by st0rm » Tue 12. Feb 2013, 16:55
Re: Story Quest - Chapter 2
Chapter 2 - Quest 1: Painful memories
There's no way this is a coincidence! In a state of near-paralysis you stare at the drawing on the first page of the old book that you've just recovered from the chambers of Ionar Peserdur. The symbol, composed of two interwoven snakes, has been familiar to you since your earliest childhood. Then, as a small boy still unaware of the trials and tribulations that life had in store for you, these snakes were an almost daily sight in your parents' house. And the specific way they are arranged rules out any doubt that this is the exact same symbol. You'll need to examine the entire situation from top to bottom and gather as much information as possible. The residents of the neighboring villages would seem like a good place to start.
Conduct four raids (8 hours each) to extract information from the villagers!
0/4 raids
Reward: 40.000 points, 25.000 gold
Chapter 2 - Quest 2: The Scribe
Once the old man lies groveling at your feet, it becomes clear that this is a well-travelled scribe who possesses a tremendous amount of knowledge about myths and stories of the various peoples. Even after a bit of 'persuasion' he's unable to tell you anything about the symbols themselves, but he does know who you can ask. There are nomadic peoples in the wastelands of Mellwall; when faced with important decisions they defer to the 'Media of the Steppes'. These latter figures are unbelievably perceptive, starting with their choice to live in the tricky, well-guarded wastelands of Mellwall, where an incursion is too risky even for you. The losses from such an incursion would almost certainly be unacceptably high for you. It occurs to you that the Beastmaster in your fortress might be able to help with this problem.
Buy the Medium of the Steppes from the Beastmaster.
0/1 Medium of the Steppes purchased
Reward: 50.000 points, 30.000 gold
Chapter 2 - Quest 3: On expedition
The strange aura of the Medium of the Steppes brings you back to full attentiveness. It's a demented sight — the Medium has veiled its eyes yet appears to be able to perceive its environment with extraordinary precision. Abruptly it ceases its chatter and a knowing smile plays across its mouth. It names the place where the book was composed. Deep in the southern part of the country are the Swamps of Oblivion — a vast, inhospitable moor that has been avoided by all living creatures since time immemorial. There, deep in the interior of the swamps, stands a tower that is home to several powerful mages. This is where the book was created. Curiosity burns in you, but you force yourself to master it and not send out your forces right away. A rash expedition into the unknown requires a certain amount of preparation.
Store up 7,500 stews, 20,000 legs of beef, 7,500 hard alcohol and 20,000 wine
Reward: 60.000 points, 35.000 gold
Chapter 2 - Quest 4: The Mages' Tower
Your supplies start dwindling sooner than expected. You send squads of your troops off on periodic plundering raids to ensure that nothing runs too low. Finally you reach the outer edge of the Swamps of Oblivion. This last portion of your trip takes every ounce of your determination — not just because there isn't a bit of solid ground to stand on, but also because a thick veil of fog prevents any light from penetrating this strange place. After several days of searching, the weak silhouette of a tower appears suddenly in the distance. You make the decision to spare no reserves and go for broke, pressing on until you finally stand below this nondescript structure. You're well aware that it won't be as easy as it looks to capture this tower. But you nevertheless give your units the command to make ready for fighting.
Attack the mages' tower!
0/1 mages' tower attacked
Reward: 70.000 points, 40.000 gold
Chapter 2 - Quest 5: Emotion and clarity
You withdraw your army back to the edge of the Swamps of Oblivion to come up with a plan on how to overcome the force field. The humiliation burns deep in you. But you know just the thing to make yourself feel better: vent your shame on your minions. You indulge yourself in a bout of towering rage, unleashing your wrath on anything and everything within reach. After seemingly countless minutes your spirit slowly regains its clarity: a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. That makes the surrounding peoples once again the subject of your acute interest. After all, the mages in their tower must dare to leave their secure loft now and again — and thus the local residents are certain to have some knowledge of them.
Conduct 3 raids of eight hours each to acquire information about the mages and their tower.
0/3 raids
Reward: 80.000 points, 45.000 gold
Chapter 2 - Quest 6: The early bird catches the worm
Into your tent the farmer is dragged. To your mind he is little more than a waste of flesh, but the information he bears is worth his weight in gold. Several times he has observed one of the mages of the tower, a female, going down to the nearby lake in the early morning hours, evidently to gather herbs by the shore. This is precisely the opportunity you've been seeking! The Medium of the Steppes, too valuable not to be embedded in your army, detects the presence of 5 mages in all in the tower. So you can be certain you won't be outmatched in any encounter by the lake.
Send your troops down to the lake in the morning between 5 and 8 o'clock on an 8 hour raid to locate the sorceress.
0/1 sorceress found
Reward: 90.000 points, 50.000 gold
Chapter 2 - Quest 7: Rabbit and snake
You draw your noose ever tighter around her. The sorceress is encircled by your units, with no path for flight left to her. All at once she looks up and recognizes the gravity of the situation. The time has arrived to strike!
Defeat the sorceress.
0/1 sorceress defeated
Reward: 100.000 points, 55.000 gold, 10.000 Herb, 1 Sickle sword
Chapter 2 - Quest 8: Quiet before the storm
The emptiness that envelops you on the return journey to your fortress soon gives way to a dark sense of foreboding. The death of the sorceress will not remain unpunished. The Medium of the Steppes claims that there are only 4 mages left. You're nevertheless certain that a counterstrike will come, and it's urgent that you prepare for it. And because you're finding it difficult to sufficiently assess the power of the remaining mages, you should be ready to welcome them with something they don't know. Namely your mech! And to make sure the surprise goes off as planned, you'll need to invest some work into it.
Develop your mech into the Intruder.
0/1 Intruder
Reward: 110.000 points, 60.000 gold, 10 Souls
Chapter 2 - Quest 9: Man the guns
The deceptive quiet around your fortress this morning should have been all the warning you needed. You are unsuspectingly going about your business in the throne room when a voice suddenly booms like thunder out of nowhere. Looking around in panic, you realize that the voice must be coming from outside. You step out onto the balcony and spy 2 cloaked figures standing on a rise a safe distance away from your fortress. This is now the moment of reckoning to your deeds! The voice sounds through your entire fortress and announces your impending doom.
Defeat the 2 mages.
0/1 both mages defeated
Reward: 120.000 points, 65.000 gold, 1 Hooded crow, 1 Improved healing elixir
Chapter 2 - Quest 10: Attack from the air
For quite a while all is quiet and the air is vibrating. A powerful shadow emerges in the sky — and it's headed straight for your fortress. A wind is whipped up beneath the beating of its powerful wings and a growling scream shakes the land. It would appear the last mage managed to summon him. A giant dragon has you and your fortress in its sights!
Vanquish the dragon.
0/1 dragon conquered
Reward: 130.000 points, 70.000 gold, 2 Dragonteeth
Chapter 2 - Quest 11: Fire!
Your fortress is a massive conflagration — a veritable lake of flames engulfs you! With the original danger now averted, you must save whatever can still be saved. And for that to work you need water. You command all of your servants and army units to head to the well to put out the flames as quickly as possible. If you don't get things under control quick, your painstakingly erected fortress will soon be little more than a ruins, and as such an easy target for your opponents. And you've had more than enough of them for right now.
Acquire 1,000,000 water to save your fortress.
Reward: 140.000 points, 75.000 gold, 500 Honor
Chapter 2 - Quest 12: Gold and gems
An envoy claiming to have a crucial missive is announced. Something about him isn't quite right, as he declares that he's only willing to deliver his message if he's promised safe passage. You agree, with no intention of actually living up to it. All of a sudden the messenger begins to glow and is lost from view in a foul smelling cloud of smoke. From that cloud emerges a mage who appears not to have been involved with the attack on your fortress. With a clear sense of triumph he indicates that he can help you conquer the mages' tower. But his help comes at a price, one that for his own safety he demands in advance.
Deliver 100,000 gold and 5,000 jewelry to the mage.
Reward: 150.000 Points, 1.000 Eternite stones
Chapter 2 - Quest 13: Hounds after the hare
Enough is enough! These sorcerers have pushed you too far! This mage will bitterly rue the day he toyed with you. Not just because his ilk dared to set flame to your fortress. No, now they've also embarrassed you in front of your servants. Blind with rage you rail at your henchmen to begin the hunt for the mage. Your army knows all too well that if they fail to bring you the head of the sorcerer, they will soon receive the wrath you've saved for him. They prepare quickly to start the hunt.
Kill the mage.
Reward: 160.000 points, 85.000 gold, 1 Demonic goblet
Chapter 2 - Quest 14: Necro...what?
Now that this scandal has been avenged, you return to your preparations to storm the mages' tower. The sorcerer was apparently hoping to sweep the arch-mage out of his way and assume that position himself. Thus his words seem likely to be true. First you need to ensure that your army features a necromancer somewhere in its ranks. You set your researchers to the task immediately. To ensure that they are absolutely clear about what is at stake here, you select a random page and demonstrate horrifically on him what will happen to the rest if they don't hurry.
Research the necromancer
Reward: 170.000 points, 90.000 gold, 2 Improved rage potions
Chapter 2 - Quest 15: The Wand
One of your scouts has determined that the elite merchant at the arena of Myrimar has the Erodus' wands that you so urgently need. Without a moment's hesitation you set off with your retinue toward Myrimar to acquire a wand. Upon arrival you determine that it's going to be more difficult than you imagined to acquire the Erodus' wand. It turns out the elite merchant has a few firm rules. You must earn this powerful wand through heroic victories in the arena. The stature of the merchant — not to mention his powerful bodyguards — cause you to abandon any thoughts of taking the Erodus' wand from him by force. It appears that you have no other option but to enter the arena and attain the necessary glory.
Buy the Erodus' wand from the arena merchant.
Reward: 180.000 points, 95.000 gold, 10 Souls
Chapter 2 - Quest 16: Size does matter
You will not underestimate these arch-mages and their damned tower again — you've sworn it to yourself. While you now have the means to penetrate through the force field, you're uncertain what awaits you on the inside of the tower. Your mech has already had a general rehaul. Now you decide it's time to dedicate that same attention to your fighting forces and outfit them with the most powerful weapons you can find. To shorten the production times for the equipment you should now expand your weapons workshop. This will minimize the risk that your units will depart this world prematurely while storming the tower.
Expand your weapons workshop to the "large" size.
Reward: 190.000 points, 100.000 gold, 3 Imps
Chapter 2 - Quest 17: Nisfit's Secret
Naturally you weren't inactive yourself as preparations were underway for the assault on the mages' tower. You directed your scouts in their explorations around the Swamps of Oblivion. And it turns out these precautions were of critical importance. Your scouts inform you of a rumor by which the only countermeasure against the power of the arch-mage is to take possession of a certain object — Nisfit's riveted plate helmet. This prevents the arch-mage from controlling the bearer's thoughts. It's now clear that this arch-mage is a serious foe who must not be underestimated. You order your armorers to construct this kind of helmet.
Produce 1 Nisfit's riveted plate helmet in your armory.
Reward: 200.000 points, 105.000 gold, 1 Barbed axe
Chapter 2 - Quest 18: Too much knowledge
Now that you've collected all of these tools and have also taken measures to secure against the unexpected, the time has come to crush the arch-mage. Yet it seems that the arch-mage has also heard that you're angling at eliminating him. An ear-shattering scream suddenly rises from the marketplace up to your chambers. A skoar is running amok in the interior of your fortress! Tall as a house, the skoar is a creature with powerful wings and pointed horns that is only rarely encountered in this world — to the relief of all other living things. Because an encounter with a skoar generally ends poorly for anything in its path. Yet you must somehow subdue this monstrosity!
Vanquish the skoar.
Reward: 210.000 points, 110.000 gold, 1 Water shield
Chapter 2 - Quest 19: The right key
And so the path is now clear and all obstacles have been removed for you and your army. It's time to bring the fight to the arch-mage. While you now know the route, the path is no less arduous than it was the first time. Once again you must fight your grueling way through this sparse landscape that is so inhospitable to human life. Finally the destination comes into view: you once again stand before the tower — but this time you're prepared!
Attack the mages' tower.
Reward: 220.000 points, 500.000 gold
Chapter 2 - Quest 20: Nearly done?
It was easy to climb your way to the top level of the tower! No opponent blocked your path, nor were any other surprises unleashed upon you. The interior of the tower is fascinating, with rooms of shelves stuffed with old books. Perhaps later you'll have time to examine them in more detail. The arch-mage appears certain of victory, and it's safe to assume he's reserving all of his powers to be unleashed upon you from his lofty perch.
Defeat the arch-mage.
Reward: 230.000 points, 120.000 gold, 1 Soul reflector, 1 Slaughterer