Arena:Escape From Prison

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Contents 1 Quick Walkthrough 2 Detailed Walkthrough 2.1 In a Dream 2.2 Go South, then West 2.3 The Shift Gate 3 Notes 4 Bugs

Escape from your prison cell to begin your adventure.edit Quest Giver: Ria Silmane at the Imperial Dungeons Location(s): Imperial Dungeons Prerequisite Quest: None Next Quest: Fang Lair Reward: Freedom

your goal, the Shift Gate

[edit] Quick Walkthrough

1. Listen to your deceased friend's story.
2. Reach the Shift Gate to escape the prison.
3. Answer correctly the Shift Gate's question to leave the prison.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] In a Dream

First you see a cutscene in which the ethereal form, Ria Silmane, appears to you in your dream. She will tell you of how she died and how you are now the only person she can send on this quest. But first, she will help you escape from the dungeon you are in. When the cutscene ends, you will find a ruby key at the far corner of the cell on a raised platform (3,19). Pick it up and use it to open the cell door (4,21).

[edit] Go South, then West

Those were the directions Ria Silmane gave you. As you exit your cell, you will see a pile of loot. Click on the pile. It is a standard treasure pile, one that you will see in nearly every dungeon. It contains a random amount of gold and some random equipment. Before you move on, go into your inventory and equip any weapon that you currently have and are able to use. Here, you can either run for the exit, or explore further. You should explore before venturing out of the dungeon. The only creatures that can be found here are goblins and rats, but there is quite a lot of loot. You will not be able to return here once you pass through the Shift Gate. If you do want to make a run for it, simply keep going west, then turn south, west, south, west, etc. until you reach the Shift Gate.

[edit] The Shift Gate

As you run down the final long and narrow corridor, you will see a glowing, blue-rimmed Shift Gate. Once you reach it, you will be asked a question. You must get it right to exit the prison and be teleported to a different city. The question will look like this: What is the spellcasting cost of __________? where the blank is filled by a random spell. You are supposed to look into your Arena Manual that came with the box (back when it did come in a box) and answer the question correctly. When you answer it correctly, you will be teleported to a random city somewhere in Tamriel. Congratulations! You have escaped!

You will find yourself in a city in the home province of your character. For example, if you are a wood elf, you will begin your adventure in Tarlain Heights.

[edit] Notes

• It is best to rest on the raised platforms. You will never have random encounters if you rest on any raised surface, no matter how little it is raised. If you rest on the floor, you may be subjected to attack from a random monster.

• This dungeon is designed to help you level your character before venturing out into the "real" world. Use this chance to get familiar with the game mechanics, as well as get a lot of loot. You should be level four by the time you exit the prison. You should also have a pretty good pile of loot to equip and sell.

• The Shift Gate teleports you to a random location in Tamriel. Note that while you may well in fact emerge from the dungeon into the Imperial City, the guards will not react to you. In fact, in Arena, guards ignore you unless you fail to steal something, fail to successfully pick a lock, or trespass in a palace.

• Be careful in water. You will not be able to attack, but the creatures on dry land near you will. As an added nuisance, it takes several seconds to climb out of the water, and if you don't do it right, you'll just end up back in the water.

• If you don't have a manual, an online manual is here. If you have the free (downloaded) version of Arena, you can find a brief manual plus the answer to the Shift Gate questions in either of two files unzipped from the download. They'll be in a folder called "docs". You can find the answer in either "Arena106 Setup.html" or "Arena106 Setup.doc". Look for the section called "COPY PROTECTION".

• If you rest for too long near the Shift Gate there is a chance you can get attacked by imperials.

[edit] Bugs

• If you are running the Arena on DosBox v0.72, your game may crash every time you try to leave the starting dungeon. This has been fixed by the Arena Patch.

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