Barathrum the Old/Conversations
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This information is reliable as of patch 2.0.200.73. |
Before Call to Arms
Start
Should you be here, (player's offspringterm)?
| [1] My apologies, Barathrum. | [End] |
After Call to Arms
Start
Come closer, nestling. Let me look upon your countenance.
| [1] You are so... old. | |
| [2] Otho said you wished to speak with me. | Only available if Pax Klanq, I Presume? is not accepted yet. |
| [3] What's with the houseplant over there? | |
| [4] Please tell me about the signal again. | Only available if Pax Klanq, I Presume? is in progress or is finished. |
| [5] I convinced Pax Klanq to construct the climber. | Available only if the player has convinced Klanq to build the climber. |
| [6] I've returned from the high gate at Brightsheol. The Spindle's magnetic field is disabled. | Available after returning Brightsheol. |
| [7] Pax Klanq has agreed to build the climber. What now? | Available after Pax Klanq, I Presume? is complete. |
| [8] Could you tell me again about the Tomb of the Eaters? | |
| [9] Live and drink, eldest Barathrum. | [End] |
Questions
What can I offer, nestling?
| [1] You are so... old. | |
| [2] Otho said you wished to speak with me. | |
| [3] What's with the houseplant over there? | |
| [4] Please tell me about the signal again. | |
| [5] Could you tell me again about the Tomb of the Eaters? | |
| [6] Live and drink, eldest Barathrum. | [End] |
Old
So I am, nestling. For a millennium now I've watched the river of Time turn the gears of Qud. I even played my part in diverting the river where I could. Oh, but there have been so many players through the years! So many players.
Before
Little do I remember now, for I was but a cub, a nestling, when my kin and I crossed the Homs Delta into Qud. We were urged on by the flooding of a glacial river that flowed through our hearth-cave. The world was just unthawing then, and I recall the roar of the freezing water as it rushed through the grotto, and the frigid spray on my face as I watched in awe.
Euclid
That's my dear friend, Euclid. It's a prattleplant. It stores every phrase it hears in its neuroot network, and it mimics speech by flicking its leaves against one another. What comes out is gibberish as often as not, but even so, it's agreeable company for my nights spent tinkering. It is old, perhaps older than I am, and it hasn't yet run out of things to say.
Pax Klanq, I Presume?
Quest
I do. Your service to the guild has been laudable, disciple. You braved the vaporous depths of Bethesda Susa and decoded the signal, you secured the Spindlegrounds and handled the self-appointed Earl, and perhaps most materially, you defended our enclave from the Putus Templar.
Since you returned from Bethesda, you've no doubt wondered at the signal's contents. Verily, I hid them to shield you from the weight of the truth. Only Otho, Q Girl, and I bear that burden, but circumstances have changed. The river of Time powers the gear train of our schemes and devices, and it rushes forth. From here, I must share the burden. You must know.
Signal
The signal is a beacon of welcoming, and it originates from the top of the Spindle.
Spindle
The beacon confirmed my hypothesis. The Spindle is an elevator, engineered by the Eaters to convey freight to and from the vault of heaven. You see, nestling, in the earliest aurora of our past, the Eaters of Earth were joined by a great coven of beings that spanned the firmament. But the Eaters succumbed to some terrible temptation, and an injunction was placed on our world.
Since then, the stars were silent to us, and our world was left to molder and decay. But something changed. The signal affirms that an entity roosts atop the Spindle, and invites us to join it.
Dare I say, is the injunction at an end? It's too early to tell, but alas, there could be hope for our world.
WhatNow
I intend to ascend the Spindle and answer the call, disciple.
My protege Q Girl has designed a climber for the ascent. We intended to construct it piecewise at the enclave and the site itself, but the engineering feat exceeds even our capacity. With time, I am confident we could accomplish it, but the Putus Templar rob us of our patience. We need to act now, and so as loath as I am to admit it, we need Pax Klanq.
PaxKlanq
Pax Klanq is an eccentric mushroom prodigy. All its faults aside, it's a brilliant scientist and engineer, and I have little doubt that it could build the climber faster than we could. Several years have passed since we were last in contact, but it owes us a debt, and we must now collect.
Unfortunately, no one knows Pax Klanq's whereabouts. Through contacts I made over the years, I inquired as to its location. The most I was able to garner were these enigmatic instructions:
"Seek the heart of the rainbow, eat the god's flesh, and follow the Coral Path."
PaxKlanq2
I must ask you to decipher this enigma, find Pax Klanq, and convince it to construct the climber. Remind Pax of the debt it owes us.
It strikes me as likely for this 'rainbow' to refer to the Rainbow Wood, where Klanq's kin consort, so I suggest you start there.
| [1] I will find Pax Klanq and deliver Q Girl's design. | [Accept Quest:Pax Klanq, I Presume?] |
| [2] I must weigh everything you've told me. | [End] |
Accept
As I had hoped, disciple. First, speak with Q Girl. She'll hand over her design.
I await your return.
| [1] Live and drink, Barathrum. | [End] |
PaxComplete
What welcome news, disciple! Please, take this as a token of my gratitude.
| [1] Thank you. | Barathrum gives the player a  quantum mote. [Complete Quest Step: Return to Grit Gate]
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Tomb of the Eaters
TombIntro
The flywheel of our scheme is spinning, but we must keep our paws on the treadle. Are you ready to learn what comes next?
| [1] Yes. | |
| [2] I need time on my own first. | [End] |
TombBody1
The climber design relies on the use of electromagnets to interface with the planet's magnetic field and generate torque. Unfortunately, the Spindle generates its own interfering field, perhaps as a mechanism to prevent unwanted ascension.
Our aim is to access the Spindle's control unit and disable the field. How we accomplish this, however, is an enigma. From disparate bits across the archives of the digitum, Ereshkigal has stitched together a cryptic but instructional brocade. She's learned the field can be turned off from a place called Brightsheol, located in the Thin World and accessible only through Resheph's tomb inside the Tomb of the Eaters.
| [1] ... |
TombBody2
Strange, this, and imprecise, but as tinkers we know: a crude blueprint is better than no blueprint. You must return to Omonporch and enter the Tomb of the Eaters. Once inside, trace the errant paths cut into the mausoleum by robbers and vandals, and ascend to Resheph's burial chamber.
As for gaining entrance to the Tomb, Resheph sealed the gates a thousand years ago, but there's a flaw in the seal. The ancient Mark of Death has been lost to time, but if you were to recover it and incise the mark on your body, the Death Gate would open for you, as it did for countless Eater cadavers in the long-blurred past.
Recover the Mark of Death, =name=, enter the Tomb, and cross into Brightsheol. Place your paws once again on the dial and drum.
| [1] I will enter the Tomb of the Eaters as you ask. | |
| [2] You ask so much. I must consider it. | [End] |
TombBody3
As I'd hoped you would, =name=. Take this disk with the signal encoded, just in case. And take this tattoo gun for when you recover the Mark of Death. You'll want to bring a pickaxe, too, or some other instrument for digging through stone. And beware: the Tomb is a vast and ancient space, and sacred to many. I cannot speak to what you will experience there.
| [1] I heed your warning. Farewell, Barathrum. | [Accept Quest:Tomb of the Eaters] [End] |
TombExplain1
The climber design relies on the use of electromagnets to interface with the planet's magnetic field and generate torque. Unfortunately, the Spindle generates its own interfering field, perhaps as a mechanism to prevent unwanted ascension.
Our aim is to access the Spindle's control unit and disable the field. How we accomplish this, however, is an enigma. From disparate bits across the archives of the digitum, Ereshkigal has stitched together a cryptic but instructional brocade. She's learned the field can be turn off from a place called Brightsheol, located in the Thin World and accessible only through Resheph's tomb inside the Tomb of the Eaters.
| [1] ... |
TombExplain2
Strange, this, and imprecise, but as tinkers we know: a crude blueprint is better than no blueprint. You must return to Omonporch and enter the Tomb of the Eaters. Once inside, trace the errant paths cut into the mausoleum by robbers and vandals, and ascend to Resheph's burial chamber.
As for gaining entrance to the Tomb, Resheph sealed the gates a thousand years ago, but there's a flaw in the seal. The ancient Mark of Death has been lost to time, but if you were to recover it and incise the mark on your body, the Death Gate would open for you, as it did for countless Eater cadavers in the long-blurred past.
You're to recover the Mark of Death, =name=, enter the Tomb, and cross into Brightsheol.
| [1] ... |
TombExplain3
Use the tattoo gun I've given you when you recover the Mark of Death. You'll want to bring a pickaxe, too, or some other instrument for digging through stone. And beware: the Tomb is a vast and ancient space, and sacred to many. I cannot speak to what you will experience there.
TombComplete
You look... refreshed. Thank you, =name=. Take this polygel we recently recovered from the Palladium Reef.
| [1] Live and drink, Barathrum. | Barathrum gives the player a  metamorphic polygel. [Complete Quest Step: Return to Grit Gate] [End]
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