The Adventure REALLY Begins!

The Adventure REALLY Begins!

You have been summoned to the top of the tower where Commandant Carlos is waiting for you -- the message being delivered by Juan to you, the Lieutenant.  Personally I don't think Juan respects you but I do think he sort of likes you...  In a good way!  Not THAT way!  Sheesh.  Your mind is really in the gutter...

Before you do anything else now would be a good time to save your game -- and having done that, take a quick look around this room and pick up anything you think you might be able to use on the off-chance you do not end up coming back here any time soon...  You will find the following items in the room:

-- A Fat Purse with 100 Gold (Money)
-- A Chest with 400 Gold in it (Money)
-- Some Chicken (Provisions) 
-- Two Apples on the table in the corner (Provisions)
-- Grog (Provisions)
-- An Officer's Sword (Weapon)

Note that the game keeps track of all of the items you pick up for statistical purposes, even if you reload BEFORE you reach a checkpoint save!  So if you wanted to you could collect the money and then reload the save you just made and collect the money again to unlock the Achievement "Skinflint" Acquired 1000 gold (10 GP). Nice one, your first Achievement!

Once you grab the items you will see that the game is prompting you to hit 'B' to open the Inventory -- the reason that it wants you to do that is that, now that you have some actual items in your Inventory, you can actually begin putting things in the slots available for putting things...  Like that sword?

Hitting 'B' opens your Inventory and you can now arm the sword.  You will notice that when you select items by moving the cursor over them in your Inventory you are shown a brief description of the item along with an estimate of its value in Gold.

When you exit your room you pick up some Glory for "finding" the Crystal Tower (you are actually IN the Crystal Tower but let us not quibble)...  Juan will urge you to hurry up, so just walk or run up the stairs beside him to the top of the tower, where you will find Carlos, the Commandant, waiting for you.  Talk to him using the Action Button to report in to get a CS in which he tells you a ship is trying to enter the harbor...

The ship is attacked by a monster of course, and you can see that survivors may or may not have managed to get off before it was pulled under the surface!  Carlos tells you to head to the beach and gather up the survivors -- so go do that!

Bear in mind that everything that you can do to improve your character and their lot in life helps you -- pick up every resource you can, make gold wherever you can, kill monsters and animals wherever you can to gain experience and skill -- because for right now everything is about increasing your characters capabilities!

Saving the sole survivor of the shipwreck - an old friend!

-- The Beach --

On your way to the to the beach when you get to the courtyard below a prisoner named Largo will get your attention -- he asks for gold, and you get your first selectable dialogue event!  He says if you give him gold he can give you things -- when you ask about the things he explains that there is a storehouse in the harbor with supplies -- and you point out that even if you pay him you still have to steal the stuff yourself!  If you agree he offers to teach you what you need to know to gain access to the loot...

You have 500 gold, and what do you know?! That is what he wants to teach you the Sneak Skill!  Now is as good a time as any to learn that, and have your first experience with a teacher character, so go ahead and do that!  Once you have learned Sneak and satisfied yourself with the other dialogue options, you can continue to the beach, and test out you shiny new Sneak Skill on the way by clicking down on the Left Joystick.  Well done mates!

Talk to Juan (be sure you have your sword equipped or he will not open the gate) to exit the courtyard to the outside area and then head down to the beach where you will find a chest at the bottom of the stairs with a Torch, Provisions, and 10 Bullets -- take them all.  Following the water's edge you will see a woman pirate that has reached the shore but is fighting off a group of Sand Devils.  You draw your weapon and rush in to save her only to discover it is your old mate Patty! 

-- Crystal Tower --

After the CS that you get for saving her and unlocking the Achievement "Knight in Shining Armor" (10 GP)  for the rescue of Patty -- and then you get a CS of Patty talking to the Commandant, and as they hash out the details of the information that she has brought, the Commandant decides to volunteer you for this mission and quest!

Patty falls asleep in your bed and you have  a choice to make... You can rest, or you can explore.  What was that?  You want to explore?  Hey, me too!  I like the way you think!

Down in the Courtyard on a barrel there is some Maki Berry for you to grab, and as you move past the troops who are doing drill training you will find a Rat inside the open doorway just past them - killing it earns you 2 Glory and when you enter the chamber further inside you see the Commandant briefing Sebastiano (the Captain of the ship you will sail on) and you learn a little more about the present situation politically and with the Titans.  It is a pretty good idea for you to listen carefully to what they say, and then contribute your own ideas in the dialogue options when they become available.

The Commandant continues to instruct you on the new elements of the plan that he has devised, with you sort of highlighting flaws in the plan which is the game's way of making you aware that this has to be a James Bond type of mission, mates.    The Commandant makes it clear that you can trust nobody, not even the Inquisition troopers, and that you will have to act independently and not for the Inquisition in this mission.

After you have exhausted all of the chat options with him head up the stairs in his room and you will find Angus sitting at a table up there doing the payroll.  When you ask him about your pay he tells you that you will not be getting paid anything -- he heard what the Commandant said you see, that you are no longer part of the Inquisition!  You can use Silver Tongue on him in the dialogue to get him to pay you 200 gold anyway -- and you should!  Every man should be paid their wages by jimminy!

NOTE: Remember NOT to tell ANYONE about your secret mission -- it may seem like it is the best way to get what you want, but the consequences of you letting slip any details even to seemingly trustworthy members of the Inquisition will be very bad later on...  So just do not do it.

Before we go any further there are some logistical issues that we need to talk about just to be sure you are aware of how this works, starting with your kit, kit slots, and choosing between weapons and the like.  So open the Log Book / Inventory just now and follow along with me...

On the Inventory Screen make the Right Hand Slot active and hold down the Right Bumper -- see how that wheel menu pops up?  If you had alternative weapons you can have them all equipped to the Right Hand and then use the Right Bumper to change the weapon that is active, and how cool is that?  You do that by opening the Inventory, highlighting Right Hand, holding down Right Bumper, and rotating the Wheel Selection Menu with the Left Joystick.  Easey-Peasey Lemon-Squeezy!

There are locked chests here about but you cannot do anything with them since you do not know how to pick locks just yet, and the guard at the end of the hall will not let you leave.  You can engage him in a philosophical argument about the law, and ask him other questions and, once you are satisfied with the dialogue, bid him good day.

You can speak to Juan to learn about his problems, which includes Largo, and then you have to decide what not to tell him about the reason for your trip to the ends of the earth...

-- A Duel with Severin --

Head over and talk to Severin, the officer who is training the troops, and you can fence with him -- he is also an instructor so you can pick up some skill from him if you have the coin:

Teach me how to parry: 1,000 gold - Blades 1
I want to hit harder: 1,000 gold - Blades 2
How do I make a riposte?: 1,000 gold - Blades 4
What about more powerful ripostes?: 1,000 gold - Blades 8, Riposte
How can I improve my fencing skills?: 500 gold - Blades 2
I want to be the best at fencing!: 1,000 gold - Blades 5, Piercing Weapons 1

When you defeat him you will unlock the Achievement 'Protector' (10 GP) Beat Severin in a duel.  The trick to dealing with this bully is to fight defensively and never EVER over-reach.  Parry a lot and attack only when he stops after multiple thrusts, when he is winded.  You will probably need to use your Provisions to heal but that only works if you prevent him from doing serious damage to you and do a lot of parry and retreat while you heal over time...

Bear in mind that this is clearly not a fair fight -- he can kick, riposte and thrust and he has a much higher level of skill than you do, so really you should only do this duel if you really want that Achievement.  You can always come back later when you have leveled up and the match is more even.

Obtaining your pay from Angus the Paymaster

BEFORE you talk to Patty again or do anything to further the quest and mission let us finish the process of exploring the beach and cave areas since we may not have the opportunity to do that for a while if at all, who knows?  So after talking to Juan, head outside and down the stairs, following the cliff to a spot near the cave entrance where you can collect some Poku Mushrooms (Provisions).

On the beach near where you rescued Patty are some Sand Devils to battle, and defeating each will earn you 80 Glory per, plus you can loot them to collect their Sand Devil Sensors.  On the beach is salvage called Flotsam to be collected -- a total of six of them -- and collecting them activates and completes that requirement for the Flotsam on the Beach Quest under Caldera in the Quests Menu.

Inside the Cave collect the Hero's Crown and kill another pair of Sand Devils, being sure you collect the Sensor off of each of their bodies.  DO NOT USE THE Hero's Crown Herb!!!

Hero's Crown (Herb)
Bladeproof 1
Bulletproof 1
Intimidate 1
Permanent Effect
Value in Gold: 50
The Navies of the Southern Islands have known the effect of this herb for a long time.  Many warriors use it to handle pain more easily.

You may have guessed that this is a rather rare find -- it is -- and it is also one of the primary ingredients for special permanent stat-raising potions, and because there are only a limited number of these to be found in the world (remember, I said it is RARE), you will want to think long and hard about how you use this Herb and when, in what potion, and why.  So for now consider this more valuable than gold, and hold on it it!

You can speak to the Master of the Storehouse, who will give you the Flotsam Quest -- if you have already picked up the six items talk to him again and you will turn in the quest getting an award of Glory for your troubles.  He also gives you 200 Gold as the rest of your reward.  Remember that you can check the current status of your Gold and Glory as well as maximum Blood by accessing the Attributes blade of the Character Menu in the Log Book -- you should now have around 800 or so in Glory and 200 Gold.  Your Blood will be at 100.

Back in the Courtyard speak to the Patty and you can learn a bit about her father Steelbeard, and a bit more about her story and the treasure...  If you played the first game you should be very familiar with her nearly pathological need to steal her father's treasure...  If not, well, yeah, she really wants to do that!   You agree to help her with that quest and she agrees to help you find the special weapon, then she heads for the ship where she says you can meet her when you are ready. 

Meeting her at the ship basically concludes this portion of the quest and closes out this area, so make sure you have done everything that you want to and mean to do here, right?  When you are ready head down to the ship to meet Patty and you will talk to the Bosun as you come aboard, then talk to Patty, and finally the Captain -- Sabastiano -- and once you confirm you are ready the Captain calls for the crew to set sail, they raise the anchor, and it is gonzo time!

You get a nice CS of the ship departing the harbor and sailing away.