[Spoilers]Of vampires, witches and death knights

[Snowraven]

I like this game very much, but the story behind the N'Mar castle left me really confused.
So, you have a witch, 2 vampires and a death knight.
The witch says "go kill the death knight and come back with a gift" - I understood you have to have a special character for her to do that, and she'll still attempt to kill you, so I reached the conclusion that she's evil.
Then there's the vampires "we made pacts with demons and destroyed the land, but we just want to be left in peace" - ok, fair enough, they sent me to kill the witch, since she was evil and raising the skeletons in their cellar, I can understand that. Then they say I can get help from a death knight against Fost.
And here's where it gets confusing. The death knight. So, I killed him once to see what happens (that's how I found out the witch was evil, she attacked me), seems I lose Mesphit in the ordeal. But that was not the most major confusion.

So the death knight says he won't try to snuff out the world, but he'll continue summoning demons. Hmmmm... ok... this kind of triggered some red lights. And then, "you know that vampires that told you I can help you? Go kill them!" Hold on, what does he have with the vampires? The vampires were ok, my scouts tresspassed and they left them go for a gem, I stole their dog and yet they were ok with that.

Overall, I just don't understand the death knight and his motives. What does he want? And more importantly, is he evil? Also, he said he will help stop Fost from returning after we kill him. Yet... the witch lied too, so, how do I know he isn't lieing?

This character is too well written for me, I can't understand if he's good or evil and since I can't find what he does in the end, I ask you, does he keep up his word in the end or will he just become a power-hungry warlord like Fost in a way?

[Puzzlemint]

Zeal's story will probably be expanded upon in the sequel.

Within the context of the original game; if you agree to help Zeal, he will keep his word and get rid of Fost.

In the epilogue, it's revealed that Zeal is romantically involved with Jul, and that their goal is "demon equality". Based on the preview information we've seen for the sequel, they seem to be willing to resort to fairly questionable methods to achieve that goal.

[myhr2]

I think the whole point of the N'Mar extension is to put some shades of grey in an otherwise very manichean setting, and in that regard, you can compare the N'Mar vampires and Zeal actions to Mesphit's ones. Their goal is not evil in itself, quite the contrary for Mesphit's goal, even, but the means used in order to reach those goals are questionnable...

It's interesting because you have to wonder where you put the line, what is your answer to the famous question "does the end justify the means?"

But more concretely, I slayed the Vampires because they attacked the scouts first, and killed one of them, and make it very clear that's their usual way of acting : strike first, proposing deals afterwards if it's interesting. Mesphit is tricky, because he did slay one of the elves elder, but unlike the Vampiers, his goal is "good",he's willing to keep fighting and sacrifice himself for it, and all is all was just plainly manipulated. I see him more as a victim than anything else, which does not excuse everything, but still.

As for Zeal...One interesting thing is that he never ever does anything aggressive or violent unless you attack him. He even plays honestly, as far as we can tell, in a short term perspective, at least.

So that's it, there is no "best" course of action, just the one that fits your own moral compass the best, and you'll likely not find an ideal solution.

Thankfully, it's a videogame, and you can always reload a save if you're not satisfied with the way things unfold after your decisions. ^^

[Ohio9]

I really didn't want to kill the vampires since they seemed pretty good natured and reasonable. The amazon scouts were trespassing on their land, so one could argue they had a right to attack first and drive them off. Still they agreed to make a deal to release them and totally kept their word on it.

That being said, it is kind of odd how they send you to zeal and then zeal tells you to kill them. If Zeal wanted them dead, why did they send me to him in the first place?

The key thing about zeal is that if you do what he asks, it will have a huge impact on the game. I'll tell you how, but be warned, this spoiler below reveals a key aspect of the ending.


One of your main characters will die at the end of the game, unless you complete zeal's tasks. Then you won't have to lose anyone

[Winter Wolves]

Yes as others said, he will play a role in the sequel and his true nature/goals will be revealed :)

[Snowraven]

Thanks everyone for comments, that clearled a lot. I have decided to help Zeal for the time being. The fact that he keeps his word is enough for me, for now. Dealing with his evil-ness will come another time. I can't wait to see the sequel also and see what happens... but first I need to finish the game this time then play again with the female character too since I'm sure that will be different then being the male slave in the women controlled society.

[Ohio9]

You'll still be a slave if you pick a female character. The game is different with Elenor, but not overly so.

[Faized]

Yeah, I just 100%'d this game after buying it, and the only thing that really had me scratching my head was the two vampires. It more-or-less ended with two quests, and Zeal going "Aight, those vampires? Go kill them for me." I honestly had no desire too, but it really seemed like that whole thread of events would just kind of taper off into nothing if I didn't. I mean I tried killing Zeal - even with helping Mother M-----something, went back to the Vampires - and oh look, I still only have the option to kill them left.

I felt kind of bad because it really seemed like they didn't have much purpose besides telling you where Zeal was - which is told to you by the Necromancer [if you don't barge in through the frontdoor] before you even meet them!

[myhr2]

Well, you could argue that the Vampires are not "evil", but they do have some background, corrupting and killing the people of N'Mar. You can befriend them, but they're not exactly that friendly to begin with. It just means that they're not as brutal and uni-dimensional that Fost or Mother Morte. But maybe the same can be said about Zeal.

[melkathi]

My only problem is that I killed Zeal after Mother Morte, which still prompted me with party dialogue to seek out Mother Morte :/

[myhr2]

Who wanted you to kill Mother Morte? Zeal or the Vampires?

[Snowraven]

Escrito originalmente por myhr2:

Who wanted you to kill Mother Morte? Zeal or the Vampires?

Both actually.

[Ohio9]

Escrito originalmente por myhr2:

Well, you could argue that the Vampires are not "evil", but they do have some background, corrupting and killing the people of N'Mar. You can befriend them, but they're not exactly that friendly to begin with.

I wouldn't really call them hostile either. They were mildly upset that amazons were trespassing on their land (can't really blame them for that) and wanted you to do something for them to make up for it. Really doesn't seem that unreasonable seeing as they keep their end of the bargain.

[Dorok]

The order you met them have an influence, I met Morte first I mean before Zeal. Sure she is doubtful, but it can be argued when you met her. For the vampires, they kill, use hostage or more exactly keep living food and use them for the opportunity of a trade. Zeal is very ambiguous and offers zero guaranty or engagement. So I killed them all, Vampires, Zeal, Morte. And for me how it ends proved it was the best choice. I had the monk in the final so he replaced Zeal role and offer a lot more guaranties and you can be a lot more confident in him. Moreover he doesn't suffer his strange/weird destiny as a pain. As I killed Morte the Monk is free to act on his own. The monk is a much safer replacement for Zeal, and clearly the vampires aren't clear at all. I think the game could have allowed a romance with the monk making this end a rather sad but emotionally powerful end.