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Update 9: Yabon to Tyr-Sog.

"You bastard."

We've finished the Mac Mordain Cadall sidequest and have explored the caverns as far as we are permitted to do so in Chapter 1.

The one remaining sidequest originating from LaMut is to discover where Malaka's ruby has gone to. To that end, we are traveling north to Yabon, and then heading due east to Tyr-Sog. We can then take the pass south from there and hit Loriel.



First we backtrack. This is where we started the game, and Haseth's body is just up on the path.



A very quick walk to the east brings us to Yabon.



This would make more sense if we went to Yabon first thing. As it is, it's been at least two weeks if not longer given how many times I've had to have the party rest in order to recover their health and stamina.

"We may need supplies..."

"There's a shop here called the Crossroads where we might be able to pick up a few things. Otherwise we should be cautious."



Downtown Yabon. Bustling with life and activity.

This is typical of most of the small cities that you encounter in the game. If you are playing along, you'll learn to recognize the differences between different kinds of buildings.

For example, the brown building to the left usually indicates (but not always) that it is a merchant's shop.



Not all of the buildings will let you interact with them in some special way. Sometimes people just aren't home or don't answer their doors. In other instances you'll get some dialogue or text from having spoken with whoever is inside. There isn't really a way to tell what you might encounter so I generally just knock on all the doors.



One of the buildings in Yabon has this special dialogue from Owyn. Unfortunately, we can't ignore him and talk to his Aunt anyway.



"... there, it's all yours. I'm very tired, if you'll excuse me I'd like to go to sleep now."



We break into the building in question and retrieve a set of Kingdom Armor.Would have been useful much earlier, but we can sell it for a few gold at the nearby shop, so I'm not objecting.



Fletcher's Post in LaMut was disappointing, I'm sure that The Crossroads won't have anything better to offer. After all, they are like three feet away from our starting location.





Wow. Just wow.

Plenty of sword porn for Locklear and Gorath to lust over. Sadly the Greatsword and the Keshian Tapir are out of our price range for now.

What I do pick up is an armorer's hammer and some whetstones so I can finally start to repair our equipment instead of having to swap out armor with dead enemies after every battle.



Our business in Yabon is over and we continue east along the path. I take this side path at this junction because I spot what might be another shop just ahead.





Alas, it is not. We hear some disturbing news instead.

"What did you find?"



Just north of the workshop is another wordlock chest.



"In all the world, none can compare, To this tiny weaver, his deadly cloth, So silky and fair."

T R L D R Y
C H A T E E
A P S E O R
S E I S T S

The contents aren't anything special, just another set of Kingdom Armor, a Shell and some lockpicks. I grab them all anyway though.

As we continue east towards Tyr-Sog, we run into combat with a few more Moredhel. One in a group of two, the other all by his lonesome. They are easily dispatched, and I take their supplies.

We take another sidepath, this one leading south.



A lonely house tucked away. It could be something, then it again, it could be nothing.

(but I'm bringing it up here, so obviously it's something)





I find it a bit strange that our scribe friend wants us to just find out what is in a box down in Hawk's Hollow. Especially since we are just going to take whatever is inside the box, but hey - if he is going to give us an informative book then why not? We'll hit Hawk's Hollow anyway after doing our loop back up towards LaMut.



That's odd. A body lying on the ground of somebody we didn't kill. This guy also isn't wearing a blue cloak. Let's get a bit closer, and...



"It's a..."

"No, we are having none of that! Besides, I already beat you to it."





Our first trap! In the game they are mini puzzles that you have to navigate your characters through in order to 'pass' through the trap. Sometimes, like in this case, there will be enemies to face as well. The danger here is that the gentleman in the gold cloak is a Moredhel Magician, and he could very quickly ruin my day if I let him.

Yes - I could have the guys rush him, but I'm a bit suspicious of these goalposts, or whatever they are that have popped up out of the ground. Let's have Owyn a cast a spell that will force our Magician friend to come on over.



Poor bastard gets electrocuted by his own trap and falls to the ground.

"Invitation might seem at first glance a horrible spell, but it's a great way to keep enemy spellcasters close and unable to use their magic, as well prevent enemies from retreating. A good tactic is to draw them in close to where I am and then have Gorath and Locklear pounce on them."



With our enemy down, I have Gorath maneuver his way through the trap, being sure not to enter between the red posts or the green posts. I only have to have him pass through safely to end the encounter.



The spellcaster had this brooch on him as well. The quality isn't great, but it's worth holding onto items like these to sell at shops as you'll get a good 20 - 40 gold for them, sometimes much more if the quality is near 100%.

We continue to push east.



Another lone house! This one overlooks a cornfield, so perhaps we'll find a friendly farmer.



Another hint that somebody has been doing something suspicious 'round these parts. He is probably talking about the workshop that we encountered earlier



Crossing the bridge will take us straight into Tyr-Sog. We'll be doing that next time though.



Next time we'll check out Tyr-Sog, find a few more wordlock chests, and hey, Owyn might even learn a new spell!



We'll also encounter a new kind of enemy that you can find in graveyards and finally confront that Kiefer Sutherland or whatever his name is in Loriel.

That's it for this post. See you in Update 10: Whereupon the validity of the plan to knock on every door is questioned