Act
1 - Chapter 9: Windstone Fortress
* Begin the journey to Windstone Fortress by speaking
to the Azunite Ancestor
* Take the Azunite Artifact to Windstone Fortress
* Find the person in command
* Enter the Windstone Fortress Outer Vault
* Activate the Azunite Artifact
* Enter the Temple of Xeria
* The Imprisoned Half-Giant
* The Missing Squadron
While it was really nice of the Elven spirit to
leave you a treasure chest, it would have been nicer
for him to leave you a quick exit out of the Vault.
Hoof it back up the stairs to the light puzzle room
and talk to the Elven Spirit again. He'll open a
path to the north that takes you to the Western
Cliffs of Azunai.
There's a teleporter right here, but it's best
to keep moving for now. Go east until the path ends,
then search for a cave entrance to the south.
Enter Isteru's Caverns. To the southwest you can
find the entrance to some ruins that lead to an
Ancient Elven Reliquary. But, you can't do anything
down there right now, so ignore it. Work your way
through the caverns, back out on to the cliffs,
and back into the caverns again.
Keep following the caverns and cliffs until you
reach a bridge. Cross the bridge, and to the east
you can find a mini-boss and some loot. To the west,
from the bridge, is the Eastern Cliffs of Azunai
teleporter. Continue west and then north to enter
the Windstone Tunnels.
Once you get through the Windstone Tunnels, you'll
be at the entrance to Windstone Fortress, which
is not a very friendly place right now--if you haven't
already figured that out.
Continue down the path, until you get the cutscene
showing that Valdis has been here. Gee, that's a
shock. At the locked door into the fortress, take
the entrance to your right into the Eastern Gatehouse.
Clear the gatehouse, then head down the hall.
There are three side-rooms here. The one to the
north contains a little loot. The one to the southwest
is where you'll meet Private Banos.
Go ahead and talk to him and agree to take him to
Squadron Leader Taarth. You'll get a new quest entry,
Secondary Quest #13, The Missing Squadron--even
though you haven't met Taarth yet. It's easier this
way.
The room at the southeast corner of the hall contains
another mimic. Beat it down with hero powers, then
run back to the war pedestal in the gatehouse for
a recharge and come back and beat on it some more.
They do drop a lot of loot, so they're worth the
trouble. Continue north, then west along the hall.
Off this northern hall are two side rooms. The
one to the north has a mini-boss and a treasure
room to the east. The treasure room has the Lesser
Chant of Magic Skill, and, behind the statue,
a button to open another treasure room. The side
room to the south is found by turning the statue
set into a nook in the wall.
Head west again to enter Windstone Fortress proper.
Before going north to activate the teleporter, head
straight across into the Western Gatehouse. Clear
it out to find Private Caiden
(break the pots surrounding him or he won't follow
you), the Lesser Chant of Melee Skill and a book:
Vol. 7, The Deeds of Xeria.
The book is part of a later quest.
Head back out into Windstone Fortress and go north.
Enter the next west-leading hallway to enter the
barracks
and work your way to the west-most room, where you'll
find Private Nolan.
Along the northern hall of the barracks, look for
a secret door switch on the north wall.
There's another secret room off the first secret
room.
Return to the Fortress proper and talk to Squadron
Leader Taarth, who will be delighted to see his
men and will reward you with the Dusty Key.
Just west of Taarth is a half-giant in a hole.
Speak to Sartan to open the Imprisoned Half-Giant
quest and prepare the way for another possible henchman.
Past Sartan is Captain Dathry, the man in charge.
Speak to him to continue the main quest in this
chapter.
Enter the eastern hall and push the button on the
wall to open the Outer Vault.
The next room contains a Yellow Sight socket and
some Yellow Sight cubes. You know what to do. Beyond
are two Green Life sockets; the green cubes are
in the room to the right (south).
Next are two Red Blindness sockets and the zombiefied
Lieutenant Namyek, who will cough up the Inner Vault
Key if you give him a permanent Heimlich. Open the
Red Blindness door and enter the Inner Vault. After
the zombies are dead (re-dead?), thoroughly loot
the room and then click on the blue flame to activate
your Azunite artifact.
Grab four Purple Death cubes from the corner of
the room
and open the door that is just north and east of
the blue flame. Inside is the White Vault door,
which requires the Dusty Key to open. Lucky you
did that quest for Taarth, right? Open the vault,
place your four purple cubes and collect copious
amounts of treasure.
Return to Captain Dathry with your artifact. He'll
blow open the way northward. Then talk to Soldier
Orayne to free Sartan and talk to Sartan to complete
the Imprisoned Half-Giant quest. Go north and fight
your way through the big bugs, which shouldn't be
too hard if you've been doing all the sidequests
so far.
Enter the Temple of Xeria...
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