Formello|
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Formello |
Spiders/Formello |
| friendly |
Navigation: General Hints, Shops, People and Quests, Notes, Pylon, Job Board
List of all towns and shops in Avernum
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| Formello | Cellars |
Formello is the biggest town in the Eastern Province and should be visited fairly early on. Most things you need can be found here: potions, training, selling, basic priest and mage spells etc. There is a Job Board here and a number of people will give you quests. You can also meet an Empire envoy and, if your tool use is high enough, rob the treasury.
| Person | Function | Items, Quests and Notes | Rating |
| Jen |
Shopkeeper (Rations) |
Jen acts very friendly, but she seems to want to rook you. She will however tell you that she will buy fine mushroom meal (for which she pays 15 coins). This is well worth it because selling a bag of meal in the normal way will only yield 8–11 coins (20% to 28% of 40). |
utterly rediculous Quest |
| Ken | Townsman | He is working in the Lizard pen behind Jen's food shop. He talks about lizards and dragons and advises you to visit Motrax. | |
| Bernie | Apothecary | Bernie sells Potions including Energy and Armour Elixirs and Scrolls. |
slightly expensive |
| Jasmine |
Shopkeeper (Armour/Weapons) |
sells basic armour and weapons. She will buy loot. | expensive |
| Claudette | Priest | sells priest spells 1 to 8. She will tell you that Mayor Evelyn's necklace has been stolen. She will also send you off to Motrax to locate a scroll of history. It turns out that he does not have the scroll but points you further. If you manage to complete the task she will teach you a level 3 spell. | Quest expensive |
| Miles | Mage | sells mage spells 1 to 8. |
slightly expensive |
| Vermeers | Trainer | He will train you in Blademaster and Cave Lore | expensive |
| Evelyn | Mayor | will give you a quest to recover her necklace from the Nephilim Fortress to the west. On completion of this mission she will give you a Crown Token, which will give you access to The Castle, a Singing Rapier, around 70 xp and 2 reputation. | Quest |
| Gad | Innkeeper | If you ask him for a drink he will offer you not only ale and wine but also some food. He will also give you the quest to bring him some sugar. |
Quest slightly expensive |
| Golizar | Guest (Sage) | The GIFTS seem to have turned his mind, but he will tell you about them. He will also tell you to ask Lieth in the cave of Motrax about the Orb of Thralni. | |
| Thantria | Empire Envoy | If you are strong enough, you could find this peron in the depths of the caverns beneath Formello. | Quest |
| Talking Statue | (Erika has Password) | By the time you can get the statue to talk, you should already have the information it divulges: "The mayor had her necklace stolen. The town treasury is rich. There are magic fountains to the southeast and magic spiders to the northwest. Oh, and someone said that Motrax knows about a stone key." |
It is always a good idea to talk to everybody. The following notes give hints on hidden rooms, traps and puzzles. If you look carefully you can find a few things to pick up in various places in the town. In the library for instance you can not only talk to an apprentice, who tells you nothing, but also pick up a candle and a scroll Radiate Ice.
There are at least three bags of sugar in this game. One of them is in a locked storeroom in the SE of Fort Avernum. If you give this bag to Gad you will loose reputation. If you give him sugar from another source (eg the Swamp City) you get 500 coins and about 15xp and do not loose any reputation.
She is not such a complex character as she was in the original game. She will send you on an apparently wild goose chase to Motrax for a scroll on the history of priests in Avernum. Although he does not have the scroll, he will tell you to ask Khoth. If you report this back to Claudette she will give you an interim reward of a Ruby, 75–80 xp and 1 reputation. When you eventually get the scroll she will reward you with around 20xp, 1 rep, and teach you Unshackle Mind L3.
In the SW corner of the garden in the SE of the town is a trapdoor which leads down to the cellars. The pylon is behind the door in the south.
If you enter the barracks north of the City Hall you will get the feeling that you are not welcome. The soldiers are not however hostile even if you go to the office and adjoining bedroom to the east. If you are lucky nobody will see you stealing from the chest in the bedroom, but I have never managed it with the desk in the office.
The Job Board is just north of the Auction Platform, between the barracks and the library
| Job | Description | Originator |
| Invading Ogre | An ogre has been sighted in the tunnels northwest of Formello. Track the creature down and drive it away. | Mayor Evelyn |
| Delivery – Motrax | A leather satchel hangs from a corner of the job board. An unpleasant, meaty smell comes from it. | Motrax |
| Bounty – Rat Nest | Rats have been sighted in the tunnels beneath Formello. Their nest is hidden somewhere under the city. | Miles |
| The Deadly Crypt | There is an ancient crypt in the tunnels north of Formello. Those who enter it are sealed in, never to leave. Any who enter the crypt and learn how to escape can receive a reward for this knowledge from Mother Claudette. She will use this information to ensure that fewer pilgrims are ensnared. | Mother Claudette |
| Invading Giant | A giant has been sighted in the tunnels west of Formello. It lives in an encampment surrounded by rubble. Track the creature down and drive it away. | Mayor Evelyn |
| Delivery – Fort Draco | A scroll, sealed with the wax symbol of the Tower of Magi, has been pinned to the board. | Boutell of Fort Draco |
The Ogre is at U on the map of the Spiders/Formello area. On killing it you find a Crude Halberd and 50 coins. When you report back to the mayor you get a Chill Band, 200 coins and around 120 xp.
The messages to Motrax (reward: 2 Emeralds, 1 Ruby, around 70 xp) must just be delivered.
The route to the rats is described above, reward: 200 coins, 2 scrolls (Acid Shower, Return Life) and around 140 xp.
The problem with the Crypt is described in the Ancient Crypt (reward from Mother Claudette: pair Clover Boots und around 170 xp).
This one appears after you have delivered the nasty smelling meat to Motrax. On reaching Boutell you get a Steel Breastplate and 60–70 xp.
This job appears on the board after you have dealt with the invading ogre. The Giant is a lot more difficult and can be found at V on the map of the Spiders/Formello area. On reporting back to Evelyn you get a Crystal Symbol, 400 coins and about 130 xp.
When you go down into the caverns below the town you find that someone is living there, who does not want to be reached easily. There are two ways to her chanmbers:
It is probably better to wait until you have the spell because once you get to the antechamber you will find Thantria's Sentinel blocking the way. Once you get through to her, you find that she has furnished herself with a truly luxurious residence here in Avernum. She will tell you to behave yourself and keep out of her private chambers.
You will be surprised to find out that she is an envoy of the Empire and seems to be tolerated by the powers that be down here. She will offer you some missions and there is no good reason for refusing them, although some of the things she wants are coveted by other people.
An assassin named Mandvi fled into the underworld from the surface. The rogue is hiding in a bat-infested cave northeast of Fort Duvno.
She tells you where in in the Bat Cave you should look. Now you can go there and find the trapdoor to his lair and deal with him (Reward: 300 coins, an Amethyst Chain and about 30 xp).
A man named Kyass is trying to build a new nation in the tunnels west of Formello. Should you find him in need of assistance, give him the help he requires.
After you have disposed of Cenac for Kyass Thantria will reward you with an Incantor's Ring, 500 coins an about 37xp.
The dragon Pyrog owns some magical tomes full of powerful knowledge. The Empire prefers to keep such texts out of the hands of the Avernites. Should you find those papers, you can choose to bring them to Thantria.
If you bring her papers to Thantria after defeating the dragon you get 1000 coins, a Chaotic Halberd (a very powerful pole weapon worth 3000 coins), around 10xp but no increase in reputation. Do not forget that Rita and Evyss are also looking for this tome.
There is a mysterious, magical creature named Drath living in a lair north of the Great Cave. It may own some magical tomes full of powerful knowledge. The Empire prefers to keep such texts out of the hands of the Avernites. Should you find those papers, you can choose to bring them to Thantria.
If you do so she rewards you with 1000 coins, a suit of Radiant Plate Armour (value 4000) and about 40xp.
Thantria believes that there is an escape route to the surface somewhere in the tunnels of western Avernum. She wants to know about it, so that it can be sealed up. She will pay well for the knowledge, though giving it to her might be very harmful to Avernum.
It is up to you if you collect the reward for this one: 5000 coins, a Talisman of Might (value 4000) and about 65xp.
After you have completed all the missions that you want to do for her, you could explore her chambers. This will anger her and she will attack you with magic and set her four Cyros Golems one after the other on you. The fight is tough but worth it for she has some nice things in her bedroom. Concentrate on Thantria because her pets disappear as soon as she dies. I have no qualms about killing an agent of the empire, even if she is an envoy and enjoys diplomatic imunity – she starts the fighting anyway! But do not tell anyone about your deed. It seems that she was rather respected by the authorities here.