Part 1: Unnatural Hell on Heritage Hill
You find the large gate (54) locked when you arrive at the entrance of Heritage Hill. Heed the guard’s forewarning; the dead walk the cemeteries, ruins, and old manor houses of this district. Aside from pitched battles against the rotting and forlorn, there is a great deal to discover here—see the end of this section for more details.
Two guards prevent you from progressing at the gates to Heritage Hill, warning you that the inhabitants change into the wandering undead. Progress using one of the following plans:
- Challenge the guards and defeat them in combat; obtain the Heritage Hill Gate Key from one of the guard’s corpses and open the adjacent gate.
- Pay them off with 1,000 cp in bribes.
- Return to Crucible Keep in First Fires, and seek out Marshal Wenfeld. Request that you progress into this area, then return to inform the guard.
- If you’ve already visited Crucible Keep and spoken to Wyla, tell the guard you’re looking into the missing guards (Task: Missing Sentries) and they let you through.
The Missing Sentries task updates at this point (if this task is active); now you must find the missing guards. Venture into the fog-filled cobblestone streets, and slay the Skeletal Fighters, Skeletal Wizard, and Skeletal Rangers that appear from the gated lot to the left. Next, you can optionally explore the cemetery area to the north, or find a more direct path to the Tower (59) by heading west.
Part 2: Activities on Heritage Hill
Activities at the Cemetery
Venture north, checking the exterior vault cubbyholes for treasures before facing down a hardy undead known as a Dargul. Continue north and face four Guls and a Dargul near the headless statue, between Valtas Mausoleum (57) and a nameless mausoleum (55).
Mausoleum
To the northeast is an unmarked door leading to a small mausoleum interior (55). A Phantom named Leyra is waiting for reinforcements. Any conversation ends in a fight with her and her four Enthralled Justiciars. Enter Scouting mode to detect the trap on the coffin in the middle of the room. Disarm the trap, loot the treasures, and leave.
Valtas Manor
Task: Safe Haven
To the north is a wandering Dargul and Valtas Manor (56), which you can optionally enter. Thoroughly explore the manor, gathering loot until you reach the northwest hallway where your task (and a confrontation with the Valtas clan, now two Darguls) begins. Acquire the Valtas Manor Key from a drawer in the farthest room. This key unlocks the only locked door inside (see Act II Side Quests & Tasks). You can enter the locked Valtas Mausoleum (57) after completing the tasks inside the mansion.
Icantha’s House
Outside, to the northwest, is a group of lolling Revenants. Introduce them to the pointy end of your sword, and explore the small park area. This leads to Icantha’s House (58). Return here later into your main quest, once you exit the Tower.
Part 3: Trudging to the Tower
Attack three Revenants and a Gul en route to the southwestern part of Heritage Hill. Down a wooden ramp, before the Tower (59), is a mist-filled clearing with a couple Dargul, two Skeletal Wizards, and five Guls. When this fraught battle is over, approach the Tower door. Your previous encounter with the Shrouded Woman (the Leaden Key Acolyte inside the Temple of Woedica) allows you to utter the words needed to open this door. Step into the Tower.
Part 4: Engwithan Tower Teir Nowneth (Level 1)
This is the Engwithan Tower called Teir Nowneth. It features a central altar and a strange machine guarded in the initial area by three Guls, a Dargul, and a Skeletal Wizard. You enter from the southeast (60). Slay everything, and inspect the area for loot.
Heading counterclockwise, you find the bedroom and then a north corridor with two Skeletal Fighters, a Skeletal Rogue, and a Skeletal Wizard to contend with. If you work your way up the western corridor, you encounter a group of undead foes—a Skeletal Ranger, three Revenants, and a Gul—close to the table that contains many items. Either route takes you to the stairs leading up (61).
Quest Updated: Undying Heritage
Objective: Get to the top of the tower in Heritage Hill
Part 5: Engwithan Tower Teir Nowneth (Level 2)
This is a large and vaguely circular chamber with the protruding and infernal device in the center. You enter via the stairs in the northeast (62). Take care of all the following foes in this chamber (and loot it afterward). Slaughter a total of five Revenants, three Guls, and three Darguls before you leave via the southwest stairwell (63), or you may face them on the way down from the roof. As you emerge onto the rooftop, your main quest updates.
Part 6: Engwithan Tower Teir Nowneth (Level 3)
Quest Updated: Undying Heritage
Objective: Find out how the Engwithan machine in Heritage Hill works
Step onto the flattened roof of the tower (64), and inspect the cylindrical device that is humming with energy. Interact with the hunched man standing by the smaller protruding mechanism to the southwest. This is the animancer named Aldhelm (65). He has come to research the tower and ultimately agrees to strengthen your powers if you return with “something to keep him sharp” from Icantha.
Part 7: Descent to Icantha’s House
Quest Updated: Undying Heritage
Objective: Find Icantha
Head back down the Tower. As you leave the rooftop, you are prompted with the option to go directly to the bottom or down just one level. Head back into Heritage Hill. Travel northwest, to Icantha’s House (58). You’ll find her tending to the fire in her ramshackle kitchen (66). Request the words that operate the Engwithan machine, learn the tower’s name, and learn copious details about Icantha, the machine’s ability to move souls, and the tower itself. This doesn’t have to end in combat, but it can. Choose to extinguish Icantha’s pride and tell her that her opportunities here are finite. One day the knowledge will die with her. Tell her that you’ll make sure that it will grow and her legacy will live on. She then agrees to give you the words you need to turn the machine on or off. Once you’ve siphoned the details you need, your quest updates.
Quest Updated: Undying Heritage
Objective: Deal with the Engwithan machine
Part 8: A Curse is Lifted
Retrace your steps back to the top of the tower (65); you plan to do something about the curse of Heritage Hill—now that you can understand the Engwithan language. Unfortunately for Aldhelm, he has degenerated to the point of uselessness. However, if you released Icantha’s prisoners to the tower rooftop, then Aldhelm will devour them and be slightly more energized. You will also receive one more option when you choose what to do with the machine in the following sequence. While talking to Aldhelm, ask him about the secret to make you strong. This explains which choice to make if you wish to go this route. Move to inspect the pillar, and check the panel with two words you recognize: “end” and “hold.” You can:
Reactivity [Reputation+++]
Either option grants you a very major bonus to your positive standing throughout Defiance Bay.
- [Choose “End”]: The panel sinks down, a thunderclap sounds, and the machine falls dormant.
- [Maximize the machine’s throttle to overload it]: This causes the machine to explode, and it can never be used again.
- [Redirect the flow of essence to yourself according to Aldhelm’s instructions]: You feel the power of the souls enter you. [Positive: Defiance Bay—Moderate] [Cruel—Major]
- [Leave]: The quest is incomplete.
Quest Completed: Undying Heritage
Exit the Tower. Through the mist of the Tower’s base, a Dunryd Row Messenger stops you with a communiqué: Lady Webb of Hadret House has requested your company in a matter most urgent. She lives in Brackenbury in the southwestern part of Defiance Bay. Another part of your main quest begins.
New Main Quest: The Hermit of Hadret House
Objective: Talk to Lady Webb at Hadret House
