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Master of the Fifth Tower
Prisoners in Crossroad Keep
Now I bring along Casavir, Bishop and Sand. Bishop will have an interesing conversation with Shandra if I bring him to the next part of the game. His ability to shoot down spellcasters from afar will also come in handy here. Sand's spells will be useful, and I'll also be able to find a powerful cloak for him as well.
I then enter Castle Never, whereupon a cutscene unfolds. Aldanon is being held prisoner inside Crossroad Keep, alongside a Githzerai woman.
Luskan's New Ambassador
I speak with Lord Nasher and get my xp bonuses both for finishing the Tavorick's Shard quest and for keeping Lord Tavorick alive. What follows is a rather extended conversation with both Lord Nasher and Luskan's new ambassador, Sydney Natale. Valeria earns +4 influence with Shandra by persisting in outrage over what happened to Ember, and refusing to drop it for the sake of smoother relations with Luskan.
*Evil* Luskan's New Ambassador
The equivalent conversation for Zarathos. One minor difference is that Zarathos takes jabs at Sydney's weight. The key difference is that he loses -4 influence with Shandra by dismissing the Ember massacre for the sake of good politics with Luskan.
The Ritual Begins
My next destination is clear, Crossroad Keep. Once I begin travelling there, a cutscene shows Black Garius and members of the Arcane Brotherhood of Luskan preparing for a dark ritual.
Assault on Crossroad Keep
I arrive at Crossroad Keep, and come upon the dead body of a farmer who has been killed by the Luskanites. I deliberately choose the response that will win influence with Shandra but also lose influence with Bishop.
A contingent of Many-Starred Cloaks from Neverwinter is in the middle of the field, led by Vale. I choose the response that allows me time to buff up. I then charge forward and quickly kill the two Luskan Soldiers guarding the front gate.
I have Valeria cast Haste on the party, and then enter the courtyard. There I get attacked by a very large force of Luskan soldiers led by a Luskan Captain and a Luskan Warpriest. A couple Chain Lightning spells from Sand plus arrow-fire from Bishop plus physical attacks from the rest is enough to jet the job done. The Captain leaves behind Discord (Bastard Sword +2, +1d6 sonic damage, Confusion DC=14 50% / 2 rounds), which I'll just sell. The Warpriest leaves behind the Cape of Fire Bath (+2 saving throws, +10 fire resistance), which becomes Sand's cloak for the rest of the game. The saving throws bonus and the fire resistance are both welcome for an arcane spellcaster who hangs back and usually can only be damaged from afar.
Members of the Arcane Brotherhood have magically sealed the door from within. Vale informs me that I'll have to approach from another way, an escape tunnel.
*Evil* Assault on Crossroad Keep
The equivalent video for Zarathos. The key difference is that I choose to show callous disregard for the farmer's death so as to gain +2 influence with Bishop and lose -2 influence with Shandra.
Crossroad Keep Escape Tunnel
I start off at #1 on the tunnel map. There will be plenty of beetles to fight here, like Fire Beetles that can score extra fire damage, Bombardier Beetles that can score minor acid damage in a cone-like area of effect, and Stag Beetles. There will also be plenty of traps here. It is pretty easy to overwhelm them in physical combat, although Valeria plays it safe by keeping the party in 'follow me' mode and only issuing 'attack nearest' when it can be safely done without tripping a trap. The Beetles also leave glands or horns and such that can be distilled into essences.
The spot at #2 is guarded by a pair of Bone Spiders that can poison their targets with their bite attacks, but I manage to kill them routinely. There are plenty of containers here. Some of them have random loot. Others have set items as follows (all of which I'll just sell unless otherwise noted):
The Ancient Art of Golemcraft
I start off at #1 on the interior map. I go ahead to #2, and get 750xp for getting Aldanon out of the Keep. A nearby bookcase has several scrolls. One of the scrolls is a scroll of Ice Storm, which Valeria inscribes.
The bookcase also has a tome called The Ancient Art of Golemcraft. This book will become relevant to another quest later on.
The adjoining room to the east has two more crates with random loot.
Crossroad Keep Key
I open the door to the room at #3. A pair of Arcane Brothers, and many Luskan Guards, attack me. Sand catches as many enemies as he can with a Chain Lightning, which softens them for everyone else to bring down with physical attacks.
One of the Brothers leaves behind an Aiedo Wither-Stick (Quarterstaff +1, Strength Drain 1d2 DC=14). I'll sell it. The other Brother leaves behind the Crossroad Keep Key, which opens the door at #5.
Shadow Priestess
First, I cast Haste on all party members. Next, I continue east to the room at #6, where there will be several Shadow Priests led by a Shadow Priestess. I do this the hard way, without any offensive spells. The reason is that I don't want to wreck any of the containers. I send my party members in multiple directions to have them stay on top of and attack as many of the Priests as I can in the hopes of interrupting their spellcasting. And it worked for the most part. The Shadow Priestess leaves behind a Greater Cloak of Protection vs. Good (+5 deflection bonus to armor class vs. good), and the Talisman of Pure Evil (+3 Charisma, +3 Wisdom, 12 spell resistance). I have no use for such items in a mostly good party, so I'll sell them.
Two of the containers have random loot. The one just a little east of the magically sealed door can yield a high value gem. I managed to get a Blue Diamond, which I want so that I can craft enchant either Valeria's armor or her shield. The door at #7 leads to the basement.
Blade Golem
I go down the stairs and start off at #1 on the Basement map. Ahead at #4 is a Blade Golem that will charge me. Physical combat is enough to wear it down.
The shelf at #2 has the Brotherhood Journal, which indicates that the Shadow Priests were very helpful in preparing the ritual, suspiciously so. There will be a few containers along the way at #3. Two of them provide opportunities to score a high value gem. In both instances I insisted (through reloading) on Beljurils.
Dark Ritual
Valeria and Sand buff up to the max, including Greater Invisibility and Elemental Shield. Valeria adds in Haste. I then charge in to begin combat against several members of the Arcane Brotherhood and a few Luskan Champions. Valeria makes repeated use of Firebrand spells that are carefully aimed to catch as many of the enemies as possible. Casavir and Shandra charge right in. Sand aims Isaac's Greater Missile Storm from a distance, while it takes Elanee a while to get herself through the door. The battle is soon won.
There's a lot of loot to be had, some of it random, but notable items include:
I get 750xp for routing the Luskans out of Crossroad Keep. Vale decides to burn the bodies of the members of the Arcane Brotherhood instead of burying them. Only, undead monstrosities called Shadow Reavers rise from the corpses and wander off.
Now it is time to return to Crossroad Keep.
