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Update 11: Owyn deals out some fiery death of his own

Last time on Betrayal at Krondor, we ended up meeting a man who knowingly spread the plague to us. Why did he answer the door if he was covered in sores and stank of the grave?

In any case, our heroes are plagued. Which is not a good thing.



Everybody in the party gets plagued for 21%. I could knock on the door again, but I'd get the same exact message as if we had arrived for the first time, and as additional punishment, the plague meter would double for each of my characters, so let's not do that.

Plagued status sounds pretty bad, but in this fantasy world there are a variety of methods to cure it. At least, for our characters there is. Guys like Mr. the Pale can suck it.

We heard there was a healer in Loriel, so we hoof it back up there.



It isn't necessarily clear which house is hers, as there is no answer at the door if you aren't plagued, but knocking on this house here while we have the status opens up some interaction.



This is twenty five for the entire party.

YES
NO



"I get the distinct impression that we were just ripped off."

Yeah, it seems like this was a bit of a scam, just like we were warned about before. Let's reload and decline her services.



For diseased individuals, we sure are polite about not needing any help!



Just north of Loriel is a temple which I had missed before. Priests there can typically heal illnesses, so we'll stop in there and see about getting some healing for our party.





A subtle comment on limitations of the graphics at the time? Or perhaps in this world they really don't label anything, do they? Oh, Owyn







Our first temple is at Ishap's Temple. What do we know about Ishap?

Ishap is the Greater God of Balance, and supposedly the creator of all the Midkemian Gods. He is also called "The One Above All", "The Balancer", and "The Mytrix".

He died in the events of the Chaos Wars, though this is not known to the general public, except for high ranking priests of his Order and select members of the Conclave of Shadows. The followers of Ishap are an insular group and have strange beliefs. They are the oldest order known and are recognized as the senior church in questions pertaining to interdenominational differences.

The priests of Ishap, located on Rillanon, are instrumental in the choosing and ordaining of the King of the Isles.

The abbey of Sarth is maintained by the priests of Ishap, and is considered the largest library in the world.

We'll be seeing more of the Abbey of Sarth and its library later on, but for now let's continue to dick around in this particular temple.



All of the fires will always be cold. I'm not really sure what the point is.



This, on the other hand, is much more interesting and useful.









We are given some background on how we'll eventually be able to teleport from one temple to another in the game. However, in order to do so we are required to visit the other temples and examine their particular mandalas. Then, and only then, can we pay to instantly transport ourselves from one location to another.





Entering into the rear section of the temple gives us a variety of options to choose from. Let's talk first.







Conversations with the priests will vary from temple to temple. It seems most of the conversation with the priest here was handwaved away though.

We are plagued, so next we'll cure. First though, if you don't have any status aliments affecting you, you'll get this message when selecting cure.



Obviously there is something going on with us.



This might seem like it is less then going to Michele the Healer, but this is per character, so to have everybody cured here would cost a lot more then going to smell whatever it is she is offering and getting a pat on the head.



I pay for healing and then promptly step out and reload my game, to do the preferred method of dealing with the plague. sleeping it off



But before we tuck in for the night and suffer through fevers, chills and everything else the plague has to throw at us, let's inhale some of the herbs that Owyn is carrying along.





Goodnight boys!



How do you feel?



"I have a slight cough and I still have a rash, but otherwise I'm doing better."

"He's had that rash before we caught the plague though."



Herbs and sleep go a long way towards curing illnesses. We also could have had them quaff restoratives to get back their health and rid ourselves of the plague status, but why waste those on non-combat situations if I don't have to?



Having cured our party of the plague, I backtrack a little bit towards just west of Tyr-Sog because I missed out on two wordlock chests up there, both of which provide very nice treasure at this point in the game.





"Silently he stalks me, Running as I run, Creeping as I creep. Dressed in black, He disappears at night, Only to return with the sun."

R H N B F T
S L E D N W
A E A T O L
N I L O R K



"Is... is that a spell?"



"I don't know this one, I'm going to learn it right now."



That's how Owyn learns new spells. Eyes of Ishap isn't a bad spell, really. It's usefulness is just limited to the first few chapters as there is an item that has the same function later that has no spell cost.



It allows us to 'sense vessels', which will show generally chests, houses, dirt and other items in the immediate vicinity that we can investigate. We can also determine the strength of the spell.



Too low and you fail in your casting.



Go high enough and the spell works. The big red blob in front of us is the chest that we just opened.

Anyway, there was also a spynote in the chest as well.



Nothing special about the note though. Let's head over to the other wordlock chest I mentioned.





"He gets short when he gets old. He goes out then it gets cold."

R H E D L S
S T N B E T
T A R L A O
C I G O R E





Probably the best treasure we've found so far, we have a blessed sword along with not one, but two spells for Owyn to learn!

"This may be the best day of my life."



Eh, Stardust isn't that special.









"It allows us to actually see where we are going if we want to travel at night, but there isn't much point in doing so unless we can't rest in an area for whatever reason."

(This will probably be the one and only time I'll cast it in the entire game.)



Hell yes! A combat spell!



Flamecast will probably be the first offensive combat spell you'll learn in the game, and while it isn't the best overall, it's a nice step up from having to spam Despair Thy Eyes most of the time. While Owyn goes to 'study' the spell in greater detail, we'll give Gorath the blessed sword to use for the time being.



Temple blessings vary from temple to temple, it isn't immediately clear as to what they do for your weapons or armor. The blessing on the sword here is Blessing Type #2, which gives a 10% bonus - though to what isn't certain. This is one of my gripes with the game as you not only have no idea what blessing type you'd get from any particular temple, it just isn't clear how it makes a weapon or armor that much better in the long run.

Still, I know it's better then an unblessed weapon, so we'll be using it until we get something better.

Anyway. There is another spynote in the chest so let's read that:



Meh. A warning about traps. It's worth noting down the general locations of them though, but usually you don't need help as you'll stumble into them on your own accord as it is.

With the plague cured and backtracking taken care of, we head back towards where we were before we were plagued up and continue south towards Hawk's Hollow.





Gorath warns us of a potential ambush here. It's rather nice because if you either aren't healed up or you need to repair your armors or weapons, then now is the time to do so before continuing further.

Even better - if your stealth is high enough, you can avoid the ambush entirely while continuing to train up your stealth abilities. We'll be doing this as soon as we get another pair of weedwalkers.




We don't have the required stealth to bypass the encounter and instead we get ambushed.

I never really understood this ambush message though. Is it a signal to attack? Why a brass button?



Hah.. It's just one guy.

Hey Owyn. I think you know what I want you to do.





"Fiery. Death."





There is some splash damage, but nothing compared to the whopping 60 damage we just did on that guy.

We continue to push on south and then...





Another trap!



"That's almost cute. A magician with two electrical traps. Gee, I wonder how I'll ever get by this puzzle?



"How about with a fireball to your face?! Mwuah ha!"

"Uh.. sorry, he got a little excited. Here, I'll help out, this is my sword, Seigneur Stabby. Say Hello to the nice man, Stabby."

*STAB*

"I am having the best day. I.. I can't help myself. I just need..."

"MORE POWER!"

We'll let Owyn calm down a bit. Pushing on a bit further, we FINALLY find our goal.





I thought I recognized you.





"The very day. You should have heard the fit Master of Ceremonies deLacy threw when he found out I wasn't the Count of Dorgin's son. I daresay he would have tossed me over the palace walls himself if he hadn't been busy with the details of the blessed event. I've kept busy since then, spent the last few years on the road doing odd jobs along the border. You'd be surprised at all the things I've learned and seen since I've left Krondor."

"Surprise me then. You always were a rumormonger."

"Well...what would you like to know about?"



Topic: Safe Passage

"I've just returned from a military assignment and it's imperative that I get south as soon and as inconspicuously as possible. Are there any places you think we should avoid?"

"At all costs, you'll want to avoid the road from Eggley to Tanneurs. There is a festival to be held in Eggley and it's likely your elven companion would be spotted right away."

"What makes you think we're off to Krondor?"

"Elves don't come much out of Elvandar and they are even less likely to travel in the company of a boy and seigneur when they do take to voyaging. Whatever you three are about, I assumed it must involve the good of the Kingdom. Krondor would be the only logical place for you to go."

Topic: Mind Readers

"These roads seem littered with those anxious to anticipate our movements. Do you know of anyone in this area that seems to have unusual skills? Some one who seems like they know your thoughts?"

"No... For a fact I can't say that I have, but a certain pokiir player that I lost a great deal of money to in Eggley comes to mind. Name of Devon, I believe. It took me quite a while to make up the funds I lost during a single night playing against him. He very nearly took every sovereign I'd made in a month's time."

Topic: Stolen Gems

"Did you by any chance purchase a ruby from Keifer Alescook in Loriel? He told us he sold it to someone named Isaac and the description he gave us sounded like you."

"Why? You want to buy it from me? It's not like it's the only ruby in the world you know..."

"The ruby he sold you was stolen from a Tsurani magician who was passing through LaMut. The Garrison would like the stone back. We were hoping we could talk you into at least returning it to Keifer to get your money back."

"I'm sorry to hear about your dilemma, but I had no idea the stone was stolen when I paid Keifer's price and I have my own little problem. I need the stone so I can pay off a sword crafter and get my blade repaired."

"Can't you pay him with gold?"

"He specifically barters in gems and the ruby will cover my costs plus a little more. I should have enough left over to eat for a month or more."

"What if we can repair your sword for you?"

"What, here? In the middle of the road?"

"Since I don't have a workshop, I don't see that we can do it anywhere else."

"Well...I suppose. My blade is fairly expensive and I'd hate to see it further damaged. It's conceivable you could do more harm than good, so unless you're really skilled at weaponcraft...well... Do you really think you're that good?"

YES

"Good enough. Your blade?"

"Please be careful, I paid quite a bit for it."

"Well, I have to say this, you appear to know what you're doing. It looks much better than it did. And it will hold the edge?"

"You could cut up the whole of Delekhan's moss-rangers and it'd still be sharp for a month after."

"Well...it looks as if you've come through on your end of the bargain. Remind me to give you the ruby before you leave."

Topic: Weapon Repair

"So where is this miracle working weaponsmith you were talking about? It might be worthwhile to go and have our own weapons repaired."

"There's a shop in Highcastle called The Battleworks. It's a long way to go, but their work is impressive."

Topic: Hawk's Hollow

Seems like I've heard of Hawk's Hollow before...

"If you've heard anything about it lately, I imagine it was a warning not to spend the night there. It was nice little village until a prowler moved in that they've named Smokefingers. Isn't a lock in town that he hasn't found a way to get past."

Topic: Traps

"For whatever reason, someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to make certain we stay clear of the eastern side of the Orseinnes. We found traps on the road leading east."

"You assume those traps were laid for you. Perhaps they were laid there to prevent someone in the east from slipping west. I can't see any real advantage in keeping some one out of Hawk's Hollow or Loriel, but I can see a very definite advantage to keeping someone out of LaMut. I think you would be better advised to move south and west, away from whoever is laying them out."

GOODBYE!

"As much as I would like to stand about gossiping, I suppose we three need to hie back to the road before Prince Arutha sends out a search party for us."

"The Prince is expecting you then... Please send his highness my regards."

"I shall. Take care of yourself, Isaac!"

A few minutes later...

"I can't believe it. After all these weeks, we finally have THE RUBY! I bet it's worth millions! I bet.."



"Oh..."

That's it for this post. See you in Update 12: It really is lovely this time of year down at Hawk's Hollow.