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Cheat codes - Dark Queen of Krynn cheats - Passages
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Passages for Dark Queen of Krynn, platform PC
DARK QUEEN OF KRYNN
Part I: Getting Started
Dark Queen of Krynn (or DQK for short) is somewhat atypical for a gold box
game. In particular, where the usual AD&D product pretty much leads you by
the nose so you have no trouble staying on track, DQK goes in the other
direction, not giving you much help at all in deciding what to do or where to go
next. Sometimes, even when you think you know where to visit, nothing seems
to be happening there (or at least, nothing of much importance).
Also, a number of events are triggered by doing certain things, some of them
not very obvious. This is especially the case in the Tower of Flame, where
getting from one level to the next may be a frustrating experience.
In addition, there are several set-ups in the game that you need to know about
so you can survive the experiences. A lot of gratuitous damage gets tossed at
your party, and knowing when it's coming can help your people stay alive.
The first thing you need to know about is the nasty bug in regard to multi-class
characters. Usually, when a character has enough points to go up a level, his or
her name shows pink on the screen. However, the bug prevents this from
happening with multi-class types. So the character is accumulating points, but
never seems trainable.
In fact, that character CAN be trained (if race limits have not been reached),
even though the name has not changed color. You will have to keep track of the
experience points for multi-classes, and train them when they have enough
points for the next level. This was more of a problem for dual-class types, since
my triple-class characters usually got the color change.
If you are creating a party from scratch (instead of bringing one over from
Death Knights, which is better than making a new one), you don't want
Silvanesti Elves unless you plan on bringing them in as single-class mages,
clerics, or rangers, or as multi-class in those professions. Those are the only
ones they can max out (unlimited advancement) in; as plain fighters, they will
get only up to level 10, which is not really very good for this game. You want at
least level 14 fighters, to get that double hit per round. For the usual F/Mu
combination, Qualinesti elves are the better choice.
My own party consisted of one human knight, 3 F/Mu's (two red mages, one
white mage), and two triple class F/Cleric/Mu's (both white mages). So
everyone could fight, and everyone could also cast spells. The knight (of the
rose) was especially important, since having him in the party let me control the
various NPC's who joined us for varying periods of time.
Of course, the triple-class guys went up slower than anyone else, but they
were still worth having. You are going to need a lot of magic, and also a lot of
healing, to get through this game....and there will be times when you can't sit
encamped and fix everyone up; you'll need individual healing spells. The more
you have, the better.
I went through DQK at the novice level, mainly because I found out about the
training bug too late to do anything (we were in the Tower of Fire by then), so
for most of the play, I was under the impression my mages were never going to
go up in level. With mages of only 13th-15th level, I figured we needed some
sort of advantage. Even with that, many of the combats, especially with
enchanted Draconians, were hard.
While you now know about the bug, and won't be stuck like I was, you may still
want to lower the difficulty level, especially in certain areas like the Tower of
Fire, where there are several tough encounters with Draconians and others. In
addition, you will find that low armor class (-10 or lower) is not as good
protection against hits as you might expect. Your party will be absorbing a lot of
damage throughout the game, one way or another.
Money isn't of much use in DQK. After awhile, there isn't any reason to pick up
the steel, gems, and jewels that are offered after a combat. The only things you
need money for are (a) getting items identified and (b) buying passes at
Hawkbluff. The inns are free, training is free, and equipment offered for sale is
mainly mundane stuff you don't want to bother with. So don't weigh yourself
down with a lot of useless treasure.
If you are bringing a team over from Death Knights, you may be a little short of
magic arrows. There was only one place in DQK I could find to buy arrows,
and they were a bit expensive (15,000 for ten +2 arrows)....and that was well
along, when we were in the Gnome tower on the Burning Sea. If you need
arrows(or good bows, or both), the simplest thing to do is play the old game of
"Muggee".
Create several fighters (stats, name, etc are irrelevant). They all come with +2
composite bows and 40 +2 arrows. Bring them into the group, trade off what
you want, and then dump them. This is about the only way you'll get magic
arrows in the game (there is a place where you can get some +4's, but not
many, and only once).
As usual, the best stuff comes after combat. However, you'll notice that many
of your opponents only carry mundane items, or no items, just some gems,
jewels, and/or steel. Even the Dark Wizards have junk for treasure; you can't
even pick up bracers from them (which makes me wonder how they got that
armor class of -1). Accumulating good equipment will be a slow task.
Troublesome Critters
DQK features some nasty monsters, many of which can do considerable harm
to your party. These include Dark Wizards, and bombardier Draconians.
Dark Wizards are high-level (I'd hate to guess how high) mages, and they
come into combat with all their defensive spells up and ready before the fighting
even starts. The spells they have in effect are Fire Shield (cold), Mirror Image,
and Globe of Invulnerability. For some time, these guys are going to be a pain to
kill.
Mirror Image makes it very hard to target them with arrows. The Globe will
protect them from the usual damage spells such as Ice Storm, Fireball, and
Lightning Bolt. Fire Shield will generally keep them safe from the Delayed Blast
Fireballs (or DBF), and bestow double damage on anyone who hits them with a
hand weapon.
One way of handling them in the early going is Cone of Cold. If you can get
someone close to a Dark Wizard, and have time to get off the spell, this will
usually kill them, since the Cone is an area spell and too high in level to be
stopped by the Globe.
This is tricky, though, since the Wizards tend to lurk in the back ranks, where
they are hard to reach. Also, THEY throw DBF's, and as we all know, the DBF
is an instant spell (like magic missile). One of those, and your party could be in
bad shape (not to mention, unable to cast any spells of their own that round).
Another way to get to them is an arrow barrage. Enough arrows will disperse
the various mirror images (or you may even get lucky on a shot and hit him in
spite of the duplicates). Once the images are gone, he is a sitting duck for
arrows.
The last, and best, way won't be available for awhile. When you get a white
mage high enough, have him (or her) learn Power Word Kill (for some reason,
this choice only shows for white mages). Power Word Kill is an instantaneous
spell, and it works first time, every time. One of these, and you won't have any
more trouble with Mr. Wizard. You will have to get fairly close to use it, since
the range is only 1 square for every four experience levels of your mage (ie, a
15th level mage can only toss it about 3 squares away).
The other problem comes from the Enchanted Draconians, which have been
put in the game to make your life much more difficult. Not only do Auraks blow
up when they die, so do Sivaks, Kapaks, and Bozaks. Of these, the Bozaks
(which I always thought of as Bozos) are the worst. I cringed whenever these
guys showed up in combat.
First, Bozos have a Fire Shield up, so you don't want to hit them with hand
weapons. Second, they can cast spells. Third, and worst of all, the damage they
do when they explode can reach 20 or more hit points, and there is no
protection against it. You just have to sit there and take the pain, hoping the
guys won't go down. Bozos can be a serious threat when several are in the
enemy party at one time.
Sometimes, if you have a high-level mage, a DBF will get through the Fire
Shield and possibly knock them out. However, between the shield and their
own natural magic resistance, this doesn't happen too often. All you can really
try to do is put them down with arrows before they get close enough to damage
the party.
Sivaks blow up like a Meteor Swarm, but the damage they do is generally not
more than 5-10 points per shot (at least, that's what it was when people had
rings of Fire Resistance or were under a Resist Fire spell). They can, however,
get the same people more than once if the area is crowded. Still, since they
have no other special powers and can't cast spells, they are not as dangerous,
overall, as the Bozos.
Kapaks splatter into acid puddles when they die. The direction of the splatters
is random, and the acid itself generally does somewhere between 1-5 points of
damage. The Kapaks are therefore the least dangerous of the "bombardier
Draconians".
Auraks, enchanted or otherwise, are always dangerous. Properly handled,
though, they can be less of a problem than the other critters. Auraks need to be
put down twice. In their natural state, they can cast spells (and enchanted
Auraks are especially fond of DBF), so you want to bring them down into their
berserk state as soon as you can.
In this form, they can attack, but do not cast spells. When they go down a
second time, they enter the energy form. In this state, they are stationary
menaces, incapable of movement or attacking, except they have a magical zap
that can hit an adjacent character. The zap of the enchanted Aurak is quite
damaging, so you don't want anyone standing next to it for very long. You
especially don't want anyone standing next to the enchanted variety when it
blows up, because that's 16d8 damage. My rose knight got caught in such a
blast once, and he took 80 hp's damage. Fortunately, he had most of his hp's at
the time, so he was still living after that.
The regular Auraks have a natural invisibility that prevents them from being
targeted by spells or arrows until after they have made their attack for the
round. On the other hand, these Auraks are more susceptible to DBF, so if you
can get one or two off near them, you may not even have to worry much about
them for the rest of the combat. Also, any mages with Detect Invisibility active
will be able to target the Auraks for spells or missiles.
Enchanted Auraks do not have this invisible ability (at least, we were always
able to target them). However, they are much more likely to resist any spells
cast against them (you do get through from time to time). Arrows and melee
weapons are generally the best way to deal with enchanted Auraks.
Part II: Taladas
Caergoth and The Caves
When the game begins, you are in Palanthas. The first thing to do is go to the inn
and memorize spells (and possibly visit the training hall, if you brought your
team over from Death Knights). The shop has nothing of interest (all mundane
items), and you aren't likely to need the services of the temple.
After your meeting with the general, you hustle along automatically to
Caergoth, which is in pretty sad shape, having just been blasted to rubble by
dragons. You'll have one encounter with a few dragons here. Then you can go
to the boat at the end of the dock.
This vessel is run by Captain Daenor (a paladin, of all things!). Ship out with
him, and before long you're on the trail of a bunch of nasty Draconians. You'll
have to track them through the caves, with several tough encounters along the
way.
Fixing on the upper level of the cave is hard to accomplish, as you're likely to be
interrupted by Draconian patrols. I did find it possible to rest and renew spells
by encamping just inside the cave entrance. When you get to the lower level
(where the Umber Hulks and other delights abound), fixing is usually possible,
although getting spells back is chancy. That's another reason to make sure you
have a full slate of spells before you start on this little jaunt.
There's nothing tricky about the caves; it's a straightforward matter of
mapping and combat. At the end, Crysia will get away, but you'll see her again
much later.
Naulidis
There's nothing like a shipwreck to make life interesting, and a storm at sea
sinks the Silver Shark. Fortunately, your party is saved by Sea Elves, who put a
spell on everyone to allow them to breathe underwater. Unfortunately, it
doesn't help with movement. Underwater, your team will not have a very good
movement rate, except for whoever equips the Ring Of Free Action (if you
have a dragonlance in the party, give the ring to whoever has the lance).
The Elves are currently having some problems with Sea Dragons, who are
rampaging through the city. While this is going on, you'll be asked to do little
errands and good deeds by the populace (once you find your way to one of the
two safe halls).
In the safe halls, you can rest up and memorize spells. During this part of the
game, you may want to dump your regular fireball spells, and load up on
lightning bolts instead. Underwater, fireballs aren't much use (heh). The
lightning bolts, however, will work, although not in the usual fashion. Instead of
zipping off in a straight line, they explode, covering an area similar to that of an
ice storm, but doing regular electrical damage.
After awhile, you find out that the dragons are rampaging because the evil
Sauhaugin stole their eggs. So of course you have to go and get them (isn't that
what heroes are for?). Be careful in the tunnel linking Naulidus with Celanost,
as you'll have a couple of encounters there with sea critters.
Eventually, you'll make it to Celanost and the air shaft. Explore the rooms
above carefully. When you come to one that appears to have treasure in it,
camp out and put Resist Fire (and Fire Shield, for those who have it) on the
party. As you move around this room, you'll have an encounter, and a Dark
Wizard will be among the enemies.
Beyond this room, you'll find the place where the eggs are stored. Whoever
dives down and brings up one or more eggs gets experience, so send down
whoever needs the points most. That takes care of Celanost, and you can head
back to Naulidus when you have all the eggs.
Near the entry to Naulidus is one encounter with Sauhaugin, followed by a
meeting with a horde of sea dragons. Just hand the eggs over to the dragons,
and they will depart in peace.
Of course, you aren't quite done yet. After you are escorted by the Elves to the
prince's private chambers, you may want to camp and save the game. Fixing
and/or resting won't be possible, because Prince Talhook and his merry band
have set up an ambush in this room. "Looking" will trigger the encounter, which
is the conclusion of the Naulidus portion of the game. When the fighting is over,
you'll get a dragonlance (a handy weapon to have).
Hizden and the Lighthouse
Hizden is also straightforward. Talk to Ezra, rest up at the inn, save the town
from marauding Sauhaugin, train if you need to, etc. Then make your way to
the lighthouse.
This is certainly one of the meaner parts of the game. There are few things as
frustrating as fighting your way up eleven levels, past enormous spiders,
Beholders, gorgons, iron golems, and other dangerous creatures, only to find
that nothing - nothing at all - will open the door at the top. The only reason you
might want to go as far as the tenth level is to find the dying Elf woman, who
has bracers AC 2 and a couple of other items.
The real way to the top is to walk around until you find a poorly-concealed pit
in the the floor and drop through it. This lands you on a mound of garbage (doing
damage, too, of course). Then you fight a veritable army of Greater Otyughs,
purple worms, and such like. There are a LOT of these critters, but fortunately
your DBF's will work wonders here, and you should be able to clean out the
monsters in short order.
Once they've been dispatched, climb up the garbage pile to a small, enclosed
level. Turn on Search and do a little mapping. You will find a false wall with a
teleporter behind it. This teleporter will send you back to the main level, not too
far from the door out. Mark that on your map, turn off search, and then start
walking into walls. You do that because there is a *second* teleporter in this
area, and the false wall that covers it will NOT show up when you have search
active; you can only find it by walking through the wall. This second teleporter
will send you to the top where you can talk to Fastillion, and get the two crypt
keys. That's all you need to do here, and then you can use the teleporters to get
out again.
Kristophan
This lovely place is under the domination of minotaurs. The minotaurs are big
and tough, and ready to pound you anytime you get out of line. I never found a
way into the palaces of either the king or queen, and suspect that they're there
just for show. However, if you want to start a fight to earn some experience
points, you can try entering the queen's palace. Don't do this too often, though,
or your party will be marked as troublemakers, and minotaur patrols in the
town will start attacking your group from time to time.
In the eastern (minotaur) half of the city, you will see an old minotaur abusing
his human slave. If you get involved, your party will end up having to fight in the
arena (that's the only way to get in there, by the way) against some very tough
minotaur opposition. This encounter does not advance the plot, so you can skip
it unless you want their armor (all the minotaur champs have +2 helms and
other gear).
On the outskirts of the city is the home of Eshalla, who looks like a hag but isn't.
Be nice to her and she'll tell you her sad story. If one of your party volunteers to
kiss her (several times), she'll be restored to her rightful self. She also falls
passionately in love with whoever kissed her. This is not as bad as it sounds,
since she bestows (over several encounters) some Neat Things on the party,
including a cloak of displacement and a helm +3.
The really important thing about Kristophan is the tombs below the city. These
can be reached only by having the thief from the pub join your party. His joining
will trigger the Dragonstrike, where you all make a mad dash north to reach the
safety of the abandoned temple (only the thief can open the way in to the
temple).
What you are looking for down here are the five pieces of the Oracle. Each
piece provides a cryptic clue or hint. You get one piece from the spectral minion
guarding his wife's cell, another from a ghost, a third when you visit the crazy
lich's "sideshow" (the piece is in Tightrope Walkers; "look" after you have the
spider combat), a fourth in the tomb of Kristophus ("look" around for it), and the
fifth after a fight with a very nasty bunch of vampires in the caves beyond the
tomb.
In the vampire room are two teleporters. One will send you back to the tombs
proper. The other, with a warning scrawled in blood in front of it, will send you
to a maze of pillars and teleporters. Many of these pillars are hollow, and have
treasure chests inside. Most of the treasure is gems and such, but one chest has
Eyes Of Petrifaction (work like a Flesh to Stone spell), and another has the real
prize: a belt of cloud giant strength.
The fake walls of the pillars do not show up under Search; you just have to try
all sides of each pillar (a couple are solid and have no way in). There will, of
course, be encounters with various critters as you make your way around this
area. Fortunately, they are all "regular" monsters; no Draconians are among
them. To get out of this place, you will have to find the pillar with the teleporter
inside it.
The Hulder
The Hulder are unfriendly Elves, worse in some ways than those of Armach.
At least the Armach Elves warn you away from their land. The Hulder have
the pleasant habit of letting people in and then smirking as the unfortunates
slowly starve to death. Sorry to say, you are going to have to enter Hulder
territory. By the way, having Elves of your own in the party is no advantage
here; they're treated as outsiders just like anyone else.
You can find it by going east from Trilloman to the mountains, where you enter
a cleft in the rocks. In a short time, your people will begin taking damage from
lack of food (and probably some sort of spell effect, since the damage is almost
continuous; really friendly, those Hulder).
Camping and fixing will heal up the party temporarily. At each camping, you
will be approached by the Elf woman Elea. She teaches the party some
important Hulder words. When you have learned all of them thoroughly (ie,
when you are told the journal entry that has the words and their meanings),
head off to location 7,11. Looking at the journal entry ahead of time won't help;
you have to go through the entire routine of hearing the words, repeating them
back, getting the meanings of them, etc., before the Elves appear to talk to you.
You will also find Tasselhoff Burrfoot as you wander through the forest. He
joins you temporarily (only for your stay in Hulder land). Tass is no better off
than you are (he's also starving and unable to find a way out), however you
need him in your party, so you might as well invite him in.
When you meet the king and queen of the Hulder, you'll notice that the king
isn't a bad sort, but the queen doesn't like you at all. At her instigation, the party
is sent to count the leaves on the Mother of Trees. Fun stuff.
The Mother of Trees is due east of 7,11. This is fortunate, since you will have to
make four trips in all to the tree to count the leaves. Tass, having more brains
than anyone else in the group, will refuse to help count. On each visit, he will
make a suggestion, such as burning the tree or cutting it down. Since your party
pledged not to harm any trees, following these suggestions is not
recommended.
However, on the fourth visit, Tass will suggest stripping the leaves off the tree.
Since it's almost autumn and the leaves are falling off anyway, this is what you
should do. One leaf will remain, and that's all you need to tell the king. The
rigmarole is finally over, and you'll receive some gifts (+4 arrows, a +4 bow,
some nice Elfin chain mail) as well as a ring of deception and a dragon scale.
This scale will be important later when you visit Blackwater Glade. The ring
will help you to uncover Auraks masquerading as someone else.
That takes care of the Hulder, and you won't have to visit them again.
Bai'or
Bai'or, way down in the SE corner of the map, is a city beset by dragons and
Sharkmen. Talking to the people there will give you some idea of what is going
on, although no one ever tells you exactly why the Sharkmen want all those
boats built.
In any case, what you want to do is find the librarian in the secret room of the
library. Tell her you can take care of the dragons. This will start a riot in the
town square (so be prepared for combat when you leave). After you polish off
the Sharkmen, heal and rest up, because a small army of dragons will appear
when you try to leave town.
When they've been dispatched, another dragon will show up. This one you
should talk to; he'll tell you there are good dragons to be found in Blackwater
Glade. However, don't go running off there just yet, because right now you
won't be able to find them.
New Aurim
New Aurim is a vicious town, with bodies all over the place: hanging from the
walls, lying in the streets, dangling from the roofs. Almost makes you wish you
were back with the Hulder. At least the forest was a clean place.
You'll find that most people here stay behind locked doors and are reluctant to
talk to you. This is because temple press gangs roam through the city, grabbing
people to be made into undead. You'll come across one or more of these press
gangs as you ramble around New Aurim. Defeating them will get you some
Thenol army uniforms, which come in handy (you only have to fight one gang to
get the uniforms; further combats are optional on your part).
In one building you will find a man who says he isn't accepting petitions today.
Your ring of deception will glow, because he's actually an enchanted Aurak in
disguise. You can fight him (and his friends) if you like, but you won't get
anything more than experience from the encounter: there is nothing of
importance to be found in the room.
In the western section is the Quiet Kender tavern, where you can talk to the
cleric of Myslaxa. He sends you to free everyone in the city jail. Since you're
wearing the uniforms (you DID put them on, I hope!), you can get in easily by
pretending you have prisoners. Of course, after that, you'll have to fight the bad
guys.
Freeing the prisoners requires a thief. Knock spells did not work on the cell
doors, nor did bashing (even bashing by someone wearing the giant belt). I had
to create a thief character specifically to pick the locks (which he was able to
do with no trouble at all).
When you return to the Kender, the cleric will give you a token, so that the
people behind the locked doors will talk to you. One of them will hand you a
clay pass to get into the palace. Another, across from, and a little south of, the
jail, will train mages in the party. I found it necessary to use his services when
some of my mages were ready to go up a level, but the regular training hall
wouldn't do the job.
Now that you have the uniforms and the clay pass, you can get into the palace
by the back door. In one room on this level, you'll be asked if you want to take
on a special assignment. Agree to it and accept the Palace Guard uniforms.
The odd thing here is that you're told to report to the Draconians upstairs.
However, the only Draconians up there are guarding the stairs to the king, and
they want nothing to do with you.
Be careful up there on the second floor. One of the side doors outside the
palace leads to the lair of a lich and his undead friends. In the NE is a room with
some mundane treasure in it; this is the lair of some undead dragons who will
attack if you enter their area. In the same area, but to the east, is a second door;
approaching it will set off an ambush by undead.
Where you're really supposed to go is downstairs, via the guardpost in the
center of the entry level. Showing your clay pass will get you past the guards.
Down below, you are escorted by a small army of Draconians to a big hall,
where you are asked (ordered would be a better term) to escort some
Draconian recruits to Hawkbluff.
This, friends, is a setup. After you and your retinue get back upstairs and past
the guardpost, you are attacked by Thenolian soldiers, who start beating on the
Draconians. Actually, these are not soldiers but rebels. The setup is that no
matter what you do, all the recruits are going to be killed. It doesn't matter if
you fight the rebels, run, or wait, the result will be the same. How nice.
Sometime after this, you will meet Grunschka, a female Dwarven fighter. She's
good to have in the party (not the treacherous type), except that her armor
class is pretty awful. Do what you can to get her better stuff as the game
progresses (she will stay with you right up through the end game, so it's worth
the effort). You should also get her a bow and arrows. While she comes with a
crossbow, that weapon only gets off one shot per round, where the bows get off
two per round. Since there are occasions where arrows may be lifesavers (and
I don't mean candy), everyone who can use one should have a bow.
Now that you've lost your recruits and met Grunschka, you will be able to get
up to the king's level. When you go to the Draconian guard post on the second
floor, the urchin seller will be there. One of his critters slips through the gates,
and the Draconians open it for the seller to go after it. This gives your party the
chance to also slip through and nip upstairs to visit the queen (the king isn't
worth seeing).
The queen turns out to be working with the rebels. She gives you a signet ring
and tells you to show it to the jeweler in Hawkbluff. Then she tells you about
the secret passage behind the fire place that will take you down below the
palace. Use those stairs to get down to the area where you received your
recruit assignment. You can skip the crypts on the lowest level, as there isn't
really anything worth taking down there.
In the temple, you will have several fights with Draconians, but some of them
will escape with the dragon eggs. Further explorations down here will lead you
to one room with a lone cleric, and another with Trandamere himself.
Unfortunately, Trandamere will escape (while his loyal friends try to kill you).
All you can do now is follow the trail to the next town.
Hawkbluff
This place isn't any cheerier than New Aurim, but at least there aren't any
bodies in the streets. The inn is a safe place to rest and renew spells if you need
to do that before attempting the dungeons.
Actually, there is only one dungeon here, with three entrances: the military
offices to the north and west, and the temple of Hith to the east. Each of these
requires a different pass for you to get in, and once inside, you will come across
guard posts on all the levels that require other passes. You cannot get by a
guard post unless you have the necessary pass.
The Outer Temple of Hith does not, however, lead to the rest of the dungeon.
When you go up, you end in the room of a lone cleric. Killing him provides a
keyhole pass, but the other door in the room is "securely locked", and you
aren't even given a chance to open it.
While you will need to buy several passes, you can also pick up a couple of free
ones. On level 2, there is an empty room in the functionaries area where you
can grab a lantern pass and a release form for Davik the architect. Also on this
level is a room with a man who asks if he can help you. Saying "yes" nets you a
sword pass.
In most of your wanderings around the dungeon, you won't be bothered unless
you start trouble, so take advantage of this to map thoroughly and carefully.
Once you have the place mapped out, you can go downstairs to the cells and
get Davik. He doesn't show up in the party roster, but he's with you.
As the architect, he knows all about the secret passages and doors in the
dungeon. The only problem with using these passages is that from time to time
you will run into an undead patrol. This is more likely to happen the longer you
stay in the secret areas, so try to use them sparingly. Camping in these areas is
not recommended.
Once you have Davik with you, sooner or later the real guards will come for
him, and when they see he's gone, the alert will go out. After that, you can
expect encounters at any guardpost and also randomly on the levels (these
random encounters will, however, temporarily clear out any nearby guardpost).
If you do manage to get out before they seal the doors, you should leave
Hawkbluff, which will remove Davik from the party. This goes on under the
surface; you don't get any message that he isn't with you any longer. If you
didn't cause any other trouble while in the dungeon (such as fighting with any
clerics or Draconians in the rooms), you should be able to get back in and walk
around without having to fight.
You may wonder just why you're in here in the first place. That's easy: you
want the Book of Amrocar. Once you have the book, you will be able to get into
Tremor's lair in Blackwater Glade. Without the book, you don't have a chance.
Currently, this volume is in Trandamere's hands.
Trandamere can be found on the fourth level, in room at the end of the hall west
of the generals' lecture room. After the expected combat, Trandamere will toss
the book into the dumbwaiter and take off. It isn't worth following him; all that
happens is several encounters with guards, ending up with Trandamere
escaping through a portal that then blows up in your face. Far better to hurry
down to the kitchens and grab that book.
Since Davik will be with you again, you can take the fast route from that room
(where you just had the combat) by going through the secret door by the torch.
This will take you quickly and with a minimum of fuss to the kitchens, where
you should find the book in the dumbwaiter. From there, have Davik lead you to
the exit (which can now be opened, as the instructions are also in the book),
and you're out of Hawkbluff, with no need to return.
Blackwater Glade
This one is pretty quick and simple. Now that you have the book, just go
through the ruins to Tremor's lair. You may come across some Bakali watching
another one fight a crocodile single-handed. This is their manhood rite. If you
don't do anything hostile, one member of your party gets to bear witness to the
Bakali's successful fight. This is a by-the-way thing, and doesn't advance the
plot.
You can explore the rest of Blackwater if you want to, but there really isn't
anything of interest outside of Tremor's lair and Clematra's place. If you
entered the Glade in need of R&R, stop off at her room to heal up and renew
spells before going to visit Tremor.
Along the way, you'll run into Baldric the Bard. This is really Baldranous the
silver dragon in his human guise. Grunschka doesn't trust him, but he's really
quite harmless. You can take him into the party if you want (it will be temporary
anyway).
At Tremor's door, he will meet you in person and demand tribute. Whatever
you offer will not be acceptable, and Tremor will breathe on the party before
disappearing into his cave. The word to open the door is on the map; just type it
in backwards.
Inside, just keep going until you reach Tremor. You'll learn why he and his
dragons are such cowards, and what has to be given him to restore the
dragons' courage (bet you already guessed it's that dragon scale you got way
back when in Hulder land). There is one encounter here with Thenol troops,
after which you can trade the dragon scale for a Ring of Wizardry.
Then Tremor has to reassert his authority over an upstart. He does this by
asking one of your party to put a vorpal sword across his neck. Do it gently, and
the sword is yours. With all this taken care of, Baldric directs you to visit
Clematra.
Usually, you would have a chance to rest there, but that opportunity will not
arise. Baldric returns with urgent news, and before you can say "huh?", the
dragons are winging you along to the Gnome tower on the Burning Sea.
Part III: The Burning Sea
Gnome Tower
In the Gnome tower you will be reunited with Captain Daenor, who is still
searching for Crysia, and is willing to rejoin your group. Before you go in to see
the king, however, take time out to fix up the party and save the game. The
reasons for these precautions will become obvious when you go to kiss the
Gnome king's hand: your own ring of deception glows, indicating (probably to
little surprise) that the king is a fake.
Your party has two combats here, back-to-back: first with a small contingent
of Gnome thieflords (easily disposed of with spells), then with the Aurak and
his friends. With that taken care of, you must now search the Gnome tower for
the real king.
First, however, you may want to go to the Guest Room level, where you can fix
up and renew spells at the Sleepy Siren. If people are in need of training, there
is a training hall on the Workshop level, past the pub. The first time you visit the
hall, you'll have to kill off some Gnome thieves. After that, you won't be
bothered.
There is an old crone in one of the rooms on the guest level who has some
magic items for sale at outrageous prices. However, she will also perform the
usual item identification services for the standard fee of 20 steel.
Going to different levels is a pain (literally), since you have to drop down a shaft
(taking damage) before you can go up again. Usually, though, you can encamp
and fix up right there to take care of the injuries.
As you explore the tower, you will find it is crawling with Draconians. They are
all over the place, sometimes in disguise and sometimes as themselves. Most of
these combats are optional; if you'd rather, you can skip them and go right to
the door that leads (eventually) to the Gnome king.
This is on the guest room level (handy, since you don't have to drop down the
shaft!). There is one locked door, which can be opened with knock or bashing.
Beyond is a second door, magically charged. One dispel magic will take care of
that.
Past the door is the first encounter, with several Draconians and a pair of Dark
Wizards. After you win this one, go right back to the Sleepy Siren to heal up and
renew spells (make sure you learn plenty of healing spells), because it's about
to get VERY nasty.
Return to the room where you just had the combat. At the far door, encamp,
cast all the protective spells you can, and save the game. When you walk
through this door, everyone in the party will be hit with spells for anywhere
between 15-30 or so points of damage. This is another setup; there is no way
to avoid the damage, even with a Globe of Invulnerability. Everyone is going
into combat hurt.
This fight is with more Draconians and a Dark Wizard. When you get through
this one, don't end combat right away. Heal up your people as much as you can,
because there's more to come.
After the treasure screen, you will see the Gnome king come running into the
room with a cube in his hand, apparently about to attack the remaining
Draconians. You get several options here. Pick whatever you like, because as it
was with the recruits in New Aurim, your choice means nothing at all: all
choices lead to combat....and that Gnome King is another fake. He tosses the
cube at you, and again the party takes damage before fighting even starts. This
is why you must continue the first combat and heal people in the party.
When this combat is concluded, go back again to the Siren for R&R. Once your
people are fixed up, you can return to the combat rooms and go through the
final door. Here you see a teleporter that will take you to where the real king is
being held. Naturally, there is a fight almost as soon as you arrive, featuring yet
more Draconians (those dragons sure are prolific egg layers!).
After the fight, you will be faced with two kings, one real and one fake. I don't
know if the choices here are also fake ones that lead to the same result; I liked
the option to "see who bleeds red" too much try anything else (heh).
This will expose the Aurak, who teleports away before you can do anything.
After that, you can leave safely with the Gnome king through the teleporter in
the next room.
At this point, heal up, renew spells, get any training done, roam around looking
for combat if party members are near level...because once you reach the
Tower of Flame, there will be no opportunities for training, and not too many for
resting and regaining spells. And it will be awhile before you get back to the
Gnome Tower. When you're ready, go down to the entry level and meet the
king in the windship yards, and you're off.
The Tower of Fire
The windship drops you off at the top level of the tower. You won't, however,
be seeing too much of it this time around. As you try to cross the bridge, Crysia
appears on the other side. Daenor, forgetting all caution, goes charging ahead.
Your party is given several options, and I'm sure by now you know that
whatever you choose, the result will be the same: the bridges falls and your
party with it.
This puts you on level 0, and you will have to fight your way up to get back to
level 4 (Daenor mysteriously disappears, and you won't see him again until
you're almost finished with the Tower). Down here are Fire Giants who are
constructing huge siege machines and the like for the Draconians. Just go
through the entire level, wiping out all the giants and golems. Then take the
stairs up to level 1. This is the only time you will be able to use stairs to ascend;
all the other staircases have been sealed off with lava blocks.
During your journey through the tower, you will occasionally find rooms or
locations where "look" will tell you the place looks defensible, or defensible and
out of the way. This usually means you can fix up here, and renew spells. That,
however, is not an absolute. You could still be interrupted by a black patrol
when you try to heal the party or recover spells. Always save before you try to
use fix or rest. Those black patrols, by the way, only showed up during such
occasions; I never ran into any while wandering around the tower passages
and rooms.
On level 1 you will have several encounters with Beholders, Fire giants, and
golems. Aside from clearing them out, you must also open the siege port in the
SE corner of the level. This will admit a contingent of Gnomes into the tower.
You are also offered the services of six Gnome warriors. I did not consider it
worthwhile to have them with us. They are 14th-level fighters, but come
equipped with plate mail, giving them only 6 moves per round. Also, having six
extra people to control was too much trouble. It's up to you to decide if you
really want these extras or not, but if you choose not, you won't be offered their
services again.
When the level has been cleared out, go through the lava wall into the area
inhabited by various fire creatures. Resist Fire (ring or spell) will keep your
characters from taking damage. Alternatively, you could wait for the Gnome
bucket brigade to make a temporary opening in the wall, but that may take
awhile to happen.
Walk around this area until you find the spot where the Gnomes are setting up a
ladder. Use this ladder to ascend to the next level (this is the only way you can
get up there).
On level 2 you will have encounters with Draconians and dragons. It is also
necessary for your party to clean out the nest of evil mages in the NW, just
below the cells. One encounter with mages will occur when you first enter this
area (so be prepared with defensive spells). After that, head for the SW corner
of the area for the big confrontation.
There are two ways to reach level 3. The first way is to visit the cells, and free
Elea's mother (behind the barred door at the end; all the other cells are empty.
You may be able to fix and rest up in an empty cell). She'll get you up to three
by using the mattress from her cell as a trampoline (after which, she promptly
disappears). The area of 3 that you reach is very small, and the only way out is
the door to the north. Going through it is a one-way trip, as a pit opens behind
you when you stand on the square in front of the door.
The other way to reach level 3 is in the flame critter area beyond the lava wall.
In about the center of this area is a sort of elevator that runs between levels 2
and 3. Stepping on the platform automatically takes you to the other level.
On 3 you will have some very tough fights, all in about the same area. South of
the elevator is the place where Draconians become enchanted by bathing in
the powerful rays of the Grathanich. When you pass through the first archway,
you have an encounter with Draconian guards. After this is over, find a safe
place if you can to heal and rest up.
The second encounter occurs in the font room, which has a skull on the back
wall. This will be a tough combat with enchanted draconians. Again, heal and
rest up after the fight.
The final encounter happens in the area east of the font room, where you take
on the font master and friends (all Draconians, of course). When they've all
been wiped out, fix up your party, then head for the nearest shaft room. Any
one of them will do.
A windship will come up the shaft and take you aboard. This should happen
immediately you enter the room. If it doesn't, that means you missed an
encounter somewhere, and you'll have to go looking for it. Since there are only
three encounters on level 3, the likely place to look is level 2. This happened to
me, since the first time, I didn't clean out the evil mages down there. I
wandered around level 3 for a long time (after killing off all the Draconians)
with nothing happening. Finally I went back down and cleared out the wizards.
Bingo! That caused the windship to make its appearance. Of course, I still had
to look in the shaft room (I was feeling desperate by this time and thinking of
jumping down a shaft, just to see if that would make a difference).
When you reach level 4, an interesting scene unfolds in front of you. Daenor
comes rushing into the room, followed by a small horde of Draconians, along
with Crysia, who is still in their power. Naturally, he comes to a stop at the open
pit in the floor. No one sees your party, as the windship is floating above all this.
Crysia is ordered to burn Daenor. Your party has the opportunity to stop her.
The best way is to cast Dispel Magic on Crysia. This dissolves the Charm
Person spell, and she will abort her fireball. Then, while the Draconians are in
some confusion, attack them. Daenor will join your group automatically (Crysia
does not take part in the combat).
When it's over, Daenor escorts Crysia to the windship, but a small mishap
sends the ship with all aboard up the shaft and out of the tower. You will have to
go on alone from here.
Where you are at the moment is where you were way back when you first
entered the tower. However, this time, the bridge will not collapse on you. You
should find it in the other pit room (just exit and walk around to the other one).
This will take you to a corridor that has lava wallson both sides. Follow the
corridor around until you reach the center, then go south through the wall.
Continue south until you reach the end. Here you will have back-to-back
combats with a variety of monsters, including several Beholders. These are not,
surprisingly, as bad as you may be expecting (although, of course, not exactly
easy ;).
When the combats are finished, you will be pulled into the Abyss.
The Abyss
You may recall that way, way back, when you were adventuring in Naudilus,
there was a moment when Daenor and Crysia were mentally in touch with
each other. Then someone else looked briefly through Crysia's eyes at the
party. That someone was Raistlin Majere, currently a prisoner in the Abyss.
Despite his situation, he has managed to summon you here to rescue him.
The moment you arrive here, camp out, save the game, and do the usual R&R
to restore hit points and spells. Once you have freed Raistlin, you will NOT
have the opportunity to do any fixes or spell renewals, so get it done now.
After that, start walking east until you see a wall. Follow it around to the door.
Inside is a free-standing cube. Three of the walls are fake walls and you can
walk right through them. Since a hard fight is about to happen, I suggest
entering the cube from either the east or the west to give your party the best
position possible.
Inside the cube is Raistlin and the critters that guard him. Some are Draconians.
Others are not. Things are not what they seem in the Abyss, and while these
other creatures look like one thing, they are really something else. For instance,
the white dragon is actually a death dragon. The Disliki are actually fire
minions. You can find out what things are by targeting them. The Draconians,
though, are real Draconians.
This fight will be tough because magic is damped in this room, so spells don't
work. Of course, that means the Draconians can't cast spells either, but with
several enchanted Bozaks and Sivaks around, that hardly matters. Try to get at
least some of the Bozaks down before they get too close to your group.
When it's over, you can free Raistlin and be on your way to the chambers of
Takhisis. Do NOT try to fix up the party from this point on. Every time you try,
you will be attacked by several Dark Wizards (who look like skeletal warriors),
and your people are not likely to survive all those DBF's.
Takhisis is further east of where you pick up Rasitlin. Camp out in front of the
door, and heal up everyone in the party with individual healing spells. Try to get
everyone back up to maximum or as close as possible.
When you enter, Takhisis is doing some business of her own and won't notice
you. Since she's a god, I do not recommend trying to attack. Instead, sneak
around her (going to the left worked for me) until you come to the cloudy
mirror. This is the portal back to the Tower of Fire.
You can't use the portal until it becomes clear, so just wait awhile. Rasitlin will
throw a rock at the bell and miss. Pick someone with good dex to make the next
try. When Takhisis wakes from her trance, move towards the portal (or you'll
take some damage, which you can't afford).
Then she'll become aware of you, and she and Rasitlin will start their magical
duel. Don't get involved in this; these two are well above any magical abilities
you have. Just keep waiting until the mirror is clear. You will take some damage
while you wait; this can't be avoided. When the bell goes off, jump through the
portal.
Tower of Fire Redux
So now you're back on level 4. Around you are Gnomes, kneeling before the
tripod that contains the legendary Grathanich. DO NOT investigate that tripod
just yet. Camp and save the game!! You won't have a chance to fix up the
party, so if you have any healing spells left, use them now. Also use any
protective spells, as well as any scrolls of protection from Dragon Breath.
Okay, now you can send someone up to look at the tripod. What's in there is an
egg (the Grathanich is below it). The egg will hatch, and something REALLY
mean comes out. Can you say Tiamat? I knew you could. For those
unacquainted with the AD&D monsters, Tiamat is the chromatic dragon of five
heads: green, blue, red, white, and black, each corresponding to that type of
dragon, with that dragon's abilities. Tiamat will go first in the opening round.
Don't even think of going after the body. With an AC of -40, you aren't going to
hit it. Just go after the heads. You have to kill all five of them to kill Tiamat. Even
with dragonlances, it will not be an easy task.
Now, you may think this was the big ending battle. Nope. There is more to
come. While the Gnomes watch, the Grathanich floats out of the tripod, then
sinks through the floor. They all go running after it, leaving you alone. This is a
good time to fix up the party (I hope they all survived Tiamat).
What you have to do is find the Grathanich. I spent a lot of time wandering
through the tower, looking for this thing. As it turns out, the big action occurs
down on level 2, in or near the dark wizard area, so that's where you should
head (the Gnomes have forced openings in the sealed stairways, so you can
now use them to go between levels).
Along the way, you will come across a pair of Draconians who ask for a parley.
They set up a mirror so you can communicate with Takhisis (she won the fight
with Raistlin). It doesn't matter what you do here, since you'll have a combat
with Draconians and others. Rest up afterwards.
Finally, you get down to where the action is taking place. An odd contraption is
slowly enclosing the Grathanich. Draconians and dragons are all around to
keep interlopers (like you) from interfering. Naturally, you have to interfere, to
the tune of two or three (I lost count) back-to-back combats with the evil
hordes.
In the midst of all this, a windship arrives and tries tipping the iron flower
(which has enclosed the Grathanich) into the depths of the earth. A line
becomes snarled, and one of your party has one chance to free it before the
windship is dragged down with the flower. As usual, I picked one of the Elves
(that 19 dex is so useful) to do the job.
The remaining evil critters are then trashed by Takhisis, who is slightly less
than thrilled by the failure of her minions. After this, you can board the windship
for the trip back to the Gnome tower.
Gnome Tower Redux
Once back among the Gnomes, get your people healed up, rested, and trained
as necessary. You will be pleased to know that the regular elevator is now
working again, so won't have to drop through the shaft to get around.
When your party is fit and ready, head up to the palace for the big celebrations.
In the middle of all the fun and joy, there comes a rude interruption.
Remember Tremor? Well, now that he has his courage back, and the
Draconians have been defeated, he has decided to take over, starting with the
Gnome tower. Then Baldric shows up, assumes his regular dragon form, and
he and Tremor duke it out in the skies above the tower...leaving your merry
group to take on the small army of dragons that Tremor brought with him.
After all you've been through to this point, the dragons should be a piece of
cake, especially since you can really go to town with your spells. When it's
over, you can watch the conclusion of the Tremor-Baldranous event, where
Baldranous rips the iron scale from Tremor's chest, depriving him once again of
his intestinal fortitude. Tremor and the remainder of his dragon horde slink off
into the sunset.
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