This is an old school RPG similar to some roguelikes and even games like Avernum. As far as I know, the first two books are out for now, so I decided to try the first one. Since the game is really story driven, I decided to try and write a more detailed log of my gameplay this time. I hope it isn’t too detailed.

The graphics aren’t amazing, but they give that old school feeling.

I started with a ranger named Adam. Not sure if I built him correctly as i have no idea about the mechanics of the game. I started in a house in the woods. I got a dagger and a note from a chest. The note was signed by an initial „E“ and in there, it said that there are some supplies near a well and that i need to meet a man named Maddock in a nearby village of Aridell. I have no idea who Maddock or „E“ are. I got the supplies and started exploring the area.

I tried exploring a series of underground passages under a ruined village nearby, but i almost got myself killed. In hindsight, i should have gotten a melee weapon skill to. Eventually, after running out of arrows and potions, i was forced to run towards Aridell and try to avoid fighting on the way. When i got there, i spoke to Councilwoman Eleanor to try and find out who i really am, but i got nowhere. I did, however, find out that the area is being attacked by strange dwarf like cave dwellers called Orakur and this is the reason strange beasts roam the countryside. I also asked for Maddock and she told me where he is.

Next door was a temple where i was hoping to get healed, but it was way too expensive. Father Michael, the local priest, offered me a job which would get me no payment, but would increase my honor. I am to deliver a restoration potion to a sick man in the south. I decided to accept the quest since i would probably be exploring the area anyway. I took the potion and left the temple.

Next door to the temple was The Owl’s Roost Tavern. I tried to speak to a drunken man there, but he wouldn’t talk to me at first. Then i rented a room for 15 gold pieces, which was way cheaper than healing at the temple. After waking up, i spoke to the bartender about the guest and he told me he was a shipwrecked sailor named Garrett. I spoke to Garrett and he told me he lost everything, including his sextant, which was a priceless family heirloom. I decided to look for it during my travels.

I left the tavern and entered a nearby magick goods store. I spoke to the shopkeeper named Abygail and asked for work. She told me she was looking for a special book called „Secrets of Transference Circuits“. I decided to look for it on my travels. She also told me that goblins took over a nearby fortress.

Next up, I visited „The Wayward Blacksmithe“ and asked Farwick, the blacksmith work as well. He told me he used to live in Elderhollow, the ruined village i woke up in and left some precious metals in the wine cellar under his house. Among other things, there was a bar of Mithril which he would really like to recover. I accepted the quests and then did some bartering. I sold all of my excess gear and bought as many arrows as i could. They are quite expensive, sadly, going for 1 gold piece each, so i didn’t really stock up to much.

Finally, I’ve found Maddock’s home. After speaking to him, i realized he was just a courier. A masked man left a package for him and he simply passed it along to me. He knew nothing about the man or the packed. On the way out, I opened the wrong chest and „accidentally“ stole an armor piece from Maddock, so he attacked me. I didn’t kill him and just decided to outrun him. He is an old man who can barely walk anyway. I don’t feel particularly good about this, but it was really not my intention to steal anything.

The character sheet is nicely detailed, as it should be.

The recovered package contained 300 gold pieces and another note. The note explained how Adam is not my real name and also said that I am extremely important for the entire region and my memory was erased for safety reasons. If i am to pursue the truth behind all of this, I need to recover an amulet form the tomb of a man named Adler Keldam at Eversleep cemetery. The key to the crypt is in the possession of the cemetery director, Leurik, who lives a bit north of Aridell. Before all of this, I’m planning to complete some of the assignments I got in the village.

I went and recovered the bar of Mithril and advanced to level 2 in the meantime. The bar netted me a nice sum of 375 gold pieces and i acquired the skill to wear light armor by leveling up. I used the gold to buy the remaining arrows from the blacksmith and also bought some armor to better protect myself. After that i went and delivered the potion to the sick man to the south. When he heard the potion is from father Michael, he instantly destroyed it saying that it was him who made him sick in the first place. As it turns out, the man found out that father Michael was cooperating with the goblins in building a portal that would allow them easier deployment of their troops. The man intercepted a message from one of the goblin leaders, which caused Michael to poison him. Now he tried to use me to finish the job. He kept the original letter and now asked me to bring him to someone who could do something about it. The captain in Darkford might be interested in it.

I quicktraveled back to Aridell and spent the night there. In the morning, i went to the north and visited the cemetery director. He would only give me the key if I gave him 200 gold pieces, so i agreed.

I decided to try and get to Darkford as fast as possible, so i stopped exploring and just followed the road in the right direction. On the way there, i encountered a woman whose husband went on to Darkford to somehow repair their broken wagon. She was robbed by thieves while waiting there so she asked me to go and find her husband. I continued to the northwest and passed by a strange tower built on water. Moving on, I to was ambushed by some bandits. I was too weak to fight them, so i ran to the nearest town with them chasing me. The town is called Bordertown and the people there quickly and easily disposed of the bandits. I tried to find some work from the people here. A boatman asked me to kill some slimes in the marshes to the east, an alchemist asked me to fetch an item from Grimmhold from him, and a blacksmith asked me to deliver a heavy package to a town in the south. The package weighs too much, so i had to postpone this quest, but i do intend to do it later.

Bordertown was right next to Darkford. I had to threaten a guard to let me see the captain, but in the end, I delivered the letter. The captain, read it, and said he would let the chancellor know so he can start an investigation. This is about all I could do. I returned to Bordertown, sold some of my stuff and then quicktraveled back to Aridell. I’ve spent the night at the inn and then went back south to try and find that sextant.

After spending lots of time and arrows fighting thugs in the south, i decided to give up on the sextant for now and go advance the main quest. I already had the key, so all i needed to do is visit the crypt. This is where i saved my game and stopped playing.