The Cult and the Archon

To Kill or Not to Kill

• Recommended Level: 38
• Prerequisite: Complete Kings of Sparta
• Unlocks: Judge, Jury, Executioner and two optional support quests from Myrrine, Breaking Bread and Fourth-Degree Burns. If you choose Brasidas’s plan, optional support quest White Lies and Blackmail unlocks.
• Story: After their audience with the kings of Sparta, Myrrine and Brasidas went cultist hunting in Arkadia. You plan to meet up with them there, but Arkadia is no safe place for a misthios.

Meet Myrrine and Brasidas

Arkadia: Smuggler’s Forest

Ride from Elis southeast to Smuggler’s Forest in Arkadia. Pick up side quests along the way and synchronize with Elikia Peak (1). Continue southeast through Golden Fields to reach the hill (2) in Smuggler’s Forest where you intend to meet your mother and Brasidas.

Smuggler’s Forest: Statue of Artemis in the Cedar

When you reach the site (2) on the top of the hill, you find a statue of Artemis and some mercenary waiting for you. Talk to him.

Conversation with Sosipatros the Archon’s Servant

You ask the mercenary who he is and he answers while dropping Brasidas’s name, so you know you’re at least in the right place. He says Brasidas told him to be on the lookout for you. You can say “I am the mighty warrior” or “I’m just a traveler.” Either choice is good, but the second one is pretty funny when you try to deny who you are and Ikaros gives you away. Soon you learn that Brasidas didn’t pay the mercenary enough, and a fight breaks out.

Deal with the Mercenary

Remove Sosipatros’s shield and then beat him to within an inch of his life. When you drain his health meter he takes a knee and you can talk to him again.

Talk to the Mercenary

Conversation with Sosipatros the Archon’s Servant

You ask again: “Tell me where they are….” He doesn’t answer the question. You can select “Help me find my mother” or “Tell me where she is or die,” the second choice being the violent route. He tells you they’re on a cliff overlooking Tegea. If you were nice then you get to ask “Help me understand” or “Tell me who’s paying you or die” and he’ll give you more information: the Archon (Lagos) is paying more for your head than Brasidas could afford in two lifetimes. You can choose to let him live or defeat him after the conversation.

Talk to Myrrine and Brasidas near Tegea

Check the map and you’ll find the next objective marker in Pan’s Cradle, the area to the west of Smuggler’s Forest. Ride west to the marker. Heading directly for the marker will place you in the town of Tegea, where you can synchronize with the Sanctuary of Athena Polias (3) and accept quests from the message board (4).

Travel to find your mother and Brasidas (5) on the cliff as advertised. They are hiding out in a small camp.

Conversation with Myrrine and Brasidas

Your mother is pleased you found her. You break the news to Brasidas that you killed the messenger. He says the cultists knew you were coming and put a price on your head. Myrrine, as usual, wants to put Lagos’s head on a pike to send a message to the puppet king in Sparta. At this point you can suggest “Reason is the answer” or “Violence is the answer,” but neither of these options sets your course of action in stone. You are only starting to side with Brasidas or Myrrine. However, if you killed The Monger in the theater, Brasidas knows you typically choose the violent route and will call you out no matter your selection here.

Brasidas wants Lagos left alive to continue to provide for Arkadia. He suggests that they free Lagos from the Cult of Kosmos. He said he’s a farmer not a killer. You can respond “Enough planning, more doing,” “What’s your plan, Brasidas?” or “What’s your plan, Myrrine?” You can listen to each of their plans (Brasidas’s saves Lagos by first investigating, and Myrrine’s puts his head on a pike).

You can side with Brasidas by selecting “Your plan is better, Brasidas” or side with your mother by selecting “My mother’s plan is better.” The choice has an effect on what quests are unlocked after the conversation, but things are still not set in stone. They both take you aside and tell you how to still act on their plans. When your mother talks to you about her plan you can ask her details about weakening defenses, where to find Lagos’s guards, and silos. Select “Time to go to work” to complete the quest.

After the conversation, Lagos the Archon’s cultist profile pops up onscreen. Another cultist revealed. He is with the Peloponnesian League. How the conversation went determines what support quests are now unlocked. Regardless of how the conversation went, the next main quest is Judge, Jury, Executioner.

White Lies and Blackmail

• Recommended Level: 38
• Prerequisite: Complete To Kill or Not to Kill
• Unlocks: Gluten Free
• Story: Brasidas believes Lagos was being manipulated by the cult against his will. He invites you on an investigation that could save Lagos’s life and maintain the balance between Arkadia and Sparta.

Talk to Brasidas

Arkadia: Pan’s Cradle

If you are playing this quest, the larger goal of getting Lagos to leave the cult hinges on if you publicly executed The Monger in Monger Down or not. If you took him out in the cave instead, then this quest will lead to better results in Judge, Jury, Executioner.

You can find Brasidas inside Archon’s safe house (1) in Pan’s Cradle—even if you did not choose his plan of attack during To Kill or Not to Kill. Head inside and see what he’s up to.

Conversation with Brasidas

Brasidas is relieved to see you and knows that if you are here, then Lagos is still alive. He explains this is where Lagos handles his private affairs. You can ask for more information by choosing “Why do you care about Lagos?” That’s a good question. You learn Lagos is an honorable man who has helped Brasidas in the past, so Brasidas is convinced Lagos is being forced to work with the cult. You can select “Tell me what you hope to prove” and Brasidas explains that if he can find who’s manipulating Lagos then there’s a chance for another outcome where you are not assassinating his friend. The conversation is cut short; you hear voices in the next room. You two are not alone.

Find and Reach the Drop-off Point

The men in the other room were talking about a letter being delivered to the scorched tree near a golden field, where someone there will then take it to a hideout. If you can intercept this letter, then you can find the hideout. Ride a short distance northward into Golden Fields. At about 150 meters from the destination, use Ikaros to pinpoint the scorched tree (2). Scan the surrounding area for cultists before getting too much closer.

Free the Prisoner

You find a bound woman on her knees near the tree. Free her and the cultists patrolling the woods nearby will descend on you. But you can free the prisoner and talk to her before they are on top of you.

Talk to the prisoner after freeing her and you learn that she was brought there with Lagos’s family and that the rest were taken below ground with many guards. You tell her where to find Brasidas so she can deliver this news.

Reach the Hideout

Cultists in the woods have spotted you freeing the prisoner. Defeat them. Head east a short distance to find a very small camp where there are more cultists, who may not have been alerted to your presence. Defeat them or just avoid them on your way to the quest completion marker at the hideout (3). The marker leads you to a large open well. Enter the well. This quests ends when you reach the first wooden platform inside. This mission is continued in the next support quest, Gluten Free.

Gluten Free

• Recommended Level: 39
• Prerequisite: Complete White Lies and Blackmail
• Unlocks: N/A
• Story: After discovering the cult has kidnapped Lagos’s family, you find the entrance to the cave where they are being held hostage.

Explore the Cave

Arkadia: Golden Fields

Having entered the well (1) at the end of White Lies and Blackmail, you now must dive into the water at the bottom of the well and explore the cave, starting with the tunnel leading away from the water.

Not far into the first tunnel you enter a large open cavern where a cultist can be seen in the distance near a torch. Sneak up on this guy and silently take him out. Navigating the cave, with its connecting, looping tunnels and squeeze holes, is very easy if you just keep it simple. Instead of getting turned in circles using alternative paths, simply follow the torches to find Lagos’s family. Torches illuminate the path you need to take to find the prisoners.

Continue to take out cultists silently until you can no longer avoid alerting those of the guards who remain. Locate the cages in the back of the cave system. They too are highlighted with torchlight.

Free Lagos’s Family

Open both cages to release Lagos’s wife and son.

Talk to Lagos’s Wife

Conversation with Lagos’s Wife and Son

With the prisoners free, talk to Lagos’s wife. You tell her that Brasidas sent you. She tells you they’ve been held captive for days with no word from Lagos. You can ask “What have you heard about the Cult of Kosmos?” She tells you that Lagos’s new business partners stationed guards around the home for protection, but then one day they got dragged to the cave. Tell them “I’ll deal with the scary men” to continue.

The quest is completed after the conversation. You can use a viewpoint to fast-travel out of the cave or continue to follow the torches to a wooden platform to the west, which leads to a nearby cave exit. This exit (2) is beyond a vine-covered squeeze hole, but this too is highlighted with a torch.

Fourth-Degree Burns

• Recommended Level: 33
• Prerequisite: To Kill or Not to Kill
• Unlocks: N/A
• Story: An Arkadian mercenary once told you, “He who controls the grain, controls the world.” So, to destroy the man who controls the world, you need to burn his grain.

Destroy the Grain Silos

After talking to Myrinne, locate and reach Lagos’s compound near the northwestern edge of Pan’s Cradle. You must destroy three grain silos around the compound. You can use torches to set them ablaze, but it is simpler if you have access to fire arrows. If you choose to sneak in and perform the task without eliminating the guards, use rooftops and the ropes that connect them in order to get an angle at the hatches atop each silo. Don’t stick around to watch them blow; quickly move between them before making a hasty exit.

Breaking Bread

• Recommended Level: 33
• Prerequisite: To Kill or Not to Kill
• Unlocks: N/A
• Story: Arkadia is Sparta’s breadbasket, which Lagos keeps full. Protecting him is Spartan duty, with its warriors as his armor. Myrrine knows the only way to pierce Lagos’s throat is to shatter that armor.

Clear the Garrisons

You are asked to kill all of Lagos’s garrisons at the barracks in central Tegea, at the Fort of Arkas in far-northern Smuggler’s Forest, and at Kepheus Camp near the western border of Smuggler’s Forest. You must kill every soldier stationed at all three locations. Once you get down to just a few enemies left at one of these sites, they are marked with small arrows on your HUD. Send Ikaros up to mark every soldier, and then use stealth to pick them off from cover. The fort presents the biggest challenge. with a polemarch and two captains in addition to the numerous soldiers stationed there. The camp and barracks are each led by one captain, who is accompanied by several soldiers.

Judge, Jury, Executioner

• Recommended Level: 38
• Prerequisite: Complete To Kill or Not to Kill
• Unlocks: Completing the quest lines The Olympian, Paint It Red, and The Cult and the Archon unlocks A Bloody Feast
• Story: Lagos, the Archon of Arkadia, has every mercenary under Helios on the hunt for you and your mother. Myrrine wants him dead, but Brasidas feels he should live. In the end you have to choose.

Deal with Lagos

Arkadia: Forest of Soron

Travel west to the Forest of Soron and continue to Fort Samikon (1). Notice that Lagos appears on the map in this area represented by a cultist icon. Use Ikaros to mark all the targets, the brazier, the location objectives, and Lagos.

Cave of Mount Zas

There are multiple ways to gain entry into this very large fort, but the best strategy is always to climb up an outer wall to get to the highest tower in a fort and then find a way to get to and set a trap on the brazier to stop reinforcements from being called if you are spotted. The brazier (4) is intelligently placed right in the middle of the fort. You can climb this southern wall (2) to the top of the tower, hang from the edge, and throw a soldier over the side if one is patrolling there.

Head to the north side of this tower and find an awning with a tightrope (3) leading toward the next structure. The guards on the ground below shouldn’t spot you as you navigate across this line. On top of the next structure you can use a tall wall ladder to reach the top of the tower where the brazier (4) is located. Set the trap.

To get out of the middle of the fort and begin assassinating loners, use the tightrope to slide from the brazier to the tower (5) in the east corner and then eliminate the large guard when you land. Now simply follow the wall walk in either direction and begin stealthily assassinating guards.

Approach the small building (7) on the west end of the fort and find the door you can interact with. Enter the building to find Lagos, who’s been expecting your arrival.

Conversation with Lagos the Archon

If you freed Lagos’s family in Brasidas’s support quest Gluten Free, then Lagos will thank you first. Next he talks about the chaotic world he’s living in and how the cult is willing to do anything to get their way. He asks your opinion, and you can choose to attack and kill him by selecting “It’s too late” or try to talk him out of the cult by selecting “You must join Brasidas.”

Kill Lagos

If you are unable to get Lagos to join Brasidas then you are ordered to kill him. Start by removing his shield and beating him with it. Unleash some special ability moves and he’ll be on the floor lickety-split. Confirm the kill. You receive the artifact fragment and a Spartan war hero belt, but there’s no evidence of King Pausanias’s involvement in all of this, which you would receive if you were able to save Lagos. Exit the room and finish the location objectives before you leave. You stand to earn over 20,000 XP for clearing this fort.

Talk to Myrrine and Brasidas

Myrrine and Brasidas are on the top of a nearby hill (8) down the road to the east. Talk to them after clearing the fort.

Conversation with Myrrine and Brasidas (if You Killed Lagos)

Brasidas is clearly upset that you had to kill Lagos. “It complicates things,” he says. Your mother is relieved that he’s dead. You can try to smooth things over by selecting “I’m sorry about your friend”or just dig the knife in deeper and reply “He was a cultist.” Either way, he comments on how The Monger died publicly (if that’s why you killed Lagos).

Conversation with Myrrine and Brasidas (if Lagos Leaves the Cult)

You announce that the bounty is lifted—Lagos is alive. Brasidas is obviously happy to hear the news about his friend, but Myrrine becomes agitated. That soon passes. You can tell her “Lagos left the cult” or “Lagos didn’t deserve death.” In this scenario, you tell your mother and Brasidas that you have proof that King Pausanias was blackmailing Lagos. Brasidas again thanks you for the good work you have done.

No matter if Lagos died or lived, the conversation concludes on the subject of the quest lines (either The Olympian or Paint It Red in Boeotia or both) that must be completed before you return to the kings in Sparta. However, if you’ve completed those quest lines, you can now return to confront the kings in Sparta.