Friends come and go, as too promises, in the world of Pillars of Eternity. I promised the newest member of the group, Sagani, that we'd go off in search of her friend at the cliffs. We went to the gorge, and promptly got annihilated by Feral Druids . This meant one thing. Time to go backwards, and gather more strength.
When Gherk stood over the bloodied body of Maerwarld, another companion; Kana, who has an infinitely easier to pronounce name, mentioned that there was some book, some tome that lay below our feet. Well, not directly at our feet, but an undisclosed number of floors below our feet, through a treacherous dungeon.
Having no desire to get my ass whooped again by murderous, feral druids in some gorge where the rain was falling, the memory of this, as I waited for the most recent save file to load seemed like an appealing task to take on board. I return to Caed Nua, my mighty stronghold, to yell at my steward, and enter the Endless Paths of Od Nua.
A single patch of blood on the ground suggests to me that there may be a concealed trap. My instincts prove correct, and using my mechanical (not thieving!) knowledge, I manage to remove the trap. The party, as you can see, is in dire need of a rest. Instead, I push on. I only have four of a possible six camping supplies, and well... it seems as though you go just fine after being maimed, so long as you rest. With 50% of my party maimed, and one near-maimed, I press on.
It doesn't take long to engage in some more combat which leads to four of the six members of my party becoming maimed. I rest, and press onwards with caution.
It doesn't take long before I come to a place that looks pretty much like an even more horific trap. I mean, that's a lot of blood:
I don't detect a trap, so I waltz right on in. There's some creatures in the middle of a ritual. I fight them, and kill them. The reason for the blood is the ritual, apparently. When the fighting is done, and I've taken everything that they own, its time to explore. Firstly, that menacing pool of blood. It is actually a well of blood, leading to some lower levels of the Endless paths. I use my grappling hook to descend fearlessly into what could be a cesspool of blood borne diseases.
I get to the bottom, and I see that I'm at the fifth level of the Endless paths. ... That's not a great sign, I'm only level 4 (and FaeFae, the bitch, is stuck on level 3). This does not bode well. It doesn't. I quickly insult a drake, and he makes crispy husks from my party.
Down the stairs I go, via a loading screen. It is an honest struggle, combat in Pillars of Eternity. I'm learning more about the importance of having a good, wide formation because there are a few issues I have with the combat engine. The most obvious of these is path-finding, which leads to roadblocks in corridors and doorways where people can fit to go through, but stand idle, wasting their precious combat turns.
I meet some ogre in the halls, and like so many RPGs, its "I got to talk to the adventurer first, therefore I am correct, and mighty, and right." I hear him out anyway, and he wants me to kill a rival ogre located a short distance away. This particular sequence of combat made me nearly rage quit the game. Firstly, my master of mechanics, Gherk, was unable to disarm a few traps. He got poisoned, big deal, he drank a magic brew and got all better.
My issue here that (almost) made me rage quit was the point that when I thought okay, let's be more considered; I'll lay some traps. I lay a trap. I go to the lay the next. The first disappears. Only one trap at a time? Surely, you jest. It did not jest. I'm not sure if the trap even triggered in the ensuing combat, but I eventually emerged victorious, in need of further rest. This game is kicking my ass.
Since I can't rest for free at my keep yet (I've still got some time before its ready) I'm going back to that filthy common room to see if anyone has any (Easy) but more importantly, rewarding work for me to do. I want to be ahead of the curve, not one step behind it!
I meet a bloke who was counting the hanging bodies under the tree in the middle of the town. He will come with me to travel. That's great, because he's a fighter. I send FaeFae back to the stronghold, where she can wither away in the yet-to-be constructed dungeons, or maybe spend time reading about how to be better in combat.
I realise there's a place that I haven't been to yet, so I backtrack: Welcome to Esternwood, which is East of the Gilded Vale, and a wood, or so I hope. Might clever naming conventions they're using here!
A really easy stroll, this area was, through a few spiders, wights, and skeletons. I come to the Eastern border and find one of the places I am meant to go! Raedric's Hold. Lets kick some arse (or see some more 'Load' screens.)
I don't go in through the front gate as I had initially planned. Instead, I am about to swim through literal shit to kill this man who hung all the people like decorations on a Christmas tree. I'm in his sewers.
Raedric's joint is pretty nice, once I'm done fighting through the undead in the sewers. There's a bunch of sell swords to kill, and some hired guards, and coming in through the sewers was a great idea, because I'm flanking almost all of the hired muscle on the inside of the fortress. This guys are giving me great XP, and I'm having a grand time looting all the things that I can find. I've been through the larder, the study, and both ramparts. The armoury had some nice things too.
Now, before I proceed any further, I am going to go and enjoy flanking some people in the courtyard. This will hopefully get my party to level 5. (Well, most of them!) The black space is where I haven't yet carved a bloody path. That will change.
I enter the courtyard and fight. Four of my party fall. I'm sad. The Ranger's wolf and Gherk and Eder fight on. They save the day. I really need to rest after this, and use a camping supply. I camp right in the middle of Raedric's courtyard. I'm arrogant and invading his keep. That puts me down to two camping supplies, which might be a problem later on, but this was required.
When the camp is broken, I get word that the stronghold has completed work on whatever it was that I got them to build last. Fresh from my slumber, I decide to restore the dungeons. If I can camp in my enemies courtyard safely, I should probably have a place to throw my enemies when I'm not killing them without any mercy.
I move on, keen to clear the rest of the courtyard. There's not much left. I am nearly done with this place. I fight my way through a bunch of priests, acolytes and dirty magic users. Eventually, I come to someone willing to talk. He's got a pseudo-son in the dungeons where I killed the undead. If I go down there, and save him (I already have) - then he'll get me close to Raedric. I'm pretty sure I've already gotten close to Raedric, but I do it for the XP.
Then I go kill Raedric. I lead him on first, suggesting that he and I can work together, then I kill him. I collect the XP, progress to Level 5, and go back to my Stronghold to sleep. Maybe I'll tackle the next level of the Endless Paths when Gherk wakes.