Arena:Fang Lair

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Contents 1 Quick Walkthrough 2 Detailed Walkthrough 2.1 Another Vision 2.2 Where Is Fang Lair? 2.3 Quid Pro Quo, Pt. 1 2.4 Stonekeep 2.5 Quid Pro Quo, Pt. 2 2.6 Fang Lair 2.7 Notes

Find the first piece of the Staff of Chaos in this abandoned Dwarven ruin.edit Quest Giver: Ria Silmane Location(s): Hammerfell Prerequisite Quest: Escape From Prison Next Quest: Labyrinthian Reward: The first piece of the Staff of Chaos

Fang Lair

[edit] Quick Walkthrough

1. Go to sleep and receive another vision from Ria Silmane.
2. Travel to Hammerfell and talk to the Ruler of Rihad.
3. Go to Stonekeep to retrieve a parchment.
4. Give the parchment to the ruler of Rihad in exchange for the location of Fang Lair.
5. Travel to Fang Lair and retrieve the first piece of the Staff of Chaos.
6. Survive Jagar Tharn's retaliation.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] Another Vision

The first time you go to sleep, after escaping the Imperial Prison, you will be contacted in your dreams again by Ria Silmane. She will say:

"I see you have strengthend your arm, and your mind. It is time you began this journey. This is the Staff of Chaos, the one item that can open the door between this world, and the dimension to which the Emperor has been banished. Tharn used this item to destroy my corporeal form when I tried to warn the Council. He knew that the Staff of Chaos was nigh indestructable, having been made from the essence of the Land itself. But in that he found the key. As the land is split, so did he shatter the Staff into eight perfectly formed pieces. These he scattered across the realm. I have been able to divine the location of the first piece, a place called Fang Lair."

"It is said that Fang Lair was originally built by the Dwarves of Kragen. Legend has it that a Great Wyrm drove the Dwarves from their home in the Dragon's Teeth, and took the Lair for itself. I only wish I knew the exact location. Perhaps there are sages, or scholars, who would know of this place. Somewhere in its dank depths lies the first piece of the Staff of Chaos. I wish you well. I do not think Tharn knows of your escape, but I can do little else in this form. I have tried to obscure your identity with a spell, but I do not know how well it will hide you. Take care for Tharn may be searching. Go forth with the blessings of the true Emperor, and myself..."

[edit] Where Is Fang Lair?

Ria Silmane told you to find Fang Lair. But as she does not know where it is, it's up to you to find it. You do this by asking passers-by where it is. Some will tell you they've never heard of it; others will say they thought it was just a story. But eventually you will hear that maybe you should check out Hammerfell province. Go there; it's in the west of Tamriel.

Once you get to Hammerfell province (or maybe you were ejected into Hammerfell when you left the Imperial Dungeons), you still have to ask around about Fang Lair. Again, you may get a variety of useless answers, but eventually someone will tell you to check out Rihad. Go there; it's a city-state in the southern part of the province.

Once you get to Rihad (or maybe you were even so lucky as to be ejected from the Imperial Dungeons directly into Rihad), you still have to ask around about Fang Lair. Yet again, you will have to ask until you get some useful information; that information will tell you to go to the palace. Every palace is found on the city wall; if you have trouble finding it, ask someone where the palace is and they'll either give you a compass direction or, if you're near enough to it, they'll actually write "PALACE" on your map in the appropriate location.

[edit] Quid Pro Quo, Pt. 1

Talk to the ruler of Rihad, Queen Blubamka. She'll say that she'd love to tell you all about Fang Lair, but first there's the matter of this parchment she was relieved of by Golthog, a goblin chieftain. She can't tell you about Fang Lair unless you take the trouble to bring back this parchment, because, as she claims, the parchment is necessary to help decipher the location of Fang Lair. She is nice enough to mark the location of Golthog's lair on your map; it is a ruined stronghold called Stonekeep. Travel there; it's pretty close to Rihad, and looks like a rock-like cave entrance sticking out of the ground. Before you go, though, you may want to purchase a Potion of Cure Disease.

[edit] Stonekeep

Stonekeep is a sprawling, single-level dungeon, and like all Arena dungeons, is filled with all manner of monsters and plenty of treasure. It features plenty of water to swim in, and in fact you will get wet unless you can levitate.

There is an iron key on an island just a bit due south of the entrance (40,30). This key is not essential to getting the parchment. It can, however, open one of several locked doors in the residential area of Stonekeep.

The parchment is in a ghoul island hideout southwest of the entrance. The best way to get to it is to jump to a down- stairway leading off of one of the bedrooms just a bit southwest of the entrance. Then it's a short swim/flight to the ghoul island. The parchment itself is a curly brown piece of paper resting on the ground inside the ghoul hideout (72,23).

[edit] Quid Pro Quo, Pt. 2

Back in the Rihad palace, with the parchment in your inventory, talk to Queen Blubamka. She will then mark the location of Fang Lair on your map as promised. It's in the northeast corner of Hammerfell.

Before you go to Fang Lair, it is advisable to get a few Potions of Resist Fire. There is lava down there and fire-breathing critters. Also, you might want some Potions of Free Action, as there are critters that can paralyze you.

[edit] Fang Lair

Fang Lair is an abandoned dwarven mine. You will see tram tracks, trams, enormous holes, trenches and tunnels, and ladders. The trams and tracks are just dungeon dressing, but everything else has to be dealt with, particularly the tunnels. The top level of Fang Lair is quite large, and can be a challenge to explore given all the tunnels. And you will have to traverse the tunnels to reach the ladder down to the second level of Fang Lair (unless you have Passwall at your disposal). You can find this ladder in the extreme southwest part of the level.

To reach the ladder, however, you have to pass a magically locked door. And to get the key to the door, you will first have to correctly answer the first of many puzzles and riddles you will encounter. This first one is intended to be a logic puzzle. It has only three possible answers, so if you get it wrong, you can try again and you will eventually get it. Note, however, that if you get it wrong, the spiders in the cages you just passed will find themselves free to open their doors and come after you.

Your answer will unlock one of three different cage doors just to the west of you, and in fact will open the cage corresponding to the number you guess (walk in front of the cages and a note will pop up telling you which is which). In each cage is a key you can use to open either the magically locked door in front of you or one of the magically locked doors just north of the spider cages. Those doors lead to cages that hold piles of treasure (95,78; 91,78). The idea is to unlock the cage containing the gold key.

Once you obtain the gold key (94,98), open the magically locked door (88,96) and take the ladder down to the second level.

In the center of this level is a room with a door locked by a riddle. The room is almost impossible to miss, as this level is not large in area and there isn't a lot to look at. Answer the riddle to unlock the door to get to a couple of fire-breathing hell hounds and the first Staff Piece (64,75).

[edit] Notes

• In her description of what you have to do in Stonekeep, Queen Blubamka makes a passing mention about the goblin leader, Golthog, being in Stonekeep. This is just talk and has nothing to do with your quest. You will not find Golthog.

• In Stonekeep, there is one jail cell you cannot get to without being able to levitate or cast Passwall. This is meaningful only if you feel you absolutely have to check out every last room in the dungeon.

• There are ghouls in Stonekeep and Fang Lair. Ghouls have a chance of infecting you with an eventually fatal disease when they strike you, so if you don't bring a potion to fix this problem, be sure to save before you battle ghouls so you can restore if you become diseased. Being diseased is not so bad initially, as the stat reduction is small. And on the bright side, you cannot catch another disease on top of the one you already have. However, when you travel, the stat reductions accumulate, and if you travel so long as to allow a stat to drop to zero, you die. Sleeping will help you repair hit point and fatigue reductions, but sleep will not cure your attribute reductions, so eventually you will have to be cured or you'll die. If you find yourself without a way to cure your disease, you have three options. First, you can see if there are any treasure piles left in the dungeon; one of them may hold an item that cures disease. Second, you can kill a potion-carrying monster (e.g., an orc) and loot its body for what you hope is a Potion of Cure Disease. Third, you can get back to the entrance to the dungeon without delay and travel to the nearest principality to find a temple or mages' guild and get healed.

• There are also spiders in Stonekeep and in Fang Lair. They have a good chance of paralyzing you. If you meet one while swimming, to be paralyzed by one is instant death. If you meet one while walking, you can free yourself with a spell or by a Potion of Free Action. If you are caught without a way to free yourself, it will wear off eventually but you may take a beating in the interim; if you have the means to heal yourself, even though you are paralyzed, you can and this will increase the chance you get out of the encounter alive. Lizard men can also sometimes paralyze you, but they are very unlikely to do so as their chances of doing so are low and they are more quickly dealt with than the hissing spiders.

• In re the last two items, you will often encounter monsters that can make you sick or paralyze you, so it's good practice to always (i.e., not just in Fang Lair) carry the means to cure your ills.

• There is an awesome dwarven temple on the first level of Fang Lair with a lot of treasure in it!

• You have a decision to make in the Fang Lair cage room. If you give the correct answer first, you will not unlock the spider cages, thus avoiding having to deal with them. However, having done so, you will find it very difficult if not impossible to open the two treasure key cages. One strategy is to give the two wrong answers before giving the correct answer to ensure easy access to the treasure keys; note that of course by doing so you will have to deal with the spiders. If you have Passwall, you can have your cake and eat it, too: just open the correct cage first, then use Passwall to destroy the walls leading to the other keys!

• On the second level of Fang Lair is a hidden room containing a lot of treasure and some ghouls to fight for it. The way to get to the treasure is to swim a long distance in lava. Normally this would kill you quickly. But if you have a couple of Potions of Resist Fire, you can make the trip to the area on the first potion and, having collected the treasure and dealt with the ghouls, make the trip back on the second.

• In re the previous item, having the means to resist fire will be a persistent need in Arena. Fire-throwing monsters abound, as does lava.

• Levitation will get you out of a hole more quickly and reliably than climbing out.

• If a monster at the edge of a trench is prohibiting you from climbing it, or if you are blocked from moving in a trench because there is a monster actually in the trench with you (flying monsters such as ghosts can hover above a trench), the best way to get rid of it is with an offensive spell that affects an area centered on the caster. Keep casting until the monster is kaput. If you can in fact see the monster, an offensive spell that works on touch will work for less magicka.

• Seeded monsters you have killed will return if you exit and re-enter a level. Ergo, you can clean out the first level all you like, but after coming back from the second level, they'll all be back.

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