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Ammon Jerro's Haven
Mephasm
I now find myself at #1 on the Haven map, where I speak with Mephasm to get some background information. I also deliberately choose a dialogue option that will earn influence with Neeshka.
*Evil* Neeshka had been present the first time I encountered Mephasm in the Githyanki Base, so any opportunity to gain or lose influence with Neeshka will not be available here.
Hezebel
I leave #1, and get treated to a cutscene that involves an Erinyes named Hezebel welcoming Shandra to the Haven.
I then enter the room at #2 where I encounter a Balor named Baalbisan. If the Kalach-cha happened to be male, Baalbisan may ask him to kill off the nearby Erinyes who serve Hezebel before he's willing to open the portal. However, Baalbisan doesn't deign to speak with Valeria since she's female. However, the conversation also presents an opportunity to gain influence with Neeshka by going along with her attempts to taunt the Balor.
The other quest possibility is to succeed at a high Taunt skill check to coax the name of Baalbisan's mother out of him, which will be of value with two other fiends in the Haven. I don't have any significant skill ranks in Taunt though, so I move on.
I get treated to another cutscene of Hezebel speaking to Shandra once I leave #2.
*Evil* Hezebel
The cutscenes between Hezebel and Shandra during the evil playthrough take on a different tone to reflect Zarathos' very low influence with Shandra.
Unlike Valeria, Zarathos is male so Balbisaan will give him the quest to get rid of Hezebel's Erinyes. Zarathos also grabs opportunities to lose influence with Neeshka twice, -2 each time, by telling her to remain silent in each instance.
The Torment of Baalbisan
I continue on and some nearby Erinyes want me to speak to their mistress, Hezebel. But first, there are some containers in the alcove at #3. Two bookcases contain random scrolls. The trapped chest contains a recipe book called Accoutrements of Masterful Wizardry and their Construction, and a belt called Kossuth's Girdle of Priestly Might and Warding (+4 Strength, +2 deflection bonus to armor class, Magic Circle (5) 1/day, Neutral characters only). This will be Qara's belt for the rest of the game later on. It becomes her source of a deflection bonus to armor class. It may also help if she elects to attack an enemy with her spear.
I then enter the room at #4. Hezebel wants me to discover the True Name of Baalbisan's mother for her before she's willing to open her portal. If you're so inclined, the True Name can be learned from another fiend named Blooden later on.
It boils down to a choice, either Hezebal's quest or Baalbisan's quest. I can either find the True Name for Hezebel so that she can open her portal, or I can kill the Erinyes for Baalbisan so that he opens his portal. I can do one or the other, but not both. Either one earns 1,000xp.
I chose to side with Baalbisan, because I get a little more xp still for killing off the Erinyes. The Erinyes leave behind some random loot, plus two Devil's Blood that can each be distilled into a Glowing Power Essence and a Weak Fire Essence.
Even though Balbisaan wouldn't speak to Valeria earlier because she was female, he becomes more amenable after the fact of having taken out the Erinyes.
Koraboros
I leave the room at #4, and watch a cutscene where Shandra encounters a Pit Fiend named Koraboros.
I continue on to #5, where I kill an Air Elemental and a few Mephits. The Mephits leave behind random items, plus an Ice Mephit Hide that can be distilled into a Weak Water Essence. The Air Elemental leaves behind a Radiant Air Essence. Note that I prefer to have other party members besides Valeria carry spare items, the reason being that she's going to have to go through the first parts of Act III by herself and I don't want her weighed down.
The nearby chest has:
*Evil* Koraboros
The parallel video for the evil playthrough. Shandra's first conversation with Koraboros takes on a different tone to reflect that Zarathos has lost a lot of influence with her (i.e. "they're not the nicest people").
Zaxis
Valeria casts an Extended Haste spell beforehand. I then go on to #6, where I again run into the Hezrou demon named Zaxis. I earn +2 influence with Neeshka by telling Zaxis that Neeshka has a point.
The conversation ends with the inevitable, Zaxis sicking a few more Hezrou on me. I cut them down in physical combat, aided by the Haste spell. Chances are that the nearby Iron Golem will join in, like in this playthrough. Elanee softens it up with a Crumble spell so that it can be brought down relatively quickly. It will leave behind Iron Golem fragments that can be distilled into a Radiant Earth Essence. There's nothing more that I can do with Zaxis for now.
*Evil* Zaxis
The equivalent video for Zarathos, where he deliberately loses -2 influence with Neeshka by telling to keep silent.
Blooden
Once I leave Zaxis' room, I am treated to another cutscene whereby the Succubus named Blooden drops a hint to Shandra before she teleports away again.
*Evil* Blooden
The parallel video for the evil playthrough, where Shandra refers to Zarathos as 'that monster' to reflect his very low influence with her.
In Koraboros' Service
Now I head south. I get attacked by several Hellhounds, but I blow them away instantly with a pair of Ice Storms that inflict extra damage.
I go on ahead to #7 and meet the Pit Fiend named Koraboros. His quest is for me to find his missing Imp.
I back track and then disarm the traps around #8. There will be several containers at #10 which yield:
The chest can yield a high value gem, so I cherry pick it for a Beljuril.
Also at #10 will be the missing Imp standing next to a bookcase. The book case will have the Ancient Book. I make a Spellcraft check to learn the book's purpose, and then a Lore check to learn what each phrase in the book does, which is the opposite of what the phase itself would imply. I get 500xp each time I make a skill check. The phrases work as follows:
Koraboros also drops the hint that one of the pages in the book may be useful to the party, although he won't be specific as to which page and how.
It is also possible to tear scrolls out of the Ancient Book to get spell scrolls that can be used without limit, but they'll only work for the Kalach-cha character. Most of them will also replicate the spell effects described above. However, one of them is useful, as Koraboros suggested. See just below.
Demonic Carnage
I move on towards #11. I have to fight some Succubi towards the entrance to the room. Valeria uses the page titled "athkaton kal olan" or "Freedom", which basically inflicts a paralysis effect without any saving throw against the nearest Demon or Devil. I get 250xp for discovering this. *Note* Thanks to Paracelsi for bringing this to my attention.
Inside the room will be the leader of the Succubi, Blooden. Since Valeria is a female character and Casavir is present, Blooden will take some time to bait and mock Casavir, but he doesn't go for it. The remaining dialogue with her leads to more Succubi attacking out of the portal, but I gladly oblige for the xp.
I speak with Blooden again, and it becomes apparent that she wants a battle between her Succubi and Koraboros' Hounds in order to relieve her boredom. Casavir doesn't like the idea, and I could have lost -3 influence with him by telling him "I'm in command". But I prefer to gain +3 influence by telling him "I don't like it any more than you do ...". "I have no intention of letting her escape ..." would have accomplished the same thing.
I then go back to Koraboros. Pretty much any dialogue choice will convince him to go along with it. He summons two Nessian War Hounds.
I escort the Hellhounds back to Blooden, and help out the Hounds because the Succubi that Blooden summons are worth 86xp a pop. It doesn't make a difference who I side with, so my decision was based on milking as much xp out of it as I could. Siding with the Succubi would have meant that I could only collect 56xp for each of the two Nessian War Hounds. Although in this playthrough I was fortunate since the War Hounds turned against me, so I killed them too.
Four portals are open where three is the minimum. I can enter the portal of any fiend I've helped to proceed to the climax of Act II.
Blooden opens up her portal, and I get 1,000xp.
If I still needed a fourth portal opened, Blooden would then give me the True Name of Baalbisan's mother, "Bethshiva", who was once a Marileth but become the Hezrou named Zaxis. The True Name has two possible uses. One is to use it on Zaxis and get him to open his portal, but there's no point anymore since that quest never offers any xp to begin with. The other possibility is to tell the True Name to Hezebel, provided you didn't spoil things with her like I did, and she would open her portal.
*Evil* Demonic Carnage
The parallel video for Zarathos. A key difference is that with a male character, it will be Elanee or Neeshka who interject on the basis that either character finds Blooden objectionable. If Elanee is present, then she takes priority over Neeshka in the conversation, as the video shows. I could have gained influence with Elanee (or Neeshka had Elanee been absent) by telling Blooden that her charms are wasted on me. I take another later opportunity in the conversation to lose another -3 influence with Elanee by complimenting Blooden as a beautiful woman.
The Dark Warlock
I step through Blooden's portal, and straight into the central room at #12.
Thus begins my confrontation with the Warlock named Ammon Jerro. Valeria uses her "Freedom" page to paralyze the Horned Devil that appears shortly aftewards. I make sure to get the 256xp for killing it before taking on Ammon Jerro himself. I then gang up on the Warlock. It seems I've won, but ...
Shandra's Sacrifice
And so begins the extended cutscene whereby Shandra sacrifices herself to save the rest of the party from Ammon Jerro's wrath. The net result in terms of gameplay is that Ammon Jerro will replace Shandra as a joinable companion after realizing his mistake too late.
Ammon Jerro
Now I speak at length with Ammon Jerro in the Phoenix Tail Inn at Crossroad Keep.
*Evil* Ammon Jerro
The equivalent video for Zarathos. He chooses dialogue options that reflect his callousness and his ambition for power. Ammon Jerro tailors his responses accordingly.
To Castle Never
I make a couple of changes to my memorized spells in anticipation of the next battle. On is that I memorize at least two instances of Extended Haste. The other is that I change all of my 6th-level spell slots to Undeath to Death.
Now I make to leave the Phoenix Tail Inn. Sir Nevalle insists that I go to see Lord Nasher immediately. I deliberately choose the dialogue option that will earn the most favour with Lord Nasher and Sir Nevalle.
*Evil* To Castle Never
The equivalent video for Zarathos, where he's intentionally disrespectful to both Lord Nasher and Sir Nevalle, and receives a response in kind.
Either way, I begin Act III in Castle Never.
