The Clerk’s Ward At Long Last

After a lengthy pause that I swear did not involve laziness or a general unwillingness to play PS:T, I am ready to make my comeback post. It will be epic. We left off several years ago just as TNO was about to enter the Clerk’s Ward. The odd part of this experience for me is much of what I’m now writing about has already been played before I took my out of town trip (California sucks, no offense), so I’m relying heavily on video capture from my journeys over a week ago. That said, it shouldn’t be hard to step back in the role of TNO and finish up this interesting gaming experience that has definitely provided plenty of ups and downs. And to anyone making requests or giving valuable hints, please don’t feel ignored. I’ll get to all of your comments as soon as I can. We’ve got some serious catching up to do first, though, so let’s get started. 

TNO’s initial experience with the Clerk’s Ward is that he is a welcome sight here. I first speak with Diligence, an uppity bitch who is quick to denounce me and threatens to call the guards if he doesn’t leave her alone. Apparently my appearance is not pleasing to the citizens of this area.

TNO's first conversation in the Clerk's Ward immediately puts him on the defensive.

In this area, I attempted to use my growing knowledge and comfort of the game to explore the location and chat with the locals at the same time, so with most of the region still black on the map, I move on and chat with a variety of other characters, many of whom don’t advance the story, at least not in an obvious way at this time. I speak with a drunken mage (TNO wanders what the man could do to rid himself of the addiction), find Nemelle and unlock the full potential of the decanter, and then perform a side quest for her in which I locate a friend on the other side of the Clerk’s Ward. I come across another side quest when talking to a man named Malmaner who requests I retrieve his costume for him from the tailor who threw him out of the store. 

In other words, nothing of real consequence (aside from the decanter) happens over the first twenty minutes of play in the Clerk’s Ward. But then I stumble upon Jolmi’s Messenger. It appears the gentleman is looking for TNO, and his orders are to bring me to the Civic Festhall for a proposal. I agree to this and immediately head that direction, having fully explored the outside area of the Clerk’s Ward. 

Inside, TNO immediately approaches Jolmi and discovers that she’s seeking permission to kill him for two thousand copper commons. Being immortal and all, this seems like a good way to earn some money, so I instruct TNO to agree to the proposal and die. He immediately returns to the same room after his death two thousand copper commons richer and with a disappointed Jolmi no longer willing to speak to him.

A most unusual proposal...

Now inside the Festhall, I decide I might as well begin exploring. My next act is to converse with Splinter, the guide of sorts for the Festhall who gives me novels of information and persuades me to give up my allegiance to the Dustman faction and join the Sensates; I tell him a story that meets expectations and helps me become a member. Done deal. Now a member of the Sensates, I decide to continue exploring. 

Unfortunately, that decision takes me to Jumble Murdersense next, the man who put a curse on Reekwind. Jumble refuses to talk to me, leaving me with no dialogue option other than to threaten him or bluff. Not surprisingly, my (relatively) good-natured TNO elects to bluff, but the result is nonetheless unpleasant, as Jumble then puts a curse on me as well. Rather than fight him, I decide to look elsewhere for the cure and leave him alone for the time being. The constant hiccups that follow me as I explore the rest of the Festhall were rather annoying to say the least, however.

Jumble Murdersense would rather cast spells than take time to... ya know, talk.

TNO makes good use of his exploring prowess, attending all three lectures in their full length and seeking out each individual trainer as well despite the fact that I have no interest in switching professions or learning anything other than the craft of sorcery. I also come across a dormitory setting where I learn that a past reincarnation of TNO actually had a room. This seems to be an especially important discovery, as I come across several charms, spells, and an interesting object called a dodecahedron, which is currently in a language I cannot translate. 

But the bulk of my time in the Festhall is spent reading the damn memory crystals in the sensoriums. After traveling to both the public and the private sensoriums, I take the time to go through and experience each emotion, which often results in extremely long-winded narrations. Now, I understand these have an important role in the game, so I won’t speak too disrespectfully about them, but let me just assure you I have no interest recapping them all, or even trying to summarize my findings. Just trust me when I say I did make sure to experience every last one of them, which netted me quite a few experience points in the process. I also came across an odd man named Quell who seemed capable of giving me information about Ravel Puzzlewell, but he has very little to say to me until I fetch him some sort of exotic chocolate. 

After concluding there isn’t much left to do inside the Festhall, I exit and seek out Salabesh the Onyx, the sorcerer Splinter told me could heal Jumble’s curse. Salabesh has bad news for TNO, however — Jumble will have to remove the curse himself, and willingly at that. Utilizing his clever ways, TNO tricks Salabesh into teaching him a curse to use on Jumble Murdersense and then quickly races back in the Festhall to end the infernal hiccups. The curse works to perfection, as it cuts off Jumble’s ability to speak. In his panic, he agrees to remove both the curse he put on me as well as the one he put on Reekwind.

At long last, Reekwind has his retribution.

With several key accomplishments taken care of inside the Festhall, I pause to take a look at my journal and still unfinished quests. While perusing it I come across the entry recalling how I delivered a message for Giltspur back in the Lower Ward to the Godsmen faction, and it dawns on me that I left unfinished business behind after all. Since I currently have the ability to quick travel to any location on the map I choose (or so it seems), I figure it’s a harmless detour and decide to return to Giltspur to let him know I completed his task. As I expected, I get some experience points for the task, and no small amount at that. Doubling back was well worth the time taken from the Clerk’s Ward, and furthermore, I hadn’t even been finished working for Giltspur! He gives me one final task, which is to deliver a handbill to Barkis at the Smoldering Corpse Bar. Talk about backtracking. But again, the travel aspect of the game is easier than ever, so why not? 

This particular portion of the game, much to my surprise, turned out to be absolutely huge. Back at the Smoldering Corpse Bar, I deliver the handbill to Barkis and then remember to purchase back my eye (earlier in the game I didn’t have the money for it) from him. This gives me 1,000 experience points as well as a new memory. While heading back out, I come across Ignus, the man the bar is named after. And then I have a revelation that changed the whole game for me. I quickly reread the description of the Decanter of Endless Water where it assures me it can put out any fire, no matter how intense, and then use it on Ignus. The result is 5,000 experience points and a new member in my group, but that’s not the part I keep referencing as being critical. 

Through a series of intense talks with Ignus (who still burns despite having the decanter used on him), I come to an incredible discovery — TNO personally trained him in a previous life! This powerful son of a bitch was once my student! After reliving a painful memory in which Ignus’s current condition is explained (TNO was a real bastard back then), I then take a big gulp and ask Ignus to teach me the powers I once taught him. This process is handled very effectively by the game; through a series of painful interactions, I gain literally thousands of experience points and invaluable sorcery wisdom at the cost of a few hit points. I instruct TNO to continue asking to learn more until Ignus has burned every available part of him, including the spare intestines I got a while back.

Experience points have never before been earned in such a painful manner.

After this grueling experience, I end the conversation with Ignus and check out my statistics screen. Through these painful efforts, I have now become a Level 10 mage with a level of 18 for Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. Remembering my lessons from before, I take the time to go through each member of my party and ensure everyone is as strong as they can possibly be. This feels like a transitional moment in the game to me, and I want to be sure everyone’s completely set up and equipped for optimal performance. 

Before leaving the bar, I go around and talk individually to each member of my party, making sure I haven’t missed anything important they might know. In this process, Dak’kon admits to me that he has sworn himself to me for the remainder of my life before he knew I was immortal, which now makes him my slave for the rest of his life. TNO vows to find a way to release him from this pact, as he has grown quite fond of Dak’kon over the course of their travels together. I also inadvertently pick a fight with Ignus after apologizing for the condition I put him in once upon a time and have to reload, but no need to dwell on that. Let’s just pretend I never have to reload anymore, as everyone keeps reminding me not to. 

This is one of those times where I find myself feeling stronger than ever, like my character is miles away from what he started off as, and that I can return to quests in the game with more confidence than ever before. I’m armed with new experience, skills, spells, and even a new party member. Before returning to the Clerk’s Ward, I even stop in at Fell’s Tattoo Parlor and take advantage of the effects of a few tattoos as well, something I’d been neglecting earlier in the game. Indeed, TNO is more powerful than ever, and is finally being controlled by a semi-worthy player. Or at least one that has an idea of how to play the game, if you don’t want to give me that much credit. It only took this long to figure it all out, right?

TNO shops for tattoos. Next stop? A new pair of shoes and a haircut.

Back in the Clerk’s Ward, I go about resolving some leftover matters from my last visit, before TNO was the most bad ass mage ever. My first stop is to Finam’s house to solve the mystery of the dodecahedron. Although Finam himself proves unable to help me, he does mention that his dead father would have known how to read the language. Fortunately, his dead father’s remains are kept right here in the room, and with TNO’s uncanny ability to talk to the dead, this poses no problem at all! 

The conversation is very revealing. Firstly, the dodecahedron (once translated) turns out to be the missing journal I’ve been after this whole game. Reading through it is very disappointing, as it appears to have been written by a considerably crazier, more evil version of TNO. Secondly, this insane evil version of TNO was the person who killed Finam’s father in the first place! It bears repeating that old TNO was a real son of a bitch. At any rate, mystery solved: the dodecahedron was a way to hide the journal left behind by evil/crazy TNO. 

Now, to obtain that exotic piece of candy for Quell, I head over to the Curiosity Shoppe, quickly coming to a decision and returning with great haste to the stupid Festhall (sorry, the writing process has me growing very impatient to finish this up and get back to playing the fucking game already; it’s been forever) and tracking down Quell once again. With the candy in his mouth, he’s much more forthcoming, and shares what he knows about Ravel. Quell feels that seeking out Ravel is a terrible mistake, as she’s impossible talented and wicked as well as dead. But TNO is persistent, and after prodding for a while, Quell advises me that every maze has a portal, and the way to get into the maze housing Ravel likely involves getting a piece of Ravel herself.

Chocolate loosens Quell's tongue rather effectively.

Remember the memory stone with Ravel in it, I head to the south and use it again, telling Ravel I have returned. She gives me a hint when I question her about the key, telling me the key is a labor of her own flesh and blood, and then she vanishes leaving me with that same haunting question: what can change the nature of a man? I admit that line gives me chills. With these chills still lingering, I depart the Festhall once again and decide it’s time to seek out The Brothel of Slating Intellectual Lusts. 

Inside, I meet Fall-from-Grace, who I quickly realize is going to be the next (and last?) member of my party. She talks to TNO a bit about the nature of the brothel, which she established herself for those who seek pleasure through conversation instead of carnal actions. While sharing my amnesia plight with her, Fall-from-Grace admits to being intrigued by TNO’s condition and suggests some people in the brothel may have helpful information. Lastly, TNO offers her to come along on the group’s adventure, and she proposes that first I must find ten students inside the brothel, talk with them, and then return to her with my thoughts. I accept her proposal, and then promptly decide I’ve had enough for one play session, save, and quit. 

Even recapping all of this now is an exhausting process, but after a long lay-off, I’m back in the swing of things, and more ready than ever to finish things off. I’m more interested in the story than ever, and eager to seek out Ravel. I will leave things at this point for the time being, with the promise that more is on the way very soon. Ish.