Did we miss anything in this section? Is there something we didn't discover? Let us know!

Background

You'll receive this quest the first time you talk to Raymond Maarloeve (#1).


Walkthrough

This quest is an overview quest that will guide you through your investigation of the Salamandra in the Temple Quarter. To complete it, you'll mostly just need to work your way through a series of sub-quests.

To start off, Maarloeve will tell you that a Salamandra agent was recently arrested by the city guards, and he'll ask to you question him. This is covered in the quest entry for The Crown Witness. The events in that quest will lead you to suspect Kalkstein (#2) and Ramsmeat (#3 or #4). Maarloeve will suggest that you gain the trust of Kalkstein while he investigates Ramsmeat.

To gain Kalkstein's trust, you'll need to complete the first part of the quest A Mysterious Tower. That is, you'll need to track down and read the two books that Kalkstein tells you about. After doing so, when you return to Maarloeve, you'll find him being attacked by four assassins.

Note: The assassins will only appear when you enter Maarloeve's house. So if you gained Kalkstein's trust before Maarloeve told you to do so, then you'll need to leave his house and re-enter it to get the assassins to show up.

When you talk to Maarloeve after the battle, he'll point out that the Salamandra are clearly on to him, and he'll decide to leave town for a while so he can lay a false trail. In the meantime, he'll give you his notes, which will add some suspects to your list, and he'll ask you to look into them all.

To update the quest, you'll need to talk to the suspects and hear their side of the story. At that point your quest objective will change, and you'll be told to wait for Maarloeve to contact you. Eventually, at some point later in the chapter when you enter the Temple Quarter, a "resolute boy" will come up to you and tell you that Maarloeve would like to see you.

When you meet with Maarloeve, after paying him 200 orens, he'll tell you that the prisoner died during the night, and he'll ask you to get together with Shani (#5 or #6) to perform an autopsy on him. This is covered in the quest entry for Anatomy of a Crime.

The autopsy will lead you to one of three conclusions: that Kalkstein or Ramsmeat is guilty (incorrect), or that Maarloeve is dead and Azar Javed has been impersonating him (correct). You can also come to the latter conclusion by completing the quest A Gravedigger's Gratitude.

Regardless of your findings, when you return to Maarloeve, he'll tell you that Ramsmeat is guilty, and that you should kill him. If you didn't figure out that Maarloeve is the guilty party, then you'll have to do this; otherwise you'll have to lie to Maarloeve and tell him that you did it.

Note: We've heard people say that they've killed Ramsmeat even when they knew Maarloeve was guilty, but as of version 1.2 this doesn't appear to be possible.

Another Note: If you know Maarloeve is guilty, then you can press him about his true identity here, but if you go too far then he'll attack you and you'll die (you won't be able to damage him, and if the infinitely-spawning minions don't kill you, then Maarloeve will eventually cast a spell that will finish you off), and you'll have to load your game.

If you have to kill Ramsmeat, then you'll find him in his house (#3). If it's daytime then you'll have to bribe the guards 20 orens to let you go inside. If it's nighttime, then you can simply draw a weapon and kill the guards, and they'll both drop keys to Ramsmeat's house. Inside, when you attack Ramsmeat, a bunch of bodyguards will rush into the room to defend him. The group style is best for the battle, and it probably wouldn't hurt to buff up a little, too. When Ramsmeat dies he'll drop a Yellow Meteorite and more. The bodyguards won't drop much of anything.

When you return to Maarloeve, either he'll suggest or you'll suggest that you should meet up at the mage's tower in the Swamp Forest, and he'll give you the Keth'aar Sephirah to help you get inside. Opening the tower is covered in the quest entry for A Mysterious Tower.

When you enter the tower, you'll find the Tower Mage's Book inside a chest. When you exit the tower with the book, Azar Javed will finally reveal that he's been impersonating Maarloeve, and he'll attack you. Javed will start out by summoning an ifrit to fight for him, but after you've defeated it he'll get serious and summon the Professor to help him out instead.

Battling Azar Javed and the Professor can be tough, but there's a trick of sorts to the battle. The fighting will only continue as long as Javed and the Professor have over half of their health left. So don't use the group style to attack both of them. Attack Javed or the Professor only, and use the strong attack of your steel sword.

Once you've done enough damage, the Professor will poison you, and then he and Javed will leave for the Trade Quarter. You'll fall unconscious, and that's how the quest (and the chapter) will end.


1 - Raymond Maarloeve's House


2 - Kalkstein's House


3 - Ramsmeat's House


4 - Hairy Bear Inn


5 - Shani's House


6 - Hospital