10
Gustacio Subplot:
Gustacio has the Artifact of
Truth. The Avatar cannot pass Gorlab Swamp until he has this object.
He can obtain this object
any time after Mountains of Freedom, but before (naturally) finishing
Gorlab Swamp. The Avatar
might need to return to Moonshade (via Serpent Gate) to perform this
quest, as it is not forced
on him during his first visit.
10a) After the Avatar proves
his worth by surviving the Mountains of Freedom, Gustacio perceives the Avatar
as a potential ally. The Avatar must come to Gustacio’s manor to pick up Iolo.
Gustacio is amazed that the Avatar survived the dungeon, and invites him to
help the mage with his experiments.
Gustacio laments that his partner,
Mortegro, has deserted him. (We send Mortegro to Temple of Tolerance at this time — unknown to Gustacio, Mortegro is
now a human lightning rod) There is also now a strange altar in Gustacio ‘s manor
(see Tolerance townplot) — he doesn’t know how it got
here, either, but suspects a teleport storm. When any container of liquid is
placed on the altar, a magic sprite appears, and the container fills with the
Water of Tolerance.
Iolo is in the manor
library, reading tomes and chatting with Kane and Ale (recurring characters
from Bull). The bard explains that Gustacio has promised to help Kane find his
missing brother. Mortegro has assured them that Edrin is not dead (seance did
not work).
Whether the Avatar accepts
the invitation or not at this time is up to the player. If not, the Avatar can
always return to accept the invitation.
10b) Gustacio gives a brief
discourse on the Teleport Storms. They have three powers —Teleportation (moving
something to a different spot), Transposition (switching one item for another),
and Transmutation (changing one item into another). Gustacio believes that each
power is represented by a different color of lightning strike.
10c) Gustacio can also
explain about the aberrant properties of Bane Lightning — that it can sometimes
frazzle magic items (such as Rudyam’s Wand, if the player asks about it
Post-Madness, or the Daemon Sword from Mountains of Freedom).
10d) Now Gustacio wants to
prove the link between powers of lightning and their colors. He tells the
Avatar to travel to the tower which Gustacio has erected north of the city.
Here, the Avatar will perform an experiment. (Gustacio says there is little
risk, but this is not a job which he wants to perform.)
There is a tower, surrounded
by poles with small platforms on top. The Avatar must bring the Energy Globe
which Gustacio gives him, and place it on the machine on top of the tower. The
machine can now be operated (the Globe is an arcane battery).
But first, the Avatar must
place eight experimental items, one per tower (Gustacio gives him the items in
a bag — an apple, a helmet, a fish, a pumpkin, a cup, a plate, a shield, and a
hoe). There are eggs on top of every tower. If the Avatar puts the wrong object
on a tower, a Companion corrects him and removes the item (to prevent the
Avatar from putting plot-critical items out there).
The machine cannot be
started until the objects are in place — if the master lever is pulled before
everything is ready, the lever stays “up,” and
the Companions say, “Wait!”
10e) Turning on the machine
causes a Teleport Storm to glide in (strange clouds, booming sounds, Companions
barking about the weather). This also causes the drawbridges leading to the
towers to open, and locks the door leading downstairs.
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ISLE: Moonshade Townplot MOONSHAD.DOC
09/08/92