Avernum 5 Annotated Maps

Gladwell's Keep

	Nothing Here
Gladwell's Keep				The Drake Pillars
Nothing Here

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Gladwell lives here. Give him the message for a batch of potions. Talk with him. You now have your first good Avernum 5 dilemma. Will you be geased by Gladwell? Or will you explore freely. (Take the Geas at least once for a playthrough, if only to see what it does.) What Gladwell would like from you is your help in retrieving certain items. The geas will tell you when you need to get the item. You can talk with him first, though.

Agreeing to submit to his geas will get you +1 to Str, Dex, Int, and End for all your characters for as long as the geas is in effect. This is a hefty bonus. You will also learn a fair bit on what is going on around here - whether Dorikas came through the region, and will be able to trade with him townies. Also, when you complete some of his tasks you will be given a shadow key which will enable you to open doors in his basement and grab the supplies and use the fountains for an experience boost.

However, being geased by Gladwell will prevent you from dealing with one character, and you will not have as many items as you might like for trade with others. The biggest setback is obtaining his items. In three of five cases, getting the items he desires will result in the town where those items are based becoming mad with you. Generally, that's not game-ending, though it can be frustrating when you can't finish a quest or trade with the townsfolk. In two of the other cases you can get the item without a fight (but at significant cost for one of the items).

If you take the geas and decide you don't like it any more, you can remove it after getting the second item. Note that if you don't get the item, you will be cursed nastily.

Not taking the geas gives you a lot more freedom to explore and enjoy towns, and gives you the chance to trade the items wanted by Gladwell for other services by other Avernite Powers.

That said, if you're finding the Northern Isles a bit tough and/or are a first time player, take the geas for the fun of it. If you really don't like it, end it midway through the game.

The items Gladwell will have you get include: a Drake's skin, the Anama Prayer Scrolls, a Spiral Crystal, a Piece of a Crystal Soul, and a dragon egg. Yikes! When you trade him one of these items, you can go into his basement and collect your prize. There are three options - spells, armor, and weapons. In each case you also get to use a basin for some XP granting fluid.

In the Offensive Magic area you can use one key to open a room with an Incantor's Ring and a book of Icy Rain (+3) and Unlock Doors (+3). The next door holds a Magus Vest and a book of Dispel Barrier (+3) and Prismatic Shield (+3).

If you choose the Room of the Blade you get a Rod of Battle and Seeking Rapier for your first key, and a Chaotic halberd and rod of alacrity for your second key.

Finally, if you choose the Room of the Shield you get an Assassin's Shield and some Invulnerability Potions for your first key, and a Mercuric Plate and some Invulnerability Elixirs for the second.

If you want to maximize your output, choose which of these is the most appealing (the second door rewards are many times better than the first time rewards), and stick with it. Note that the Anama Scrolls and the Crystal Spiral are both desired by others, but that the Drakeskin and the Crystal Soul chip are not. You could kill Gladwell after trading the items that only he desires, and give the others away.

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