Phinally Phound Pharod

Welcome back, readers. With TNO having discovered his identity as a mage, I decide to move quickly towards advancing the story in this play session. It’s time to seek out Pharod. It’s worth mentioning that I attempted to visit Sharegrave inside his house upon first discovering Ragpicker’s Square, but considering he tried to kill me within seconds after talking to him, I fled and didn’t feel it was important enough to bring up. Fortunately, this disaster inside doesn’t stop Ratbone, the man standing guard outside the house, from giving me useful information about successfully tracking down Pharod once and for all. I get my first useful tip: visit Creeden near the Office of Vermin and Disease Control. 

A few short mouse clicks later, I come across Creeden peddling rats just where Ratbone said he’d be. Creeden doesn’t know specifics, but he does remember seeing a woman by the name of Nalls entering the area once. Off to Nalls we go, who is not far to the north. Indeed, Nalls has the juicy details TNO has been in search of. Turns out all I really need to get through the portal is a handful of junk, which she’s kind enough to offer.

Thankfully, Nalls just happens to have plenty of junk on her to spare.

Our trio heads excitedly back to Ragpicker Square, the thrill of a chase about to end lingering the air. Approaching the archway with the junk proves successful; simply throwing it in teleports our group on the other side of the portal, where we then are able to enter the Trash Warrens. I can sense that Pharod is nearby, and I find myself on alert, more attentive than I’ve been the whole game previously.

Immediately upon entering this new area, a collector by the name of Anamoli approaches me and offers a terse insult, making it obvious I’m not welcome here. TNO, using his wits, warns the collector that it’s perhaps not a good idea to deliver a body to the Dustmen by killing the person occupying it, and he backs away — for a moment. After some further exploration that yields little but a rusty dagger and an extra bandage, a large group of collectors falls on TNO and his companions. I arm TNO with the rusty dagger he’s just come across and attempt to fight off the huge hoard of hostile men, but there’s simply too many of them. Desperate, I attempt to use my new mage abilities and cast a spell, choosing Magic Missile, which works, but hardly destroys the group. With TNO and Dak’kon taking heavy damage (Morte floats above all the chaos seemingly unhurt), I try to run away to several different locations, but am ultimately hunted down and killed.

Holy Jesus! When do I get to level up and cast some decent spells?

This time I wake up in a different area than The Mortuary, and there’s an old woman standing over me. TNO spends a moment getting to know her, and even persuades her to search his body for objects. This is a mostly unsuccessful process, although it does result in a ring, 500 experience points, and some intestines in my inventory. After finishing up with Marta, I begin trying to find a way out; I have trouble with that sometimes in this game. After unsuccessfully searching for a few minutes, I decide to try and engage my companions in some chit-chat. I’m pleasantly surprised when I find that Dak’kon actually has much to teach me in the ways of sorcery. TNO studies several circles from the Unbroken Circle of Zertimon and as such gains some new spells and many experience points in the process. After all this, I find the way out. Turns out it was pretty simple. 

I end up in the Buried Village, and after exploring the area and perusing my map, I discover a location that catches my interest immediately: Pharod’s Court. In my excitement, I ignore other areas and rush directly to Pharod, clicking wildly to get to him. I must say, this is not what I thought of when I picture Pharod. An old man with a long beard? Not so much. Anyhow, Pharod isn’t quite the tell-all I hoped he would be, at least not yet. After a brief conversation, he informs me he won’t be able to give me the answers I seek, not without a little quest or two first (or ten, if my experience with this game means anything). It’s also worth mentioning I was able to talk him into telling TNO how he’s getting all the money from the Dustman people; turns out he’s digging up the dead bodies buried by the Dustmen and selling them back. The trouble is, without thinking, I have TNO vow that he won’t share this secret instead of lie about it. I realize afterwards that now I’m unable to tell the Dustmen what Pharod shared with me, thus keeping me from completing that particular quest, and likely keeping me from being able to join the Dustmen. That could be a problem, but I feel TNO is a man of vows and honesty, not lies and deception. I’ll deal with that later. For now, it’s time to pay a visit to these so called Catacombs.

So this is the man who holds all the answers to TNO's past? Hope I can find the bronze spear before he DIES.

Another quick note: I also spoke briefly with a man named Uhir who lost a knife in the while trying to kill a ghoul, and I agreed to help him with that, so it’s not just Pharod’s golden spear (edit: bronze sphere. Wow, that’s some great reading comprehension I displayed there. Thanks, Drugar, I owe you one.) I’ll be seeking in the catacombs. 

Well, readers, I’m afraid I’ll have to stop here for this entry. I want to get this entry up as soon as possible, and it must be said that I’ve ventured far into the catacombs and, to put it mildly, I’m having trouble getting out. I expect to succeed very shortly, however, and I’ll be more than happy to describe my harrowing adventures there in the next entry. You guys remember the Catacombs, right? Do you remember them being impossible? Because I have to admit, and this will note come as a surprise to anyone reading this, I’m getting my ass kicked. In just about every location, too. But I’ll save it for next time…

A little preview for next time, gents.