One bit of business left with the regent, then another dungeon!
We ask Humphrey what it takes to go from Crusader to Hero. Given that we saved a damsel in distress last time, we can expect a cliche this time, right? Sure enough...we have to go kill a dragon.
But not just any dragon. We have to kill the most powerful dragon, the very one we saw in the intro video! His name is Longfang Witherhide (I kid you not), and he is one of the few actual boss fights this game throws at you. (For reference, the only real boss we've seen so far was the Spider Queen, and that was not much of one.)
After a quick trip to sell off stuff and clean out our bags, we set off for Corlagon's Estate. If you guessed that it was the giant stone mansion we discovered when poking around the Ironfist environs...you'd be right.
We make our familiar way through the swamps (goes slightly faster, due to Water Walk shortcuts), and arrive at the dungeon. Let's rock.
This dungeon is pretty dark, even compared to some of the others. Torch Light spell for illumination is a must. Using it, we start out in an empty stone room with one door ahead of us. It leads to a T-shaped corridor, with two more doors. We Ring of Fire these doors, and discover the main enemy type here - ghosts.
Ghosts are low health, low armor enemies, but have good magic resistance and can do some very bad things. The basic Ghosts can inflict the Fear condition (easily cured), while the Evil Spirits (who are arguably the most dangerous) can magically age those they hit, something that is very very hard to cure.
As for the tougher Spectres...they have a chance on hit to instantly knock a character unconscious. In short, you want to avoid melee with these things whenever possible.
After clearing out the two rooms with Ring of Fire spam and a short rest, we peek inside. Each one has a door, but the western room's cannot be opened. So to the east.
It opens to a corridor, which has more ghosts...and we kill them with arrows and a few spells. This place has a lot of long hallways, so we are going to take advantage of that, and kite them.
Now we head down the corridor and to the room beyond, and kill more ghosts. Same basic strategy. Beyond this room is a corridor that eventually cuts its way to the west, where there are several rooms connected to it, as well as a corridor leading back east and to the next area. Ignoring that corridor (first one to the north as you head west), here's what these rooms contain.
- Second path (north side): Room with skeletons (yes, they are back) and ghosts, along with three coffins that contain loot.
- Third path (south side): Room with ghosts
- Fourth path (north side): Room with skeletons and a single coffin that Toblerone can't open without it exploding. Curses.
- Fifth path (south side): Room with ghosts and a treasure chest.
The single coffin room had an interesting note from a diary in its coffin. It mentions the owner of this estate, Corlagon, being unable to master the secrets of the Crystal of Terrax (which is why we came here). Due to his failures to aid Archibald in the civil war, Corlagon is determined to master it...even if it means becoming a lich to study it after death.
Now back to the first passage, which leads to another skeleton filled room. Also, it seems to be the trash dump of the place, having several piles of the stuff.
Moving on, the next corridor leads downward...and to another door, which we open. Beyond is a room with a narrow stone bridge all between us and either a fall or a wall-hugging descent. Oh, and there are ghosts. Dozens upon dozens of ghosts.
Time to retreat for now, but we will be back...and the undead shall die, again.
