Where: From Fenja Tree-Friend in Frosgard.

Promotion: This quest is not required to advance in the game, but is required for promotion to Ranger.

Summary: In order to prove you deserve to become a Ranger, you must prove you have the necessary skills. Fenja asks you to find the legendary bow Everstrike, and also to navigate through the Dungeon of Secrets without setting off a single trap.

How to do:

To find Everstrike, go to the Dook's castle in Guberland. If you've been there before on the quest to convince the Dook to leave, you know he was looking for Everstrike himself. Look at the map for the castle and you will see some caverns running beneath it. You need to find the entrance to these caverns.

If you look closely at the map you will be able to tell approximately where the entrance should be. It's in the furthest bunk room from the entrance, which is at the end of the main hallway (the hallway just up the entry stairs), through a door to your right. Go through the doors and shut them behind you, because as soon as you open the door to the caverns, everyone in the castle will become your enemy (whether the Dook is leaving or not). The mechanism to open the door is a shield hanging on the wall. From the door, this shield is straight back and to your left (the last shield on the wall to your left as you enter the room). Touch it and a secret door diagonally across the room will open.

At this point, the guard(s) in the room will be your enemy (when you get close to him), so kill him. Then enter the cavern. Several tough troglodyte types will attack you. They are much, much, tougher than the ones outside. Defeat them and continue on until you come to an intersection. Both directions lead to the same place, however the right-hand tunnel is much shorter, so take it. You'll come to a room with an underground lake in it and some rickety ladder-bridges criss-crossing the lake. Do not worry about the conditions of the ladders; they are quite safe. However, before you step out on them, notice that there are several flying things in the room. Pick them off so that you can fight them before you are out over the lake. Doing it this way will allow you to fight them one at a time, instead of having them all attack you at once (they are Flying Abberation types). Continue to pick them off until you don't see any more of them (there may still be one or two left in the room).

Now head out over the bridge. When you get to the central landing, continue straight ahead (even though the bridge doesn't apparently lead anywhere on the map). At the end is a black chest. Have someone open it who can. Inside is Everstrike. A Crusader cannot equip it; however a Priest can (possibly also a Druid), so try it out on anyone past their second promotion. You should have a green light at this point, so you can Town Portal to wherever you wish to go. FYI, there is also a chest in the water with an artifact in it (not a quest item) if you want to plunder that while you're here.

To survive the Dungeon of Secrets, go to Frosgard and take the first right after you get out of town. The Dungeon is at the end of that path. When you get inside, you'll find a guy in a box-office next to a turnstile (as if you were in an amusement park). Talk to him and he will give you the directions for what is needed to not set traps off in the Dungeon. Then go through the turnstile (there is a stone button to the left of the entry gate which opens the gate).

Basically, the Dungeon itself is composed of nine parts. Each part has a door and a lever in it. You will need to pull the lever and then rush through each door before a timer runs out. When the timer stops, you will hear a ding. If the door is opened after that, a hatchet will come down and maul one of your party (and you will have set off a trap and failed the Dungeon). The timer traps are not the only ones in the Dungeon, however, and all traps must be avoided to pass the test. Here are the instructions by Dungeon section:

1. The first lever is just inside the entry gate. Pull it and rush through the door in front of you. Quicksave your game, so you will not have to start from the beginning if you don't make it through the next door.

2. The next lever is a bit farther away from the door. Pull it and run for the next door. If you don't make it, reload from your quicksave and try again until you do. Quicksave.

3. The third lever is even farther from the door, but you can still make it if you try. Quicksave once you are through the door safely. At the end of the corridor is another hallway which has some water in it. Look down and you should see a grate in the floor. Wade into the water just until you get to the grate, and pull it up. Jump down into the hole (underwater) and swim to the end of the tunnel, then come up for air. Climb out of the water and enter the next hallway (there was a trap in the water just past the grate; this way you swam beneath it). Quicksave your game.

4. This room is really difficult. In fact, I confess I was never able to do it and finally used the shortcut to getting through the Dungeon which I have listed at the bottom of the instructions. The instructions I have here for getting through are taken from someone else's account - I tried to use them, but couldn't get them to work correctly, but maybe you can do it:

   Step into the room and stop. After a moment, you will hear a squeaking noise and some fireballs will go off ahead of you. This is okay, because you are not tripping them; an (invisible) rat or mouse is doing it. They will pause for a moment and then start again - finally you will hear a final sighing squeak when the mouse dies. At this point, walk over to the lever on the right side of the room (I was able to get this far).

   When you throw this lever, it starts a timer for the door on the far wall (past the floor traps). Be aware that the large reddish patches on the floor are not the traps; the actual traps are the "paths" between those patches. Unfortunately, stepping on part of the large reddish patches can trigger them too (at least they did for me). Here are the directions I had to get through (I tried numerous times, though, and could not get them to work): Turn off always run. Throw the switch. Walk forward onto the first red area, then jump (using the X key) four times while continuing to walk. Once you are past the red patches, run for the door. If you make it through, quicksave your game (and you can turn always run back on if you want).

5. Notice that the lever is lower on the wall than the others are. Cast Fleet Foot, then crouch down and throw the lever. Remain crouching and run to the foot of the stairs, then stand up and run up the stairs and through the door (you can stand up before you turn around to go up the stairs). Once you are through before the time ends, quicksave your game.

6. You should see a wall with many levers on it. Make sure your Fleet Foot spell is still working (recast if necessary) and then try the levers one at a time. The correct lever will cause the ticking sound to start. When you hear it, run for the door (you don't get as much time as you previously did with the other levers). When you are through, quicksave your game. If you are hearing impaired, or just impatient, highlight the following to see which lever to pull:

   As you face the levers, the third lever left of the center (the center is where the levers change color).

7. On the floor, just past the lever, is a plate in the floor which will trigger a trap beyond it. Past that is a gap which you will need to jump to get to the door. Pull the lever, jump over the floorplate, then run and jump the gap. If you miss, you will end up in the Dungeon before the fireball room, so reload from your last quicksave and try again until you are successful. Quicksave your game when you get through in time.

8. The raised platform in the center of the room is an elevator. Jump up onto it and ride it down to a lower level. If it leaves without you, just jump into it. When you get to the bottom, look down without leaving the elevator, and you will see the lever inside the shaft. Make sure your Fleet Foot spell is still working (recast it if not), then throw the lever and run for the door. Quicksave when you are through.

9. The plates in the floor trigger traps. You will need to throw the lever, then dodge around the plates and/or jump over them to reach the door at the end in time. Fleet Foot will help. Once you make it through okay, you should have passed the Dungeon of Secrets. Go back to the man in the box office and he will reward you (this is the "XP to fulfill" amount mentioned on the Quest page).

If you tried like I did, and couldn't get past the fireball room, or if you are just looking to quickly cheat, highlight the following for the "quick" way to get through without trouble:

Go through the dungeon without worrying about setting traps off. When you get to the very last door, open it and only go out just enough that the door closes behind you (if the ending gate opens you have gone too far; this gate must stay closed). Cast Lloyd's Beacon and set up a Beacon at this spot. Then continue through the gate to the box office (okay to open it after setting up the Beacon). The man there will tell you that you didn't make it, but offer to let you try again. Accept his offer. This time, go through the first door without setting the trap off. Once you are through the first door safely, recall your Lloyd's Beacon and return to the box office to claim your reward.

Once you have Everstrike, and have passed the Dungeon of Secrets, return to Fenja Tree-Friend in Frosgard and she will promote you.

Return to Quest List

read the adventurer's guide series
email the editor