Quick Navigation:Part 0: Introduction to ADOM; Meet Slade Part 1: Starting again; Meet LornaPart 2: Hey, we're really adventuring now Part 3: The plot (such as it is) revealed; Miracles all aroundPart 4: Exorcist, Holy Champion, Firebrand Part 5: Yo, dawg- I heard you like summoners... Part 6: T,T,T,T,T,T... reload, repeat, profit?Part 7: Heaven or Hell! (You are here)Part 8: Over... it's finally over...-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE EPIC OF LORNA, PART 7: FOR THE AGES
This is
it. The final showdown approaches, and Lorna has only one thing left to do before confronting ChAoS itself on their home turf!
(Danger! Long post ahead!)
That one side thing would be to complete the sidequest for the Trident of the Red Rooster and claim the mightiest single weapon in all of ADOM! Once the Ancient Karmic Wyrm Sharad-Wador is happy with the outcome of his assigned quest, Lorna is permitted to continue the questline. Pop back up to the surface once more to visit a remarkably "boring" cave. Seriously, are these sorts of dungeons EVER simply boring?
Sweet. A spellbook shop spawned on the first dungeon floor, and the owner doesn't hate Dark Elves! Lorna takes the opportunity to load up on killer spells, and after application of a mere few thousand gold, can cast lethal Lightning Bolt and Fire Ball like a pro.
Second-to-bottom floor is rather interesting; the downstairs are not directly connected to the rest of the dungeon level, and the stairs themselves are a teleportation trap! The down stairs cannot be traversed unless the PC is "attuned" to the level. Easiest way to get attuned is to simply hit teleportation traps deliberately a few dozen times.
Bottom level of the Unremarkable Cave is anything but; we are looking at none other than the Assassin Guild! While basically all the mobs within are laughable nonthreats, some discretion is still needed, thus the sneaky invisibility shenanigans.
The whole objective of the stealthiness is to get to the Assassin Prince without making him go hostile. For obvious reasons, hostile entities don't really like to give out quests.
He offers Lorna a job on behalf of the Mad Minstrel. The target's location is based on Lorna's first kill- she is to kill a Quickling Bard hiding out in the Infinite Dungeon. Mercifully, ADOM can track how many of which monster a PC has killed, so figuring out the dungeon-dive's difficulty is easy. Lorna's first kill was a Goblin Rockthrower, and she has vanquished about 29 of them at this point... 29 floors in the Infinite Dungeon's pretty easy- let's get to it!
Over to the Infinite Dungeon the mighty Lorna goes.
Flip horrorshow! Whirlwind has always been one of my favorite artifacts- slings seldom lack for ammunition (rocks are crazy common), and Lorna's quite the slingmistress after killing about a hundred Karmic Dragons solely with one. Oh, also, artifact indestructibility is really nice too.
Mostly by my inattention, Lorna's killed a couple extra Goblin Rockthrowers, but 2 extra floors is not a challenge at all. By the way, here's the target.
Detailed information. Take a good look at Filk's speed. For reference, Lorna's speed is about 130, tops. AKA this means Filk will get to move about 10 whole moves per move Lorna takes. Obviously he's gonna be really hard to hit.
Except not. Lorna simply waltzed up to him and summoned an Acid Ball around herself, melting the spoony Bard out of existence in one move. Time now to report Filk's demise to the Mad Minstrel, who technically contracted Lorna for the job.
The Mad Minstrel reveals (albeit cryptically) the location of the Scintillating Cave, a dungeon that exists at least partially within the realms of Chaos itself! This shall be a challenge indeed.
Lorna steadies herself to move through the Scintillating Cave with all haste. Mighty though she is, the Cave is hideously dangerous and cursed with a very high background corruption rate. Speed shall be absolutely essential.
Ok, when the forces of Chaos are strong enough to make solid stone glow in crazy, shifting rainbow colors, you know a mere mortal should step lightly. This is by far the most corrupting area Lorna's yet faced- we're talking like "pick up a new corruption in 100 moves" corrupting!
Wand of Monster Detection + Teleportation puts Lorna right in the Emperor Moloch's grill... just as soon as she can clear away these mere giants.
Fear. The Emperor Moloch is easily the nastiest boss our hero has (and may remain) yet faced. He's slow as hell, but tougher than a planet and hits like a freight train full of hatred.
(whew) That's one hell of a relief. This screencap doesn't really show it, but this fight was nearly Lorna's last. Lorna opened up with Demon-slaying bullets and arrows, which inflicted grievous wounds on the Emperor Moloch, but the diehard sunnuva***** wasn't nearly done. Fighting down the heartstopping terror that desperately wanted out, Lorna brandishes her holy Justifier, the mighty Demon-slaying blade gifted from Anssaria herself!
Charging into melee range, Lorna inflicted a series of skillful and deeply cutting strikes upon the foul Chaosspawn. The Emperor Moloch chuckled, then landed a savage critical hit that left Lorna at a disbelieving 1 HP!! Good sense momentarily overcame our Paladin, and she short-Teleported back a few squares to call for Anssaria's aid. Revitalized and calmed by her Goddess' power, Lorna calmly turns to face the Emperor Moloch once more. A massive fist crashes thunderously where Lorna stood a mere instant prior; graceful footfalls race up the ponderous and impossible massive arm; loosing a fearsome holy battlecry, Lorna drives Justifier into the Moloch's mockery of a face; a seismic shudder wracks the Moloch's form as it falls like an avalanche; the Moloch Emperor is dead, long live the Paladin!
When the dust settles, Lorna searches the Moloch's mountainlike corpse for a small and dirty scroll. Surely this pitiful parchment cannot be the supposed Scroll of Omnipotence, can it? Indeed it is not, yet it is far more precious than even the Emperor Moloch's personal armor (weighing in at a colossal 15k stones!). Lorna runs like hell out of the Scintillating Cave, before the intense Chaotic presence therein can impose more than 2 additional corruptions upon her. Safely (for now) back on the surface, Lorna races back to the hamlet of Terinyo to visit an old friend, the sage Khelvaster. No longer a dying roadblock, Khelvaster is very much well, and when presented the scroll from the Emperor Moloch, he begins an ancient and powerful ritual...
BEHOLD!!!
Back to the Caverns of Chaos for one final descent. Lorna enters the Mana Temple, her goal: liberation of the final Elemental Orb!
Farsight + Wand of Trap Detection solves the bull**** around the main Temple chamber, but the Temple can only be entered at the very square where Lorna went in.
Nuurag-Varn, the Chaos Archmage. He is the last orb guardian left standing, and his time to die has arrived!
He was one tough bastard. No, Lorna did NOT spend 800 PP's worth of spells- there are a lot of monsters in the main chamber that eat PP faster than fat kids and candy. Adding to the fun, about half the monsters are Chaos Wizards, who can summon large numbers of annoying/dangerous Chaos monsters per pass. Nuurag-Varn is a summoner as well, but Lorna knew his weakness: what little remained of his humanity. Once the hideous and twisted Archmage moved to fight Lorna directly, she feathered him up with some Humanoid-slaying arrows. Oh, she also jumped straight to level 50 (max level), and unlocked her final class power, a 30% reduction in corruption received! Awesome!
The time has come to part with the Chaos Orbs. They may be useful, but so long as they exist in Ancardia, nature will never be whole. Lorna chucks each Orb into its corresponding Elemental Anomaly, and the stairs at the lower left switch to become downstairs. There can be no retreat now. Lorna is now absolutely committed to facing the final horrors of the Caverns of Chaos, either to win or to die.
Surprise! Before the epic showdown, ADOM throws one last annoyance our way, the Frictionless Ice. The only way to move is by the reaction of throwing stuff, since the ice is too slick to properly walk on.
One thing Lorna has on hand is an aptly-named Potion of Uselessness. Heaving it with all her might, a divine voice booms within her head. The gods decided that Lorna deserves an artifact for finding a use for a Potion of Uselessness! In this case, Lorna gets the Robes of Resistance, which are pretty much the best armor in the game. Thanks, guys!
This is it. The Chaos Gate resides on this level, and Lorna's hellbent on closing it. Easiest way to ensure closing goes properly? Kill the everliving **** out of anything that moves down here!
Quite literally, the entire left half of the map is solid monsters. Come get some!
Lorna does a lot of work with the gratuitously powerful Trident and high-powered Bolt spells, but when the Balors start teleporting in to take her down, our clever Paladin readies a nifty trick. Companions/Slaves cannot cross the stairs on Floor 48.... but nobody said anything about summoning them once at Floor 50! Lorna reads a Scroll of Familiar Summoning to bring out a Greater Earth Elemental, and uses a Figurine to summon a friendly Chaos Knight. We stand as one!
At last, we meet. Fistinarius the Greater Balor is essentially the Final Boss of ADOM, but he's a colossal wuss compared to the Emperor Moloch. Lorna takes him down with the usual combination of Demon-slaying ammo and stabbification from the ridiculous Trident.
Lorna's summoned companions sell themselves dearly while Lorna gives Fistinarius a good old face-fisting. We shall never forget her mighty Earth Elemental companion, nor the Chaos Knight who redeemed her twisted soul during the final battle.
The "8" at the left end of the chamber is the ChAoS Gate, the very source of Ancardia's problems. Lorna's only business in this evil chamber is to slaughter any remaining Chaos creatures within.
See, the real fun is in the side chambers. Each room holds a lever, both levers must be thrown to close the Gate and end Chaos' invasion. Technically, the levers need only be thrown; Lorna could leave once the levers are in place without clearing the floor, but that solution is for the weak! DIE, CHAOSSPAWN! IN ANSSARIA'S NAME!!
(The cheesy method works because floors are static when the PC is not present there. Hell, if you're good enough, you could throw both levers and leave without killing anything! But that feels really contrary to the "heroic" vibe present at the bottom here, so I'll never even consider it!)
...aaaand, that's it! The Gate is closed! All background corruption has ceased, and a Wand of Monster Detection reveals no other living things on the level! Lorna is victorious!!
...but at what cost?
Lorna sustained some more corruption during the final battle; while her soul remains her own, her body is a horrifically warped and mutated horror of its prior lithe and pretty Elven self. Well, there's nothing left here. Lorna departs, racking her now-more-than-slightly diseased mind for any possible salvation.
During her long journey back to the surface, Lorna remembers the Druid in Terinyo telling her about a powerful Unicorn residing in the forest. Knowing that Unicorns are potent beings of Law and Healing, Lorna heads to its grove with hope in her hearts. (Not a typo. Chaos is a Hell of a drug.)
Unsurprisingly, the White Unicorn wants us to kill something, specifically her evil twin forged from her own life essence by Chaos' powers. Sounds like lots of fun after hordes of Chaos mutants, legions of demons, and the hardcore Emperor of all Molochs.
Feh. "Not impressed"/10
Easy fight was easy, and Lorna's hope is indeed rewarded! Full cleansing? PLEASE YES!
The Unicorn gently touches Lorna with her horn, and a strange feeling wells within Lorna's warped body...
...She drops to her knees with a violent shudder as Chaos' handiwork is undone! Lorna's features regain their original Elven grace, her ugly thorns recede into normal skin, her body partially resumes normal proportions, her cranium resumes normal size, no longer shall Lorna drain innocent magic wands, her tissue loses a vile and unnatural vigor, her breath no longer stinks like vitriolic acids, tranquility enters her mind as a henceforth normal rage recedes, former hooves return to ordinary feet, vile poisons cease dripping from Lorna's hands, ugly and chitinous scales slough off to reveal smooth and fresh dark skin, her extra eyes close forever, Lorna's body fully returns to its ordinary mass, and the antennae so long with her finally recede. Lorna is freed from Chaos' taint!
Her quest complete, and her soul and body at long last fully her own once more, Lorna departs the Drakalor chain for parts unknown.
