Planescape: Torment #4
After a hiatus lasting a few moons I’m back at playing Planescape: Torment… for now.
Just a short update on where I’m currently at, which I think still isn’t that far into the game.
The time had come to explore the catacombs, so I did. Turns out they are inhabited by two rivalling factions that hate each other’s guts. Luckily they were both more or less amicable with me, although I did have to prove myself at one point. This was actually several months ago and before the break, so I don’t remember the nature of their conflict, probably some petty bullshit. I mildly favored one side over the other and was hoping I could be of some assistance, but no offer was made and no opportunity arose, save perhaps from going rogue and just exterminating their enemy on my own initiative, which isn’t what I had in mind. I wanted an official side-quest, naturally. The other faction, on the other hand, wasn’t shy about trying to enlist my help, wanting me to infiltrate the inner circle of their enemy and kill the leader, or something.
What a dilemma. As an actual side-quest that would have earned me some tasty experience points and maybe procured me some wondrous loot, but I’d have been selling my soul supporting the wrong side, a collective of… telepathically connected magic-wielding hive mind rats (yes, let’s once and for all dispel the myth that there are no such thing as telepathically connected magical rats.) Who knows what they might do once freed from the constraints of balance of terror, maybe proliferate to the point of becoming a serious threat. Can’t have that, right. Not that I particularly trust the other side either, perhaps best keep letting them cancel each other out.
I decided to put off deciding for a while, and went on with my main quest instead.
That led me to Annah, my latest companion. I had been looking for her (see earlier post), but now she was handed to me by the main quest, as it were, for which she’s required in order to progress. Turns out she’s the daughter of Pharod, the guy I spent the first part of the game looking for (as far as the main quest is concerned). So now I have three companions — Morte, Annah and Dakkon — and I have set off to do the next step in the main quest, which is to look for the place I was found dead, looking for clues of some sort. Remember, the main quest/mystery of the game is finding out who I am and why (and perhaps how) I keep being brought back to life every time I die.
With the help of Annah we’re now able to go to a new part of the map, a whole new area for me to explore for clues and resources. This is basically as far as I’ve come, save for having talked with a few nearby people in my new location, and in the process finished a minor quest or two and gained a few new friends and few new enemies. That happens a lot.
Did I say I have three companions? Well, not exactly, not any more, because Morte got kidnapped, which someone is going to regret. I’m not even sure I particularly like Morte, but he’s my talking floating skull and he’s a vital part of my current team, so whoever took him is going to feel my wrath. I also hope they have some good loot, and maybe even some pertinent clues related to my main quest. Sometimes I learn the strangest things in the unlikeliest places.