User:MrSmiles/Quests/Slaughter in the Desert

Slaughter in the Desert
Section	The Totem Device Quests
Campaign	Core
Given by	Sprung in Rata Sum (Dunes of Despair)
Part of	The Totem Device
Followed by	What could possibly go wrong?
Type	Secondary quest

Help Sprung retrieve the Chronomancer artifact from the Crystal Desert.

Quest information[edit]

Objectives[edit]

Travel to the Dunes of Despair and speak with Sprung.
Go with Sprung on one last expedition.
Retrieve the Slow Totem.
Defend Sprung and the Totem from the Losaru.
Defeat the Ancient Leviathan.

Reward[edit]

5,000 Experience
1,000 Asura points

Walkthrough[edit]

Tips[edit]

Dialogue[edit]

Initial dialogue[edit]

Lexx

"Your name seems familiar... I have it! You were among those who Ascended in the Crystal Desert! That's quite a coincidence, you know. My assistant, Sprung, has been there for some time, researching the ancient Margonite civilization there. It wasn't always a desert, you know. No, once it was a great, shallow ocean known as the Crystal Sea. You see, the ancient Margonites visited the place, but when the Gods left Tyria, the sea just drained away, and... I'm getting carried away, aren't I? Well, the point is, my assistant claims that he's found evidence of another civilization that predates even the Margonites. He's heard rumors of a strange artifact in the Dunes of Despair that is said to be able to alter time itself: an entirely new sort of magic, if it's true! I, of course, don't believe a word of it, and I can't have Sprung out there chasing mirages in the desert any longer. What he could do with is a guide. You're familiar with the region. Would you go there and help Sprung find whatever it is he's looking for so he can come home? My scrolls haven't been organized in weeks!"

Accept: "Grubbing around in the sand under a blazing hot sun looking for something that might not exist? Sounds like fun!"

Decline: "You'd better get on that."

When asked about quest: "Please go to the Dunes of Despair and convince Sprung to come home!"

Intermediate dialogue 1[edit]

Sprung

"Lexx sent you? That figures. I ask for funding and time, and he sends me Bookahs."

Well, if that's your attitude, we can just leave.

"No! I'm sorry for my harsh words, but I'm under a lot of stress! The fact is I've got nothing to show Lexx for all my time here. He already thinks I'm mad for chasing this Chronomancer artifact. If I go back to him empty-handed, he'll never stop teasing me about it!"

Chronomancer artifact?

"I don't know if the Chronomancers were another civilization, or a type of mage practicing an art long forgotten. But they left things behind, things older than even the Margonite relics here. I've heard rumors about such an artifact located not far from here, but I can't afford to hire any more guides."

I'm familiar with the desert. I can help you search.

"Really? Lexx had a good reason to send you, then. Not just a porter, but a guide, too! We'll leave as soon as you're ready!"

Intermediate dialogue 2[edit]

Sprung

"That's it! That has to be it!"

"Look at the glowing aura around it! That's not Margonite work!"

"The sooner you grab that Totem, bookah, the sooner we can all go home!"

After picking up the Slow Totem:

Losaru Bladehand

"They're trying to steal the Sacred Staff of Waveringmane! KILL THEM ALL!

Sprung

"What? This is an ancient artifact! The Asura are the only ones who can use it properly. Surely even you can understand that!"

Losaru Bladehand

"DIE!! GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Sprung

"There's just no reasoning with these people."

Intermediate dialogue 3[edit]

After fighting off the first wave of Losaru:

Sprung

"By the Great Equation, how many of them ARE there?"

"Drop the Totem and let me see if I can use it to get us out of this mess!"

After dropping the Totem near Sprung:

Sprung

"There's some sort of marking here. Wait a minute... "

"It's not a marking, it's sort of... yes, if I twist it like this-"

It begins to rain.

Sprung

"Oops."

"Rain? In the desert?"

Hero

"That's not rain. It tastes salty, like seawater."

Sprung

"My mistake. Seawater in the desert, then. That makes MUCH more sense."

The Ancient Leviathan appears and begins wiping out Losaru:

Hero

"What the-?"

Sprung

"Well, so much for the centaurs. That's one worry less."

"Now see what you can do about that giant monster!"

Reward dialogue[edit]

Sprung:

"Well, it was a bit unorthodox, but I DID save us from the Losaru. And you made quick work of that whatever-it-was. Strange, though. It looked like a sea-beast, not something native to the desert. I wonder... this area used to be an ocean. Could this Totem have somehow brought the beast here from the past? What an intriguing idea! I'd better be getting back to Rata Sum. I'll have my work cut out for me reverse-engineering this thing. Thanks for your help, Bookah!"

Notes[edit]

This quest takes place in an explorable version of the Dunes of Despair mission. With the castle bridge up, however, this quest cannot be used to scrape the corners of the map for the Cartography title.

For the rain effect, I don't know if the engine supports real-time environment changes, but I know it supports the sudden addition of rain. Perhaps the same set of scripts could be used.

No Forgotten, and thus no Siege Wurms or Enchanted armor in this mission; I'd assume after one had Ascended they'd no longer be hostile.

The Ancient Leviathan should probably use the Leviathan model with a different skin on. If no artist can be spared, well... palette-shift it, at least!