue!
Another failed ambush.
The enemy gets the first opportunity to move in this combat, and he bum-rushes Owyn, which is pretty smart for the AI to do, as his being near Owyn will prevent him from being able to cast spells.
However, I employ the tactic of everybody dogpile Owyn's attacker to take him out quickly.
He goes down like a sack of beans.
With that one down, Owyn can blind the other guy, which allows Gorath and Locklear time to easily mop him up.
Searching their bodies, we find a new type of sword!
It's not that great of a weapon though. For now, it goes on Gorath. His accuracy swinging might not be that great, but when he hits, it is going to bring a world of pain.
Another downside of this sword is that many Kingdom shops won't purchase your spares, so it'll just take up space unless you can find a shop that only deals in weapons.
Let's push past the dead bodies into the large chamber they were guarding.
Ohh! Another treasure chest!
Yes
No
"Thought I was a goner there... Hey, Owyn. You okay?"
Whenever a character either falls in battle, or gets exploded by a chest such as this, they get a status called "Near-Death" at 100% which is horrible because it takes forever to go away. It also makes the character worthless in battle and with just about every other stat. Of course, if they can't take another hit in battle, then as soon as they fall they are near-death again, and you go nowhere.
This is frustrating though, especially to new players, but it's a good lesson in utilizing one of Owyn's spells which allows you to detect trapped chests.
The spell apparently gives Owyn the ability to have a nifty vision of the asshole who trapped the chest in the first place. Well, at least we know it is trapped now and we have the opportunity to deactivate it. Well done game, you taught me a lesson about always checking to see whether traps are on a chest before you open...
...it.sonofabitch!
Status: Owyn is coughing up blood and praying to the Gods for mercy, and Locklear and Gorath are suffering from third degree burns. Let's get the hell out of here and rest up before coming back to tackle the rest of the mines.We might as well see what was in the chest that blew up though.
That's enough money to recoop what we spent on learning how to sharpen swords.
Woo! A shovel that we can use to bury Owyn once he dies.
I always thought this was a pretty cruel joke for the game programmers to play. "Here, you've opened a chest and nearly died. Have a shovel! You're almost dead anyway"
Safely outside the mine, we park outside by LaMut and go to rest.
After two days, Locklear and Gorath's wounds have subsided, but Owyn is still knocking on death's door.
I can apply some of his herbal pack to help with the wounds.
The herbal pack gives a status called "healing". It was at 100% but after sleeping one day, it's down to 37%. Not so good.
Fortunately, we have another option available to us, and that is to grab the restoratives that Locklear and Gorath have.
It heals a little bit at at time with each drink, but it does the job and gets Owyn back to health.
Not perfect, but we can rest outside as long as possible and then head into LaMut to get back to perfect health.
We heal up, and because we are now running low on rations, I have Owyn haggle a bit to see about getting a discount.
I guess setting blown to hell makes Owyn much more persuasive and charming.
