Annotated History is a quest in The Forgotten Sanctum.
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 the missing archmage. Head on over to the Central Stacks to pick up her trail. The librarian will introduce the rules, giving you free rein of the publicly accessible parts of the facility, as well as warning off against the restricted and quarantined sections. The quarantined section lies to the east and, unsurprisingly, it's where Maura can be found. She fled there pursued by a masked creature, as the librarian will reveal.
- The Central Stacks Vault door may be inspected. By passing a History 13 check, it's revealed that it bears the emblem of the Hand Occult. If you manage to muster a whopping Mechanics 26, you can pick the lock and gain access to a staircase leading to the Oratory of Wael.
- The eastern wing is crawling with infested librarians, dropping 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.
- The goal lies in the Quarantined Section, where you must locate the Giant Luminescent Spore to the northwest and talk to it.
- It will reveal itself as the Llengrath and then decide to extend a tentacle of peace (namely, one that wants to infest you). It will reveal that Maura fled it when it attempted to Llengrathize her and that it did not interfere with a pursuer. You can read all the other Annals before talking to it, offer it tribute or pass skill checks to avoid a voilent confrontation. If none of these can be met, there will be fighting.
- Survival 18 or Diplomacy 23 check.
- Fungicide: "Your captors wanted to use this on you, but I think you deserve better."
- Fungal Fertilizer: "You don't need me to grow. This will do."
- If you've collected and read all the other available Annals of Llengrath prior to facing the Spore, you can tell it that you've read the soul of this Llengrath, and know that he/they isn't/aren't a parasite, but a fusion of souls. Then continue to take the obviously peaceful and inquiring dialogue options.
- The spore will then reveal that it wants to colonize Wael's body in the depths of the temple. You can tell it you will not interfere, or with Survival 15 offer to allow the spore to symbiotically infest you (while respecting your boundaries), instead (Hidden 12 resolve check). Oddly, the party does not object to this. They're used to you.
- Fighting or negotiating with the spore will give you a key that unlocks the door leading to the Central Stacks, the one leading to Maura.
- Alternatively, it is possible to fight or sneak your way through the Restricted Section by collecting volumes of the History of Eora and placing them on the proper pedestals before activating the pedestal. The final pedestal is guarded by a lone Librarian you can avoid killing if you lead him away with distractions before activating the pedestal. The Oracle of Wael will later comment on your discretion if you don't kill any of the Librarians.
- To find her, however, you need to steal the Incantations of the Hand or open the main door in the foyer of the Central Stacks, leading up to the Oratory of Wael. However, 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 and his knowledge of who is the Watcher of Caed Nua is a little out of date. 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. He will speak of a strange effect, apparently erasing people from history, then promptly leave, leaving you to deal with a dozen odd problems: A giant machine shooting energy beams in every direction, an army of enchanted armors, soul mirrors, and a mirror of the forgotten 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 laser eye. 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 with magic or Chanter heals.
- The laser eye 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, once learned, can be relatively easily avoided. Enemies are not affected by the beam.
- Destroying the second pylon (or maybe a little before?) will start phase 3 of the fight - Fyonlecg and 2 soul images. He is an archmage, so attacking his Concentration and using Interupts are key. He 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 of them all (destroying the power conduits helps immensely), 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 the fallen wizard grants The Mask of the Weyc and reveals the body to be a remote corporeal projection.
- Up the stairs, you need to 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.
Journal
| Quests/LAX03_Forgotten_Sanctum/lax03_cp_qst_02.quest | ||
|---|---|---|
| ID | Objectives | |
| 0 | Annotated History | |
| 10000 | The archmage Maura entered the Halls Obscured in search of something that might stop Eothas' destructive pilgrimage.
Based on the notes Maura left in the Temple of Revelation, Tayn and Llengrath believe she may have ventured into the Archives. | |
| 1 | Enter the Archives. | |
| 10001 | I need to find my way into the Archives if I have any hope of finding Maura. | |
| 2 | Pursue Maura. | |
| 10002 | When I arrived in the Archives, I was greeted by the bodies of several dead Librarians and a stoic survivor cleaning up the mess.
The Librarian told me Maura fled into the Quarantined Section, pursued by a masked figure. | |
| 20005 | The Spore Colony seemed to have had a run-in with Maura. It said she left south of here through a locked door, and the colony was kind enough to give me the key. | |
| 20006 | After killing the Spore Colony, I found Maura's grimoire on its body. | |
| 20007 | I ran into a group of Maura's tentacles in the Quarantined Section of the Archives. She can't be far now. | |
| 20008 | The lock on the Central Stacks Vault Door is inscribed with the symbol of a hand with an eye at its center. If I find this symbol elsewhere in the Archives, I may find a clue to this lock's construction. | |
| 20002 | The vault door's lock is too complicated for me to open on my own. Perhaps the Archives hold the answer for how to get past it. | |
| 20003 | I found a trio of lecterns in the Circulating Library section of the Archives. They bear two riddles and indentations where a book might go. | |
| 20000 | The Librarian told me the upper stacks in the Archives are restricted. I should tread lightly if I search that area for Maura. | |
| 20001 | I've found myself in the restricted section. There might be a clue for how to get past the vault door here. | |
| 7 | Confront Fyonlecg. | |
| 10007 | I was too late. The shadowy figure hunting Maura killed her - apparently, his name is 'Fyonlecg,' and he's murderously upset.
I'll have to deal with Fyonlecg before I can find what she was searching for. | |
| 3 | Confront Maura. | |
| 10003 | The shadowy figure pursuing Maura found her before I could - and now she's dead.
Well, sort of. The colony of spores making its home in the Archives seems to have taken control of what's left of her mind. Let's see what it has to say. | |
| 13 | Find the book Maura was searching for in The Oratory of Wael. | |
| 10013 | When I read Maura's soul, I learned she was looking for a book that would tell her how to get into Wael's body.
She was certain the book was on this floor. | |
| 16 | Use the Incantations of the Hand to open the Vault Door leading to the Oratory of Wael. | |
| 10016 | I found a book of Hand Occult incantations that details a spell for making a lock appear more complicated than it actually is.
Maybe this will help me get through the Vault Door of the Central Stacks. | |
| 19 | Enter the Oratory of Wael. | |
| 10019 | I opened the Vault Door. I should hurry upstairs to the Oratory of Wael - that must be where Maura went. | |
| Unused strings | ||
| - | 40001 | I stumbled upon a grisly scene at the entrance to the Archives - a group of slaughtered Librarians. Could this be Maura's doing? |
| 40002 | I found the central stair leading to The Oratory of Wael. | |
| 40003 | The curious inscription on the Central Stacks Vault Door is likely the work of the Hand Occult. Considering the sheer quantity of books this strange library holds, there must be one concerning unusual locks. | |
| 40004 | I found a pair of lecterns flanking a locked door. Their surfaces are inscribed with riddles. Perhaps some of the books on this floor have the answers I need. | |
| 40005 | I discovered that the complicated lock on the Central Stacks Vault Door was an illusion. With that mystery solved, I can now search for the strange figure on Maura's tail | |
| End states | ||
|
30000 | Maura discovered a way to enter Wael's body - one must sacrifice a specific memory to a machine called a Trephine. She didn't know how to use the device, however. I possess that knowledge from my confrontation with the Memory Hoarder in the Collections. |
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|
30001 | Maura discovered a way to enter Wael's body - one must sacrifice a specific memory to a machine called a Trephine. Unfortunately, I've no idea how to operate such a device. The answers must be somewhere in his sanctum, though it doesn't seem to be in the Archives. |