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| Erika's Tower |
| Avernum 1 | Erika's Tower | Erika/Bandits |
Navigation: General Hints, Shops, People and Quests, Notes
List of all towns and shops in Avernum
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| Erika's Tower |
This "town" is marked as friendly. The only person here who is friendly is Erika herself. There are lots of hostile monsters on the way to her chambers. Even the two goblins you meet soon after getting in, who seem friendly enough to start with, will turn nasty after a time, if you have not already killed them
You can in fact pick up everything around, even if it is marked as "not yours". There is noboby here other than Erika to turn hostile and she always remains friendly, even if you steal her possessions from right under her nose!
| Person | Function | Items, Quests and Notes | Rating |
| Erika | Archmage | The only person (other than the two goblins guarding the secret passage in the west) to whom you can talk is Erika. When you finally reach her she will give you lots of information and some quests. So much so that the various topics are dealt with below, after the instructions for reaching her. | Quest |
It is always a good idea to talk to everybody. The following notes give hints on hidden rooms, traps and puzzles.
You can rest in a room to the east of the main (first) door. This is very useful as you cannot camp outdoors in this area because the lands are too dangerous. If you are running low on spell points you can always run to Erika and recuperate.
There are two ways to reaching her.
The first one is just to barge in. You need Dispel Barriers L2 or a Piercing Crystel to get through the front door. When you get through the first door you see the second door in front of you, but you cannot open it. To the east is a resting room. To the west, at the end of the corridor, is a door with a plaque with the rhyme
One goblin tells the truth,
The other lies.
Pierce them both to get the prize.
Going through the door you come to two goblins standing between two doors. Each door opens onto a long passage with lava rivers leading to a demon which guards a door you cannot open.
The only way through is to kill the goblins and take the hidden passage behind them. This passage has the same lava rivers (good pathfinder or Safe Travel L3 or accept the damage). When you get to the end of this corridor the light fails. Around the corner are 2 basilisks and an ur-basilisk. So send a warrior in with a crystal shield or charm first.
Actually you can avoid the basilisks if you can find the hidden doors straight away in the dark: east to the end of the corridor then south; move west searching the southern wall until you break through; then directly east and move south searching the eastern wall until you come through. Then you will be confonted (still in darkness) by two golems which are soon backed up by two more golems and four wights.
Fight your way south and search the west wall for a hidden door. As soon as you have gone through the wall and turned the corner the light comes back to reveal some open gates. The corridor leads east to three doors. South is the second door which you could not open before, north is marked "third door" and east is unmarked. Since you cannot open the other two doors you must go through the unlocked door to the east.
If you talk to the Old Crone in the SE corner of the Cave across the river and find her mould, it will turn out that she was Erika in disguise and that she will let you come in with much less hassle. After getting through the first door you can go straight through the second, thus avoiding the goblins, basiliks, golems and wights.
Getting through the third door needs Unlock Doors L3, which you can only get (in Almaria) after completing a quest for Erika. So you have to go through the door to the east, where you come to a garden with lots of mutant lizards and pioson fungi. In the SE corner of the garden is a locked door leading to a wheel which if turned will call up two golems and some cave slimes, but also opens the gate behind the locked door in the middle of the garden. None of the monsters drops anything interesting but there are various herbs in the garden. Once through the gate you come directly north to Erika's chambers.
Erika can give you much assistance and information.
She tells you that she wishes get revenge on the Empire who laid a curse upon her when she was banished to Avernum. The first step is to speak to Aydin in the Hidden Island Tower. After you have visited him she will tell you about her spies (the talking statues in many towns) and give you the password to get information from them.
She also tells you that you need to find at least four of the five brooches scattered around Avernum. A scroll in the library tells more about their locations.
When you have completed this quest she lets you read the two tomes (Divine Host and Arcane Blow L3) on the right in the chamber to the east of her bedroom. The other two tomes will confuse you.
If you have joined the Scimitar, you can ask her about the way to the surface. She tells you that it is north of the Tower of Sulfras and that you need a four part password. She gives you the last part and tells you to ask Aimee, Patrick and Koth or Athron for the other parts.
When you have completed this quest she lets you read the two tomes (Divine Restoration and Arcane Shield L3) on the left in the chamber to the east of her bedroom. The other two tomes will confuse you.
She will tell you the location of the key to her east door, so that you can return to her more easily. She will teach you mage spells 13 – 18 at slightly expensive prices and the potion recipies for Energy Potion, Restoration Brew, Protection Brew and Heroic Brew (expensive). She also tells you to read any books you want to, that are in her library to the west.
There are three tiny locked rooms in the NW corner of the tower which need Unlock Doors L3 to open them. They are all empty. There are however some very good items lying around in her chambers. Although they are marked as "not yours", you can take them without risking upsetting Erika. She will just stand there and ignore your thefts. She will also still help you get to Hawthorne and reward you for killing him and for finding the way to the surface.
You find the Valorim Bestiary very quickly on entering the library. If Erika has told you about it, you can find an ivory key on the desk. On a shelf in the middle row you find a note about the Athame. On the shelves in the NW corner you find a list [of where to look for the brooches]. (I have noted the relevant brooch in parentheses after the entry.)
