Classic Games Revisited
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands Walkthrough
29. Lower Castle
I will be going about the lower castle in a slightly unorthodox manner to avoid some extra running around. As always, there are a few options when handling different situations, but most of them will end up in hostilities anyway, so I will go around and kill all the living creatures sans any finesse. Don’t kill the undead. Their souls can be saved.
29.1. Serpent Boots
If an alarm was raised when you entered the castle (because the guards there saw you or because you opened the portcullis without the mindhome’s help), some guards will have spawned in the room north of 1 where you enter.
When you enter the room at 2, the zombie will speak to you. It gives you a little information about the place, but nothing comes out of it. Examine the purple pot in the corner to find a pair of Serpent Boots, which improve your AC by 2.
29.2. Initial Cleanup
Chaero at 3 wants to lead you into an ambush. He initiates conversation when you get close enough, so start the combat with an arrow or magic missile to prevent him from screaming for help when you threaten him.
A guard sleeping at 4 will wake up when you enter, but you can intimidate him into silence, after which he’ll answer a couple of questions. Force-attack him to kill him anyway. The two chests (X) in the room can have some minor treasures.
Opening the door to 5 will make all the guards behind it hostile. Attacking them will cause an alarm to sound throughout the castle. Don’t worry, it will mean nothing different for us, just one extra guard who will arrive from 4 (apparently the loudness of the horn was enough to revive the sleeping guard we killed). The chest may have some minor loot, but the bag is empty.
Deal with the pair of guards at 6. The bag here is empty. There are a couple of wyverns and their handlers at 7. They should be easy to kill by now.
29.3. Dark Flame
There is a duo of Vrocks at 8. Vrocks have 70% magic resistance and require +2 weapons to hit. So equip the current attacker with two of either El’s Drinker, Swiftbite or Dagolar’s Dagger, and keep transferring those weapons to the next attacker. You’ll notice that this is also a good way to raise everyone’s HP beyond max by transferring El’s Drinker from one person to the next.
Set whoever is wearing the serpent boots to be the party leader, then walk along the north wall at 8. You’ll notice something special about it. Now use the wall to open it. Each party member will receive 500xp. Loot all the treasures in the adjoining room (don’t leave behind the chest overflowing with gems and jewelry), then turn your attention to the lone chest. It holds Dark Flame, a heavy +2 sword that does additional fire damage. This is also one of the better weapons in the game, and our fourth +2 or better one. It is also our eight magical one-handed weapon (not counting the chameleon gloves), so now nobody is wielding a mundane weapon.
29.4. End of the Line
Finally, approach the pens at 9. Rush the guards, and one of them will be ordered to release the wyverns from their pens. You can attack him before he manages to do so, and kill all the guards. If you wish, you yourself can pull the levers later to open the pens one by one to kill the wyverns at your leisure for some XP. By the way, if you had fallen for Chaero’s trick, he’d have brought you to the southernmost pen, then invited the guards to take care of you.
There is a gong and a striker on this map (to the west of the pens) that can summon Tara thrice to the lower castle, but we won’t be using them as she cannot be killed right now.
Exit to the north of 9 to reach the Upper Castle.