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BROKEN TRIAD - Part 2: Tempest Isle Being hurled into the
great unknown, the second and last quest of this epic mission pack lay before
me. The sheer beauty of Tempest Isle dominated my surroundings. Rarely do you
see maps excelling to such heights of gorgeousness (left image below).
Attention to detail was visible in every speck of matter. Although the
gameplay was distinctly different from Arkford, Eshaktaar’s fingerprints were
clear. More puzzles and less enemies, but still the same amount of fun. This
was my first attempt using my new rig; Intel i5-750, ATI HD5850, running
1920x1080 resolution on my ASUS 23” monitor. Trust me, Thief has never looked
this flawless. J The story picked up immediately after
leaving Arkford. My goals were to meet up with Aleph, get rid of Nyarsal and
return back home. Inventory objects of interest were the Staff of Far Reach,
Brother Reginald’s rosary and two rope arrows. The staff I imagined would
come in handy. Lots of interesting
backstory scrolls lay scattered about. I took time to read every word and
sucked up the atmosphere in the process. The bath area was sprinkled with
loot (no pun intended), none too hard to retrieve despite the wandering
craymen. Found my first star gem in one of the upper chambers, partly hidden
beyond a broken outlook post. Gained access to the palace by flipping the
outside switch using the staff. The intended route was by way of a symbol
combination. Brought the hallowed candle and the small ring from in there. I
knew there was a secret vault nearby as well but didn’t remember the glyph
code. I kept it in mind for later. My first secret was just
outside the entrance to the hypostyle. I could mantle a lantern and ascend to
a plateau with a hidden chamber and some loot (right image above). There was
a way to receive hints to the secrets’ locations by the appearance of small
wandering scarabs. I remember seeing them first time playing about a year
ago, but I couldn’t manage to trigger them now. I recalled most of their
whereabouts anyway, so no big deal. Speaking of secrets, the next one was
close by. Entering dawn plaza, I traversed the ledges on the left to find a
hidden lever. It revealed some gems underneath the central sphinx (left image
below). Not much to report, but
another secret was accessible by stealing a key inside a window at the market
(right image above). It gained access to a room with more loot. Also at the
market was the first of several sanctuary glyphs, runelike shiny markings,
seemingly carved into the rock. Frobbing them sent me to keeper Aleph’s
library, or an imagined recreation of it rather. It gave me some vital
information on what was goin on, and that I better be on the lookout for
Nyarsal any minute. I received additional objectives to enter the Necropolis
and to find all the glyphs. Worked my way towards the
temple without further problems. Found another glyph and some more loot on
the various levels. The entire place was utterly deserted. The top floor had
a clever secret beyond a ledge on the outside overhang. To enter the Necropolis I
had to fetch the pyramid-shaped key from the catacombs. On my way back the
mummies were set free, and I was forced to backtrack to the end in order to
leave. Most walls had shade enough for me to avoid alerts of any kind, except
for one room. It was towards the beginning in a room with three caskets. Two
torches lit up the left wall, and the caskets prevented easy travel along the
other, plus you had two regular patrolling mummies (left image below). I had
to leap onto the right ledge and wait for the exact moment. The final casket
blocked easy inching past the second torch, so when the mummy had his back/left
side turned I did a hop while still on the ledge. It allowed me to reach the
corner, but I needed to slip onto the edge of the casket to reach the floor
silently. This actually took more time than expected, but rewardfully the
remaining rooms were a breeze. My only Supreme bust came
in the initial stages of the entrance to the Necropolis. A couple of traps
were set up to deter unwanted guests. Traps cannot be triggered according to
Supreme rule #9. I could avoid getting killed by the dropping stamps, but I
couldn’t avoid the trigger. The next secret was found at the top of
the winding staircase. A lever underneath the walkway opened a hidden chamber
with loot (right image above). No further problems came
until passing the former chapel in the lower area of the Necropolis itself. A
circulating ghost and a female sentry behind the altar made traversing the
room rather tedious. Exiting up the ramp took me straight to a fire skeleton.
I had to time the patrols and the sentry’s pivoting while making sure nobody
gave a first alert. Only one piece of loot and a star gem up there, so it was
a lot of hassle for very little. The next secret was located further down
the corridor, past the exit to the chapel. Dodging the patroller I raised the
gate towards the end of the tunnel. Before going through I lowered the gate
though, then rushed in as it closed behind me. A hidden cave was now
accessible above (left image below); it would have been blocked by the raised
gate earlier. Another glyph took me back
to Aleph’s library. His medallion made me able to light the hallowed candle
at the bottom of the well. Once lit, I could teleport using the medallion, then
exit to the temple by use of the glyph there. I headed back down to the
Necropolis afterwards. The remaining hallways
required standard sneaking abilities, nothing else. There were a few guards
around, but none of them were too alert and their patrols were fairly
extensive. I found the last secret through a window on the upper floor. It
was a small alcove in a hall that dead-ended in a room with an obelisk. There
was a female patroller heading up and down a staircase nearby. Out the window
I spotted a tiny button that could only be pushed by use of the staff. It
opened a panel with loot behind me (left image below). The gates at the end of
the Last Path could only be opened by raising two panels and shooting some
kind of magical energy ball onto a button. The hit alerted the patroller
below, so I waited for him to be elsewhere. I lowered both panels afterwards
for Supreme. At this point I teleported back to the market and looted the
secret treasure chamber underneath the palace. Now I could get away with only
seven star gems overall, thus minimizing pickups. This follows Supreme rule
#13: “Keep a clean inventory: don’t pick up what you don’t need and return
what is not usable”. I left behind one star gem on a windowsill northeast of
Lunar Courth, one in a locked chamber with an obelisk (which needed a gem to
open anyway), and the last behind a pickable door on a walkway above the
lower chapel (guarded by a patrolling fire skeleton that I found impossible
to sneak by). Summoned brother Reginald
twice beyond the Last Path gates (right image above). He ended up blessing
Draworek (the hammer) and sending Nyarsal and myself back to Aleph’s library.
There I had to sneak past the demon in the hall (no problem btw) and exit
through Aleph’s hidden bedroom glyph. After destroying the medallion using a
spirit fire arrow, all I had to do was to return to the initial portal and
end the mission. Great stuff Eshaktaar!
Thank you!! Statistics: Time: 1:36:13 Loot: 2010 out of 2010 Pickpockets: None Secrets: 8 out of 8 Locks Picked: 1 Damage Dealt: 0 Damage
Taken: 0 Consumables: 1 Spirit Fire
Arrow Ghost: Success! Perfect Thief: Success! Supreme Ghost: Failed! Perfect Supreme Ghost:
Failed! Notes: -
Had to trigger a trap to enter
the Necropolis. I didn’t take any damage, but the trigger is against Supreme
rule #9. |
