I approached the fort from the secret entrance on the southern wall. The ground floor was easy to clear, apart from the main room. Technically, I could have avoided the fight against the majority of the slith force in the main room, but I decided to clear them anyway. The throne room was on the second floor. Again, it was quite simple to clear. The fight against Ssss-Thsss was challenging, but not too challenging. I looted his corpse, got his mark of leadership as proof of kill and return to the castle.

As I was leaving the throne room for my well-deserved break, someone barged in saying Fort Remote was attacked by demons. Me being the most appropriate for the task, I was immediately sent on this mission. However, as it’s been made apparent by now, I don’t prioritize well. I decided to go to the Freehold of Kyass first, for some investigating.

The Freehold of Kyass is, unsurprisingly, run by a guy named Kyass. He basically proclaimed the untamed north the sovereign territory of this new state and wants nothing else but to be left in peace. It’s really hard for me to pick sides on this. On one hand, it would be hypocritical for Avernum to not tolerate another state, seeing how Empire was acting this exact way on the surface. On the other hand, underground resources are severely limited as it is. Sharing them between two different nations would not be a good thing. In any case, I gathered some intelligence, helped with some minor issues to gain trust, and then returned to the castle.

I don’t remember the Freehold of Kyass being in the first Avernum, or Exile, so it might be a new thing added to the remake.

During all of this, I went to explore the drake cave near the Slitzerikai fortress that I skipped earlier. It turns out it isn’t really a drake cave. Two thirds to the north were actually occupied by an ancient crypt, and haunted by another lich. The thing is, the undead here weren’t human before they died. One of the friendly spirits there told me they are Vahnatai, an ancient, nearly extinct race of humanoids living in the deeper caves.

I returned to the Great Cave, and then moved to the area near the Tower of Magi, to deal with their ogre issue. It was easy, as expected, since I’ve been delaying this mission for a while now. After that, I decided to pay a visit to the Abyss, since I had a few delivery jobs to complete in that area. The first town to reach was Spire. Spire is the bad city of the Abyss. It’s basically run by criminals, with Meena, their mayor, being the biggest one. There was an arena there, however, so I managed to become champion while I was there. The final fight was a bit lengthy, but not really too hard.

Baghra is the good town of the Abyss, so it really sucks Avernum isn’t at all helping them with their giant problem. By giant problem, I don’t mean big problem, I mean literally giants. They are constantly being attacked by giants from the west and Avernum has done nothing to help them with the fight. I decided to take it into my own hands, but I don’t think I’m ready for it yet.

After completing some minor tasks, I went on to fully explore the area. There were a few minor events here and there, some fights of various difficulties, but eventually, I managed to explore most of the area. More importantly, I’ve found Erika’s tower. To gain an audience, I had to go through a testing ground, with both mental and physical challenges. Eventually, I’ve found her quarters.

She’s a cold and calculated person with a large amount of hate for the Empire. She’s also very direct, almost instantly making her intentions known. She wants revenge on the Empire, the emperor and his right-hand wizard Garzahd, who cursed her with her affliction. If the sun would ever to touch her skin again, it would burn her instantly. The curse cannot be removed, so even if Avernites one day do find an exit from the caves, she can never leave.

The archmage Erika is a major character in Avernum’s lore.

She wants to assassinate Hawthorne, but not just for petty revenge. The emperor is paranoid and psychotic. Anyone would rule better in his place. Hearing her reasoning, I agreed to let her use me. In order to kill the emperor, we need a portal to the surface, to some place near him, preferably. There’s a man named Ayden somewhere on the islands north of her tower. He knows the location of such a portal, as well as the rituals needed to use it. I’ve also spoken to her about other things. She agreed to teach me magic, for a price. I made use of this immediately, learning a couple of very powerful mage spells. I also asked about the possibility of finding a physical route to the surface. She said this was possible, but I’d better off working with the Scimitar group on this matter. I’ve already met their members in Baghra, and I’m in the process of joining them, so I’ll get to that later. I explored the rest of her tower and activated a transport pylon in the southeast corner. It was time to leave.

South of the slith colony, I’ve found an Aranea lair. This seemed to be their primary lair, because there queen was on the second floor of it. I tried to fight her and failed, so I might return to that later. For now, she is definitely too powerful. The rest of the lair, however, was cleared completely and easily.

My next objective is to gain entry to the Slitzerikai fortress. In order to do that, I needed a key, which can be found in one of the minor bases. I’ve tried one located upriver of a large waterfall. The slith dabbled in demonology there, so I had to fight plenty of demons to clear it out. Eventually, I’ve found the chamber of the shaman leader and killed him. In one of his chests, I’ve found an onyx key. I’m not sure if this is what I need, but it’s something.

This is the chasm that leads to the Abyss – Avernum’s Avernum

To the west of the minor base was the network of waterfalls where the Orb of Thralni was supposedly lost. I decided to try my luck and search for it. It didn’t work out. The wrong turn would take me to the Great Cave, while the right turns took me towards groups of enemies I couldn’t defeat yet. This is another one I will have to do later. There was also a drake cave nearby, but I decided to go to a town and recuperate.

After some rest, I returned to the great cave to tackle the gremlin menace to the south. On the way there, I stopped by Patrick’s Tower to heal Patrick’s wife with the graymold salve I procured. As a token of gratitude, he taught me how to access the ruined keep of the demon lord who once ruled Avernum, but I won’t be going there yet. As for gremlins, Lord Chuckles was a pain and exploring their castle was even more of a pain, but eventually I cleared it and got access to their treasure. This gave me a nice sword with a poisoned blade. I’ve gone out to complete some other minor task and then returned to the Castle. I’ve killed the demon trapped in the cells there, as the guard captain asked, so he gave me a mission. I have to go to Kyass and find out what their intentions are.

Of course, I already decided to focus on the slith for now. I went north of fort Emerald to clear out one of their bases there. It was an easy task. In one of the rooms in the base, I’ve found another set of plans which someone will definitely want. To the west of the base, there was what looked like a regular gremlin cave. After some exploring, I’ve realized it was a secret Imperial outpost. I’ve killed the empire soldiers there and gathered their equipment. Whatever it was they were planning, it failed. In the opposite direction, to the east, there was a tomb of some person named Drath, which I tried to explore, but I couldn’t get past a locked gate. According to an abandoned journal I found there, a band of adventurers hid in the tomb, found the key and took it with them to the dragon Morthrax. For now, the area was as clear as it could be, so It was time to move on.

Taking the absolutely longest route to the slith fortress, I decided to take care of the bandit problem north of Saffron. In the eastern lair, I’ve found letters from someone named Meena. This person was obviously giving orders to the bandits, but was also very clear they should avoid killing anyone if at all possible. Also, the leader of the lair claimed he was Empire, though that might just be misplaced loyalties. The western base was in ruins when I got there. A bunch of eyebeasts have completely destroyed the place. After clearing all of the ground floor, I’ve found a way to the floor below, where a group of brigands was still hiding. Their leader was my old friend, Lagrand. It seems his experience in Avernum was just as eventful as mine. I offered him a chance to leave, but he wouldn’t hear of it, so I had to kill him. It was a tough fight, but it was finally over.

Fort Duvno is one of the earlier forts.

With the bandit issue taken care of, I tried my lock with the Orb of Thralni again. This time, I managed to kill the pack of vengeful shades easily. After a couple of attempts down the maze of rapids, I’ve finally found a way to a basilisk infested cavern. In one of the final rooms, I’ve found the orb and the monster responsible for killing the First Expedition. It was a lich. The battle was easy and the spoils were decent.

Finally, I decided to go to the slith fort. I took a brief trip to Fort Emerald to recuperate and then landed my both on the island where the fort was located.

The Tower of Magi is enveloped in fear. The higher-up mages are hiding something and it shows on the various students there. I talked to X, one of the Triad, but he wouldn’t say anything. However, he promised me to teach me some spells if I get some notes from the Library in Baghra. The Triad consists of X, Solberg and Linda. They are considered the most powerful mages in Avernum, and they run the tower. The Tower itself was built by Erika, the actual, most powerful mage of Avernum, but it’s unknown where she is at the moment. Solberg is also on some expedition, so Linda is basically the one in charge for the time being. In one of the chambers, I’ve found an experimental portal which connects to the various pylons I’ve found in the cities across Avernum. The mage in charge taught me how to use it, so I can now quickly travel to most areas I’ve already been to.

I used the default names for my character’s, I think. Aldous is my tanky melee fighter.

After exploring the tower, I decided it was time to help the town of Mertis with their undead problem. The nearby passages soon revealed a cave which seemed to be the source of the undead. After a series of spiralling hallways, I’ve reached the central chamber, where a number of human and slith bodies were frozen, perfectly preserved. Through a vision, I discovered what happened. The Slitzerikai chased a group of Empire soldiers to this place, and both sides got trapped by a cave in, forced to die of starvation. Their mutual hatred created the curse. I killed the ghost commander, but the curse was not gone, only delayed. At least for now, Mertis will be safe.

After emerging from the cursed place, I realized I never actually visited Mertis. I simply followed the rumours and acted. It was a small farming community, with very little to offer. I’ve found the mayor, told him of what I did and moved on.

Since I was much stronger now, it was time to start dealing with the Slitzerikai problem. The first target was the newly built tower on the island close to Cotra. It was relatively easy to clear, and I’ve found some plans there I couldn’t read, as well as one of the missing crystals from that cavern nearby. The crystal was behind a hidden switch in the central lake.

I went to do some deliveries in the area of Formello and discovered a couple of new quests on the job board. I also managed to get past the barrier underneath Formello and discovered an Imperial mage there. Apparently, she was there with permission of the king and has a task for me. Her golem defenders seemed tough, so I decided to cooperate, for now. There’s an assassin hiding in the bat caves to the south, probably past that switch I didn’t know how to handle. The mage wants me to kill him. I also found a hidden passage in Formello, leading to a couple of treasure chests with strong magical defences. I don’t know who put them there, but for now, I can’t do anything about them.

I apologize for the bad quality, but I like maps. This one is of the known regions of Avernum.

I’ve done what the mage asked of me and was offered a second job. I am to find a man named Kyass and help him. I don’t think I’ll be completing this one. The name Kyass already reached my ears several times before. The last I heard of him, he is calling himself king of Avernum and is operating from a settlement in the north. Aiding him would mean betraying the real king, so I’m guessing I’ll have to do something else.

I’ve continued dealing with the slith and decided to invade the temple where a piece of the Demonslayer was held. It was a tough place to clear, but eventually, I recovered the sword piece and managed to fight my way out of the temple. Next up was getting the Slithzerikai Arcana for that mage in Fort Dranlon. This was much easier compared to the sword piece. As a sign of gratitude, she taught me how to dispel magical barriers. I guess I won’t need any more piercing crystals from now on.

I decided to take a side trip and deliver some blacksmithing supplies to Silvar. This made another job available, which required different supplies. I paid a visit to some of the dungeons I’ve already cleared, including the early Nephilim cave. I noticed I missed a few things there on my first run, including a room guarded by two crypt demons. It was somewhat of a tough fight, but I managed to defeat them and realized they were guarding the pommel of the Demonslayer. Now I just need to find someone who can reassemble the sword.

I went to Fort Draco to do just that, since I remembered they have a huge smithy there. I was wrong, though. I still need a few more pieces of the blade. I moved on to explore the rivers to the north and found a secluded monastery. The clerics there taught me how to cast the Return Life spell. Slightly to the south was Lost Bahssikava. It is the place the Slithzerikai were banished through from the lower caverns. There was still a peaceful tribe living there, hoping to uncover what they call the “Speaking Stone”. It’s their sacred artefact, but the expedition that went to retrieve it hasn’t been heard of. This place is still slightly above my level so, while I agreed to help, I won’t be doing it any time soon.

Before I went to the Great Cave, I still had things to do and places to explore. The first thing I did, though, was to spend a huge amount of money to learn a bunch of new spells. Fights should be slightly easier from now on. I went north, to the cave of Motrax, the dragon. I’ve found an old sage in there, who gave me more information about the Orb of Thralni. Apparently, it was lost somewhere beyond the slith lands. I spoke with the dragon a bit, but I didn’t stray too far from the main hall, since his pets are probably still beyond my abilities.

Next up, I explored the crypt the heard about in some town to the south. There was some decent loot in there, but I also had to leave behind a Heal tome which requires 8 levels of arcane lore to get. Next on the menu was Fort Draco. The forge there seems to have a reference to Minecraft. One of the Bill’s there says the mines sometimes find gold, and since recently, lapis lazuli and redstone. They don’t know what to do with it yet, but they’ll figure it out.¸

I bought a boat there, since it’s the only way to get one for the northern river, as far as I know. I left town immediately to check out where I can go and realized I wasted my money. There’s only a small patch of the river accessible and everything else is blocked by rocks. That’s 300 gold I’ll never see. In exchange for 25 coins, a beggar told me about some friendly intelligent spiders living nearby.

After Draco, I went to look for the friendly spiders and soon found them to the northwest. One of their members was kidnapped by the aranea, so they asked for my help. The aranea city was tough, but I managed to clear it in time and found the spider in one of the cells. As a reward, the friendly spiders let me into one of their back chambers, where I got some nice loot.

I was wrong about the boat. It seemed like the southern part of the river was blocked, but there turned out to be a path between the rocks. I started exploring all the various nooks to the south and soon found a hidden tower surrounded by lava. I killed the drake outside, but I needed a password to enter, so I left. Nearby, I’ve also found a pool of liquid which increased my spell power temporarily. Another pool a bit further gave me a cloak of curses, but I could only get one of the two. To the western side of the river, I’ve found an abandoned hut of some alchemist. Among the research papers left behind, I’ve found a recipe for something called Graymold Salve.

After some more exploring, I decided it was finally time to go to the castle. The slith are still too tough, enemies to the south of the Eastern Gallery are just as tough if not more and I’ve solved all the minor tasks I could, so there was really nothing left to do other than one last thing. Remember those gremlins near Silvar? I’ve found a bottle of wine which they might like, so I decided to pay them a visit. As I suspected, they drank the wine and left, which opened up a path to the grove nearby. The grove is now offering me a steady supply of healing herbs.

Avernum’s Castle is a city of its own.

Almaria was on the way to the Castle, so I stopped there to restock, sell some loot and complete a few minor tasks. Once that was out of the way, I entered the Castle. I was granted an audience with king Micah and soon learned my mission. Sss-Thsss, the Slithzerikai leader, is to be killed. Avernum has no navy so there is no way for an army to attack his island fortress. It needs to be a small team of assassins instead, and I have proven myself able to do this. Of course, to gain access to the fortress, I first I need to infiltrate some of the outlying bases to gather information. Before all that, I will need to train, though. The slith are still too powerful for me.

I went on to explore the Great Cave. At Fort Emerald to the northwest, there’s a huge green emerald which grant’s me a temporary cloak of the arcane upon meditating there. Emerald is on the Slithzerikai frontline, so it gets quite a battering. No one there seemed to need much of my help, though. A bit northwest of Emerald, I’ve found the rumoured friendly Slithzerikai village of Gnasss. There, I was finally told about the slith. They are all refugees from even deeper caves. The grandfather of Sss-Thsss was the leader of a warmongering tribe and the citizens of Gnasss disagree with their ideas, wanting nothing but peace with the humans. I’ve also learned that a piece of the Demonslayer is located in the temple of the dark tribe.

To the west were the neighbour cities of Blosk and Darnham. I’ve thoroughly explored both and visited their respective job boards. There were a mage and a priest in Darnham, so I’ve spent some money there to learn new spells. I still have plenty to learn, so I will be returning there once I get more money. All in all, this area still seems above my level, so I might backtrack to east of Almaria and see if that area is more suitable. Before that, I intend to at least explore the Great Cave some more and acquire new tasks.

Fort Remote, to the west, was quick to explore. It’s a tiny, dull place with not much going for it. To the south, there was Patrick’s Tower. Patrick is one of the three most powerful mages of Avernum, largely responsible for making it a liveable place. His wife is ill, and he needs graymold salve to cure her. Now, as I said before, I’ve already found the recipe, so I had no issues with sharing it, but we still need to ingredients to make the potion

Fort Saffron is another passage fort, this guarding the passage to the Abyss. The Abyss is basically Avernum’s Avernum, except it’s not as final as the actual Avernum is. They send actual criminals there, and leave them in peace to live as they want. Those who are willing can get admission back to Avernum, though.

Eventually, the Great Cave was fully explored and I made my way to the area east of Almaria. It was immediately apparent that this area was more appropriate for my level range I decided that my next objective will be the farming town of Mertis. It’s plagued by the undead, originating in the northeast. Before that, I went south, to the Tower of Magi, to see if there’s anything I’m able to do there.

The captain of Duvno has some problems with nephilim to the north and bandits to the west. I decided to resolve both of those problems, bandits first. The fort was relatively easy to clear, apart from the bandit’s leader, an apprentice level mage. Before I disposed of him, I asked about Lagran, the bandit that tried to kill me in the Arrival Caves. The mage said Lagran was there, asking to join, but they refused him so he went south. After killing him, I explored the rest of the fort and found the magical scrolls someone on the Silvar job board was looking for in a second floor room infested with goblins. I also found some books which would improve my Beast Call spell, but I wasn’t knowledgeable enough to decipher them.

Dragons are a big deal in Avernum.

After returning to Duvno, I did some exploring, found a pair of Swamp Boots in a hidden cache a bit to the north, and disposed of some brigands on the road to Formello. East of the brigands’ camp, I found a cave filled with bats and giant rats. I remembered there was something on the job board in Silvar about getting rid of some bats, so I tried to clear it, but I found a blocked passage with a mechanism I didn’t know how to use. I guess I’m going to have to return there later.

Next up, I decided to clear the sewers. I entered at the northwest corner of Silvar and fought my way through the worms, eventually reaching a central chamber where a nephil named Droknarr was waiting. He was the one breeding the worms. He seemed pretty laughable, so I offered him to just leave, but he wouldn’t hear it. He was dead soon enough. I reported my actions to the mayor and got my reward. He also said that to truly test my abilities, I should go to the Castle. To gain entrance, though, I need a Crown token. He doesn’t have one, but the mayor of Formello has. First, it was time to help Duvno with the nephilim.

I entered a cave in the north, from which I assumed the nephilim were coming, and I believe I wasn’t wrong. The lair was infested with both nephilim and goblins, all lead by a goblin shaman. I cleared the cave, defeated him and pocketed a bronze key from a chest in his private room. I’m not sure what I’ll need it for, but it’s probably important. On my way back to Duvno, I stopped by the bandit fort to decipher the texts I couldn’t before and gain access to a chest with a nice amount of gold.

Avernum is a series of caves. Sometimes I forget that part.

I was going to save all my money for the Steam summer sale, but Avernum: Escape from the Pit was on sale yesterday, so I needed to have it. This is another one of Spiderweb’s old school role playing games and I remember it as a truly good one. The original was called Exile and I preferred that name, but the remake is worth the cost of a good name. Well, to be more precise, this is a remake of a remake, but I don’t mind that either.

Basically, Avernum is a place deep underground, full of dangerous creatures and huge caverns where everyone who doesn’t fit in with the Empire gets sent, forever. Back when it was called Exile, it was also a state of being, but I guess we can’t have that anymore. The Empire basically controls the surface world and if they don’t like you, you’re gone.

Though the graphics receive an upgrade every time, the games somehow keep their style.

Now this is the first game, and I’m familiar with the story, but I’ll write my diary the same way I did with Avadon, like I don’t know anything. I feel it will work better that way. I created my party and started the game.

The intro is a slideshow with some text, as expected. Basically, I we don’t know why my party is thrown in and we don’t need to know. The important thing is there’s no going back. I started in a room with nothing other than some basic equipment on me. I found a cloak nearby and put it on my berserker.

In the next room, a band of nephilim did some gambling. Nephilim are a bloodthirsty catlike race which once had a huge presence on the surface world, but is all but eliminated now. In Avernum, however, they are thriving and they don’t like humans one bit. As soon as they noticed me, they attacked and I got my first combat experience.

A few rooms after that, on the other side of a narrow river, a guy named Lagran greeted me. It seems he managed to get inside the Arrival Caves (this is what he called it) and locked the door behind him. His intentions are to profit from new arrivals using any methods necessary. Basically, he intends to rob me.

I couldn’t do anything to him over the river, so I moved on, soon meeting a girl named Brissa and some other random people. She’s stuck, just like me, afraid to face Lagran and unable to go anywhere. Since I had issues to resolve with Lagran anyway, I promised her to handle the situation. A few rooms later, after fighting some of Lagran’s lackeys, I found and faced him. He would have fallen fast, but once I wounded him, he managed to escape and even slip past the Avernites on the level above. In any case, I was free to leave the Arrival Caves and enter Fort Avernum.

I was greeted by Andrew, whose job apparently is to greet people and give them some directions. He said I could get some supplies at Tor’s place, so I did and this got me some money and food. I also talked to Thairl who described the political situation. It seems the Avernites are having trouble with nephilim to the north, as well as slitzerikai to the west. The sliths, as they are commonly called, are lizard people. There’s a rumour that some of them are friendly, but for the most part, they are just as dangerous as the nephilim.

I continued exploring the fort and talked to a guy named Dunbar. He told me about the magical threes and mushrooms which the wizards created to feed the Avernites. I also met Varan, who said I should go to Silvar. Some other guys said the same thing, so I decided to listen

I love the art of Spiderweb games.