Aftergame notes and questions

[thoon]

Just wandering around after the game.

1. I attacked oakenmir, though my heart wasn't in it. To my surprise, after I hacked for a while he was joined by spawning buddies. When I finally ran, I was pursued by at least eight trees, each apparently as strong as oakenmir. I haven't seen anybody mention this; is it part of the patch? It is not obvious how one can win this fight.

2. I finally noticed that the merchant trait gets one substantial discounts in the stores. I haven't seen this specifically stated before. It means the trait is worth buying.

3. Yesterday a poster reported killing the gurdian sphinx outside outside the temple of Isis. I have not seen this before. See the post by Serath 12-16

I also have one question I could never resolve. I am convinced that there is an area of the serpent temple that I (and maybe everybody else)has missed. At least no one has mentioned it. The evidence is this:

a) In the belfry there is a section of discolored wall which usually means it is the other side of a door. I never found the door.

b) Go in the front door and up one level, then to the left. There is a long corridor. In the middle of that corridor is a door. The first time by, the door wouldn't open. After I had explored around and been through the dungeon I went back. The door opened and I was on a balcony. The balcony overlooked a room with four pits, and a green light shining up through them. There was a ramp from the room to the front part of the balocny, and the front section of the balcony was colored like a door that opened from the other side. The ceiling was too low to get over the balcony. I could never get into that room.

c) At the front end of the same corridor, there are two places to look into grates. There is a room below which might be the main altar, but which I believe I have never entered.

d) When I was first blundering around the temple I found a crescent shaped room with a locked door in the center of the convex side. I have never been able to find that room again.

Anybody know anything about this?

Finally, do the piles of sand have any significance and WHAT IS THAT RAT SKULL FOR?

Haven't finished yet but . . .

1. Couldn't kill Oakenmir. Too nice a fella with a long life ahead of him.
2. Merchant skill is worth it when buying and selling. Am going to keep raising mine.
3. Have NOT been there or done that.

a) I have read mixed posts about that "door." The one I speak of was blue with a line of design running up and down it. I spent the better part of 30 minutes trying to find out what it did. Sigh.

b,c,d,e) Must check this out second time around. I don't think I found these . . . wow!

Piles of sand? where? In the mines, use axe and get gems. You probably mean desert, haven't been there. Rat skull, sigh.

[carg]

1) sorry, didn't try yet.
2) Lily: sorry to disappoint you, but merchant in a trait, not a skill, so you can't raise it. (Anyone know if the discount you get is influenced by presence?)
About serpent temple:
I found one discolored wall in the NE that wouldn't open, but I've been to both sides. One side is a wall close to the great entry halls, the other is beyond the kitchens, at the middle floor of an elevator.
I never found out what opened the door to the balcony, nor what is below.
There is one room I missed the first time around: There is a central pillar with a wooden walkway around it with 4 corridors. If you jump down you'll find a spider and some treasure, and a door that wouldn't open from the other side.

[Davros]

1) Oakenmir (shame, hangs head) - heard this was a really tough fight, and seeing as how I had not had many of those for a while, I gave this a go (yes I know Wyv, Lily, Xenotoca etc, this guys a watcher how could I? - I gave into the darkside Yoda). Anyway, with 5 guys and gals with firestorm, one with meteor, most everyone with some form of heal or fiend I thought this shouldn't be too tough. He summoned 2 groves of trees instantly, but they are not as tough as him. Icestorm works on them, but not the Oak. Ran out of fire magic mana and he still had 3/4 of HP left, summoned fiends all over the place to try and take care of the summoned groves (well delay them and take the heat off). Then went in and started beating him over the trunk with all my heavily blessed and enchanted weapons. Lost 4 guys in the hand to hand stuff, resurrected 2 of them. When he finally went down, I only had 3 members alive, and were talking barely here. Polished off the last 3 trees and thought yes, it's time to heal. Turned around, and I had 2 more groves of trees advancing on me. Turned and ran like hell, dived into the sea and took off swimming.
2) Merchant, yeah, it's listed in the guide under traits - purchase low, see high.
3) Killed the sphinx too - had loaded the patch (don't know if that makes a difference) - he asked his question, no I didn't get it right (what has it got in its' pocketses), and then it starts casting spells. There is a pile of sand where it fell???
4) No ideas about these new areas - you have me interested though.

Hey the place at the serpent temple that you can overlook from the place that opened up later in the game guess what you know the place where when you hit a switch some temple monkeys appear well thats sopousedly where they are keept. notice down stairs at the far wall there are some shafts on the roof from where the monkeys fall and upstairs in the room you are talking about there are the same number of shafts. the secret door you mention well its down stairs thats where the angel of Kerah apears well at least the statue so im guessing maybe its a bug that you see the code color upsairs for a secret door since there already s one downstairs

[thoon]

I actually returned to the Serpent temple, just to check things out. Sad to say, I guess Targos is right. The room he means is right next to the passage to Kerah's statue. It has a shaft (pit) that is too small to get into. There are six (not four) openings to the room above, in just the right position and the right colored lights. Given this, the grates I mentioned almost certainly look into the snake-god room where you put in coins to get incense. Both are in the right place on the map.

The belfry is accessed from the top room of the three layer elevator beyond the kitchen. It is seen high above in the rear (face the front). You have to stack crates to get up there. It contains two large rooms (they were guarded by belfry spiders) with chests. There is also an alcove with a stub of a corridor. That stub ends in the discolored "door" I mean. It is greenish with an embossed repeating design. My map shows hardly anything else on that level, and nothing near the "door".

There are several other discolored "doors" in the temple. The crescent shaped room ... well I remember it, but memory is fickle. Still ...

The piles of sand I mean are conspicuously located in front of the Temple of Isis and in the first room of the Pyramid. Serath reports that a pick does nothing. Perhaps they are like the 'urns of old' but it is strange.

This leaves the rat skull, and two more things, the Servant's menu which surely has a use, and the top of the dragonspire, which I could never climb. Where and how do you climb it, and what's up there?

This time in the temple I had my graphics set on high and the patch installed. The difference was remarkable! First time, I had illuminate on and the gamma set high so I could see. This time, although a few things seemed more cartoonish, the place was entrancing. Eerie glows, distant shafts of light and moving characters, astonishing colors ... the wizards study off the Library is truly striking. If this is primarily due the patch, the developers missed a real selling point not having it right to start with.

Carg: I found that room too ... after a while. It was a disappointment at the time because I thought that door led to more dungeon below.

Davros: Did you get the millions of exp ? I don't think I will try it .. Fighting a pointless battle isn't that much fun for me, even though I need one. Nor for that matter is wandering around a finished game. I guess it's time for me to uninstall and move on.

I will keep up with the forum for a week or so, but farewell to all the fine people ... this forum made the game twice as much fun. I may post suggestions for the game. If so, I hope you all will add on, and maybe the development team will notice it.

Sigh ... anybody played Planescape: Torment? Should I go there next?

=thoon=

Carg and Davros . . . Oh, how disappointing (about Merchant) mussy just went up a level (we are up there as assassin and it is miles between level ups but stats and skill up are great when they happen. I guess I thought there was some skill attached to it like when you have ID, Bless or Enchant, but Carg's right there is none. I loved WW selling and buying so cheap! Oh, well.

Thoon . . . Planetscape is on my list but won't know til Santa comes. Like I have time for another game. Haven't be to temple of Isis . . . I just finished Skull Castle and did a poor job of it. Well, will do better next time. I want a second run at this game.

"I am the master and you are dead meat" . . . what a pleasant greeting . . . and Go'shin is no more. The meat bites back!!!