The Defense Division's Weapons Labs are divided in two. The first section handles 'defense projects and live trials.' I assume the latter two are euphemisms for developing weapons and testing them on prisoners. Scout this area and report back. Before you do, speak with the researcher and the…creature. Fa was her name? Make sure they both understand their tasks. I don't especially trust the competency of a construction worker in PJs.
The layout of the labs matches the blueprints I found, and our collaborators understand their tasks. Good. Even if the creature dozes off, I could always break a window to cause a distraction. Surviving will be your issue. Tch, tell the moth to stop panicking. Their sister is obviously more perceptive than she seems, though I would never allow someone like her into the Legion. Despite her power, she lacks sorely in motivation.
Items Required:
- Talk to Iseul x1
- Talk to Fa x1
- Labs Explored x1
Rewards:
Requirements: Must have completed the previous quest.
You found another cluster of dark stone engraved with blue runes while you were scouting? Take a closer examination. I imagine there's another journal hidden in its crevices. As you and the moth have discovered, these structures are attracting the local sea life. Lamprey, likely reared in these labs as live test subjects, have escaped and gathered around the obelisk. Dispatch those tripping hazards while you're there.
Judging from the moth's tears, you found definitive evidence that this Seabase is where the missing Water Elves are. Not only that, but Seabase Undine is actually their home, the Temple of Water. Swordhaven managed to find and completely build over the Avatar of Water's most sacred place of worship. Quite impressive. How did they manage such a feat? I don't ask questions. When the former Princess stops clenching her fists, she'll have much to talk about with the Queen.
Items Required:
- Lamprey Limb x8
- Torn Page Read x1
- Read the Torn Page on Screen 2
Rewards:
Requirements: Must have completed the previous quest.
The question of what those blue runed obelisks are has been settled. Now, I want to see the weapons Swordhaven has been developing for myself. ShadowSlayers, in specific, were hired to patrol the Defence Division Labs at all hours. As for why, I believe the answer is in the locked Live Trials room behind the examination table. Subdue the ShadowSlayers and search them for a key card.
ShadowSlayers specialize in hunting the dark creatures of Darkovia; Vampires, Werewolves, and the Undead. As opposed to pure and pious Paladins, they're far more utilitarian. ShadowSlayers won't have qualms about keeping secrets or keeping their prey in cages if there's a Good reason. Tell the moth and the former Princess that they'll see for themselves when we enter the Live Trials room.
Items Required:
- Slayer Subdued x8
- Key Card x1
Rewards:
Requirements: Must have completed the previous quest.
The Live Trials Room is where the Defense Division researchers test their weapons on undead prisoners. Go inside and see for yourselves. I heard from General Rand that some of our foot soldiers, and the minions of the Empire and Nation went missing. Or, they were captured rather than slain. So this was where they were sent. Subdue them, and bring what remains of them to me.
Your companions have calmed considerably. To be expected, the prisoners aren't alive and all served Evil. They would have been slain either way, but they are in quite a state. The arrow the Queen shot at me while I dueled Malgor is nowhere near as devastating as the weapons tested on these undead. Their minds and souls have been practically obliterated, too frail to ever be raised by necromancy again.
Items Required:
- Prisoner Subdued x10
- Live Trials Room Explored x1
Rewards:
Requirements: Must have completed the previous quest.
Seabase Undine is the Temple of Water, taken by the Swordhaven Crown and used as a secret testing ground for weaponry. Its seclusion lends perfectly to said goal, but so could a cave or a Skyguard facility. Why would the Good Queen risk the lives of hundreds of her subjects in such hostile environs? There has to be more to this. Bring me bone samples from the feral prisoners and any documents you can find from the ShadowSlayers, and explore further into the Labs. According to the blueprints, a Conference Room separates the first and second sections of the Weapons Labs.
Once a soul is born, there are few methods that can completely destroy it. Even fewer are those with the sheer amount of power to do so. Yet, the Queen's researchers are on their way to producing weapons that can obliterate souls en masse. These bones might as well be rocks, and the ShadowSlayers have written vows that acknowledge the secrecy of this heinous act. Dr. Song Rivale is the Vice Researcher of the entire facility. There is much to discuss with her, and lucky for all of us, she's waiting in the Conference Room.
Items Required:
- Bone Sample x6
- Slayer's Written Vow x6
- Conference Room Found x1
Rewards:
Requirements: Must have completed the previous quest.
Beyond the Conference Room lies the second section of the Weapon's Labs. Sparagmos should be at the very end. According to the manual Noelle sent to me, the system runs on fuel that is stored in the Abyssal Zone below, and pumped into vats on this floor. Scout ahead and find these vats. We need to confirm if the fuel managed to 'escape' during the mayhem. If so, beat this visceral liquid until it stops moving.
Are you and the brat worried that this fuel is somehow alive? Don't be. I know for a fact that the fuel is dead matter. Its movements are similar to the spasms of a freshly beheaded fish. Pour the fluid back into the vats. Sparagmos' fuel is limited. Every drop needs to be saved for it to continue functioning. Do you happen to find this liquid familiar? Pray tell, does it have something to do with the new Temple of Light? Why am I asking? I was merely curious.
Items Required:
- Fueled Vats Examined x3
- Click on the blue arrows on Screen 7
- Viscera Sample x6
Rewards:
Requirements: Must have completed the previous quest.
In such a perilous environment, death is less common than I expected. That may be the result of your acquaintance Song's efforts. She arrived long after Seabase Undine took the lives of many. Their ghosts linger here, not out of spite or anger. They haunt the halls because they wish to continue protecting the Base, their peers, and their dream. Ha, they aren't taking my presence well. Calm them so we may move on.
The guests the Queen invited to the Sea Base valued the future over their own lives. Fools, all of them. According to the manual, they hooked themselves to Sparagmos, and endured relentless mental torture until they perished. This was the old method of protecting the base before Song's arrival. A living member of Seabase Undine would direct all of Kathool's mental attacks to themselves, allowing the others to continue researching the Temple.
Items Required:
Rewards:
Requirements: Must have completed the previous quest.
System Sparagmos is made of two components. In simple terms, there is an input where fuel is fed, and an output that causes an effect. In the manual, Noelle noted that blocking Kathool's influence was impossible. Research on the Temple would need to be halted unless these psychic attacks were directed at a designated target. Collect more of the escaped shadowy fuel and ward away the Wraiths. We're almost ready to see Sparagmos.
Attacks from Kathool, even while it's unconscious, are devastating and impossible to block. Instead, this fuel powers Sparagmos, and it directs Kathool's influence on a single person - allowing the others to work for the so-called greater good untouched. There is a list of names in the manual. The Seabase personnel call them 'Heroes', but they're just glorified sacrifices. Then Song arrived, and put the practice to rest.
Items Required:
- Wraith Appeased x7
- Shadow Captured x7
Rewards:
Requirements: Must have completed the previous quest.
At first, I theorized that Sparagmos was using the souls of the dead to absorb Kathool's attacks. But that wasn't the case. The GreenGuard Queen has forbidden necromancy in all forms. Instead, the Seabase sacrificed their own as brain shields until Song arrived with Astravian technology. Proceed further until you reach the end of the Midnight Zone to find the Sparagmos A.I. We need to figure out how they created it.
Astravian technology has such potential… it's a shame that Song is so naive. Rather than sacrifice living humans to Kathool, she created a simulation to do it instead. A fake identity wouldn't be human enough to successfully grab Kathool's subconscious attention, so it had to be based on a real person. It would seem that the Queen herself came to Undine to scrounge up memories, hook herself to Sparagmos, and help create a simulacrum of her dear, deceased sister-one who would endure anything out of *scoffs* love.
Items Required:
- Brittany's Belongings Examined x4
- Click on the blue arrows on Screen 8
- Sparagmos A.I. Found x1
Rewards:
Requirements: Must have completed the previous quest.
Sparagmos' A.I. is based on the memories of the former Princess' eldest sister. Tara's presence has caused it to frenzy. It refuses to be rebooted despite its suboptimal condition out of a misguided attempt to protect Tara. What an unreliable method of defense. Never rely on the good graces of another. This is why you'll have to fight this A.I. and force a reboot of the system to keep the base from devolving into chaos. With how distraught Tara is, she'll obviously be of no help.
The A.I.'s defenses have fallen. Since it was based on a royal that did nothing but laze around in a castle, the A.I. was no match for you. Get over to Tara before she loses herself to hysterics. Noelle gave me the codes to restart the A.I. With this, I will be taking control of Sparagmos, and of Seabase Undine. Then, we will finally settle the matter between us.
Items Required:
- Sparagmos A.I. Defeated x1
Rewards:
x1