Scapes: After accepting Undead Researcher Esedran's quest to locate his
associate Neria's lost messenger, Amareth returns to Crescentia to empty
her inventory of loot and see what other tasks can be picked up in the
area. However, instead of floating exclamation marks, she finds a pair
of Valkyon Federation recruits like herself waiting at the entrance of
the town: Eris the archer and Grimace the berserker. It'd seem that
Esedran shopped out the job of finding Timuron to multiple would-be
heroes. Rather than race to find the lost messenger, the three of us
party up to share the quest.
When You Can't Beat 'Em... Hide!
Scapes: Our trio sets out to Berzerad Cemetery, just beyond the
outskirts of Crescentia. A cemetery is an appropriate hangout spot for
the undead, but this one seems to be even more popular than the last
time Amareth visited. Reanimated minions lurk around gravestones, while
imposing dragoons patrol the dirt paths. With three party members, it
soon becomes difficult to take more than a few steps without drawing
attention to ourselves. We soon find Timuron hiding behind a nearby
boulder. Given how thick the area is with monsters, hiding was
definitely a good idea.
The Walking Dead
Harmonia: The frightened messenger reveals he's carrying a compound
believed to be causing the undead creatures' restlessness. He dispatches
us to find Primus Hendry at Vanguard Outpost with the evidence, so we
regroup and continue our march along the road through the cemetery. Upon
arriving at the camp, we meet with Hendry, hand off the compound to
Neria, and are surprised with a shiny new achievement鈥"You Can't Hurry
Lore"鈥攆or completing 100 quests! Before we can take a full rest at the
campfire, Neria orders us back to the cemetery one final time to
investigate reports of a mysterious altar and to use the compound
Timuron was carrying on it.
Rest in Pieces
Scapes: Under normal circumstances, Amareth wouldn't be one for
disturbing a grave site, but orders are orders. After the party locates
the mysterious altar a little ways away from the outpost, Amareth
gingerly pours the compound on it with notable trepidation. The floating
blue flames surrounding the grave extinguish, and a voice howls, 鈥淲ho
disturbs my rest? 鈥 The party springs into action as a fearsome skeletal
dragoon named Grayal spawns from the ether, summoning a dozen broken
skeletons to his aid.
Grimace leads the charge, giant axe held overhead while running at our
foes. The berserker brings it down hard into the side of the steed, then
plants the blade into the soil and braces against it. This Axe Block
move creates a cone of defense which Eris and Amareth quickly move into
formation behind. The archer and priest unleash a torrent of arrows and
arcane energy on everything that doesn't look human. When flanked by
undead minions, Eris leaps backwards a few yards and resumes her
assault. Amareth waits for the monsters to close in, then casts Fiery
Escape on the crowd, engulfing them in an explosion of flames. The risen
knight soon falls, and Amareth patches up the party's wounds.
Six Feet Under
Scapes: Eris and Amareth help brush the shattered bone and corpse dust
off Grimace as they make their way back to Vanguard Outpost. Neria
welcomes us back and claims that the experiment proved her theory:
something is intentionally disturbing the dead's rest. The researcher
comes to the conclusion that the Lokian altars nearby must be the cause
and directs us to neutralize the ebonheart sorcerers and reavers of
resurrection we encounter with extreme prejudice.
We also receive an optional quest called a suppression order. These
repeatable quests have you target a specific monster type in a set area
and can be completed over and over again. Great to have active, if you
already need to take out the local residents for a different quest.
Harmonia: And that's not all鈥擧endry and the others at the camp provided
us with several new quests to undertake. From the look of things, this
is the last outpost in the region. Hendry seems especially keen for us
to check on his scouts and infiltrators as we move deeper into devan
territory, and instructs us to slaughter the devas we come across in our
travels.
As we make our way through the area we are constantly under attack from
devas. There is no safe path through this area, and we push through
their ranks with force. The magic users are especially dangerous for a
lone adventurer but together we dispatch them easily. There is little
that a lone caster can do against the might of Grimace's axe, and even
though Amareth is a healer, she gets right into the battle, fighting
shoulder to shoulder with us at every turn. As I charge my Penetrating
Shot and aim towards the heat of battle, I am impressed with the sight
of their Cyclone and Shocking Implosion attacks slicing through the
swarm of devas.
An Unexpected Foe
Scapes: As we travel towards Deva Silva, the location of the Lokian
altars, we encounter a strange creature unlike anything we've seen
before. The beast has metallic coloring and an unsettling number of
teeth in its giant mouth. Covered in thick spikes and armor-like skin,
this is clearly not an emissary from whatever race it represents. While
we were content to observe this rare spawn from afar, it has other
plans: the ambient music changes pace and it charges towards us!
It selects Amareth as its target and she's quickly knocked on her back.
Grimace runs to her aid with a knockback attack, hurling the monster
onto its side. Eris provides cover with simple attacks and Penetrating
Shot while Amareth casts Retaliate, brandishing her staff as she leaps
to her feet. Although the rhino-sized foe rights itself and resumes its
assault, Grimace assaults right back, blocking its path to the ranged
party members. The sorcerer gathers her energy for a blistering Triple
Nemesis attack and unleashes it on the behemoth. It drops to the ground
and doesn't get up a second time.
A mystery to be revealed in the future, no doubt.
Deva Silva
Harmonia: As we continue into the deepest parts of the woods, we happen
across a small devan encampment. After killing them, we reclaim the
stolen goods littered throughout the area. Just like harvesting resource
nodes, everyone in the party is able to collect from the same stolen
package to get credit for the quest. Goods collected, we finish pushing
our way into devan territory and toward the location of the elusive
Kantusa.
Kantusa, Ex-Spy
Scapes: Further along the road, we spy the agent but a few devan
loyalists stand between us. They don't stand long; the party makes quick
work of them. Amareth reaches level 16 and celebrates but Eris and
Grimace notice that Kantusa didn't join the fight and with good reason:
she was mortally wounded before it began. The devan agent clutches at
her side almost as desperately as she clutches her weapon. In a
cutscene, she tells us how she spied on her kind for the Valkyon
Federation and overheard how Dakanius was responsible for the corruption
of the Fey Forest. However, she was caught before she could deliver the
information. One might say she narrowly escaped, but she collapses in
the dirt and dies pleading that we stop the devan leader.