Annotated History

 is a quest in.

Synopsis
Maura of the Seven Hills arrived at the Black Isles seeking the means to confront Eothas and stop his destructive pilgrimage across the Deadfire. The archmages at the Temple of Revelation believe that she explored the Archives for knowledge. The Watcher, as usual, is contracted to find the missing archmage.

Walkthrough
The goal of the quest is to find Maura, the missing archmage. Tayn will give you Maura's Field Book and point you to The Central Stacks.


 * From the Temple of Revelation, head northeast to the Central Stacks to pick up her trail.
 * The librarian will introduce the rules. The quarantined section lies to the east and, unsurprisingly, it's where Maura headed. The librarian reveals she fled there pursued by a masked intruder.
 * In the center of the room is a large vault door, leading further into the temple. You have several choices to pass through this door, which will progress the quest.

Opening the vault
Pick the lock
 * 1) Inspect the vault door and pass a History 13 check, revealing that it bears the emblem of the Hand Occult.
 * 2) If you manage to muster a whopping Mechanics 26, you can pick the lock open.

Through the Restricted Section
 * 1) In the Circulating Library to the west, collect several volumes of the History of Eora from the shelves.
 * 2) The librarians will attack if they catch you taking the books. However, you can knock over the various stacks of books to make them move away from the shelfs, giving you time to sneak in and steal the books. A companion can also briefly stop roaming librarians by interacting with them.
 * 3) Place the correct tomes on the pedestals in front of the door and then activate the rune device. The correct books are The History of Eora, Volume IV: The Founding of Readceras and The History of Eora, Volume II: The Tribe of the People of the Deer.
 * 4) The librarians in the Restricted Section will be hostile. You will either need to sneak past them to collect more tomes, or kill them. The Oracle of Wael will later comment on your discretion if you don't kill any of the Librarians.
 * 5) After collecting the tomes, the final pedestal is guarded by a lone Librarian. You can avoid killing him if you lead him away with distractions (e.g Sparkcrackers) before activating the pedestal.
 * 6) The correct tomes needed (from left to right) are: The History of Eora, Volume VII: The Three Body Agreement, The History of Eora, Volume X: The Man Who Would Be Skaen, The History of Eora, Volume IX: The Birth of Engwith, The History of Eora, Volume V: The Great Orlan Empire.
 * 7) The door to a previously unavailable portion of the Central Stacks will now be open.
 * 8) Take the Incantations of the Hand from the Chief Librarian statue.
 * 9) Head southwest and open a hidden door to lead back to the Circulating Library.
 * 10) Recite the incantation at the vault door.

Through the Quarantined Section
 * 1) Fight your way past the infested librarians, who drop a number of interesting items, such as Log: Subject K-1121's Confiscated Possessions and a variety of infested Hand Occult robes. Another notable item is The Annals of Llengrath, Volume I of V, starting Root and Branch.
 * 2) Enter and progress through the Quarantined Section. Locate the Giant Luminescent Spore to the northwest.
 * 3) It will introduce itself as the Llengrath and extend a tentacle to make you part of itself. It will reveal that Maura fled when it attempted to absorb her and that it did not interfere with her pursuer. You have several options in dealing with the spore.
 * 4) Allow the spore to continue to grow on Wael's body.
 * 5) Diplomacy 23 OR first read all the other annals before talking to the spore and pass a Survival 18 check.
 * 6) Then tell the spore "Feel free to grow on Wael. I'm not here to stop you."
 * 7) Ingest a symbiote that you can use later to infest Wael's body.
 * 8) Diplomacy 23 OR first read all the other annals before talking to the spore and pass a Survival 18 check.
 * 9) Survival 15: Offer to allow the spore to symbiotically infest you (while respecting your boundaries).
 * 10) Resolve 12: Successfully ingest the symbiote.
 * 11) Fight the Giant Luminescent Spore.
 * 12) Note: If you went through The Enclosures first and grabbed the Fungicide, you can poison the spore colony by interacting with the Spore Colony Mycelium, in the Central Stacks.
 * 13) This will apply a poison debuff to the Giant Luminescent Spore, making the fight a little easier.
 * 14) You can give the Fungicide or its alternative, the Fungal Fertilizer directly to the Giant Luminescent Spore, and it will be grateful, but it won't help you avoid a conflict.
 * 15) Fighting or negotiating with the spore will give you Maura's Infested Grimoire and Spore Encrusted Key.
 * 16) The key unlocks the door to a previously unavailable portion of the Central Stacks.
 * 17) Take the Incantations of the Hand from the Chief Librarian statue.
 * 18) Head southwest and open a hidden door to lead back to the Circulating Library.
 * 19) Recite the incantation at the vault door.

The Oratory of Wael
After taking one of the above routes, proceed up to the Oratory of Wael through the vault door.
 * Just as you find Maura, you witness her last moment, arguing with Fyonlecg, a strange, yet powerful mage. After killing her, he will demand your identity and act quite surprised when it turns out that years have passed. He will then ask if you know of a Fyonlecg, an archmage.
 * With History 13, Insight 14, or Bluff 15 you can mention that you never heard of him.
 * Alternatively, if you completed The Enclosures section first, Maura will already be dead when you arrive, but have become infected by the spore colony.
 * Note: If you had a friendly interaction with the Giant Luminous Spore and pass a Diplomacy 17 or Metaphysics 15 check, you can avoid the entire fight with Maura. This also opens up a special end-game slide.
 * The nearby machine comes to life and begins a battle with energy beams, an army of enchanted armors, soul mirrors, and the archmage.
 * This is a battle of endurance. The battle can be divided into 3 phases.
 * The first 2 are the pylons on either side powering the machine. These sections can be completed independently if you pour the party into one side and do not alert enemies from the other side. After clearing a side, combat will not end but remaining enemies are not alerted, allowing you to heal up.
 * The laser will telegraph its direction momentarily before firing, allowing you to reposition to avoid it. The beam deals immense damage - do not get hit by it. The beam fires at fixed angles that can be easily avoided. Enemies are not affected by the beam.
 * Destroying the second pylon will start phase 3 of the fight, causing the archmage to attack. Concentration and interrupts are key.
 * Fyonlecg appears to have a unique tentacle summon that can surround and alpha-strike characters. Item and ability summons will do well here to give him alternative targets to focus on.
 * After disposing them all, you will experience a Watchervision moment and make out Maura among the shelves, talking about stopping Eothas using Wael's titanic body.
 * Inspecting the body of Fyonlecg grants The Mask of the Weyc and reveals the body to be a remote corporeal projection.
 * If you fought Maura instead, you can loot the mask at a later encounter.
 * Go up the stairs and find the book Maura was looking for. It's on the shelves by the exit to the scriptorium. Grab The Sacrifice the Eyeless Face Demands to complete the quest.