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Background

The first time you enter the Market Triangle, a beggar named Slicker will try to hit you up for some cash, but then a nearby building will burst into flame, and Slicker will run off. This sequence of events will trigger the quest.


Walkthrough

The house will remain on fire for a while, preventing you from going inside and poking around, and so you should first talk to Slicker. You'll find him not far to the southwest. Slicker will tell you that while the house is supposed to be abandoned, he's seen people skulking about it recently, including some "new people" today.

When the fire finally dies down, you'll be able to enter the house. Inside, you'll find a few piles of bones and ash that you'll be able to search for clues (and not find much), a scorched knapsack containing some minor loot, and a strange man near death.

To talk to the man, you'll need to heal him. Any amount of healing from any source will do the trick. If you don't have Charissa with you yet, then you can use the Healer's Kit +1 from the knapsack.

When the man wakes up, he won't remember who he is or what he was doing in the house. However, he'll find a stone key in his pocket, and the key will allow you to move the nearby statue, which in turn will reveal a staircase leading down to an arcane cellar. The man will start following you at this point.

Inside the cellar, you'll first encounter a pair of quelzarns (#1), but they'll turn out to be illusions, and you'll be able to walk right between them. Next you'll encounter a dwarf named Rupert, but he'll flee in terror when he spots you. When you finally catch up to Rupert (#2), you'll need to use diplomacy or intimidation to get him to talk. Then Rupert will admit that he doesn't know anything about the strange man with you or the explosion upstairs, but he will reveal that you're in the living quarters of the wizard Uzalimon, and that you can reach him by picking up the key from the copper pot (#3) and then going through the locked door (#4).

Past the locked door you'll find a portal (Exit B). When you go through the portal, you'll witness some wizards (including Uzalimon) preparing to destroy an ancient lich named Kokrulobis (#6). But then the strange man with you will remember that his name is Maliando and that he's Kokrulobis' "key," and he'll set the lich free. Kokrulobis and Maliando will then begin attacking you and the wizards.

You won't have any choice about what to do. You won't be able to retreat through the portal, and so you'll have to fight. Maliando shouldn't cause you any problems (especially if you didn't heal him much when you woke him up), but Kokrulobis can be challenging, even as outnumbered as you'll have him. So buff up your party as much as possible, let the wizards do their thing, and then wear him down.

After the battle, you'll find a Short Sword +1, a Scarab of Protection +1, a couple of Wands of Fire, and more on the corpses of Kokrulobis and Maliando. You'll then have to make a decision about Uzalimon. If you talk to him, then he'll explain what happened, but he won't reward you, and he'll ask you to leave. If you attack him, then you'll find a Greater Battle Robe, a Ring of Spell Battle, a Ring of Magic Defenses, and lots more on the bodies of the wizards. If you kill the wizards, then you'll also have to kill Rupert on your way out.


1 - Quelzarns


2 - Rupert


3 - Copper Pot


4 - Locked Door


5 - Scrying Pool


6 - Kokrulobis and the Wizards


Exits:

1. Staircase to the gutted house.
2. Portal.