DARK SUN I: SHATTERED LANDS - Part 1 Solution by Diana Griffiths ---------------------------------------- OVERVIEW -- GENERAL HINTS -- MAP -- ARENA -- SLAVE PEN -- ESCAPING SLAVERY -- SEWERS -- DAGOLAR -- FIELDS OF DRAJ -- DESERT -- TEAQUETZL -- RED SAND -- SOUTH RED SAND -- OASIS DESERT -- PAINTED SALT DESERT -- SLAVERS' CAMP -- MESSENGER DESERT -- ELVISH CARAVAN -- CEDRILTE VILLAGE -- CEDRILTE CAVE -- CEDRILTE CASTLE -- HIDDEN TEMPLE -- OUTER WYRM -- WYRM CITY -- MAGERA TEMPLE -- BALKAZAR'S PALACE -- HOT SPRINGS -- LARGE OASIS -- LAVA -- WEST LAVA -- GEDRON -- MONSTERLAND -- EVIL DRUID'S AREA -- GLADIATORS CAMP -- CONCLUSION -- COPYRIGHT -- ---------------------------------------- OVERVIEW You start out in the position of being slaves imprisoned in the city of Draj, fit enough to fight as gladiators in the arena. Your aim is to escape the arena and ultimately overcome the Drajian army when it marches on the 'free' villages in the desert. You have many missions to carry out to win the trust of the 'free' people so that it is possible to defeat the army. The desert environment itself is hostile; overrun by monsters, slavers and templars and defilers from Draj, already exploiting the desert resources. There are also many valuable items hidden in Draj and the desert which will help your quests. This walkthrough will direct you through a series of events which will cover most of the interesting activities in an efficient order. This walkthrough assumes you will develop your own expertise in fighting and spell casting and that you have read the rule book. This is just one order of carrying out the missions. There are many other equally successful orders and other methods of successfully completing missions not described here. ---------------------------------------- GENERAL HINTS 1. The party must contain a thief. Only a thief can pick locks or lead a party up and down cliffs successfully. 2. You will find your way around more easily by using the map I have provided. 3. Use the overhead map to move around each area, find specific locations and size up the opposition! 4. Use the teleporters to speed up game play. This walkthrough tells you how to make the teleporters available. The teleport locations are marked on the map 5. Rest whenever your hit points are not at maximum. Another fight is always imminent! Rest areas are marked on the map. Note most rest areas do not become available until you have completed a specific mission in that area. 6. Keep a few slots open in your inventory ready to receive new loot. Sell redundant loot to the merchants, also marked on the map. As with rest areas, some merchants are not available initially. 7. Act cooperatively whenever possible (unless the walkthrough indicates otherwise). Peaceful solutions lead to good relations, good health...and usually increased wealth. The "No reward is necessary." attitude will reap the best rewards. 8. After battling monsters and enemies, check their bodies, chests, closets, bags etc. for loot. 9. Save, save, save. Some versions of this game have a few bugs. But the main reason for saving is you will be up against some really tough monsters from time to time which will kill your entire party until you figure out what strategy to use. 10. Cheat. You don't need to cheat to play this game successfully, but it will make the battles less challenging. A shareware trainer is available (DSUNTR.ZIP) which runs as a TSR while you are playing the game. It provides hot key control of game parameters such as maximizing hit points. I found the trainer available in the Gamers forum on CompuServe. @~See Disk 817 ... Sue ---------------------------------------- MAP Map of Draj and environs @~see screenshot section in SynWin 96 ---------------------------------------- ARENA After your first fight in the arena, do not respond to the arena announcer unless you want to fight again before resting. Collect any money tossed to you then return to the Slave Pen. ---------------------------------------- SLAVE PEN When you enter the Slave Pen area do not antagonize Kurzak. Go willingly into the slave pens. Find the slave pen with the Rest area (camp fire icon). The door will be closed but it will open when you look at it. Rest by looking at the camp fire. At any time Kurzak may call you to fight in the Arena, so fighting in the arena may interrupt some of the following next steps. Each time go willingly and return willingly. Explore the other slave pens. Find Galil and ask her about escaping. Her head will hurt as a result. Next find Dinos. He is the most southerly pen that is well furnished. Have your thief open the door, or after failing to open the door, ask the Trustee, who patrols the slave pens, about the door and he will give you the key. Tell Dinos about Galil's problem, then take him to her. Talk to Galil again. Find Mirlon. Talk to him about escaping and agree to find the gem. (He sends you on a wild goose chase to locate the gem. Follow this up by all means but I don't give the instructions to do so here.) Go to the locked room north of Mirlon. Have the thief open the door. Kill the zombie, then press the switch on the north wall. Go into the next room, and find the gem hidden in here that Mirlon referred to. Find Scar and talk to him about escaping. He will not discuss this with you until you have built up some fighting experience. It is quicker to escape with Mirlon but probably safer to escape with Scar. If you opt to escape by yourself, you will need to have built up as much if not more fighting experience than Scar accepts. In any case, your ultimate goal is to aim for the sewer grate in the very north west corner of the area map. Follow any of the following escape options. ---------------------------------------- ESCAPING SLAVERY ---------------------------------------- WITH MIRLON Rest if necessary. Go to Mirlon and tell him you have the gem. Ask him to accompany you and follow him to his patron's quarters. The patron is not to be trusted, so kill him, and all other enemies who get in your way, and make your way to the sewer grate. ---------------------------------------- WITH SCAR Once Scar is impressed by your fighting skills he will discuss escape. Ask him what his plan is and agree to it. Rest if necessary. Go to the Slave Pen exit and call for Kurzak. In the arena, Scar joins you with his men. Lead the group to the western gate and you will enter the area that gives you access to an escape route. You will have to fight your way to the sewer grate. ---------------------------------------- ON YOUR OWN Plan a route from the Slave Pen exit to the sewer grate. Go to the Slave Pen exit and call for Kurzak. Attack Kurzak and the slave pen guards will be after you, so get as quickly as possible to the sewer grate. ---------------------------------------- SEWERS Have the thief pick the lock or have the character with greatest strength rip open the grate and enter the Sewers. Talk aggressively to the rat man. Find his leader Churr, just to the north, and get Churr to tell you as much information about the situation in the sewers as he can. Find Mikquetzl in the big room in the center and kill him. Pick up the bone crank. This is used to turn the half obscured wheels which will operate nearby doors. Rescue the Warren Master's daughter. Find the rest area and rest before going to the Warren Master. Then return the Warren Master's daughter to him. You will now have to fight in a big battle to save the Tari's temple. After the battle, enter the skull temple by turning the door wheel with the bone crank. Talk to the skulls in the temple. They will tell you about the secret exit, Dagolar and tell you the Staff of Parting is in the nearby drain. Go to the area in the northeast where the sewers flow into a barred area. Use the Staff of Parting here. This has opened the entrance to Dagolar's lair. Unless you are cheating and using the Dark Sun trainer, you will not likely survive an encounter with Dagolar yet, so I suggest you leave the sewers now and return to Dagolar later. Rest. Leave the sewers via the open and/or the secret exit, both next to the entrance to Dagolar's lair. ---------------------------------------- DAGOLAR Make sure you are rested before entering Dagolar's lair. You will meet Mow first. Go to the room with the four guards. Kill them and take the four special necklaces. Have each character wear a necklace. Go through the Door of Eyes. Drop the special necklaces. Find the single zombie in the locked room in about the center of this area. Talk to him. He is Gorburnix, Dagolar's brother. Take Gorburnix to the room with the fireplace. Look at the fireplace. Gorburnix will walk through the flames and return. Walk through the fireplace. You will now have a difficult battle with Dagolar and his minions. Just to the north is the rest area. ---------------------------------------- FIELDS OF DRAJ When you leave the sewers you enter a field. Find Old One-Eye in the larger orchard and talk to him. Find the fruit seller in the south-west to sell any excess equipment and to buy magical fruit. Somewhere near the center of the area, you should meet a man who wants to escape with you. Agree and he will give you a special gem. Put this gem in the fallen column in the south-west corner of the field. This is a teleport device that you will be able to use later on. There are two exits. The north gate can be opened by the thief. The eastern exit has a weak point in the fence of bones. Strike the weak point and it should open up. Leave by the north gate with the slave. ---------------------------------------- DESERT There is a rest area here. Check the dead body and read the scroll. Find Laussa and find out what she is looking for. Leave the desert by the north-west exit. ---------------------------------------- TEAQUETZL Find the village leader Chahl in the big building due north of the entrance. Have the character with the highest charisma talk to him. Offer to help their cause and they will offer you a home here. Your house is on the east side of Teaquetzl and has a rest area. Find the Visionary in the south-most house closest to the village entrance and talk to him. He gives you Llod's rod which is used to activate the teleporters. Find Father Garyn on the west side of the village. He will ask you to travel to Red Sand to pick up some ranike tree pith. Agree. Empty the well by looking at the bucket, then enter the well. Pick up the teleport gem. Talk to the shadow of Tynan and agree to help. Leave the Hidden Temple. Place the gem in the teleport column. You should now be able to transport between the Fields of Draj and Teaquetzl. Find the merchant so that you can buy better and sell redundant equipment. Rest, then leave Teaquetzl and return to the Desert. Take the south-west exit to the Red Sand area. ---------------------------------------- @~To be continued in Issue 47 - o -