Shadow of the Stranger

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Outdoor Map by BainIhrno Hints by Author Walkthrough by Author Walkthrough by BainIhrno Chapter 1: The Shadow's Reach Chapter 2: The Shadow's Presence The Empire Fort Assassinating the Mayor The Island Quest Tracking Gwennyth Chapter 3: The Heart of Darkness Chapter 4: The Shadow Revealed Chapter 5: Epilogue

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Hints

Shadow Of The Stranger is designed for High level parties, and rated PG.  I have used a standard six person party with levels ranging from 25 to the high 30's.  Despite my aversion to fighting, there are some rather difficult battles that must be completed, so a strong party is helpful.  Level 20 is a good minimum. I also recommend that at least one party member can use 7th level priest spells, and has a reasonable amout of spell points.  This is not required until the end of the scenario, and without it options available to the player at times may be limited.  A certain 5th level priest spell may also make things easier at a certain point, as well. Alchemy skill is also very helpful.  One might even say it is required at a certain point, although there is a rather dubious way around this, that is offered to the alchemaically-challenged.  This might be a good time to reconsider any bias you might have against alchemy.  You have been warned. Special Stuff: There are a few things unique to this scenario that you should be aware of.  There is a clock counter, so in places where it would be noticed, like outdoors and towns, day and night will occur.  Because of how things work with the Scenario Editor, a "day" town and "night" town are two different places, separate Blades towns.  However, you won't notice any change the outdoors, which is another unfortunate limitaton in the Blades Editor. Make sure you explore towns during both the day and at night!  Many things are different.  If you find you can't get into a certain place during the day, come back at night, and see what you can find.  Furthermore, some things might only occur at certain times of the day or night. You have a usable special item, called "What Time Is It?", that will give you a general idea of the time, based on the the position of the sun.  Note that inside caves or similar places, this will not be of much use.  Also, time only passes when you are outdoors, and not in towns, due to further Blades Editor issues.  This means that if you enter a town at night, it will still be night when you leave it, no matter how much actual time you have spent there.  If you want time to pass, leave town and use the Rest button until you get a message that day or night has arrived. You will also have a Special Item called the "Cheater Stick".  An amazing piece of otherwise ordinary-looking wood, this stick will appear in your Special Item list whenever you are near a particularly hard part of scenario (usually a battle).   If you feel the need, you can use this item and the way will be made much easier for you.  However, using the Cheater Stick will not only take an immediate physical toll on your party, it will also change your reward at the end of the game.  Only those who make it throuh the entire scenario without using the Cheater Stick will receive the best reward. General Hints: The Cheater Stick is always helpful, but it will usually only help with a specific problem (can't kill a certain monster, or trapped somewhere), not with the general question "Where do I go next?" Different things happen during the day and night.  Make sure you explore the towns fully! Listen to what people tell you.  Usually what you need to do next is explained fairly clearly.  At one point you will be given a choice of multiple quests.  If you can't complete one of them, try another. There is one point in the scenario where a 5 or 6 PC, fully-loaded (with items) party could run into problems with unintended item loss.  If this a pplies to you, you might want to put some of the non-essential items in a storage area as soon as you find it.   You will always be able to retrieve these later. Some of the very observant among you might, on a few occasions, notice invisible creatures in the walls.  These creatures are my way of compensating for shortcomings of the Blades engine, or creating some effects otherwise impossible to do.  Killing these creatures is NOT part of the story or required in any way . . . they will leave you alone, and it's best if you leave them alone, as well. If you are hopelessly stuck, send me an email at risberg@aol.com.  I will answer as quickly as possible.  You can also post at the message boards listed on my web site (the address is above) or at the Spiderweb message board. Two Specific Hints: If memory is not your strong point, following is a list of cube destinations. Initial state - Bobling (from initial) Pull - Secluded Hut Push - Weilim Pull, Push - Schernbuk Pull, Pull - Boat Landing (south) Push, Push - Capital Push, Pull - ????? (side quest) Pull, Push, Pull - ????? (end) If you can't get in the secret Brotherhood Outpost, push the button on the stalagmite.  Then from the lower left corner, 10 X N, NW, NE, N, NE, NW, and you're in.

Walkthrough

Scenario by: Drizzt (risberg@aol.com) Walkthrough by: BainIhrno (bihrno@yahoo.com) Welcome to the wonderful world of Shadow of the Stranger! You are about to play one of the greatest scenarios of all time, which also happens to be my favorite of all time, which is why I bothered to make a walkthrough. You may need help, though, because this scenario can be very confusing at times. If you are just looking at this walkthrough just because you like to look at walkthroughs, I am going to make this statement right now: PLAY SHADOW OF THE STRANGER EVENTUALLY. YOU WON’T REGRET IT. If you need extra help, email Drizzt or myself at the above addresses. However, most of the stuff should be covered. So now, without further ado (major spoiler alert!!!), the WALKTHROUGH!!

Chapter 1: The Shadow's Reach

You start out in your home. First, credits to beta testers and graphic artists will be given. Then, you will be given a brief history of the storyline started in The Forsaken, and continued in The Brotherhood of the Hand. This is part 3. Anyway, look around, and you will be introduced to the features of this scenario – the day/night cycle, the Cheater stick, and the climbing trees feature. Using the Cheater Stick will give you benefits, but will cost you at the end, and will also drain experience. However, try using it after looking at the bookshelf explaining it – without penalty! An Alien Beast will appear, who will offer you training, free identification, and will buy your items. Do this; explore your home more for more hidden treasures. When you are ready, leave your home – but beware: once you leave, there is NO coming back! You will arrive at an inn in Bobling. Go to the north of the inn and talk to Samuel. Talk to him, and leave the cubbyhole. Empire soldiers will attack you. They aren’t too hard, but can be deadly if you aren’t prepared. Cast lots of Major Blessing spells. Have your fighters duke out the Empire soldiers near where you are, and use magic to poison the wizard. The Bladesman will help duke out the Wizard. All in all, the bladesman is a useful tool in this battle, if you can keep him alive. Once you kill all Empire soldiers, you will receive thanks. Time to leave town and begin the adventure! You will receive a message as you leave to go north, behind the trees. A Brotherhood member will speak with you. He will tell you what’s going on, and what you need to do. You need to find one named Gwennyth. You learn his name to be Goe-Maethen. To start the quest, you will have to go through the Empire Camp. My suggestion is to wait until night. Otherwise, you’ll have to fight a lot of soldiers. Once night comes, go through, and stay on the darkened grass. The idea is to avoid rubble. Otherwise, you will be attacked. Once you get through, rest (if you need to), and go up into the Gloomy Cave. Be careful in here – you take ice damage every several moves. Find a stairway to go down. Walk across the darkness, and find a ghost. Tell him why you are here, and he will send to get a skull. He says that in return, he will give you passage to Gwennyth. Go to the north of the cave, and pass through a tunnel. However, to pass, if you don’t have the cross that you can get on the first level, one PC will have to give up some strength. Pick a character that is a spellcaster – your fighters’ need their strength more than the spellcasters. Go up, go through some secret passages, and get the skull. Go back down, donate your strength again (just use the same person every time – they have nothing to give), and give the skull to the ghost. He will direct you to Gwennyth. Go down to the white dot in the very east, and step on the white dot. Goe-Maethen and Gwennyth will speak with each other. After they are done, they will leave without you, and it is up to you to escape from these tunnels. The fights here are TOUGH! I would recommend lots of Major Blessing spells, maybe some protection/avatar spells. Fight through the hordes of monsters, and then go to the tunnel where you have to donate your strength. Do so, and you will be teleported to an exit. Go up the steps, go through the secret passage, and leave the cave. Something will come up, and you have successfully completed Chapter 1!

Chapter 2: The Shadow's Presence

After resting after going through that incredibly difficult cave, go through the camp, again avoiding rubble, go to a newly discovered wooden house. Talk to Goe-Maethen and Gwennyth, they will tell you what you to do. Your mission is to get the Stranger’s attention on you. You are to do this by doing certain missions involving defeating the Stranger’s forces in the area. Before you do that, though, Goe-Maethen will send you to a hidden Brotherhood Outpost (refer to the map to find out where it is). Go there, and the entrance has a magic teleporter trap on it. To get past, push the secret button on the stalagmite.  Then from the lower left corner, go north 10 paces, 1 pace northwest, 1 pace northeast, 1 north, 1 northeast, 1 northwest, and you're in (Note: That was a modified version of the hint from the readme.) Once you are in, listen to what the people will have to say, talk to people, and pick up all the treasure, especially the Flametongue. Believe me, it is a very good weapon – it has a nice graphic, does a good amount of damage, and really makes things easier – don’t leave without it. Once you get your things, leave the place. One named Drizzt will join you as you leave. He will get you a ‘teleportation cube,’ which is to be used with a Word of Recall spell. You can get the spell in Bobling. You should get it now to get it over with. If you don’t have anyone with decent Alchemy skill, you may want to change that right now. Once you are ready to begin, there are four options open to you. Pick two of the below that you want to do…walkthroughs included for all 4 options.

The Empire Fort

This is probably easy game, as there isn’t much involvement – mostly some good fights. To begin, wait until night comes. Then, go to the Empire Fort. Enter from the north, and go to the west. You will hear some voices. Listen to what they say, and keep going east, making sure you’re next to a south wall the whole time. You will find out about a secret passage. Once you hear about it, go east, and bang your head against the wall until you find it. Go to the end of the hall, and then rest there. The day will come, and then the gates will be open. Get into combat mode – this will give you an advantage (don’t worry, there’s no combat block.) First, an Empire Centurion will appear, and then some wizards will put you in anti-magic fields. If you get into combat, bless, haste, protect, and avatar, this should be easy. Battle everything that there is to battle. WARNING: Ur-Basilisks WILL appear – mages are summoning them – and don’t even think about one for your Soul Crystal. I’ve tried a million times, and it didn’t work. The good news is that Drizzt is fighting on your side – he can really help. After you defeat the army, go to the southeast corner of the fort. Fight an easy Fort Leader, but it’s not as easy as it seems. Once you kill him, you will be transported into a dark place. You’ll have to kill lots of things, and Drizzt will help you. After you have killed enough, you’ll come back. Use Move Mountains to leave the fort. Congratulations!

Assassinating the Mayor

Another quest involves you killing the Mayor of Weilim. The stuff you need to do is easy, but the fight itself is hard. To do this, if you don’t have Word of Recall yet, go get it from the mage in Bobling. Then, go to Weilim, and into the mayor’s office. There is a small room by the stairway, with some bookshelves. Search them, and get a key. Leave town, and wait till night. Then, use your teleportation cube, and set it so that it goes to Weilim. Then, cast Word of Recall and you are in. There should be a secret passage to the north of town. Go through it, use the key, and go up the stairway. Then, go south. Don’t bother trying to rob the town treasury – it doesn’t work. Once you are ready, enter the Hall of the Mayor. The Mayor is in his bedroom. He has lots of guards and a wizard. Drizzt will appear at the back of the hall to duke out the soldiers and the wizard. While he’s doing that, bless, haste, and protect your characters. It’s your only hope of survival. Send your fighters to kill the Mayor, and the spell casters can take care of the rest. WATCH OUT FOR THE GUARDIAN STATUE!!! He can do LOTS of damage!!! Once you have killed the mayor, the statue will go away, but you’ll still have to fight guards. Once they are all dead, go back down where you went up, and go south. A cracked wall will appear, which you can exit. Congratulations!

The Island Quest

This is the most involved quest. There are a LOT of things to do here. First, go to the boat landing, and go to the Desolate Island. Eventually, you’ll enter a secret town, and you’ll have to fight some Minions. Drizzt will eventually tell you about a sword called Soulcleaver, and you have to go back and get it. Leave the island the way you came, and go to Weilim. Find a Slith named Bob, and ask him about ‘sword.’ He tells you of an item keeper in Schernbuk. Go there, and find Sneed, to the south. Ask him about ‘sword.’ He will tell you that he knows nothing. Report back to Bob, and he will tell you that he is lying. He will also tell you what to do next – go to Schernbuk the next night, and climb a tree. You can catch Sneed red-handed throwing bodies into ‘Garbage Land.’ The next morning, ask Sneed about the ‘sword’ again, and he will give you the Garbage Land key. Wait until night, and then use it to go down the grate. Once you are down there, go find the Gelatin Cubes or something. There is a safe trail to the southeast of the cube, which are non-animated. Walk safely through, and you will see Soulcleaver – the cubes are having problems with Ice creatures, and getting the sword will be your reward. Once the cubes speak with you, a passage south will be cleared. Walk down the passage, and then walk east, into a small building. Cast Move Mountains on the ice terrain until they turn to water, then look at the altar. You will learn a special spell called ‘Freeze.’ Now go west, to the ice walls. Be prepared to battle some ice lizards/slimes/drakes. Go west, and you will be blocked by water. Use your freeze spell to turn it into ice. Cross, and you will find a Massive Ice Drake. To kill him, get your PC’s in combat mode, and cast protections and avatars until everyone is invulnerable. Then get out, and cast Move Mountain spells on the squares around him twice. Once you have done that, use your Freeze spell to trap the Massive Ice Drake. All that is visible is his head. You need to kill the head in four combat turns, or you’ll have to start all over again (Oh come on! Four combat turns is plenty!) Once you finally defeat the Ice Drake, go back to the Gelatin Cubes, and you will be able to get Soulcleaver. Go to the trash pit that you landed in where you came. Keep walking around, you’ll find the stairway to Schernbuk. Once you are back up, leave Schernbuk, and rest. Then, go to the Boat Landing, and go to the Desolate Island. Once you enter a random town, make your way to the southeast. WARNING: The spaces to the building are obstructed target spaces!!! You’ll still be able to walk on them, but you won’t be able to use magic!!! Make sure your fighters are well blessed and hasted!!! Once you reach the building, fight what you need to fight, and go down. Eventually, you’ll reach a place to split up PC’s. Send your PC with Soulcleaver, and make sure it is equipped. Otherwise, the PC will just die. You will meet one called the Traveler. Talk with him, and he will say he’s under the Stranger’s grip. He will want to fight. If you kill him, he will be free of the evil grip. Kill him (a tough fight), and then you can get his treasure, and you win. Leave the place, and make your way off the island. Congratulations!

Tracking Gwennyth

To do this quest, you have to have completed one of the other three quests. You can’t do this one first. If you want to do this, go to the Secluded Hut, and Gwennyth will tell you that she is going to pick up supplies tonight. Wait until night falls, and return to the hut. As you enter her room, you’ll find out she is not there (Note: She actually IS there, but the game treats it as if she isn’t. Drizzt just forgot to put a special node to delete monster type Gwennyth.) After the message pops up, you can leave the hut. Drizzt will offer to help you track Gwennyth down. First, go to some trees near the river in 10 moves. Then go to the rubble down by the forest, and step on it between 15-25 moves after you have stepped on the forest. Use the same procedure for the next rubble area. Then go west. Go into the square with a tree to the north, the northwest, and the west. Enter. Don’t go in the middle, otherwise it’s hopeless. Sneak around the forest, and get to the west. There are some secret passages in trees to the north. Once you find a special dot, step on it. Gwennyth and the other man manage to get away, but you will get a paper with runes on it. Leave this camp, and go to Schernbuk. Enter from the north, and go west, and then go south. If you see a rune on the wall, you’re on the right track. Step right next to the rune, and a secret door will open. Pick up the rug, and move it somewhere else. (Strange that there’s a ‘not yours’ flag on it.) Step on the space where the rug once was, and the fire will go out. Go down the stairs, and go straight. You’ll get in a fight. Kill everything that you see, and then you’ll find out that Gwennyth has betrayed you. You have to return to the hut, but the hut is not right…. Congratulations, you beat Quest 4! Congratulations after beating two of the four quests. You successfully completed Chapter 2!

Chapter 3: The Heart of Darkness

After you have beat Chapter 2, return to the hut. WARNING: Make sure someone is able to make a Potion of Clarity before entering! Ingredients are supplied for you, but everything else isn’t!! Anyway, once you are ready, enter the hut, only to find yourself in darkness. Keep walking, waiting, etc. Eventually, you will be moved into a cell, lose your items, and find yourself in a room. The Stranger himself is sitting there. You can’t kill him here, though. Do not sit in a chair, or the scenario will end. Instead, talk to Prazac, and ask her about ‘eyes.’ There is a secret passage to the north now. You’ll have to go into the darkness three times, each with a different thing happening. The first time, you’ll be in a forest, telling a story about the Stranger’s past, and how he became a villain. You’ll have to find a boy across the river. Don’t step on any rubble, or you’ll have to fight undead. Once you find the boy, talk to him. Pick up alchemy ingredients – they can help you. Once you get back to the wooden house, go to the cellar, and you’ll find spiders. Go back up, and be prepared to fight “Mom.” Once she is dead, you’ll have to fight “Dad.” (A tough fight.) Once they are both dead, you’ll return to the place you started at. Go through again. The second time, you’ll be in a ruin, and you’ll eventually have to fight Drizzt, Goe-Maethen, and “You.” (Don’t worry; you aren’t “really” fighting them. And they aren’t THAT tough.) Once they are all dead, you’ll be back. The third time, you’ll be in a parched wasteland. Keep going straight forward, and duck in a sand dune when told to do so. Then, enter “The Top of the World.” Jump over gaps, until you meet the Stranger. He will ask you to do things. Refuse everything, and you’ll be back in the room where you first were. You’ll have to fight the Stranger, along with skeletons and ghouls. This fight is TOUGH. Once you kill the Stranger, you’ll find out that was actually Empress Prazac. Quickfire will appear, and you need to go through a door and jump down. You’ll be back in the cell. To escape, take the ingredients. Give them to your alchemist, and make a Potion of Clarity. Give it to someone who can cast ‘Manna.’ Have the priest casting Manna drink the potion, and then cast the spell. Then, drop the food. A spotted gecko will come in to take a look. Kill him, and take the acidic lizard guts. Get the food, and lay the guts on the gates. They will blow up. You may want to repeat the process before blowing up the gate…you may need some extras later. Once you do, you can escape. Now might be a good time to use ‘Restore Mind’ spells. Look for the storage room. Claim your items, and use Move Mountains to open up a passage. Once you reach the stairway, you’ll be in the Empire Capital. Congratulations, you beat Chapter 3!

Chapter 4: The Shadow Revealed

You start out in the Empire Capital. You’ll now find out what is going on, and the Stranger’s name is revealed to be Skirn. Time to begin the adventure! If you don’t have Word of Recall yet, you can buy it from some Priests at the inn. Do all the shopping you need, and then leave town. Rest until night falls. Then, re-enter, and meet Goe-Maethen and Drizzt in the south, by some homes. They will get you in the Capital area. Look around, and cast Move Mountain spells where you need to. You’ll have to cross some wooden floors, but you’ll make a sound while stepping on them that wakes all the guards up. Fight them. Once you’ve done that, go down the stairs. You’ll be below the place. Don’t go in any rooms except one in the east, which has a key that you need, and the one with a single tapestry in it. The rest of the rooms just have guards. Go to the room with a white tapestry, and take it. Then look at the wall (not just walk into it), and a secret passage will open. Go down, and you’ll be forced to fight Forsaken. Up till now, you’ve been able to get in combat mode to give yourself an advantage. Not anymore! You’ll have to fight them when they have the advantage of going first! Once they are dead, proceed east, and enter the chamber of Gwennyth. Some anti-magic clouds will appear, but there are a few spaces that are open. Get your spell casters into them, and have them cast Protection and Avatar spells. Once everyone is invulnerable, don’t even bother with the Skirn Elites and Forsakens. Charge right at Gwennyth, Drizzt and Goe-Maethen will eventually appear to kill everything else. Use your spell casters again to cast Major Blessing spells. Once you finally kill Gwennyth, Goe-Maethen will start a Ritual of Sanctification, and get the Staff of Healing ready. The Forsakens will all disappear, but the guards will fight on. Once you kill all them, you have truly won the battle. Gwennyth will be healed, and will tell you what has happened. She will then write a new location on your teleportation cube. A portal will appear back to the Empire Capital.  Now, it is time to fight Skirn himself. Leave the Capital, and adjust your cube so that it goes to Skirn’s palace. Rest, then cast Word of Recall. You’re there. Go to the southwest. You’ll find a play going on, which abruptly grows darker, and then the audience turns into guards and Forsakens. Fight them, and then a secret passage will be revealed. Go past, fighting anything you see, until you reach the doors to the south – beyond is Skirn HIMSELF – THE FINAL BATTLE!!! Make sure everyone is thoroughly protected, blessed, and hasted before entering. Goe-Maethen will be able to fight on your side, but Drizzt won’t – he’s trying to make Skirn killable. Try to start out by killing the pesky wizard in the back. Major Poison is the best way to go. The poison will kill him, as the fighters duke out the guards. Skirn starts out invulnerable, but eventually, he won’t be. Once he isn’t, have everyone go after him – once he is dead, all the other monsters disappear. Before going into the portal, go into the treasure room. There’s lots of gold, and a nice halberd for a reward. In addition, if you haven’t used the Cheater Stick, you can get Snowball the Pig from the chest. Go through the portal. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!! You won the scenario!!!!!

Chapter 5: The Epilogue

You will first be given the outcome of the scenario after killing Skirn. After that, you will be congratulated for beating the scenario, and it’s still open for you to explore. Upcoming is how to complete the Bean Pet quest. To leave the scenario, walk away from the Empire Capital, or use your special item “The Way Out.” If you want to complete the Bean Pets… Set the Teleport Cube for Weilim. Leave town, and cast Word of Recall. Now go to Hezzor’s building, one with lava in it. He is an imp. He will tell you what bean pet he wants. Here are the locations…. Hungry the Vulture…. ask Max in Bobling about ‘bean.’ Talk to him from there, and you will get it. Give it to Hezzor. He will sent you to get another. Pnut the Elephant…. ask Elizam in Schernbuk about ‘bean.’ To get it, she will ask you to combine 3 things in Kendrick’s item machine – acidic lizard guts, a fine ruby, and Rockmoss. If you got some extra lizard guts like I suggested earlier, then you should be fine. Otherwise, your quest ends here. For the fine ruby, you can buy one at the gem shop, during the day only. For the rockmoss, ask the Troglo Khazi in Schernbuk, and he will tell you. Once you have everything, go to Kendrick’s item machine, and combine them together. Show the result to Elizam, and you will be given Pnut the Elephant. Squeak the Mouse…. Hezzor will write a new location on your teleport cube. Go there. Talk to the Welcome Demon for a good laugh, and then make your journey across. Be prepared to fight “ultra demons” (hordlings), “super mega demons” (imps), and, most importantly, EMPTIES!!!!!! Make your way to the center with lots of Firewalk spells, and then answer the Ultra Demon’s riddle. The answer is “fire.” You can take Twisty the Owl from the chest, but there’s not much use for it…the Ultra Demon will turn into a Haakai that you have to fight if you take it. After you have everything, make your way back to the portal that you saw on entry. Give the bean pet to Hezzor. Boomer the Hamster…. Talk to Max in the Item Emporium after getting the mission from Hezzor. Max will tell you about Richard. Now, go to the west of Wittenberg, and go through a secret passage in the trees. You will find a note there. Read it, and then use the teleport cube to go to the Empire Capital. Go to the innkeeper. Ask him about ‘Howie’, then ‘Richard.’ Then, leave town, use the Teleport Cube to set it to initial state, and go to Bobling. Leave, go to the graveyard, and go to the grave Beltane told you to go to. Dig it up, get the Bean pet, and then you will put it back and give Richard an apology. Give the Bean Pet to Hezzor, and he will move to a new cave. If you have Snowball the Pig, take it to Claire, and she will give you another bean pet. Go to the cave, and you will get Skitter the Beetle. Congratulations! You’ve done everything there is to do in the scenario! You have won all the way! I hope you’ve enjoyed the scenario as much as Drizzt hopes you have! If you haven’t played it yet…. you probably should! Enjoy! If anything is wrong with this walkthrough, email me at the above address.