Lets Play The Temple Of Elemental Evil

[sorophx]

I have already shown you how to destroy the Orb of Golden Death. now, before heading down to Zuggtmoy's lair and confronting the demon queen the party had one last stop to make.

 

 

they dropped off Wonnilon's stuff they had gotten from Scorpp's dead body, and he was kind enough to let the party keep the scroll of Control Plants. seeing as Zuggtmoy was the queen of fungi it could have proven useful. and it was time to meet Zyggtmoy herself finally.

 

there are two ways to get to her sanctuary. one is on the main floor of the temple, under the throne. the other is in the back of the fourth level. the party decided to use the latter.

 

 

and there they met the dreaded man-eating plants. of course at that point Tig's Fireball was all they needed to clear the path. in the next room they found yet another species of hazardous plant-life.

 

 

no idea what these things are supposed to represent. three bouncing balls, how horrifying.

 

 

finally, the last level of the Temple of Elemental Evil. to tell you the truth it seemed like an unfinished area. it's completely empty, one room houses a batch of 'shrooms and a chest with a wand.

 

 

the only other chest in the area is empty. every other room doesn't have anything. so let's just go meet the lady of the house.

 

 

oh. that's a big seat. wonder where the one belonging in it is.

 

 

see that curtain behind the throne? it's possible to approach Zuggtmoy through the back via a couple of secret doors and passages. but since there's nothing standing between your party and her when using a head-on approach I tend to think this area was supposed to hold some kind of high level monsters but was never finished. eh, whatever.

 

The party enters a big hall with a pillar hovering in the center, and an old woman sitting in the throne at the other end of the hall.

 

LADY CRIMSON: This must be her, Zuggtmoy, I can feel the shroud of evil surrounding her.

MONTE: Then let's pay our respect to the queen of this realm, it's been long overdue.

TIGRANES: Don't do anything stupid, be careful, it could be a trap.

MONTE: Yeah, yeah. I was born careful.

 

With these words Monte removes his hood and makes a few steps towards the throne. The old woman cringes and shrieks.

 

OLD HAG: You won't get my treasure!

MONTE: What in Nine Hells are you talking about?

OLD HAG: (Pointing to the nearby silvery pillar, she fumbles with the arm of the throne. Her voice suddenly sounds louder!) You may take my pillar of platinum instead! Begone!

TIGRANES: What are you?

OLD HAG: It does not matter who I am! Ex-priestesses have no standing in this place! I am no one! Just take the pillar and go!

LADY CRIMSON: She's lying, I can tell.

DARLEY: She's Zuggtmoy, I can smell her...

PRINCE THROMMEL: No, what she speaks is the truth. I remember this woman from the Battle of Emridy Meadows. She's the one that used the Orb to summon Zuggtmoy. I had my sword at her neck when she managed to escape and hid inside the Temple. I will not let that happen again!

MONTE (to old woman): Hey, is this a trick? The pillar is too heavy! I could never get it out of here.

OLD HAG: If you say you accept it, I will enchant it to be as light as a feather! Just say you accept it!

MONTE: (Turning to his comrades and winking, then ironically remarking) All right, I accept it. Now enchant it for me.

 

this is the point where the game can take a turn depending on what character initiated the dialogue. it can actually end right there. but it's a little complicated and I'm afraid some scripts bugged on me here. if you accept the platinum pillar, this is what will happen:

 

OLD HAG: (cackles) Yes, let me enchant it for you.

 

She casts a spell. The platinum pillar rises in the air and then hurtles from the room. You hear it crash into the great bronze doors in the next room. When the party turnes their attention to the old woman, she has already disappeared. A demonic shriek fills the hall.

 

ZUGGTMOY: Foolish mortals! You have unwittingly released me from my captivity, and my soul is free! I plan to hunt down my captors, the hated Circle of Eight, and squeeze the very marrow from their bones! But first I will kill you, slowly and painfully, for the damage you have wrought on my temple!

 

and combat starts.

 

on the other hand, this will happen if you don't accept the offer.

 

MONTE: You know what? I take that back, I don't want your stinkin' pillar.

OLD HAG: Then feel my wrath! (the old woman fumbles with the arm of the throne once again. A beam of light streaks from the throne straight towards the hapless crone. She screams as she is blasted and turned into a fine gray ash)

MONTE: Huh? That's quite a way to show wrath. Did you see that? She just disintegrated!

LADY CRIMSON: I don't like this, the evil presence is getting more powerful, I can almost see it materializing into something horrific.

PRINCE THROMMEL: Zuggtmoy has finally gotten rid of that vessel, we will probably be meeting the demoness in the flesh very soon. Prepare your arms.

MONTE: Wait, there's something here inside the throne.

 

 

if the party takes these gems the game will end. it will then show a slideshow. which slides you see depends on stuff you did while playing, much like in Fallout. this outcome specifically will result in this slide:

 

 

now, if the party doesn't, eventually Zuggtmoy will appear in her true form.

 

 

I heard this confrontation could end in a couple of different ways depending on your stats and alignment.

Edited February 8, 2011 by sorophx

[sorophx]

an Evil-aligned party has an opportunity to join Zuggtmoy, which will be reflected in this slide:

 

 

our party has no other choice (as per available dialogue options) than to [try to run], realize there's nowhere to run and [soil themselves], then gather up all the courage and [attack] the demoness.

 

I'm not sure if destroying the Orb beforehand makes this battle easier. I also couldn't get Tig to use Wonnilon's scroll to see what it would do. so we'll drop this path right here and rewind to the scene where Monte speaks to the priestess for the first time.

 

OLD HAG: Hedrack, the new leader, has sent me here to live out the rest of my days. But my tale is not yet over. You see, you have something I need.

MONTE: And what is it that you need, old woman?

OLD HAG: A small thing, really. You have a golden orb in your possession that is shaped like a skull. I would like to have it.

MONTE: No, I don't really trust you, granny. You can't trick a trickster, and I know you're trying to trick me somehow.

OLD HAG: You fool! I can take what I want!

 

The old woman suddenly disappears into thin air, next a hole opens on the ground right where the rest of the party is standing, and a gigantic figure rises through it, it's Zuggtmoy herself.

 

ZUGGTMOY: I am Zuggtmoy, Demoness Lady of Fungi! I command you to hand me the Orb of Golden Death!

 

Monte suddenly feels his will begins to crumble. The party notices him struggling with Zuggtmoy.

 

LADY CRIMSON: No, Monte! Don't give in to her! Try to resist!

 

at this point the game makes a check (a will saving throw most probably), if the character with the Orb doesn't manage to pass, you lose him for the battle and have to kill eventually (I think, not sure if there's a way to dispel it). Monte of course proved too tough for Zuggtmoy. (by the way, there's no option of actually giving her the skull, it just loops back to her offering the party her platinum pillar)

 

I heard there's a way to actually not only resist her but subdue with sheer will. but the word is to do that your character has to have Wisdom and Intellect both at 18 and then buff them to 24 in some way (a Headband of Intellect +6 and a Necklace of Wisdom +6 can both be found in the game or crafted). sadly I couldn't even find the corresponding slide, so let's just continue with the fight.

 

 

her first action will be to summon a demonic entity to help her. as far as I know she can summon up to three guardians of the same type. in the pic above you can see she summoned only one Glabrezu. which can still be a pain but a Dismiss spell makes short work of it.

 

on her second and third turns she will be buffing herself (drastically increasing her Armor Class), I wasn't able to dispel it so just keep wailing at her and hope she goes down fast.

 

 

on her fourth turn she will summon a pack of fungi to aid her, she will then proceed to summon them every subsequent round. besides, Zuggtmoy has endless Attacks of Opportunity, this battle can get really ugly if you let it to.

 

thanks to prince Thrommel, Pidesco, Monte, Grommy, all wielding powerful magical weapons they were able to chop her in under four rounds. she will try to bargain with you on her turn when she's in the state of Near-death.

 

 

ZUGGTMOY: Stop mortal! You have powers that I did not imagine! Let us stop this fighting. I will surrender!

LADY CRIMSON: You expect mercy? The nerve.

MONTE: What do you offer for quarter?

ZUGGTMOY: I have many treasures to offer you. The pillar of platinum you see there is worth half a million gold pieces.

TIGRANES: That's a very accurate estimate, but we already share almost two million gold coins between the six of us...

ZUGGTMOY: I also have many magic items, including a wand of fire, a rod of smiting, a ring of feather falling and a Daern's instant fortress.

MONTE: Oh, you mean these? (Opening his bag and showing demoness the items) I had the liberty of going through your chests before we engaged your lordship.

ZUGGTMOY: (With a voice full of detestation) And of course, many scrolls and potions will be laid at your feet as well.

 

there are three possible paths here. first, you accept her offer and leave the sanctuary.

 

 

second, you force her into your service (I never managed to but it is possible with certain skills)

 

 

and then of course, you can just finish her off. which we did, Pidesco delivered the finishing blow.

 

 

we are treated to a short cinematic.

 

 

 

finally, the demon queen is dead. this time for good.

[sorophx]

since we never did destroy the orb, here's the whole slideshow which I got.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sorophx]

but if we were to destroy the Orb beforehand this is what we would get:

 

 

 

this is considered to be the true ending of the game.

 

there's also a couple of alternative pics for different events in the game. here's a couple of examples.

 

if prince Thrommel dies while in your custody (even if you raise him afterwards), you will get this slide.

 

 

and there's one more for when you leave him in the Temple altogether. he will turn into a Vampire. hence his name when we first met him, another bug.

 

Prince Thrommel becomes a vampire and strikes fear into the local populace. His sword becomes lost to the sands of time.

 

 

 

these two you get if you let Zuggtmoy live.

 

there's a list of most of the possible endings here. there are some very cheesy ones.

 

 

oh god.

 

but yeah, we're done with The Temple of Elemental Evil! thanks to everyone for reading and commenting, it was really fun for me, I hope it was for you as well. I'll switch to NWN now full-force.

 

But what of our heroes? Well, Gromnir accepted a position in the newly reformed Verbobonc-Furyondy army. He went to Verbobonc and had spend a few years there as prince Thrommel's personal military advisor. Fruella followed him and that's the last anyone has ever heard of the couple. Some Verbobonc officials say Gromnir had received some cryptic message one day and just disappeared.

 

Monte Carlo took his share of the treasure (which estimated to over 400.000 gold coins) and left the country soon after the destruction of the Temple of Elemental Evil. Rumors go that he had been followed by Llolth's agents everywhere he'd go. But they were never capable of harming him no matter how big a force. Some say he's been seen on the Sword Coast recently, but nobody could know for sure.

 

Pidesco spent most of his fortune trying to find a way to get back to his realm. He finally managed to procure passage to Sigil. Where he had gone after that nobody knows, but he took prince Thrommel's gift, Scather with him.

 

Lady Crimson was the best woman at Prince Thrommel's wedding to Lady Jolene of Furyondy. That was when the two cities joined forces and eventually became one kingdom under Thrommel's rule. Lady Crimson remained beside Lady Jolene for the rest of her days becoming her closest friend and aide.

 

Finally, Tigranes lived happily ever after in Hommlet, which prospered after the Temple had been gone. Laszlo and his son used Tig's funds to expand their business and eventually became one of the most powerful families in town.

 

And that's where I stayed, too. Your faithful narrator, Tigranes's loyal companion, Archimedes the familiar, the most intelligent owl in all of Greyhawk, and maybe even in all of the realms!

[Tigranes]

Great work, and finished in good time too.

 

All in all looks like TOEE is what it is, a limited but faithful dungeon romp. Impressed by some nice looking areas though.

 

Finally, Tigranes lived happily ever after in Hommlet, which prospered after the Temple had been gone. Laszlo and his son used Tig's funds to expand their business and eventually became one of the most powerful families in town.

 

I have a charisma of 24 and a country lord is all I can manage? :fail:

[Gorth]

but yeah, we're done with The Temple of Elemental Evil! thanks to everyone for reading and commenting, it was really fun for me, I hope it was for you as well. I'll switch to NWN now full-force.

Much appreciated sorophx, always wondered what the game was about

 

I doubt that I'll ever get the game to run on my computer

[Azure79]

Good job with the LP.

 

Enjoyed it very much. I thought Greyhawk was another campaign setting separate from FR, but guess not. Looking forward to your NWN playthrough. I haven't played that one in years, and all I remember is a bunch of extinct lizard people traveling through time or something.

[sorophx]

I thought Greyhawk was another campaign setting separate from FR, but guess not.

I have no idea actually I just thought it was always possible to travel between settings, to me it's just like different planes of existence I dunno, can't you jump from DarkSun to Dragonlance? I summon Volo to the thread

[HoonDing]

I thought Greyhawk was another campaign setting separate from FR, but guess not.

I have no idea actually I just thought it was always possible to travel between settings, to me it's just like different planes of existence I dunno, can't you jump from DarkSun to Dragonlance? I summon Volo to the thread

There's many worlds on the Prime Material Plane. That's why you meet for instance Knights of Solamnia (from Dragonlance world of Krynn) in BG2.

[sorophx]

oh, so you actually can travel between settings, great! thanks

[khermann]

ToEE is one of my favorite games of all time. Classic D&D. I know lots of people complain about the UI but I kind of like the radial menus.

Big shout out to CO8 !

[sorophx]

wow 

 

 

but I agree with you on all points