Before heading for the Isle of Despair, I decide to do some quests. I decide to except Ms. Pettibone's quest to retrieve a headstone from an elven tomb. When I arrive there, I find a pack of elves that are hunting for graverobbers. The only way I can resolve this peacefully is to tell them who sent me. If I do that, Ms. Pettibone is, presumably, killed, (the character just disappears from the gameworld) and the quest is marked as failed. Interestingly (and annoyingly) this happens even if I turn around and kill the elves. Stupid game! Anyway, I dispatch the elves and loot the tomb (fighting some ghouls along the way). I report back to Pettibone in Tarant, get my reward, and head off to Ashbury.
Ashbury is nothing special; it just has a bunch of quests. The best part of Ashbury is the haunted castle sitting right in the middle. It is not part of any quests and is barely mentioned by the townsfolk, it is just there for players to gain some experience and a little loot. It is atmospheric, and the fight with the Lord of the Damned is very fun. The Lord himself is not too tough, but he has a bunch of Lord's slaves with him, which are the toughest undead I have encountered. I once again resort to luring the slaves to me one or two at a time. The Lord even has two voiceover, but I can't make out what he says.
After the lord is dead, I exit the castle and talk to Captain Edward Teach, who transports me to the Isle of Despair. After setting foot ashore, I arrive at the main encampment. Apparently, there is a dwarf living here, but to see him I have to win a fight in the pit, their arena. Since fighting solo would require me to leave my party member behind, which would not be good since I was already over the limit, I decided to chat-up the guard, and he decided to let me in anyway. This is one thing I like about games like Arcanum: there is almost always a nonviolent solution to a problem.
I then talked to Thorvald and convinced him to join me. I then did a few quests and learned about some political intrigue: apparently the rightful king of Cumbria is being held on the isle. I then left for the mainland. On the way back to Tarant, I was accosted by a specter that claimed to be Arronax, some evil elf-dude who was banished from Arcanum thousands of years before. Since he has a voiceover, he is probably important.
I then report back to Bates who suggests I head for the Wheel clan to find out why the dwarven king deported his people. The entrance to the Wheel Clan can only be seen using special dwarven spectacles. Fortunately, Thorvald had some, and when they were equipped, I could click on the entrance. This part was quite annoying because sometimes the entrance did not appear.
Anyway, when I get into the Wheel clan, Thorvald bids me farewell. The place looks big, and it is bound to have some sidequests, but for some reason I just don't like the place. I guess it reminds me too much of those damn dungeons I have been wading through, and it is a sprawling mass of corridors. I resolve to just speak to the dwarven king; however, only his son is available. I learn that the king is located in a cave that is accessible through a trapdoor in the throne room (otherwise I would have had to trudge through another mine, and since I was sure more of those weapon-damaging monsters would be present, I decided not to). If the main character has a high enough intelligence, he can learn dwarven philosophy, which proves useful for convincing the king to return to his duties. The king tells me that he only handed over the Black Mountain dwarves because a group of elves threatened war. He said they claimed to come from the elven capital, and I should go there to check. He said I should check in the village of Stillwater for a way to find it.
This pretty much brings us up to speed with my current position. I will play the game some more and get back shortly.
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