Cotra|
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Cotra |
Eastern Gallery |
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Navigation: General Hints, Shops, People and Quests, Notes, Pylon, Job Board
List of all towns and shops in Avernum
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| Cotra | The Cellars |
This is the main town in the area. There are quite a few people here to talk to. Some of them become more important later in the game; so you will need to come here fairly often.
| Person | Function | Items, Quests and Notes | Rating |
| Jenny | Apothecary | Her selection of potions is very basic. She will give you the quest to find Erika's Tower (Reward: 100 coins, a Speed and an Invulnerability Elixir plus about 30 xp and 1 reputation). She will not teach you any alchemy but suggests you ask Konig in the inn (who actually does not know any recipes). | Quest expensive |
| Nance | Townswoman | Nance, a friend of Elspeth, is wandering around the town. She prefers working with magical crafts to dealing in weapons and will tell you about the mysterious blue crystals that are occasionally found lying around in Avernum. | |
| Elizabeth | Innkeeper | Although all rooms at the inn are occupied, she can offer you ale and rations. If you ask her if she has heard any rumors she will tell you about a crypt to the north. This is the person Matthias in Fort Emerald is looking for but she is not very pleased to be reminded of him. | very reasonable |
| Asp | Guest | Seems to be a rather unsavoury character. He will however give some useful information later in the game. | |
| Konig | Guest (Mage) | It is worth talking to Konig. He will tell you about the Crystal Cave and can teach you a spell. | |
| Eduardo | Shipwright | As well as selling you a boat he is willing to expound on the Sliths. | 250 |
| Andrew | Assistant | Andrew works in the shipyard and seems to be dissatisfied. In spite of the fact that he is saving up to buy a sword and go of adventuring, he refuses to join you. | |
| Elspeth |
Shopkeeper (Armour/Weapons) |
Sells basic weapons and armour with a few better items and will buy loot. | expensive |
| Paul | Clerk | He is the secretary and does not really want to let you through to the mayor. He tells you to look around the library to the east. If you do so you will find a candle and a scroll Group Healing. These scrolls are very useful in combat, particularly before you get Mass Healing yourself. | |
| Steele | Mayor | If you do pass Paul and enter Mayor Steele's chambers, you will find that he has been awaiting you. A man of few words who does not like being interrupted. He will give you the mission to rescue prisoners from the Underground Nephilim Fort. Reward: 250 coins, a Bullseye Cloak 40–50 xp and 1 reputation. | Quest |
| Tamus | Apprentice | He is working near the pylon in the cellar the first time you approach it. He tells you that you should not be here if you have not been trained, but will condescend to tell you that training can be found in the Tower of Magi but that they will proably not train you. After that he disappears. You can however touch the pylon even if it does nothing at the moment. | |
| Talking Statue | (Erika has Password) | Only tells you, that there is a Crystal Cavern nearby with magical restorative powers, but someone has vandalised it and it awaits repair. By the time you get this message you have probably already repaired it. |
It is always a good idea to talk to everybody. The following notes give hints on hidden rooms, traps and puzzles. There is for instance a room behind the inn which can be entered from the east. Here you can open two chests, which contain 7 coins and some food which can be stolen. Although the door is open and there is a talking statue directly outside nobody sees you. I suppose these statues can talk but not see!
Konig (or should it be König?) is the mage sitting in the inn. If you have a reputation of at least 10 he will give you access to a tome in the cellar which will teach you Cloak of Curses L3. The Crystal Cave he tells you about is hidden on the other side of the waterfall north of Cotra. It is dealt with in a seperate entry.
The crystal Nance tells you about is at the base of a statue on the east side of Fort Avernum. It is one of the many Wisdom Crystals in this game. Although the talk is always about blue crystals (like the Mindcrystals in the original trilogy) these crystals are yellow.
Once you have managed to talk to Scab in Spire he will tell you that Asp has some information about the Silver Circlet, which means you have to travel all the way from Spire to Cotra, speak to Asp who sells the information for 100 gold and then back to Spire to get the circlet. I used to amuse myself with some side quests on such long journeys but you can of course use the pylons in this game if you do not want to be distracted.
In the NW corner of the town is a small building in which a staircase leads down to the Pylon.
The Job Board is to the east of the City Hall.
| Job | Description | Originator |
| Delivery – Formello | A tome in the concealed chamber outside the pylon chamber should be delivered to Miles in Formello who will reward you. | Tamus |
| Slith Menace | An outpost of slithzerikai has been established on an island southwest of Cotra, uncomfortably close to the city walls. Killing the commander there will tell these creatures to keep to their own lands. | Mayor Steele |
| Message – Fort Dranlon |
A sealed letter has been pinned to the board, addressed to "Commander Rosie. Fort Dranlon." A note below adds, "Payment upon delivery." |
Commander Rosie Fort Dranlon |
| Nephilim Encampment | A small group of nephilim has been sighted camped northwest of Cotra. They are hostile and must be driven back. | Paul (mayor's secretary) |
| Nephilim Raiders | This Job appears on the board as soon as you have completed the "Nephilim Encampment" mission: A group of large and powerful nephilim raiders has been sighted in the rock outcroppings west of Cotra. They are hostile and must be driven back. Great care should be taken in hunting them. | Paul |
The tome is jumbled up among lots of parchments from the Tower of Magi in the chest which Tamus described. Miles in Formello will give you two scrolls (Spellward and Return Life) if you take the tome to him and you gain about 170 xp.
Not only will you get a reward in Fort Dranlon for eradicating the sliths in the Island Fort but Mayor Steele will give you 250 coins, an Ensigiled Breastplate and about 75xp,
This one is easy: you just have to report to Rosie when you next visit Fort Dranlon. Reward: 50 coins and about 65 xp.
There are 5 Nephilim camped NW of Cotra (n on the map of the Eastern Gallery). If you decide to kill them you get a few experience points and can pick up the relatively poor equipment as well as a silver necklace which they drop. Reward: 200 gold and 200–350 xp.
The Nephalim Raiders have pitched their camp in the rock outcroppings west of Cotra where the road to Fort Dranlon turns to the north (N on the map of the Eastern Gallery). They are a lot more difficult than the Nephilim Encampment above. They drop almost no equipment but on looking around their campsite after you have killed them, you find 305 coins and a Blessed Nephil Blade. Paul the mayor's secretary rewards you with 300 coins, an Ensnaring Wand and 250–260 xp.