Resolution 2020: Tainted Grail The Fall of Avalon play through

Beor now knew where the Grail was, and he was confident that no-one else would find it before he did. Given that he was in the Forest of Whispers and activating the Menhir here was the only way to reach Farpoint, Beor decided he could afford a diversion. Beor lit the Menhir and then travelled to the most Northern part of the island, Farpoint.

Beor spent a couple of days exploring the ruins of Farpoint. The old settlement was a mystery – who built it, why had the Fore-Dwellers not attacked them?

Over the course of the next two weeks Beor travelled back and forth between Farpoint, where he investigated its mysteries, and the Forest of Whispers where he hunted for food, recuperated his wounds and mental health, and reactivated the Menhir as needed.

Eventually Beor realised that the red plants growing throughout the ruins were anathema to wyrdness. They kept the old settlement safe, and if he were to seek them out in the rest of the island he could rest better in their vicinity.

Satisfied he had learned all that he could, Beor decided to head south to finally resolve the dispute between Bundorca and Falfuar. He would then be able to travel further west to find the Grail.

This session lasted about 3 hours and was purely focused on exploring a single location (all be it one with a lot of exploration options). It took quite a while because from Chapter 5 onward the encounter decks no longer have the level 1 encounters in them. Every fight was a challenge and I had to spend many days in the Forest of Whispers recovering. This is a good place to do so as there is an explore option that heals one wound, and another that removes one insanity. Given it also has a Menhir and can be used to hunt food, it is a very useful location.

Beor returned to Bundorca so that he might finally settle the dispute that they had with Falfuar. He did a little more investigation in each town but quickly concluded that he was going to learn nothing more, so he might as well call a meeting with each town’s representatives and back Bundorca. A part of Beor wished he could understand their arguments better so that he could help them reach a solution that worked for both towns. But it wasn’t to be so he might as well back Bundorca simply because it was the town he visited first.

The residents of Falfuar agreed to abandon their town and leave the Menhir with Bundorca. At Beor’s suggestion they travelled north in search of somewhere new to settle.

With the local crisis resolved Beor travelled northwest to the Fernsea. It proved to be a dangerous labyrinth of suffocating underground tunnels. Like Farpoint, Beor was forced to spend over a fortnight trying to explore it. He would spend a day in the Fernsea, then be forced to return to the Forest of Whispers to hunt for food and recuperate.

In the end Beor found what he sought – the Grail. Climbing out of the tunnels triumphant, Beor was shocked to find himself in the middle of a battle. Confused, he ran for cover. A tall stranger shouted at him to flee but was shot in the back as he did so. Beor ran to their aid to discover it was the Lady of the Lake. Badly wounded she told him that others had learned of the Grails location and had come to seek it out. It was too powerful an artefact and must be returned to Tuathan, the land of the Fore-Dwellers.

The Lady begged Beor to leave, but he refused to do so without first using the Grail to try and heal her. Using the last of his water rations to let her drink from the Grail her strength started to recover, but Beor was beset by a warband for his tardiness in escaping. Beor drove them off, giving the Lady of the Lake time to give him more help in his quest.

Now Beor must find a way in to Tuathan. To do so he has three options – seek out Neante in the Forest of Whispers, find Orrin in the south of the island, or find the Burrial Mask from the Shimmering Flats.

This session took four hours, primarily because I had to go back and forth so much to keep recovering health, sanity, and food. The chapter was still fun though. I would have finished it earlier but I was miss-reading one of the entries in the Fernsea which gave me the Grail. I thought I was not entitled to take the final option so kept wondering in circles.

The Fernsea is a true labyrinth and I’m impressed the game designers were able to implement it using the Exploration Journal. If I ever return here in later chapters I will have to draw a map to help me explore it better.

Beor set out immediately for the Forest of Whispers to meet with Neante. She was horrified to learn that he wanted to travel to Tuathan, but once she realised Beor could not be dissuaded she relented and offered help. Neante knew of three ways to get into Tuathan. The first was so dangerous it had cost the first expedition one of their members. The second was the entrance that the first expedition succeeded in using and would certainly be guarded now. The third, and hopefully safest route, was to find Orrin who knew of another secret entrance.

Beor then travelled south to the Shimmerin Flats where the Lady of the Lake had told him he could find a powerful artefact. On his way there Beor overhoud the sounds of a distant battle while he camped for the night. In the morning Beor investigated to find signs the his Fore-Dweller pursuer had battles with some other powerful titan. Beor was disturbed to see that the Fore-Dweller had been beaten and forced to retreat into the woods injured. The fact that he would be spared pursuit for a time while the Fore-Dweller recovered was welcome, but the thought of there being some other unknown entity out there that could best the Fore-Dweller filled Beor with dread. 

It took two attempts, but at the Shimmering Flats Beor was able to search the underwater ruins and find the Fore-Dweller burial mask. Beor was certain this would be useful in Wyrdness infested Tuathan.

Beor continued to travel south until he returned once more to Cuanacht. By now he was weary and looked forward to one more night in his own home. However as he entered the village some people noticed the tell tale signs of the Red Death on Beor’s skin and tried to drive him off. Beor bested the crowd that formed, but it was evident Beor would not be welcome in the settlement.

Beor decided to travel to the Island Asylum to see if the healers could cure him of the Red Death. It turns out the only cure available is life imprisonment. It took Beor two days to escape. Beor added the Island Asylum to the list of places he could not safely visit in the future.

It was time to head west in search of Orrin…

This was another epic three and a half hour session with lots of fun exploration, combat, and side quests. I can see though that quests that involve traversing vast distances of the island can take a long time to play out. Awaken Realms said that they had received a lot of feedback about this being a problem in later chapters. I’ll have to see if it develops into a problem for me.

Beor recalled that at the start of his journey he had found something in the Grubwood that needed further investigation. As he was so close he took a detour to revisit the area. Delving into the wood once more, Beor came across a strange figure that seemed to want him to climb a tree and retrieve something from a dangling chain. Beor did so. Dangling from the chain was a skeletal arm and Beor was well travelled enough to recognise it as a Fore-Dweller limb. This probably meant the figure below was a Fore-Dweller. But the figure had not seemed hostile, so Beor returned the limb to him. In gratitude Beor was given a relic which protects him against magic.

Travelling west to Stampede, Beor knew he must now be in the general area where he would find Orrin. Searching the planes he came across a fresh grave. Upon investigation he found it to contain Lord Yvain. Beor already knew he had died and that the party had been driven north-east of here by their Fore-Dweller pursuer. Still, a thorough investigation of the grave could yield more investigation so Beor spent some time doing so – finding a useful trinket clenched in Yvain’s fist.

Next Beor travelled south to the Horns of the South. The lighthouse keepers proved to be good hosts, providing food and some money in exchange for a good story. As he left though the youngest of the three keepers asked Beor to investigate the neighbouring ruined lighthouse. He had heard strange noises and feared the place to be inhabited by a beast. The ruined lighthouse no longer had any floors, so the door opened up to a deep pit. Beor climbed down and was immediately assaulted. Beor restrained his attacker to find she was a woman, badly deformed from poorly healed bones, who must have been trapped down here for some time. Beor hauled her out, at which point she escaped and fled. Returning to the keepers in the main lighthouse Beor learned the truth – the woman had followed the youngest keeper here so that she might be with him. The two older keepers had cast her down the ruin as links to their past lives were forbidden. The ensuing revelation led to the youngest keeper killing one of his colleagues and the third throwing the youngest off the cliff, leaving him to be the sole keeper for the rest of his life. Beor left in shock.

Searching the nearby beaches Beor found a small camp where Sir Lamarok sat. He had been on a quest to the west but could no longer complete it as the Wyrdness had blocked his path. Beor rekindled Sir Lamarok’s sense of duty and told him to return to Kamelot where he might be useful to the people once more.

Beor then travelled north-west to Wyrdedge. There he found a single building, surrounded by Wyrdness with only a single rope bridge leading to it. Crossing the bridge Beor found Orrin within, but he did not get the welcome he expected. Upon first requesting entry Beor was rudely rejected, but on a second, more humble, attempt Orrin let him in. Orrin was prepared to help…

It took another two hours to finish this chapter, bringing the total play time up to about five and half hours. However I was taking my time to explore most of the side locations as I passed them, so Beor has now explored most of the north, east, and south of Avalon.

The end of the chapter hints that I may need to return to Kamelot, which is on the far side of the island again (Orrin was about as far from the start of Chapter 5 as you can get) so it looks like I’m in for another long journey next week.

So Orrin would not help Beor unless Beor proved himself by helping to restore the Order, or by becoming a hero of the people. Beor had already helped several of the Knights of the Round table, so he decided he would travel to Kamelot and continue to aid them.

But first the Menhir in Orrins home was the only one that would grant access to the rest of the southern coast of Avlaon, so Beor decided to light it and explore the region before starting the long trek back East. Beor travelled north to Farshire, then west to Devestation and then Riverfall. He could travel no further along the coast as Wyrdness had engulfed the west of Avalon.

In Riverfall there was an abandoned toll house with a hidden cellar beneath. In it Beor found supplies and a disturbing locked chest which he chose to take with him. Then Beor scaled down the cliffs to reach one of the three faces that were carved in there. Entering the mouth of the face Beor advanced down a tunnel through trickling water until he reached a rock slide that blocked the tunnel. Undeterred, Beor started to clear the rocks until suddenly the water burst through – perhaps this had not been a good idea. Grasping the walls with all his strength to stop him from being flushed away, Beor struggled on against the current. Soon he could see light ahead, and then he emerged from the tunnel.

Beor had found the hidden way into Tuathan! His eyes burned to look upon the Wyrdness infested landscape. Buildings of impossible complexity protruded at impossible angles. This was not going to be easy…

That was an unexpectedly quick chapter. One hour for me to stumble across the entrance to Tuathan by accident. Still the exploration was fun. I’ll have to finish exploring the other areas in the south of the island when I return here in later chapters.

The first thing Beor noticed as he ploughed into the Wyrdness was that he felt his limbs were bursting with energy. So much so that he felt if he did not use up all the energy his body might start to tear itself apart. On his first day he found a strange throne. Sitting upon it he felt magic surging into his mind, although at the same time his body was wracked with pain.

Going further into Tuathan, Beor found that food no longer noursihed him, though he had cravings to eat gold and jewels. From then on Beor subsisted on his wealth alone, which fortunately Beor had in abundance. In one confrontation Beor was brought to the brink of death and forced to abandon much of the equipment he had amassed so far in his adventures. Tuathan was costing Beor dearly yet he had no choice but to continue.

Just as Beor started to loose hope, he came across a human built cottage on a platform raised above the Wyrdness. This safe refuge must have been built by a previous expedition into Tuathan and allowed Beor the time to recover from the ordeals he had been through so far.

Pressing on into Tuathan Beor now found that if killed his body entered a restorative state, and the nightmares around him caused him to keep having epiphanies on the meaning of existence itself. Seemingly now unable to die or go insane, Beor took the time for more thorough exploration. In one giant building he found a large collection of Fore-Dweller art. Contemplating the art made Beor’s head hurt and his eyes bled. Perhaps it was best not to puch the exploration too much.

Soon after Beor found that his chest wound caused him great pain and his could no longer recover from the wounds he sustained in combat. Not even the restorative power of the Grail helped. This proved dangerous as he found  field of life-size clay statues. On closer inspection they were all copies of Beor himself and he was forced to fight his way clear of them.

Now nearing the heart of Tuathan, Beor found that physical injury caused his delusions to worsen, while witnessing horrors caused wounds to manifest on his body. Beor found a mad Knight working a forge. Beor defeated him and then used his own blood to forge a powerful relic in the forge. As twisted as Tuathan was Beor now found himself in essentially and immortal state, as long as his wealth lasted for him to feed on. Rather than push on to the centre of Tuathan Beor continued exploring. However as time passed Beor found that his very essence had started to dissolve away into the Wyrdness. Realising he had been foolish to linger, he pressed on to the centre of Tuathan.

In the centre of Tuathan Beorfound a perfect replica of Kamelot, built upside down and suspended from a rock outcropping. This must surely be his destination. Approaching the gate Beor found many dead Fore-Dwellers. They had been killed recently. As he attempted to access the throne room one of the Fore-Dwellers rose up, not dead but badly wounded. Even so it proved a tough fight but Beor narrowly triumphed. The throne had a Grail shaped alcove above it, so Beor placed the Grail there – completing the Lady’s quest. Exploring the castle further Beor found a grate library. Intrigued by what he might learn, Beor was surprised to find all the books were in fact fake. Beor chided himself for being shocked – by now he should expect anything in Tuathan.

The last place to search was the chamber of the Order. As he approached Beor could hear that something was in there, wailing in frustration. In the room stood a giant. As it turned to face Beor he recognised the giant as none other than King Arthur – somehow re-animated. Behind him was Excalibur, buried to the hilt in a rock. Evidently Arthur could not retrieve it. He gestured for Beor to release the sword. Before Beor could do so two figures joined them in the room – Morgaine and Sir Gaheris. Morgaine mocks Arthur, but Beor knew his duty was to his King so he lunged for Excalibur. Morgaine cries out that to retrieve the sword will plunge Kamelot into Wyrdness and undo all humanity – but Beor trusted his King.

Gaheris interceded before the sword could be fully drawn, and Beor cut Gaheris down. Morgaine was unperturbed and used Wyrdness to resurrect Gaheris. Beor bested Gaheris for a second time. Morgaine used a spell to retreat, so Beor returned to Excalibur and finished drawing it. Kamelot immediately began to melt into the Wyrdness. Arthur gestured to the door – it was time for Beor to leave. As Beor left, Arthur remained behind to be claimed by the Wyrdness.

Beor fled Tuathan as fast as he could. He quickly came to a place that he knew to be close to Orrin’s refuge so he sought the building out once more. He was distraught to find its former location, but evidently the building had walked away. Putting on the Fore-dweller burial mask Beor was able to track it down and get a good nights rest.

After about a week’s travel Beor came within sight of the valley of guardians and escape, but blocking his path was his Fore-Dweller pursuer. As a confrontation was unavoidable, Beor tried to reason with the Fore-Dweller and convince him that Beor was no threat. It took all Beor’s skills but evidently it worked.

Beor awoke in a tent some time later, with Orrin tending to his wounds. He had no recollection of how his confrontation with the Fore-Dweller had ended, but if hat resulted in violence surely Beor would have been killed. Orrin informed Beor that he had been in Tuathan for about a month. In that time the war in the west had resulted in several settlements being destroyed. Canaught had sent a scroll asking for help, as had Kamelot and one of the western towns.

For now though, Beor was content to rest a little while…

As I knew how Tuathan was going to affect Beor this time I knew I just had to explore enough to get the effect where I could not die or go insane and then I would be safe. Unluckily for me it ended up being the last card I encountered. I tried exploring Tuathan for as long as I could be I never came across any more significant locations (I know from the save sheet that I missed two).

It seems that there is a whole element of the story where there was an on-going war in the west of Tuathan which I barely experienced as I only explored the North, East and South regions of the map. Now some of those areas are permanently changed and I will have to play another play through and explore them earlier in order to know their story. The depth of this game is amazing.

Orrin knew the secret of creating new Menhir’s and he wanted Beor’s help to make one. Beor had come to suspect that the accepted story of Arthur making the Menhir’s to protect the people couldn’t be true. He had seen too much evidence to the contrary – so he was inclined to believe Orrin. Orrin required two things, a set of special tools that could work on wyrdstone, and a piece of wyrdstone to carve into the Menhir. The first task was easy. Beor had had such tools in his possession since buying them from that old women. The second would require a trek across the island to the Devastation.

First, Beor wanted to explore the Valley of the Guardians as he was so close. He ventured in and found a small settlement of stragglers living within a cave. They had all attempted to venture into Tuathan but their fear prevented them from going further, their shame from turning back. An old scholar was able to open Beor’s disturbing chest and within it found an idol that depicted Arthur. The scholar threw it down a pit in disgust. With nothing else to learn in the cave Beor pushed on to Tuathan. It became harder and harder to progress until Beor finally realised that entry to Tuathan via this route was impossible. All who travelled this way eventually died. Beor turned back.

Next Beor explored around Longbarrow. He had heard Sir Agravain was in the area so he sought him out. Sir Agravain believed there was a Fore-Dweller in the area and he wanted to capture it and learn of the Fore-Dweller’s plans for Avalon. Beor agreed to help. That night they set and ambush and were able to corner a Reclaimer. Beor and Agravain were victorious, but the Fore-Dweller dies without uttering a word. Sir Agravain was disappointed, but Beor convinced him now was the time to return to Kamelot where he was needed.

Continuing south, Beor visited the Serene Visage – a giant Fore-Dweller statue head half buried beneath the island. Wyrdness was clearly repelled from the place, yet no Menhir was in the area. Investigating further Beor found that there were tunnels within the statue’s ear. Within the labyrinth Beor found that someone had used chalk and ropes to navigate to the centre of the maze. In there Beor found inscriptions and a sacrificial altar that proved the statue was in fact a giant Menhir. Knowing this, Beor realised he could reactive the Menhir as needed.

Beor travelled west to Timberwall, only to find the city had been conquered and raised to the ground. This must be the aftermath of the war Orrin had talked of. Beor walked through the broken gates and up to the King’s Hall which was similarly destroyed. Beor searched the hall and surrounding city and found much riches, but little else.

Heading south to Underwall Beor was tempted to find a way to scale the great wall the separated Tuathan from the rest of the island, just so he could piss off it. So motivated and determined, Beor entered the tunnels that penetrated the wall and after some hours found his way to the top. Walking up to the edge, he relieved himself while taking in the view.

Beor made a quick stop at Farshire before heading west to Devastation. There he found a person growing out of the wall of a wyrdness infested house. His eyes were flowers and he spoke of the wonders he could experience through the wyrdness. Beor listened to the man’s ramblings for some time, stopping only when Beor felt his mind on the cusp of insanity. Beor then entered the mines beneath Devestation and used his tools to carve a man sized slab of raw wyrdstone.

Even with the mule Orrin had given him, it took Beor several days to drag the Wyrdstone back to Orrin in Longbarrow. Once he delivered it to Orrin the two of them begand to carve into a crude human shape, with Orrin explaining the dark arts of creating a Menhir to Beor as best he could. Once it was finished Orrin explained that to finish the ritual required the sacrifice of a soul to power the Menhir. Beor offered his life to do so, but Orrin said Beor’s spirit was too wilfull and would eventually leave the Menhir. Orrin took his own life. As his blood spilled into the Menhir the Menhir absorbed it in.

Now Beor had his own Menhir with which he could drive back the Wyrdness as he travelled.

Did anybody else spot the Game of Thrones Easter egg? Another fun chapter where I got to explore the North West of the island that I had previously not visited. The chapter would have been twice as long had Beor not already found the special tools in one of the first few chapters. I have started spending my experience on new combat cards and have now realised if I had done that sooner Beor’s combat potential would have been much better. I had only bought skills so far. They are very useful but at only 2 XP per combat card I should have been buying them too to get a bit more combat oomph.