Book Tips, Tricks, Trepidation in Questing F O R E W A R D Hey, this is just a little message from the author of this book, Kyalrhin. I'm glad that this subject has piqued your interest enough to spend even a couple moments of your time to glance over this modest tome. I hope that your interest develops into a hobby and that you discover the joys of questing such as I have whether it be for the sake of accomplishing many things, discovering hidden bits of lore, or even wishing to possess exotic beasts. Feeling frustrated, need help? This is my open invitation to seek me out and ask questions, be it by letter, message, or direct communication. +=======+ | INDEX | +=======+___________________________+ || Foreward ................... P1 || || Recommended Quests ......... P3 || || Todos of Investigation ..... P4 || || Discovering Hidden Mysteries P5 || || Tricky Locations ........... P6 || || Common Puzzles ............. P7 || +-----------------------------------+ R E C O M M E N D E D Q U E S T S You may not be aware of this, but there are many quests that are simple, straight-forward and fairly quick to figure out. Simply the completion of these quests provide benefits that exceeds bolstering your honours. Why not give them a try, to dip your toes into the puddle of questing before splashing down into trickier domains? Highly accessible due their intimate relationship with the cities and forests of the Basin, all villages have quests! Not only this, but completion of these quests provide ikons, useful for crafting a gestalt and taking part in psychodrama battles. They also tend to provide a moderate amount of gold, karma, and experience as a 'thank you' for resolving their conflict. In particular, these village quests may be worth taking a gander at: o In the village of Angkrag, there is a rowdy, drunk orc who is skipping out on his work in the mines. Turn and push skeletal sentries in a bid to capture him! o Rikenfriez has a problem with their big, frozen pond. Ask Ahhuma about their soft ice problem, but don't use that pick on too much ice or you'll get dunked! o Hidden deep in the Undervault, Ixthiaxa is having some difficulty with their productivity. Tkegthui would be grudgingly relieved if you provided him with some assistance. o Mrs. Trundle in Estelbar is ever fretful about the health of the tae'dae cubs. o Murder most foul has struck the manor in Stewartsville. Gumboliah Brooks is on the lookout for someone who can help uncover the identity of the culprit. o Dairuchi is known for the quality of their marble, and this is done by training rockeaters. Draw a path to victory! o In the deepest depths of the night, terrifying hauntings have been taking place in Paavik. A discarded book in the manor may give some clue as to how to bring peace to these restless ghosts. While villages are great for learning to quest, there's a few other places of note that can also serve this purpose. There are many, many, many more but these are my most recommended quests for a beginner! o Near the hills that border the Serenwilde Forest, there is a small grove tucked away. Retrace the steps of its previous resident. o Sate Tadorro's belly by bringing the golden salmon back to the Toronada River on an Elemental adventure. o Whether you support the wolves or the taurians of Verasavir Valley, you will surely be thanked for relieving their worries. o In the river by the Shallach ruins, there's a newly wed couple with marriage issues. Why not give Hethklyff a hand with his demanding bride? o Wandering the Blasted Lands are a scattering of viscanti children. Nevak and Elalioll are in the mountains of Avechna's Teeth nearby to the east, seeking assistance to aid these lost souls. o Lousha Loo is quite absent-minded and has forgotten the name of the third sister, Sirenalai. Why not visit her in the shallows of the Inner Sea and remind her of it? o If you are a seeker of enlightenment, perhaps the Tosha Monastery in the Razine Mountains may be the place to find it. o Residing on a small island in the middle of the tumultuous Sea of Despair are spectres. Ruudvelt would love for some assistance in scribing their memories inside the Tome of Remembrance. o The beleaguered Duke of Highwater fears that bad karma is seeking his life. Why not provide him some help to ease his worries? His Keep is located in the Southern Mountains. T O D O S O F I N V E S T I G A T I O N Before I begin any quest, I like to investigate the area of that quest. Discarded items that may have been lost by a resident, once returned, may encourage that resident to give you information as thanks for returning it. Hidden locations almost always prove significant in a quest. Taking note of where important residents reside, or of the wildlife in the area, or even of significant structures (like a manor, or tower), may all be key factors in solving a quest. It goes without saying, but greeting a resident is a good place to start if you are snooping for a quest. Sometimes they may not be completely trustful of any stranger coming out of nowhere to greet them, so perhaps offering to help them with a task may earn a bit of their trust. If this still fails, perhaps listen to what they are saying when you greet them, and then asking questions about this may elicit more open communication. Asking for more information might also help in finding items the denizen is asking for too! They were the original owner - probably? - after all! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is an example of how you could earn a denizen's trust: I had greeted the chief of the furrikin village of Minkton, Ishar Pricklyfur. Ishar Pricklyfur: Are you the one responsible for our missing fish?! I then asked Ishar Pricklyfur, "Oh no! What's happened to your fish?" Ishar Pricklyfur relaxed her brows somewhat, clawed fingers gesturing at the nearby river. Ishar Pricklyfur: The fish have suddenly disappeared. We have no idea what has happened to them. Maybe... if you aren't that nasty fish-stealer... you can help us with this? I had said to Ishar Pricklyfur with conviction, "Yes! I will help you find this fish thief!" Ishar Pricklyfur's tail then wagged excitedly back-and-forth. Ishar Pricklyfur: Yes, please inquire with Gurash Lotsonaps. He was the one who was supposed to watch the river when the fish suddenly vanished! Another great way to gather information is to approach denizens and ask them about other denizens! I asked Ishar Pricklyfur, "Ah, can you tell me more about Gurash Lotsonaps?" Ishar Pricklyfur smiled sincerely, her sharp little teeth glinting ferociously. Ishar Pricklyfur: He is a great furrikin! Friendly, cooks the best fish, and takes many a nap. I then asked, "Oh, lovely. Can you tell me more about Lamarious Droopsnoot?" Ishar Pricklyfur had rolled her eyes at the mention of the weasel furrikin. Ishar Pricklyfur: Oh, him. If I recall correctly, he seemed to be up to something nefarious around the tackle shack the day before the fish disappeared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Items can be manipulated in a variety of ways, and it (usually) never hurts to try to interact with them in these basic ways: open, probe, push, pull, turn, touch, and use! Try doing these actions with items you encounter like couches, tiles or coat racks. Who knows? Maybe you will find a missing item that was leaving you stumped until then! You may also need to influence denizens in order to receive information, items, or have them perform certain tasks. D I S C O V E R I N G H I D D E N M Y S T E R I E S A pretentious title for this page, but basically... this is just a really important thing in questing... Look at your surroundings! Probe them deeply! Investigate all things that could be investigated! Ah, I'm coming off strong, aren't I? Let me demonstrate what I mean with this extremely detailed sketch of a room I had been considering making a part of my manse. ---------- A cosy cottage with a view of a pond. The walls of this cottage have been laboriously grown for years from a ring of aspen trees and its roof is an intricate latticework of their branches. The trunks of these young trees have grown around large, oval panes of glass, firmly locking them in their embrace. Each window is covered with twilit-hued draperies, save one that looks upon a nearby pond. Plush carpets of lambswool, tanned deer hides, and various animal skins cover every inch of the floor leaving no trace of the ground visible. A sofa covered in furs sits before a large hearth, pokers and cooking implements hanging from a hooks driven into its stone. Rough carvings of the local wildlife are tucked into a basket next to sofa, as are the tools of their making. Other rooms in the cottage are blocked off by heavy tapestries deftly woven with naturalistic scenes. ---------- When I look at all the stuff in this room, like the furniture and various odds-and-ends, I see many things that I would interact with in a bid to find hidden treasures. For example, if I pulled hard on a tanned hide, it could reveal a narrow tunnel in the dirt leading down! Or if I pushed the basket around, I might suddenly take note of a peculiar carving - carved from mahagony in the figure of a howling wolf - tumbling out of it onto the ground. Or even if I investigated that iron hook, I might turn it to find that it was loose. The bone ladle it was holding would then clatter onto the nearby pelts soundlessly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sometimes, it is not enough to casually look at items. Sometimes you need to probe deeper and see if they can be manipulated further. For example if I probed the hearth in that cottage very closely, I would take notice of extra details like the following sketch: ---------- This hearth is built from local river rock; salmon pinks, pale purples, smokey greys, turquoise blues, and glints of quartz striating black rock are all laid together in a chaotic mosaic. Bits of charcoal, fine mounds of ash, and a small pyramid of logs preoccupy the floor of the hearth, iron grates with slim bars installed in staggered steps along either side of the hearth's interior walls. Pots and pans sit upon the various levels of the grates, some still bearing the remnants of the prior night's meal. Hooks have been driven into the side of the hearth, various implements of cooking hanging upon them. A smoke-stained chimney of sorts leads into the canopy of the roof to disappear into their branches and beyond. ---------- If I would thoroughly investige the hearth in the sketch, I would notice something odd about the logs in it. If I pushed aside some of these logs, an amber necklace might tumble onto the floor of the hearth. You wouldn't notice these logs from a casual glance of the room, but they could only be ascertained by looking more closely at the hearth. Some quests will be tricky like that. If you have having trouble finding something, it may be that you need to examine a little more closely at something that previously may have held nothing. T R I C K Y L O C A T I O N S Not all places are simple to get to. Here are some that I have discovered. o Chancel: "The Forge of Klangratch." Down from this location in the Razine Mountains is the entrance into the Chancel of Mysteries. o Duum: "Gaping hole amid sweating stegamites." North and up from this location in the Southern Tunnels of the Undervault will lead to the Village of Duum. o Feyranti Estate: "Surrounded by Avechna's Teeth." Near the Blasted Lands in Avechna's Teeth, if you PULL some BRANCHes aside here, you will discover the road to the Estate. o Highwater: "Below the broken mountain." Head up from this room in the Southern Mountains to enter Highwater. o Iklara: "Within a broken spire." There's a mirror at this location in the Skarch Desert. However, you will only be able to TOUCH it and enter Iklara if you have completed both of the Night Market quests. o Krik's organ: "Carved cliffs." PUSH some SYMBOLS here in the Southern Mountains to reveal the entrance south into Krik's abode. o Meliashmora: "A small crest in the Razines." Scale here within the Razine Mountains to access the path into the Meliashmora of Secrets. o Mirror Prison: There is a massive door in the Skarch Desert. The location of the door varies, and it changes with every sandstorm. Should you find the door, WRESTLE with the DOOR and then KNOCK on the DOOR to gain entry into the chaotic Mirror Prison. o Mount Wend: In the northern-most recess of the St. Gathlyn's Orphanage there is a locked gate. This is the way into Mount Wend. You can either choose to assist Agitho make a crown of flowers, or beg directly from Merynth for a key, to unlock that gate. o Mournhai: "Between a roc and a hard place." Where rocs congregate in the Razine Mountains, PUSH a SKELETON here to reveal the entrance in. o Night Market: "Before an alien obelisk." An Illuminati stands guard before this obelisk. If you agree to assist him, he will activate it allowing access to the Night Market by TOUCHing the obelisk. o Tosha: "A large rock on a barren patch of stone." PUSH the ROCK here to reveal the entrance up. o ???: "Stone steps below a yawning cave." If you SCALE up once, there will be a cave that you can enter. C O M M O N P U Z Z L E S There are some puzzles that you will find pop up time and time again while questing. Here are descriptions of some of them! LIGHTS OUT ---------- These require that you either turn all the lights on, or turn them all off. Generally. There are exceptions for everything, after all. These puzzles tend to be a 3x3 grid and when you affect one square in the grid, that square and the surrounding ones are affected. If you manipulate the top left corner of this grid, this happens: +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ | o | o | o | | x | x | o | +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ | o | o | o | ===> | x | o | o | +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ | o | o | o | | o | o | o | +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ LOGIC PUZZLES ------------- Logic puzzles are pretty common in quests! They require that you acquire a series of clues to solve a puzzle. In the case of Estelbar, you are trying to figure out which cubs get which pills and toys. You can organise the clues you receive in a table like so: +------+-------+------+ | CUBS | PILLS | TOYS | +------+-------+------+ | Bebe | ????? | ???? | +------+-------+------+ Keeping the clues organised and filling the table out as you go is the simplest way to solve these logic puzzles. MAGIC NUMBERS ------------- A magic numbers puzzle is a math puzzle. You will be given a grid with numbers on the outer edges. The goal is to put numbers in the grid that adds up to the numbers along the edges. Some puzzles are lenient in that they allow you to use numbers multiple times, while others are more stringent and will ask that you use each number only once in the entire puzzle, or one per row, or one per column. Here is a simple example of a magic numbers puzzle, with its solution: 12 15 18 12 15 18 +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ 6 | ? | ? | ? | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ 15 | ? | ? | ? | ===> 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ 24 | ? | ? | ? | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ MINDTEASERS ----------- Often these puzzles show up as needing to push or press gemstones in a certain order to activate a device, open up a location, or for some other purpose. They are not always gemstones. Sometimes the puzzle requires putting idols into slots, or pushing runes, or pulling levers of certain colours. It varies from quest to quest but the general principle remains. The way to solve these puzzles is to first press all of a single type of gemstone, or whatever, to see how many there are of that kind in the sequence. It's good to use a gemstone you know will have no response to figure out where other inputs should be. Like the following: OPAL | OPAL | OPAL | OPAL .... there are two correct gems. OPAL | OPAL | ONYX | ONYX .... there is one correct gem, one gem that is in the wrong place, and two wrong gems. OPAL | ONYX | OPAL | ONYX .... there are two correct gems, and two incorrect gems. Some of these mindteasers are tricky... they will have unique pieces that must be put in the correct order. It's best to try to solve where these pieces go one at a time, taking note of positive and negative indicators for the other pieces as you go. TOWER PUZZLES ------------- These puzzles typically involve needing to shift heavy slabs from one tower to another, using three towers. The slabs will be enumerated, usually one to six, and due to their weight you may only carry one slab at a time. The only slab you can choose from a tower will be the lightest one. The solution to these is actually quite simple: think in odds and evens. If you have a tower of six slabs, you'll want the first slab in the destination tower to be two. In the example below, the eventual destination tower is the third one. The middle tower is where the "odd" slabs rest, and the destination tower is where the "evens" end up. | || ||| |||| ||||| |||||| || ||| |||| ||||| |||||| | ||| |||| ||||| |||||| | || ||| |||| ||||| | |||||| _ || You would then continue to shift slabs, putting three in the middle, moving one to the left, two to the middle, and one to the middle. This leaves the destination tower open to house the fourth slab. And so on and so on until you manage to free up the sixth slab to go in that tower. If you just think in "evens" and "odds", these towers become very simple to solve!