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CIRCLE OF THE MERE
Aldanon's Breakthrough
I make for the front entrance of the Keep. Khralver attempts to speak to me, but Sand cuts him off.
I then end up in the Library of the Keep, whereupon Aldanon informs me of a possible method of reaching the King of Shadows in the Vale of Merdelain.
I leave the Keep without speaking to Lieutenant Kana in order to avoid advancing Keep Time.
Daeghun and Elanee
When I enter and leave the inside of Crossroad Keep for the first time, Daeghun will be waiting for me in the middle of the courtyard. He informs me and Elanee that the Druids of the Circle of the Mere may still be alive. I deliberately pick dialogue options that will earn influence with Elanee. Bishop imposes his services as well.
*Evil* Daeghun and Elanee
The parallel video for Zarathos, where he delibaretly picks dialogue options that will lose influence with Elanee.
Alliance with the Circle of the Mere
I can bring around five party members during Act III. Valeria brings along Casavir, Zhjaeve, Elanee, and Khelgar for this particular quest for reasons that I will describe quite shortly. Bishop is acting as my guide, so he shows up as a free sixth party member on this specific occasion.
I buff up to the max beforehand, Stoneskins, Barkskins, Extended Flame Weapons, Keen Weapon, etc. The Beetle Familiar can now use Greater Stoneskin on itself.
I then go ahead with an extended dialogue with Vashne and other members of the mere. The dialogue option of "I am sure Elanee meant no harm to the Circle" sufficies to get +1 influence with her. It all comes down to the inevitable result, a fight. Keeping Elanee in my party depends on making a successful influence check (at least +5) with her.
There are certain considerations for this battle. The Druids of the Circle will be spaced apart from each other, so trying to catch them with offensive spells isn't always effective, at least not right away. They are also physically weak, so an ideal strategy is to overwhelm them in physical combat provided that I can survive their initial wave of spells (which I do). They also have poor armor class, so Bishop uses Many Shot on any Druids that are in the middle of casting spells. The Beetle Familiar also runs around looking for Druids to zap with the Touch of Idiocy spell.
It is not until enough enemies have closed around that Valeria uses Flame Brand, Zhjaeve uses Word of Faith, and Elanee uses Fire Storm. It soon becomes a slaughter. Naevan shows up, but isn't interested in joining me.
The Druids leave behind various items, including a Scimitar +2, a Spear +2, a Chain Shirt +3, and a Sling +2. Vashne leaves behind the Blacksoul Sickle (Sickle +4, +2 vampiric regeneration).
*Evil* Alliance with the Circle of the Mere
The evil version. A barrage of offensive spells (Chain Lightning, Fire Storm, Storm of Vengeance, Word of Faith, etc.) plus physical attacks is enough to get the job done.
Also, Elanee wants to leave since Zarathos has really bad influence with her. He decides to kill her. I gain a LOT of influence with Bishop and lose a LOT of influence with Casavir in the course of the conversation that leads to the next battle. The reason I didn't bring Neeshka and Qara along was that I would have gained influence with them for attacking Elanee, and I want both of them driven out of my party towards the climax.
Since Elanee and Elder Naevan are already within easy reach, they are easily struck down.
Now it is time for me to get some work done in the basement of Crossroad Keep.
