The Native Faction Has Been Chosen!

The Native Faction Has Been Chosen!

At this point, having followed the dialogue to select the Native side, you can immeidately begin that side of the story but I recommend against it -- use the "End" option and Steelbeard tells you that as soon as you are ready to tell him -- as this will allow you to finish having a look around the tower and its immediate area, which we very much want to do.

Bear in mind that having made this choice you have flagged the quest The Natives.

When you step to the side of the Tower near the Rum keg you will complete the Location Quest "Pirate's Tower Found" and pick up a nice bit of Glory for your troubles. 

Behind the Tower is a campfire and some raw meat, as well as a pair of live Turkey -- kill them, collect the meat, and cook it up on the campfire to add some more Provisions to your kit.  Beside the cannon in the back is a Bullet Bag with x10 Bullets in it so be sure to grab that as you can never have enough ammunition for your pistol, right?

By the wood pile is a skin of wine, and inside the Tower you will find more raw meat (be sure to cook it) other Provisions, and a bit of loot -- clear all of that off while you are here and you can use the bed to rest until morning.  Outside up the stairs to the left of the door you will find a Level 20 Chest that has some Grog and Provisions -- go ahead and pick that and empty it as you can never have enough Provisions and Grog!

I am not sure if this is actually hard-scripted into the game or not (maybe you all can let me know?) but immediately after selecting the Native Path the game weather turned to a thunder and lightning storm, which persisted even if I had my character sleep overnight in the bed.  The storm has the effect of making the world rather dark, which I suppose adds a bit of flavor to the story but still is rather annoying...  Once you have looted and cooked and there is nothing left to do, talk to the Captain to continue the story, telling him you are ready to look for the natives.

Choosing Your Adventure: Following the Native Story

Prior to speaking to the Captain again and telling him that you are ready to go you may want to go ahead and explore the area behind the Tower -- there is a path there that has some resources including some mushrooms and some rats you can kill for a small amount of Glory -- but if you are not paying attention as you follow the path it may appear that the gently sloping entrance down into the cave is the only route there -- however if you stop short of the cave entrance on the path facing the cave entrance and then glance to your left you will see that there is another path heading in that direction, and when you follow that you will find resources like a Spirit Lily, Choking Vine, and outside the far end some of the aggressive monkey types that you can kill for 50 Glory each (note that these are the ones that throw coconuts at you as well as have claw and teeth attacks!).

If you check around the area on the other side (including the area above you can reach by doubling back over the cave) you will find Skull Flowers, Maki Berries, and other resources that are worth collecting!  In the clearing ahead on in the level area past the first group of Claw Monkeys you will find a trio of Warthogs (mind them though as they can easily kill you if you let them flank you and you end up fighting all three at the same time).  Take your time and be sure you are aware of where you are as you explore as this is a sort of maze of connecting paths and short tunnels and you can easily get turned around as you fight the different mobs here -- which include Termite Warriors, Claw Monkeys, Warthogs, and Firebirds.

A good tactic to use if you find yourself outnumbered by these animals is to retreat until just one or two (but ideally just one) is following and then turn and take it on one-on-one, as that prevents you from taking the damage you are bound to take if they flank you and attack together.  When you reach the trio of Firebirds engaging them flags the quest Firebird's Blocking the Bridge -- and defeating all three completes that brief quest for a little extra Glory!

A bit of free advice -- I would stop short of the bridge and stay away from the water, as this is the first area in the game where you encounter alligators, and while you may believe that you are an effective warrior when it comes to dealing with human enemies and most beasts, all bets are off when it comes to taking on a gator by yourself -- you are going to want help with that!  So yeah, avoid heading into the river or towards the falls (there is an alligator here for sure), and do not cross the bridge as you will be doing that with your buds once you decide to continue.  This whole pre-continue adventuring is more aimed at allowing you the time to collect the resources that are to be had here and the Glory from killing off the minor beasts, so just treat it as a pleasant side-excursion and try to avoid dealing with things that will make you dead, right mates?

At the top of the right-hand path (following it to the left after going through the original cave that is the right-hand path) you will find yourself getting jumped by a pack of Monkeys that is made up of the by now familiar Claw Monkey but also Tough Blue Claw Monkeys -- which you will be encountering for the first time here!  Your encounter with the blue variety flags the quest Monkey Business, and defeating them completes that mini-quest.  They are, as their name suggests, a bit tougher than the normal white Claw Monkey, but with a but of defensive posture you should be able to come out of this battle on top!  (See the video below).

Your first encounter with the Tough Blue Claw Monkeys!

You can easily burn through an hour or more just in exploring here, so if time is an issue for you well, you want to keep an eye on that, right?  After you have done all of the exploring and resource gathering you feel like doing, killed a bunch of Claw Monkeys, Warthogs, Firebirds, be sure to cook up the raw meat you have obtained to add that to your Provisions.  Now it is time to chat up the Captain and get this show on the road!