On the Trail of the Hidden Valley

On the Trail of the Hidden Valley

The first thing we need to do is deal with the Angus situation -- for reasons that will quickly become very clear...  Fast-Travel to Garcia's Ship and then use the dinghy to get to the beach, and head up to the camp where Angus is resting.  Tell him what the situation is -- that you were ordered to kill him -- but do NOT kill him!  Instead ask him to join your group and tell him you want to take him to Lt. Valdez at the main camp.

When you arrive and report the events to Valdez he freaks out a little, and tells you that the Commandant would never order such a thing.  You work out together that the bloke you thought was the Commandant is really Garcia!  This fully resolves the quest Deserter and unlocks the Achievement "Detective" (20 GP) for working out the mystery.  You then tell him about Garcia's Ship and he says he will send some men to get it.  Next you tell him about the bodies in the Temple and you work out that they are the bodies of the expedition.  Mystery solved and you complete that quest!  Well done!

The process of saving Angus reveals much more than you suspected

-- Resolving some Outstanding Quests --

Before we continue on with the story line and deal with Garcia, we need to resolve some outstanding quests first.  Let's start with two of the quests -- The Graves of the Ancestors and The Peace of the Dead as we accomplish both in this run through...

Check the map and travel to the Old Camp, then to the Lake and to the east and a little south of the lake you will find a Temple with Termites infesting it.  Kill them, then CAREFULLY go inside, prepared to hit 'Y' when the trap is sprung -- you should save BEFORE you go in mates, as this is a touchy bit. 

Once you get past the trap though, you should search the bodies to find the Golden Mask and then place it back on the Alter to complete this one.  Look on the ground near the body of the Pirate and you will see an object that is labeled Jaguar Paw -- picking that up flags and completes the Legendary Item quest The Talisman, which was the last of the twenty quests in that line that we had yet to flag!  Well done mates!

Now it is time to depart the tomb and return to the surface as our task is done here.  North and a bit farther east of this location is the next tomb -- you can actually see them marked on the map as little brown squares really -- and you will know that you arrived in the right place as there are a trio of Pirate Grave Robbers near a campfire outside who will attack you!  After you kill the first one that flags the sub-quest Plunderers of the Ancestral Grave, and killing all three completes the quest as well as rewards you with the third Idol that you need for The Peace of the Dead sub-quests, so that is basically almost completed.

Use the bed to heal, and the campfire to cook any raw meat you have, then be sure you loot the Level 30 chest in the back of this area, as it has Jade, a Bloody Mary, and Curved Dagger in it.

As you head inside you will reach a hole in the floor that you must drop down, and then you need to battle a Ghoul. Ahead just before you fight a Temple Guard you will find a Pirate body that has the mask we need so loot that and then take out that Guard!  Actually that can be a bit of a battle really...  That being the case you really should SAVE before you enter then, right? 

In the room that the Guardian emerged from is a sarcophagus with x2 Jade and an Emerald in it you should loot...   You will need to avoid another trap as you work your way to the end of the hallway, where you pull a lever on the wall to open the door to the Alter room, where you battle another Ghoul, and then you can replace the mask! 

Having done that, make your way out through the door that opened when you pulled the lever, jump over the hole in the floor and exit.  Once you are outside you may want to use the bed to heal.

-- Locating The Next Mask --

This is where things get a little complicated, because the next mask that you need to recover is not actually located in or near the tomb it needs to be restored to.  That is OK though, because the finding of it actually serves another purpose as well, so open your map and look to the bottom left corner and you will see an area that we have not visited -- that is the Hidden Valley.  Look to the right of it and you will see a path that heads south from the lake along its west side and south -- THAT is where we want to go!

As you depart the Tomb area on the path to the right you will encounter Koraka, the Native you are supposed to be looking for.  Work your way through his chat options and you will complete the sub-quest Where is Koraka.  Nice one!  Koraka is a Weapons Teacher so you can learn Thrown Weapons from him if you like.  You have convinced him to return to his wife, so that is good.  Now head to the Lake and then to its west side and south to find the path.

A little ways along the south path you will spot some ledges on the right -- at the top is a Native Alter with gold coins, Grog, and a Goblet, along with a few Oyster Shells for you to loot.  Go back down and a little way along the path and you encounter a Pirate Camp!  Not only that but four Pirates including one named Black Dog, who attack you.   I have to warn you this is a rough battle, so SAVE FIRST.

I ended up burning through the bulk of my Grog in taking them out because they kept flanking me, but once they were all dead that completed the quest Enemy Pirate Camp which you flagged when you discovered them.  Looting Black Dog gets you the Gold Mask that we were seeking, so well done mates!

Now remember I said this is a bit complicated -- I said that mostly because we are actually working on several quests as we do this -- so head to their Camp and read the book Valuable Items -- that tells you the story of the Talisman that we have already found.  A Level 20 chest here contains and Old Sword, Rum, Pearl, and Blade Ring.  Loot that!

You will note that the path continues south from the Camp -- go ahead and follow it and you will battle a Blueclaw Monkey, and a bit deeper in a pair of Firebirds.  If you stick to the right-side of the path you go up a bit and through an opening to the west, and you will enter a cave and kill a Cave Bat.  Deeper in you will see that the path splits.

Take the right-hand path and battle a freaking huge Grave Spider and find that the path is blocked by a closed door.  Returning to the main path and taking the left-hand opening leads to a battle with another Grave Spider -- sheesh!  Once you defeat that you should heal and SAVE.  No joke mates, because as you continue along you will be attacked by TWO of them at the same time!  After you defeat them both (you did, right?), follow the path left (taking left turns when you can) and you will arrive at an Ore Vein.  Mine that and then continue and you will discover the Fire Barrier!

I know this sounds like a bad idea, but go ahead and click on it and your character will check it out and you will complete the sub-quest Secret Entrance Found.  You know you are doing quite well with this!

Now as you are facing the Fire Barrier slowly turn to the left and you will see an opening -- you should probably save your game at this point -- then head into the opening and up the stairs where you will find an Amulet on a Native Alter.  Take that. 

Obtaining the Broken Rattle Legendary Item Reward

-- The Treasure on the Hunting Ground --

Now that you have found the Hidden Entrance and the Fire Barrier, backtrack out of the cave and flag the quest The Treasure on the Hunting Ground, and then go to the red 'X' and dig up the chest to score yourself a Ruby, 500 gold coins, a Gold Bowl, Silver Candlestick, and an Idol!  That completes this quest.  Be sure to loot the three Blueclaw Monkeys you had to kill who were guarding this as well, right?

-- Back on the Graves --

With that bit managed check your map, the next Tomb is just north of the eastern side of the Lake, so head to the Lake and to the area above the eastern side and you will find it -- you have been to it before as it is the Tomb with the bodies of the Expedition, as you will recall.  Go inside and replace the Mask.

That completes the restoration and causes Yagul to appear before you and thank you.  He tells you that you have done a great service to the people of the Maracai -- and this completes the quest line!  He instructs you to speak to the elders of the tribe -- and that is exactly what we need to do as the significant parts of this quest line are not quite done!

The elder that we need to talk to is not actually located in the Maracai Village -- open your map and look for the path on the bottom right side of the map -- we want to go down that path about half the way and look on the left side for a side-path leading up that is marked by a statue with a fire in it.  Head back up that side path and you will flag and complete the Location quest Shaman Found thus having located the elder named Osamu.

Approach him to chat with him to learn of the legend of your coming.  Working your way through his chat options you learn he used to be the leader of the Maracai, but gave that up to study Voodoo!  After you tell him that Garcia has infiltrated his village you should tell him about restoring the graves -- he will reward you with the Legendary Item The Broken Rattle, which completes that quest!  Well done!

There is a Level 60 chest here with a Hunter's Necklace, Provisions, a Ritual Potion, and x2 Jade in it.  You can pick and open it and loot it without causing him to aggro, so why not?  Once you have done that and you are done talking with him, Fast-Travel to the Maracai Village, but do NOT confront Garcia yet!  In fact do not go near him!

Instead seek out Dara and get your reward from her, and then find Malaika and complete the quest The Place of the Dead, returning the Idols to her.   She tells you that you can choose your reward.  Telling her that you restored the Graves pleases her, and she tells you where to find Osamu but as we have already done that we don't really need to worry about it.