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Completed Arcanum LP [Tech/Evil][Fortified with memes][Finished]

CappenVarra

phase-based phantasmist
Patron
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
2,912
Location
Ardamai
yeah i remember recruiting him, but it was too long ago to remember the details.

he was truly a noble savage worthy of companionship, that much i do recall.
 
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
1,853,653
Location
Belém do Pará, Império do Brasil
Its interesting what Pelonius says, and I don't remember that tidbit - the spirits of the dead in Arcanum see the living world from outside time and space, and so they see all the possibilities and outcomes. In short, every single time you play Arcanum and talk with Pelonius, he remembers and already knows the results of that dialogue with every single character ever made. He also knows that many of these died before ever talking with him, or after.

Pelonius also not only knows the truth of the ring, but also where it will lead. He knows what will happen/has happened/would have happened.
Its kinda meta and curious.
 

baud

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Messages
3,992
Location
Septentrion
RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth

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You mean like a boomerang? :lol:

No, a boomerang is only supposed to return to the thrower when the target has been missed.:smug:

We pick up a top hat to appear more civilized than we really are
:obviously:

I'll echo what was said above, it's pretty gud (and fun too)
 

Egosphere

Arcane
Joined
Jan 25, 2018
Messages
1,909
Location
Hibernia
PART VII: ALAS, POOR YORICK

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We arrive at the gypsy fortune teller to snatch away her crystal ball. Things, as usual, unfold a little differently:

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I'm here for the ball

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What's going on..

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I .. side with you ( we have to. You get a penalty to some stat if you fight her )

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But..

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What do I get in return?

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Sounds good ( it really doesn't. We already have a lead in that case, but I forget to solve it first and end up squandering the potential blessing that the gypsy can bestow upon you )

Gnome Plough asks us to clear out his warehouse for him. We agree, but leave him for now.

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Close by is Madam Lil's bordello

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What can you tell me of your establishment?

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Do you have, like, a cheap option?

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Institutionalized sheepshagging

Uh.. that's not what I meant..

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Yes. She sends us to collect a brooch that one of her workers had left out on a call. We can't let the client's wife find it.

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What?

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I understand. Does the bordello's bartender have any interesting gossip for us?

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:nocountryforshitposters:

After selling the story of our survival to the Tarantian, the city's denizens recognize us on the streets and are willing to give us free money

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Actually, can you tell me where Bates lives?

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Why's that?

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A laugh?

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Why?

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Interesting

We haul the crystal ball to Toussade

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What do you mean?

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What did she say?

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Of course..

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I didn't say she was dead..

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She gave it to me. Here..

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*Hands her the ball*

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Oh well. What does her gnomish neighbour think of Bates?

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Nothing interesting

I peruse the dwarven book we recovered from Magnus

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So Magnus never really knew his clan or even it's way; he simply aped the descriptions in the book. Wheel Clan is mentioned there, that'll come up later

Back at the gypsy's

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Delivered the ball. Dreadful, that..

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There should be an option here to skip the info. If you've already solved the quest, you get a +1 blessing to your charisma ( or is it beauty? ) We're locked out of it though.

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You alright?

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Got it.

We go to the house to recover the brooch and meet Laura, the housekeeper

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Can you help me?

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I'm from Lil's

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Oh good, you found it

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Madam Lil will be glad. Where is it?

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Ah, yes, I see that you deserve something for your trouble

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You could do so much better

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You're a pretty thing.. you should use that to your advantage

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Have you seen the girls at Madam Lil's?

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Young lady like yourself could get work there

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Oh yes. Give me the necklace and then go talk to her.

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A little practice. Now go see her.

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You're welcome.

:nocountryforshitposters:

Just how alpha is Byron, anyways? Tbf the quest makes no sense. She calls Cassie a whore, then falls head over heels to go work with the 'refined' whores. She does actually show up at the bordello once we return


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I have the necklace

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Thank you, Madam Lil. First we talk to Willow

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:hmmm:

Maybe later..
There are a couple who are not memorable, and a half orc with a whip that wants to punish us. No thanks.

Last up is Laura

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:shredder:

You know what? I'm just glad you're happy.
I've changed my mind, Lil. I'm just here for the xp. Any more work?

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Where can I find him?

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Instead, we go the other way and take a little detour to clear out the warehouse

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He doesn't give us anything, but he does have 75 in gold in his pockets. Gnomes..

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There are orc bandits prowling in the darkness at the end of the alley, and they're pretty tough for our party

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And If I don't?

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He brought us to 1/4 health with just a rusty knife

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That's as good a proof as you'll get that high strength is the most op build in this game

We use dynamite to blow up a door to a locked warehouse. A giant rat runs out and slaughters us in one turn. I reload, realizing that I didn't save after killing the orcs

:rage:

But that actually works to our advantage. We quickly dash to the warehouse and plant the dynamite. As we retreat, the orc bandits converge on the spot just as the doors are blown open and the huge rat storms outside. They start fighting.

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The rat kills 1 and brings another to half health before succumbing to the knives.
We clean up and storm the warehouse. There's a half ogre who is asleep who springs up as soon as we start checking the boxes for loot. We kill him and loot up. The twin skulls are here, together with a shotgun, bullets and some saltpeter and chainmal. Whoever they were, they saw fit to stock up on some decent gear to defend the skulls

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Not far away is Mr. Black and his sidekick. He won't speak with us though. I can't quite recall who he is. He might be with the thieves, or maybe the gangsters from the Boil.

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The sun rises and we head back to Cesare, picking up the morning's newspaper on the way

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What's going on here?

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Who's doing this? What was the purpose of these experiments?

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I'll do it!

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You may recall that he's not there. We found a note in an abandoned house saying that the 'crow is in danger'

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What should I do now?

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Alright. We'll do it.

There's not much point in going to Bates yet, so we head back to Madam Lil and become an expert in Persuasion

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Still stuck in the eastern half of town, we stumble upon the guy who owns the Bessie Toone mine of Shrouded Hills

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I am a representative of the Industrial Council

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There seem to be ''irregularities'' in the change of ownership, sir

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There seems to have been intimidation involved

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There seem to be some questions as to whether it was his to sell

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Of course. You wouldn't mind appearing in court as a witness?

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Thank you for your cooperation, sir.

Not far off is the Tarantian water and power plant

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Can we go down into the forbidden sewers?

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So there's no other way down?

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Why have they been locked off?

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Are all of the sewers off limits?

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Alright then. In a run-down hovel nearby lives Bates' old adversary, Appleby

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Why do you dislike Bates?

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But how did he invent so much, since?

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What can be done?

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What is your plan?

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I assure you, we can be trusted

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Positively

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How will this expose him?

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I can't compete with this guy's galactic IQ

I accept your proposal [Truth]

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I will return

Before we go blowing up another steam engine ( are we even a tech character?? ), we find the Panarii centre that Joachim mentioned in one of his notes

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Nasrudin. That's me.

What can you tell me about your religion?

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What is the Age of Legends?

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Elven Council?

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Nasrudin?

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Prophecies of his return?

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But isn't Nasrudin dead?

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Arronax?

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Archaeon?

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Aronnax' banishment?

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Who else has been banished?

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Gorgoth, Kraka-tur, Kerghan, Bane of Kree. Sounds like a bad-ass party. The magnificent four.

I'll be off then

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Sure

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Come one, come all!

We order the rock for deceased Wilhemina at the rock-cutter's...

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..and arrive at the location of the stolen painting

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Well that was easy

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The painting is titled 'Kerghan and Persephone'. I know just the guy who'll buy it off us :smug:

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:argh:

So that's it. We've stocked up on more ammunition, dynamite and armour. I was hoping to pay Bates a visit in this episode, but we need more evil karma, and helping Appleby will get us just that. In the next episode, we'll tackle the job of sabotaging the steam engine and perhaps visit the university district. I'll see if I can pawn that painting to someone, as well.

Hope you've enjoyed this episode and I'll see you ne-

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We should have known. Who else could have the charm to convince all those women to come and ply their trade in a dubious line of work, for low pay, in a crime ridden corner of the city where the air smells of salty seawater and the orcs wander free?

:drink:
 
Last edited:

Egosphere

Arcane
Joined
Jan 25, 2018
Messages
1,909
Location
Hibernia

No, a boomerang is only supposed to return to the thrower when the target has been missed.:smug:

Technically, yes. But in Arcanum all the throwable weapons return to you anyways, so the star of Azram is redundant :D
 

Egosphere

Arcane
Joined
Jan 25, 2018
Messages
1,909
Location
Hibernia
PART VIII: BATES MANSION

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I wanted to get the Bates quest done today, so it ended up being a huge part with 3 quests crammed in.​
Still in the industrial shithole, we stumble upon a factory that is exclusively employing orcs for menial labour

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No breaks?

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A rest period

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I'm sorry

The foreman is human who doubles as a junk seller

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No schematics, no crafting parts, no equipment, no nothing. We finally escape our drab surroundings and go to Bates' factory.

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We loiter outside until nightfall, before circling around and running inside through a back door. There are guards on patrol in the factory, but there's only 2 of them and they have to cover 3 rooms. They also steer clear of the huge hall where the engines are actually housed.

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You don't even need the prowl skill for this. Just wait until the guards are far away in another room and run straight into the hall.

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We quickly plant the dynamite and, before you know it, we're outside, just as the engine goes up in a fiery inferno

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Back at Appleby's

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I destroyed it

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Can you get me into his house?

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There's a little bit of an inconsistency here. I think if you do the quest for the Thieves' guild first, then Appleby will tell you of a secret passage that can take you from the cemetery to the mansion, where you can acquire the servant clothing and not have to leave your party outside. Anyways, Appleby wants incriminating evidence of Gilbert's collusion with the dwarves

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Consider it found [Truth]

We go back to Quilton Bend to find the local thieves' guildmaster

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Yes

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I'm listening

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So I get my jobs from you?

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What if I say no?

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You have no problems with other thieves?

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Sounds good ( it really does. It's a phenomenal deal, actually )

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What is the job?

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You want me to map them out?

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Where are they?

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I accept.

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How did you know about that?

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How much are you offering?

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It's not much, but I'll take it. Seems a bit low for a genuine antique painting. For example, that chest of gold we sold to the junkyard is now on sale at his stall for a cool 17k in gold.

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We pick up the morning newspaper

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Seems like Mrs. Florence Willoughsby has a 'drug' problem, of sorts

We go back to Langley, who owes 400 to the whorehouse

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She wants the 400. It's bad business to let it slide

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Do you need some incentive?

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I'll be back

There's some fancy gnome who lives in a nice little house close to the Vermillion station, but he's useless as of yet

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so we arrive at the zoological society

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Bellerogrim is the last of the dragons

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I've .. never actually opened this thing in any of my playthroughs, either

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Our map is updated

Fenwick is the head of the zoo society

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What do you do?

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For some reason, we can't ask him about Bellerogrim, so we leave and go the City Hall/ Department of Water

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The city hall is really fancy

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I need the map

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I understand. 4 clicks later, his key is ours and so is the map, which was kept in a safe in the next room. He doesn't seem to mind.

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Good to screencap this for future reference

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Downstairs is the hall of records. There's another safe in a room that has some rats, but it's locked and I don't want to fight my way through

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What info do the archives contain?

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Newspapers?

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Your storage requirements are immense, I presume?

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We go back and ask the guard at Bates' mansion if we can help remove the saboteurs at the factory

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I don't know what you're talking about!

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Good day, then. We go back by the wharf and kill the annoying gnome who wouldn't pay us for clearing his warehouse

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The map is worth 300 to the guild

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That's Mr. Black he's talking about. They don't have much interesting on sale either ( the prices are inflated on top of that )

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Blackmail really isn't for me, any other quests? ( I think if you agree to help Appleby here, without having talked to him prior to this, then you will get the info on the secret underground passage. Otherwise you just default back to the standard 'talk your way through the front door' variation of this quest )

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We need to level up and come back

Back in the university district is the empty lecture hall

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and the library

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Tell me a little of the facilities here

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King, madam?

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Go on..

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League of Gnomish Merchants. Remember that.

You mentioned membership?

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How much for the membership?

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:what:

Just beside the library is the university itself

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Did you say 'phrenology'?

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Will you read my head?

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Your powers amaze me

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I have a question regarding some skulls

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Ren'ar Siamese Twins, to be precise

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Anything else you can tell me about them?

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He's lying.

In the next room is an elfprofessor

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Where are your manners?

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Probably because we're tech-aligned

Maybe there's something we can do to get past this?

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Who are you?

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I am Lord Byron. Can I ask some questions?

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What do you do?

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What sort of research?

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Tell me about the pagan gods

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Sure

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There are still pagan temples left standing, then?

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Do you believe in the pagan Gods, prof?

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What's that map on the wall?

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Deeper connections?

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Can you explain the diagram to me?

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This is the diagram, and our ticket to godhood level stats.

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and here is the book with the excerpt regarding the pagan gods. It's a puzzle which we'll have to unravel ourselves. We only get one shot at this. Get blessed by the wrong god in the wrong order and it's over.

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In the next room is another professor

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Scientician and demonologist?

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What can you tell me of demonology?

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Remember him? One of the magnificent four.

Gorgoth?

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What happened to him?

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What about scientism?

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Alright. Up next is the book store clerk.

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What books do you sell?

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What help are these books?

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So how this works is, depending on your intelligence stat, purchasing a book will boost that tech subject skill by a certain amount, so that you can craft items without having to invest precious points in that subject. If I need 25 skill in electrical, but I only have 10, I don't really need to invest more points in it. Fork out the 750 for a manual and you're good to go ( provided you have a very high Int, otherwise I think you'll need a few manuals )

We go back to Parnell's and find Gar. Asking him about the green tea with high persuasion means he'll inadvertently drop his act and give you a cogent argument on the virtue of black tea

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Why are you acting the idiot?

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But you're smarter than all of the other orcs, are you not?

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So you're not a pure bred orc?

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So why did you do this to yourself?

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Are you free to leave?

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That was cruel of your parents

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How long are you meant to be on display here?

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Why don't you join me?

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And if I secure your freedom?

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About that orc of yours, Parnell..

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That's pretty steep

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We know he's human

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Tarantian takes a dim view of human slavery

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The truth has never gotten in the way of a good newspaper story

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You must see how easily someone could ruin your reputation

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I'd be glad to help you out!

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And just like that, our party grows to 4. Gar has some info that might help us

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Why does Appleby hate Bates?

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what can you tell me of Tarant?

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I thought you'd be sympathetic to the orcs

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Interesting perspective, especially from a guy who's a 'good' character with a +25 karma rating

We go to the cemetery in order to find a way into the Bates mansion. It's a depressing old place

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heh

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:negative:

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Updated my journal

There's a fancy sepulchre of sorts that contains a matchbook

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Nearby is the building that we need to open. When the guard is not looking, we plant the dynamite and retreat.

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Absolutely zero fucks given :positive:

The grave is a fake

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Down there is an annoying passageway. It's a long hallway full of traps and locked doors, so you have no other option than simply charging ahead and taking the damage to your health and your armour, hoping that you're lucky and they don't kill you. By the time we reach the end, my chainmail has dropped from 150 to 110 in 'quality'. I'm not sure what function the secret hallway serves. Perhaps it's a back up plan for Bates to escape the city come the revolution. We climb up and find ourselves in a walk-in closet containing the attire for Bates' servants.

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Gar outright refuses to put on the servant clothes so we leave him in the there and go off to find Bates. It's an impressive, two storey mansion, bustling with cooks, servants and guards.

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Bates is upstairs. We go right in and show him the ring.

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A gnome gave it to me as he lay dying?

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Well, he was skinny and had no beard

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He had a scar over his left eye

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Who's Stennar?

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He said he had escaped to warn us of the evil..

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He didn't say

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He called you a boy

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How did you come to betray him

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But why did he send me here with the ring?

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Arronax, perhaps?

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so what is to be done?

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Lets ask him some more questions. So you never actually invented the steam engine?

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What did you think would happen after you sold it?

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It must be unsettling to get so much praise

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Why did you seek the company of the dwarves?

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You were orphaned?

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He abandoned you..

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And then you gave it to Stennar..

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What do you do nowadays?

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You sure about that:troll:

How have you devastated your competition so?

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Why?

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I see. Any labour problems, recently?

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Simply curious.

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I refuse his offer to go the Black Mountain clan. We've heard the full story, but we don't have the incriminating evidence that Appleby needs. There's a way to cheese this, however. Wait until nighttime, then rush inside Bates' bedroom as he walks through the door. In there, use the fate point to pick the lock on the little treasure chest and pull out his diary. Wait until morning time and then rush back out as Bates leaves the bedroom. The diary is pretty much the same thing as what Bates told us, so I won't be posting it ( unless somebody here wants to read it, just leave a comment and I'll screenshot it ). We go back downstairs and find Gar patiently waiting for us.

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So that's that. The 'gnome' at ISF Zephyr was Stennar Rock Cutter, an old acquaintance of Mr. Bates. Bates, an orphan, spent his time around the Black Mountain Clan and stole their steam engine technology. Once this tech began to spread, the dwarven clan disappeared without a trace, with the 'robed ones' warning Bates never to search for them again. The story's heating up nicely, innit?

Before I finish, just a quick note on the tech vs magic dichotomy in Arcanum. Although we now know how the industrial revolution came to be, the game does not directly answer why technology is spreading at such an alarming rate. I believe the answer lies in the game mechanics themselves. In order to master magic, you need high willpower. This automatically filters out the majority of the population from mastering magic ( if we accept that the willpower, like any other human trait, is usually distributed in a bell curve ). Tech, on the other hand, can be employed by anybody. You do not need to meet any statistical checks to ride a train, fire a gun or throw a bomb. Once the highly intelligent create a technological breakthrough, it can be shared with society at large.​
 
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Fedora tippery and spoilaz below:

Interesting to see Arcanum raise engaging questions while also providing pretty naive depictions. Single unified religion dominating a continent for 1500 years, especially considering the pagan Gods have actual power? I guess thematically it could make the point of false ideologies of convenience eventually becoming more popular over less false but much harsher dogmas. Still, I think it would make much more sense to make the contemporary Panarii religion a much younger faith and tie its rise directly to the rise of technology (and thus the abandonment of magic and gawds) - say it existed some centuries after the collapse of the Elven Council as some fringe cult but only really came to be super prominent a hundred years before the start of the game or so. Granted it has been a while since I played this game so I could be misremembering some details - maybe there be some metaphysical reason for it being the way that it be, yo.

Also, from a libcuck's perspective, the whole gnomish conspiracy subplot is pretty fucking weird. Naturally, depiction does not equal endorsement, but I can't help but wonder if one writer or another was a fan of JQ. I guess the charitable interpretation of its inclusion was that Troika decided to play the antisemitic conspiracy theories of the time straight for the sake of subversion, in which case they've certainly succeeded in summoning feelings of disgust and bewilderment. I don't really care about authorial intent so the latter interpretation is what I'm going to roll with.
 
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Egosphere

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Fedora tippery and spoilaz below:

Interesting to see Arcanum raise engaging questions while also providing pretty naive depictions. Single unified religion dominating a continent for 1500 years, especially considering the pagan Gods have actual power? I guess thematically it could make the point of false ideologies of convenience eventually becoming more popular over less false but much harsher dogmas. Still, I think it would make much more sense to make the contemporary Panarii religion a much younger faith and tie its rise directly to the rise of technology (and thus the abandonment of magic and gawds) - say it existed some centuries after the collapse of the Elven Council as some fringe cult but only really came to be super prominent a hundred years before the start of the game or so. Granted it has been a while since I played this game so I could be misremembering some details - maybe there be some metaphysical reason for it being the way that it be, yo.

Also, from a libcuck's perspective, the whole gnomish conspiracy subplot is pretty fucking weird. Naturally, depiction does not equal endorsement, but I can't help but wonder if one writer or another was a fan of JQ. I guess the charitable interpretation of its inclusion was that Troika decided to play the antisemitic conspiracy theories of the time straight for the sake of subversion, in which case they've certainly succeeded in summoning feelings of disgust and bewilderment. I don't really care about authorial intent so the latter interpretation is what I'm going to roll with.


I agree about the Panarii. It's weird to see them dominate the religious landscape for so long in a world where the pagan gods actually give you real benefits. It's also strange to have them co-exist on a continent with the elves, who are perfectly aware of the true story behind their 'God'. On the other hand, I think a lot of Arcanum isn't very religious, and 'dominating' is a pretty generous description. They are pretty much non-existent in Tarant, with only 1 pathetic building for preaching and handing out pamphlets. They're mostly located in Caladon, which might put them on the same footing as the cults of Geshtianna and Halcyon, but they might simply have a bit more resources and drive to keep their traditions intact. They're also the 'human' religion, of sorts, as all the other pagan Gods are related to the other races. There's Geshtianna, but she's basically a cult at this point. Also, since Arcanum has magic, the concept of religion becomes diluted. Getting a +1 to strength if you put rubies into a stone box is cool, but it's not really an mind-blowing concept when necromancers converse with the dead and shops sell potions that make you stronger/smarter/faster etc.

As for the gnomes and the JQ, it is pretty weird and I did wonder who included it. It must have been a committee decision though. There are too many characters, locations, dialogue options and items involved in it.
 

Egosphere

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Its interesting what Pelonius says, and I don't remember that tidbit - the spirits of the dead in Arcanum see the living world from outside time and space, and so they see all the possibilities and outcomes. In short, every single time you play Arcanum and talk with Pelonius, he remembers and already knows the results of that dialogue with every single character ever made. He also knows that many of these died before ever talking with him, or after.

Pelonius also not only knows the truth of the ring, but also where it will lead. He knows what will happen/has happened/would have happened.
Its kinda meta and curious.

Agreed. I skimmed over it the first few times I played this and didn't pay too much attention. It doesn't really sit well with the ending, though. When
you encounter Kerghan, his sole motivation is to extinguish life because it is meaningless suffering. It would have been a lot better if there was something greater at stake. Say, for example, he saw the future and realized that coming back and genociding 3/4 of the population today was the only way to avert a technological catastrophe that would kill all life in 100 years time. Maybe they could have worked the pagan gods into the equation somehow, as well.
 

Egosphere

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No, a boomerang is only supposed to return to the thrower when the target has been missed.:smug:

Technically, yes. But in Arcanum all the throwable weapons return to you anyways, so the star of Azram is redundant :D

I forgot that Arcanum followed video game logic. :negative:

It really is a silly explanation from Shalmo for the 'power' of the star. Troika should have just made it so that the azram keeps it's trajectory irrespective of what it hits, so that it hits all of the enemies in it's path
 
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Egosphere

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yeah i remember recruiting him, but it was too long ago to remember the details.

he was truly a noble savage worthy of companionship, that much i do recall.

Pity that he's a good character. I doubt he'll hang around for long. Oh well, at least there's that one guy in the ancient tomb that's evil.
 

baud

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RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
Funny how the professor's dialogue and his book contradict each other regarding Mazzerin's book, with one saying the book was written 300 years ago and the other 3000.

Also, from a libcuck's perspective, the whole gnomish conspiracy subplot is pretty fucking weird. Naturally, depiction does not equal endorsement, but I can't help but wonder if one writer or another was a fan of JQ. I guess the charitable interpretation of its inclusion was that Troika decided to play the antisemitic conspiracy theories of the time straight for the sake of subversion, in which case they've certainly succeeded in summoning feelings of disgust and bewilderment. I don't really care about authorial intent so the latter interpretation is what I'm going to roll with.

Who's JQ?
 

Major_Blackhart

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I would assume that means Jewish Question.

I thought that it was more of a nod to X-Files, the numerous conspiracies revolving around dark lantern societies in the UK and New World and such more than anything, tinged with the obvious references to the gnomes of Zurich (swiss bankers controlling speculation & wealth and being incredibly secretive) and the general pervasive feeling of anti-semitism.

Overall, I found it to be a wonderful addition to the quest line. And the fact that the Gnomes, who are long lived and truly varied among their political beliefs enough to support Unions and Orcs or be against them, felt threatened enough to go to such lengths is truly telling of the real dangers they faced.
 

Egosphere

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PART IX: CATCH 22

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I left the last part on a bit of a cliffhanger. It happened simply because I died twice trying to traverse the long passage back to the cemetery. I rage quit and took a day off, but when I returned to complete Appleby's damnable quest, I realized that I was caught in a bit of a catch 22.
Appleby refuses to cooperate once I returned with the stolen journal, condemning my consorting with Bates even though he should not have any knowledge of it. I reloaded a saved game, left my party and walked straight through the front door of the manor in the servant's disguise. Walking into Bates' bedroom I realized that I had no fate points. Whether this is a glitch, I do not know. I think I receive a fate point from talking to Bates to complete the quest (lockpick the chest), yet talking to him to get the fate point will fail the quest. 22.

Off the top of my head I have 3 options:
(A) Throw my lot in with Bates and betray my evil disposition
(B) Level up by 3 or so levels to craft a skeleton key and then hope for the best from the god of rng
(C) Quietly take out Bates ( which should grant us a fate point )

I'm going with B, although it might take quite a bit more than just 3 levels before we can pick that lock. We'll see. Prepare yourself for nonsensical meandering as we hunt for more xp to buff up our DX, skills and crafting.

Oh yeah, before we leave the mansion, I notice that Bates prefers pool over snooker

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:decline:

There's more news in the papers about some long lost family being found

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As we travel to Langley to pick up the coin, we stop at that tavern where we conversed with the dark elf that hired us to pass a note to the thieves. The doorman has quite a bit of dialogue on that heist.

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A couple of questions about that night..

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Who was here that evening?

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Who holds ill will towards Garringsburg?

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Anyone strange here that evening?

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Done

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Rory Limes, the only guest

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Rory Limes?

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Thanks for the info.

I do eventually track down his name at the Hall of Records, but it simply brings us back to 57 Mulligan Bones alley. It's simply an alternative way of completing the quest.

The dark elf doesn't want to speak with us

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and we don't have anything to give to Appleby as of yet

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So we leave Tarant and off we go to the lair of Bellerogrim! Until we bump into some fine folk on the way, that is

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Molochean Hand?

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Perhaps you can forget you found me?

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Please no! :lol::lol:

2 humans in robes & leather armour vs 4 chainmailed warriors with 1 half-ogre.

I shoot the robed one so badly that his ribcage rips open and his arm falls off. The other flees from this horror. He's so traumatized that he never actually stops running. Usually the npcs will run a few metres and then come right back at you. Not this time.

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So here's the entrance to the lair. Benches and a plaque decorate the cavern's entrance.

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The last of the dragons. Imagine how much cooler Arcanum would be if there were still dragons. You could tame one and get around faster than any train.

Be careful what you wish for though..
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The subterranean level inside the lair is swarming with dragarons and many high level magical enemies. There are a few that can conjure up fire elementals that are even worse than the dragonlets themselves. We're not clearing this out. Not yet, at least.

So let's leave and go to the elven burial site to get that funeral stone for Pettibone, the Tarantian trophy wife who wants to stick it to Mrs. Willoughsby.
Not before some orcs start demanding tributes.

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I prefer to watch your life bleed away.

And we do.

Arriving at the elven holy site, we find some elves crouched over their latest victim.

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What's going on? I'm just exploring.

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Of course not! I am a man of science!

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Conscience! You dare to speak to me of conscience!

Okay, I lied. I'm here to retrieve something.

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Some rich woman wants a funerary stone

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I had no idea

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No

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I'd rather kill you

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It's funny that you don't actually take a hit to your karma once you kill them, and Gar won't pass a word on your misdeeds. All that will happen only when you actually deliver the stone to Pettibone.

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There are ghouls and mummies in the underground burial site

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But we're just too much for them. Carrying the stone is a far more onerous task.

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So much so that we can't even run. We can only walk once the thing weighs on our shoulders.

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Mountain lion comes to drag away our bones on the way back. It gets pulverized.

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It's nice to see a variety in the fauna in the different corners of Arcanum. There were rats, wolves and bears in Cumbria. Now we find Mountain Lions on the plains.
We're intercepted by Moloch. hand before we reach Tarant. It's just the one guy, this time.

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Wait, is that the same guy who ran away from us on our way here?:lol:
We kill him, loot him, reach Tarant, buy a newspaper and go to Pettibone's.

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Love lights?

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Yeah, for 250 ( should have picked Willoughsby option here, in hindsight )

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Oh shut up Gar. You were ok when you decapitated that elf woman with an axe.

We've been gone for a few days so the shops have been restocked. There's an abundance of schematics on sale and we buy the lot.

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It's a travesty that I haven't been able to find this schematic sooner. It's the first thing you need as a gunslinger. Luckily, some of my party have been looting up as we progressed and have saltpeter in their possession. Our ammo count swells from 20 to over 100.

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I was hoping to max out the mechanics crafting, but not the herbal crafting. We'll probably never use this.

Langley has the coin for Madam Lil

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Literally cucking

Alright then, troika, I choose Laura.

Does Lil want anything else?

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So what needs to be done?

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Before we do that, we do one more round and talk to a few people.

Here's Rory Limes inquiry at the Hall of Records dialogue:

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and here's why Bates is tightening the security around his place:

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Remember that guy, James, who wanted us to retrieve his ring from the sewers? Well, let's do that.

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They're full of rats and can be easily cleared. There's a huge vault door that is locked. On the other side you can take a quick peek at Mr. Willoughsby's basement. Those 3 metal cases are the arachnids in their 'off' state. 1 of them is poisonous.

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On the other side of the sewers is a small room with 2 thieves. I wonder the water doesn't flow into it. :)

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The ladder at the end leads back up. We climb out right outside Vermillion station.

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You know what Matthew? It's a nice looking ring. I'll keep it.

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You've made a big mistake, Matt!

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Down in the tavern is a gnome noble, J.M. Morat, who has a few words about Tarant

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Anything else?

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Alright, thanks.

We're inexplicably attacked by a guard outside. Probably a glitch, or perhaps killing Matthew out in the open has something to do with it

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We go to Mrs. Halster to deliver the present

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Are you Mrs. Halster? I've brought you a gift.

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I gave her the gift

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No thanks. We're off to find those thieves who were expecting me with the note.

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The game was rigged from the start

They realize the note has already been 'used' so we kill them and loot their corpses. Their leader was Rorry Limes himself, carrying his passport in his pocket.

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Desperate for more xp, we meander along the docks and onto the bridge. I guess we're going to the Boil.

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The battle for the northern entrance is pretty straightforward. We have the upper hand since we initiate the combat at a distance and can get 3 shots away with the hand cannon before their turn. Their most dangerous bandit is the human ( half-orc? ) with the longsword. He can go through your armour and leave you dead in 2 turns, but he doesn't even make it within melee range. 1 of the orcs has a rusty axe that can still mess you up due to his strength, but by that point we outnumber them 2:1 and they go down.

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and we enter the hive of scum and villainy that is Caleb Molloy's bar

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Nice to meet you

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the Boil?

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Maug and Pollock?

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Who's the better gang to work for?

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Where can I buy stuff at the Boil?

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Where can I stay?

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How do I actually join the gang?

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Do you have a job for me, perchance?

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tell me

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What do you need me for?

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What do I do?

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Alright. We talk to the miss at the counter, first

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My life isn't in danger

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I'm leaving

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Just a few questions

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We grovel and eventually leave the conversation. The orcs are a bit more accommodating.

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Excuse me?

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Tell me about the boil

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Your meaning?

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I may be

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I'll do that.

Actually, I won't. I've worked for Maug before and I know his quests. It's time to get a job with Pollock. We go back to the halfling and tell him he's a braggart

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Now can I ask questions?

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What's this pub?

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Who is Maug?

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and Pollock?

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How do I get work?

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and if I want to join Pollock?

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So we go back to the woman and tell her the pollock boys sent us

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Pollock

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Of course

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and you are?

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May we speak about the employment?

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What do i do?

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Since we're now officially in with the Pollock gang, we'll have to steer clear of the Bentley. It has a level 30 orc berserker guarding it and he's a heck of a fighter.

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We go around to the little storage shed and bait one of the guards to chase us down a narrow alley, where our 4:1 advantage makes the fight trivial. The 2nd one patrols around the storage shed in a leisurely manner, so we're in and out before he can circumambulate. The ale is ours.

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Here's the ale, Miranda.

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Even though you're now with Pollock, the guards at the southern entrance will attack you. This fight is a lot trickier. Putting down the human doesn't achieve much when you have 2 half ogres bearing down on you. The positioning of the Tarantian guard at the entrance couldn't be any worse, too. Throw a molotov on the wrong tile and you'll aggro the whole squad of guards behind you ( who are content to stand around and gossip all day even when the gangsters charge out of the Boil to kill you )

We eventually get them, with a big help from 2 stun grenades.

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There's an orc thief called Treat who lives in this part of the boil. If you were to join the Maugs, killing him would be your first quest. He's a shape shifter who can transform into this big blue snake-thing. But we don't need to kill him so he doesn't. Pollock is really poor compared to Maug and is confined a dilapidated shack.

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Miranda Tears sent me

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Pollock, I assume?

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Yeah..

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Virgil prevaricates and convinces Pollock that he's never seen him. Then he warns me of Pollock's nature. Seems like there's some history between Virgil and the Tarantian crime world.
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I'm not here to make trouble

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I'll do it

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Yeah, I know of him

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Anything you tell me to help?

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Tech

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What do i get?

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Capiche?

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He gave us a hand-cannon, an energizer and a grenade. Not bad at all, although we already have a hand cannon.

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The restricted sewers can be entered from Pollock's shack, but we'll leave that for now. We meet Biggs on the bridge​

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There are 2 groups of 2 that are waiting to intercept the deal. The ones to the south attack as you approach, but the northern ones will wait until the deal is done before pouncing. If you try to attack them first, then Biggs will keep screaming help even if you wait a day for him to stop.

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Here's the whiskey, Caleb

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I think our job in Tarant is done for now. Let's buy a train ticket and go somewhere else.

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A woman greets us at the station. She is cordial since we're with the thieves as well.
Can she tell us any rumours?

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But I talk to Parnell and he doesn't mention it

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:|

Oh, before we leave, we go back to Madam Lil to ask for yet more work

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what?

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Deal

Back at the station..

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Ashbury

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No

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No

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I'm 20

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No

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No

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Excellent!

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Four. Is there anything cheaper?

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It never hurts to look for a bargain.
We go to the platform to see the splendid steamtrain lit up in the red hues of the sunset

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Are you the condunctor?

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I want to board the train

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Err, there's just the one. But Ashbury is the one we want.

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Can you tell me about the train, sir?

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Thank you, I'll enjoy the trip!

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[Board the train]

And we're off to Ashbury. The Bates quest hasn't panned out as well as I'd hoped, but a couple of more levels and we should be back on track and racing along the main questline. Join me in the next episode as we explore Ashbury and find a new companion. He's not just man's best friend, but also the greatest unarmed fighter in all of Arcanum.

:shittydog:




 
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Shadenuat

Arcane
Joined
Dec 9, 2011
Messages
11,955
Location
Russia
They're also the 'human' religion
Real panarri were created to keep wards against Void intact and have been betrayed and dead for N years, they are just dork elf puppet at game's timeline

As for pagan gods it's interesting that oldest lead god temple lies beneath ruins and rubble of a city in a magickradioactive waste
created by one faggot elf.
FUKIN ELFS :mca:
 
Last edited:

Egosphere

Arcane
Joined
Jan 25, 2018
Messages
1,909
Location
Hibernia
They're also the 'human' religion
Real panarri were created to keep wards against Void intact and have been betrayed and dead for N years, they are just dork elf puppet at game's timeline

Yes. What I meant was that they were the only ones to have a presence proselytizing in the human community at large. I doubt anyone in tarant, other than the stuffy professor, ever heard of makaal or shakar or the rest of them. Bates mentions Alberich, which makes sense since he loves his dwarves.
 

Egosphere

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
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Location
Hibernia
Hopefully tomorrow. I've forgotten just how much of a slog ashbury is. Not too many quests, but a lot to screencap.
 
Last edited:

vazha

Arcane
Joined
Aug 24, 2013
Messages
2,063
Very nice, but could we have more memes and hilarity instead of copy-pasted dialogue choices? I mean, we read them on screens, so what's the point?
 

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