Debra, you need one of those amulets to access the Dark Elves place? The strategy book reminds us that there was one at the Crash Site and another in Elder Joachim's room at the Shrouded Hills inn. Apart from making overland treks, hoping to get waylaid by some more guys who wear these, it says it's possible to talk your way in without one, and also suggests sneaking in after making yourself invisible. Hope that helps. I'm on my way to Caladon, but will probably be doing some backtracking for side quests before long.

I detest games that allow you to sell quest items

Hope you fine another Debra..

I have made it to Ashbury and have done most of the quests there. I am now in the haunted castle attempting to slay the dark lord. I succeeded once, but then Magnus wouldn't follow me (I had my party hold while I lured the slaves out to slaughter). No matter how many times I told him to stop waiting, he just stood there. I would leave the stubborn man if I didn't want the stuff he was carrying.

I'm replaying with two (dog and Mug) waiting outside the door and trying to lure with Magnus flying into harm's way! We have slain several slaves. Now I am tired of saving and reloading constantly so I am off to bed.

Hi, Peggy. Glad to hear you've picked up Dog. He's good---I wanna keep him till the end of the game this time. Haven't done the Ashbury Haunted House yet, so I can't remember anything that might help you, but, with Magnus, the guide book says giving him some Dwarven Snuff (available in shops) can improve his disposition towards you. Also, picking up Torian Kel (an ancient warrior you meet in the Temple of the Derian-Ka) makes Magnus very unhappy.

This seems to be a bug with Magnus. I had it happen when I accepted the pig slaying quest. After I ask the group to wait only Magnus would not "quit waiting" when I told him to. I do have some dwarven snuff but can't figure out how to get him to recognize that I have given it to him. Once before, when my beauty was down to 4, he quit following me and did mention the snuff. I replayed that part to keep him and shortly thereafter my beauty jumped up to 9. Don't know what I did to make it go down, or how it went back up. Had to be something I was wearing, don't you think?

Anyway, I am going back to try to keep him alive long enough to lure all the slaves out to Dog and
Mug. Then we can all rush the dark lord and Mug usually kills before any of our party is badly hurt. Will report success or failure later!

I don't like Magus. He's a whiner and a so-so fighter. He sticks to me like Velcro and he can't even carry much. I hope you pick up some good party members. Sig's right Dog is great. He loves you no matter what you do.
I tried talking my way into the dark elves area and I tried invisibility, but neither worked for me. I found a Half-orc man in the Ashbury bar that had a Malochian Hand Amulet on and I pickpocketed it.
I tried to get the Dark Elf female mage to join but she said I was too "morally straight". Hey, I'm just 98% morally straight. Talk about being rigid. What's wrong with her??

Peggy, what pig-slaying quest are you talking about? I don't think you mean the one for that farmer in Ashbury, cuz you wouldn't have had party members wait behind for you on that one. How are you trying to give Magnus that dwarven snuff? The way I would do it is . . . open your inventory, drag the snuff over to the "Use box" on the right (that oval with the hand on it), then, when it switches back to the regular game view, click the pointer either on Magnus or his portrait. I don't care for him---he wouldn't even talk to us much when we met him. Let me know if you need some help finding other recruitable characters you might be interested in. And, about your Beauty fluctuations, check the Kills & Injuries tab (I think it's called) in your log book. The "Injuries" refers to you. Since you've been having a tough time of it, you might be all scarred up. What does it say there? Something like "Treated injuries are struck out." About Dog, I also like how he's low-maintenance.

Don't know if you were kidding, Debra, but 98% morally straight means that you're 48% more good than neutral, and even neutral is more good than Dark Elves are, so Z'an Al'urin was seeing quite a disparity between you and her. But I like her more than Raven and picked her up in my first playthrough, though I may not in this one. I just got the location of her village marked on my world map, but I want to do some side quests before going there. In the next session, I think I'll go pick up Jormund (who's a dwarf that I actually like), then fight through part of the Wheel Clan area, so I can get the Mithril ore for the Bronwyck's Gun I wanna make. My party's shaping up nicely. Looking forward to getting rid of the gangs in The Boil when we get around to the re-attempt on that. (Hmm. We need a "Cheers" gremlin who's hoisting a frothy mug of ale. Anyway . . . Cheers!)

Couldn't get the game to give me the necessary dialogue choices to solve the murder that Jormund's accused of in Qintarra, so I couldn't pick him up, but I've picked up the lizard guy, Waromon, who I like also, and will be heading back to the Wheel Clan shortly for that mithril I need.

I messed up the dialog for Jormund, too. Rats!
That was great advice about checking for injuries that weren't treated. I'd forgotten about that.
I want to play this game as an evil person just once. Maybe if I have a good character and an evil character game going at the same time, I can do it.
Have either of you ever played any game as a bad guy/gal?
P.S. Sig, I'm always either 100% good or as near to it as I can be in this game. I thrive on Kudos and being the Savior of Shrouded Hills.

It seemed like you have to do the Jormund deal your first time in Qintarra, though the strategy guide makes no mention of this. I'm pretty sure I picked him up in my first playthrough, but, this time, I didn't try to clear him of his mentor's death till my 2nd time there, and, no matter what I tried, I couldn't get the necessary dialogue choices to pursue the matter from either the guy guarding him or that gal near the vase that's supposed to have the vial of poison in it. Hated to leave Jormund under house arrest, but there was nothing I could do about it. I'll probably try to pick up Perriman Smythe a little later on, as I'd like to have a spellcaster in the group. Didn't pick him up the first time, but he's my 2nd choice, after Jormund.

No, I've never played any game as a bad character, and I guess I never will. Neutral is as low as I go, but in THIS game I'm as good as I can be. Right now, I'm in the middle of taking out both gangs in The Boil, after which I will loot the whole place. After that, I'll probably go do the rest of the side stuff in Ashbury. Enjoying the discourse in this thread as we all play it together. Syd should be starting any day now, don't you think?

I did get the word that GoGamer has sent me a package - I was pretty excited except I think I hit the slow boat to china way of delivery by mistake so the game may be coming by carrier pigeon

There's only one sheep at Madam Lil's, but she's a real sweetheart.

It's an inside joke, no pun intended, Syd. When you get to Madam Lil's you can have a good laugh.

OK now for the serious stuff. I AM STUCK! I cannot get the password from Gunter for Mannox Cave. I have checked all the WT's and I should have it. Any help would be appreciated.
I can't get the glass key without getting that password. I have gone back to the sarcophagus in the Panarii Temple and relooked at everything 3 times. I correctly went through the dialog with Hadrian and Gunter, I have Durin's Truth (the book) I have gone to The Lost Voices what am I missing?

Debra, the strategy guide says that you get this password from Hadrian, at the temple in Caladon, when you tell him you're an archaeologist. He gives you the password so you can access an extra section of the catacombs beneath the temple, but it's also used to enter Mannox's cave for that Wheel Clan side quest. Alexander, an acolyte at the temple, directs you to Hadrian, an archaeologist in one of the offices just behind him, when you ask for more information about Nasrudin. Okay?

Been there done that. The password needed is truth and he gave me a word that starts with a "C" (Crimstone) which I did not need to get into the crypt and cannot use at Mannox cave.
I just can't figure it out. Is there any other place you can get a glass key?

I went back and re-played the Mannox Cave quest and this time it worked. I did the same things so maybe it was just a glich in the game. I have just photographed the elusive Lethe Wyvern and complete the Durin Stone. I'm doing the odd and sundry left over side quests before I go to the Venigroth Wastes. I think I'll do the altars too. Now that I have Conveyence it's not such a much.
Peggy and Sig where are you now? Have we been three ships passing in the night?

I have gone adventuring in the real world. Took a 3 day trip to New Orleans for the first weekend of Mardi Gras. My younger son was in a parade and we want to give all the help and support that we can. Those folks so need tourists back as the economy depends on tourism. But it is still not quite up to snuff as many restaurants are closed, many hotels are nearly full of displaced persons and clean-up crews. Employers are having a hard time finding staff and on and on. My heart just hurts for them. I bought a lovely fleur-de-lis as so many natives are doing as a symbol of hope.

Sig, I don't know where my brain was when I tried giving Magnus the snuff. I just put it in his inventory and thought, "Oh, well. He doesn't recognize that I gave it to him". So, I'll just take it back and "give" it the right way. I had thought of the scarring I must be suffering, but did not know how to check on it. By the time I finish this game I am sure to have figured it out!

I am always good as I just like being a hero/heroine. I thrive on all those accolades.

Glad you got unstuck there, Debra. I took a day off from the game yesterday, so I'm still at the last point I said I was, but I'm gonna go make some more headway after posting this.

Yeah, Peggy, give Magnus the snuff the way I said and it oughta perk him up.

Hmmm... I seem to have a problem. I just finished the altar at Vooriden and received the Halcyon blessing. Good. Except that I lost a point in strength and one in DX. Can't afford to lose either of those!!

I did let Magnus go as he was being a real snit. Complaining constantly and the snuff did not work. I took Jormund in Qintarra and then let him go for the big guy to carry the rock for the new altar. Now that I am back and have fixed the altar, Jormund is gone, too! I may just have to replay this part, long trip or not.

Hi, Peggy. About Jormund being gone when you got back, some---maybe most---of the recruitable characters will vanish if you have them wait too long. The other issue, about the various gods and their altars, is more complicated. It takes up 2-and-a-half pages in the strategy guide, and much of that is fine print. Here's part of it:

" . . . some gods will curse you for making offerings to other gods, unless you've first made an offering to an in-between god. Aldous Buxington at Tarant University can explain them to you, give you a book describing them in detail, and show you the diagram for Mazzerin's Mystery---the key to Velorien's Blessing of Ultimate Power."

Hope that helps.

I redid the quest since I had Sogg Mead Mug and I am strong enough now so I carried the stone. All done and kept little quiet Jory.

Am now in pursuit of the book that Mist had about the location of the Dark Elves. And I am doing a few little side quests now and then. Turns out that I am a pretty good photographer of rare Wyverns!

Sounds like you're hitting your stride and doing better, Peggy. Been thinking . . . since you had that mishap with Virgil, if you want a replacement healer in your party, you might wanna talk to Jayna Stiles the next time you're in Dernholm (her house is just to your right from where you zone in). She wants to go to Tarant (for starters) cuz she's a scientific healer and technology is outlawed in that part of Arcanum. If you do pick her up and ever want to give her a treat, she likes sweet cakes.

Don't sell all your lava rocks Peggy if you're going to do the gods quest. It took me days and a little hacker program to get that boo-boo fixed.
Some gods have to be given 2 sacrifices of the same thing. Geodes, rings and lava rocks are things to keep in your inventory in duplicate.

This is really a fun game. I'm sure I am not playing the best ways, but I am moving right along and enjoying it greatly. I just finished off old Vincent in Caladon. That took a little effort! There is a lot of traveling but I level up pretty fast with all the encounters along the trails.

Thanks for the tips, Debra and Sig. I must check my inventory and the storeroom I keep in Shrouded Hills. Off to the half-orc isle tomorrow.

Vincent is a tough cookie! I'm glad you made it through that encounter. I haven't done the half-orc isle yet. I'm currently in the Vendigroth Ruins looking for the device.