TERA: Whistling Past the Graveyard

Sharing is Caring

Scapes: After accepting Undead Researcher Esedran's quest to locate his associate Neria's lost messenger, Amareth returns to Crescentia to empty her inventory of loot and see what other tasks can be picked up in the area. However, instead of floating exclamation marks, she finds a pair of Valkyon Federation recruits like herself waiting at the entrance of the town: Eris the archer and Grimace the berserker. It'd seem that Esedran shopped out the job of finding Timuron to multiple would-be heroes. Rather than race to find the lost messenger, the three of us party up to share the quest.

When You Can't Beat 'Em... Hide!

Scapes: Our trio sets out to Berzerad Cemetery, just beyond the outskirts of Crescentia. A cemetery is an appropriate hangout spot for the undead, but this one seems to be even more popular than the last time Amareth visited. Reanimated minions lurk around gravestones, while imposing dragoons patrol the dirt paths. With three party members, it soon becomes difficult to take more than a few steps without drawing attention to ourselves. We soon find Timuron hiding behind a nearby boulder. Given how thick the area is with monsters, hiding was definitely a good idea.

The Walking Dead

Harmonia: The frightened messenger reveals he's carrying a compound believed to be causing the undead creatures' restlessness. He dispatches us to find Primus Hendry at Vanguard Outpost with the evidence, so we regroup and continue our march along the road through the cemetery. Upon arriving at the camp, we meet with Hendry, hand off the compound to Neria, and are surprised with a shiny new achievement—"You Can't Hurry Lore"—for completing 100 quests! Before we can take a full rest at the campfire, Neria orders us back to the cemetery one final time to investigate reports of a mysterious altar and to use the compound Timuron was carrying on it.

Rest in Pieces

Scapes: Under normal circumstances, Amareth wouldn't be one for disturbing a grave site, but orders are orders. After the party locates the mysterious altar a little ways away from the outpost, Amareth gingerly pours the compound on it with notable trepidation. The floating blue flames surrounding the grave extinguish, and a voice howls, “Who disturbs my rest? ” The party springs into action as a fearsome skeletal dragoon named Grayal spawns from the ether, summoning a dozen broken skeletons to his aid.

Grimace leads the charge, giant axe held overhead while running at our foes. The berserker brings it down hard into the side of the steed, then plants the blade into the soil and braces against it. This Axe Block move creates a cone of defense which Eris and Amareth quickly move into formation behind. The archer and priest unleash a torrent of arrows and arcane energy on everything that doesn't look human. When flanked by undead minions, Eris leaps backwards a few yards and resumes her assault. Amareth waits for the monsters to close in, then casts Fiery Escape on the crowd, engulfing them in an explosion of flames. The risen knight soon falls, and Amareth patches up the party's wounds.

Six Feet Under

Scapes: Eris and Amareth help brush the shattered bone and corpse dust off Grimace as they make their way back to Vanguard Outpost. Neria welcomes us back and claims that the experiment proved her theory: something is intentionally disturbing the dead's rest. The researcher comes to the conclusion that the Lokian altars nearby must be the cause and directs us to neutralize the ebonheart sorcerers and reavers of resurrection we encounter with extreme prejudice.

We also receive an optional quest called a suppression order. These repeatable quests have you target a specific monster type in a set area and can be completed over and over again. Great to have active, if you already need to take out the local residents for a different quest.

Harmonia: And that's not all—Hendry and the others at the camp provided us with several new quests to undertake. From the look of things, this is the last outpost in the region. Hendry seems especially keen for us to check on his scouts and infiltrators as we move deeper into devan territory, and instructs us to slaughter the devas we come across in our travels.

As we make our way through the area we are constantly under attack from devas. There is no safe path through this area, and we push through their ranks with force. The magic users are especially dangerous for a lone adventurer but together we dispatch them easily. There is little that a lone caster can do against the might of Grimace's axe, and even though Amareth is a healer, she gets right into the battle, fighting shoulder to shoulder with us at every turn. As I charge my Penetrating Shot and aim towards the heat of battle, I am impressed with the sight of their Cyclone and Shocking Implosion attacks slicing through the swarm of devas.

An Unexpected Foe

Scapes: As we travel towards Deva Silva, the location of the Lokian altars, we encounter a strange creature unlike anything we've seen before. The beast has metallic coloring and an unsettling number of teeth in its giant mouth. Covered in thick spikes and armor-like skin, this is clearly not an emissary from whatever race it represents. While we were content to observe this rare spawn from afar, it has other plans: the ambient music changes pace and it charges towards us!

It selects Amareth as its target and she's quickly knocked on her back. Grimace runs to her aid with a knockback attack, hurling the monster onto its side. Eris provides cover with simple attacks and Penetrating Shot while Amareth casts Retaliate, brandishing her staff as she leaps to her feet. Although the rhino-sized foe rights itself and resumes its assault, Grimace assaults right back, blocking its path to the ranged party members. The sorcerer gathers her energy for a blistering Triple Nemesis attack and unleashes it on the behemoth. It drops to the ground and doesn't get up a second time.

A mystery to be revealed in the future, no doubt.

Deva Silva

Harmonia: As we continue into the deepest parts of the woods, we happen across a small devan encampment. After killing them, we reclaim the stolen goods littered throughout the area. Just like harvesting resource nodes, everyone in the party is able to collect from the same stolen package to get credit for the quest. Goods collected, we finish pushing our way into devan territory and toward the location of the elusive Kantusa.

Kantusa, Ex-Spy

Scapes: Further along the road, we spy the agent but a few devan loyalists stand between us. They don't stand long; the party makes quick work of them. Amareth reaches level 16 and celebrates but Eris and Grimace notice that Kantusa didn't join the fight and with good reason: she was mortally wounded before it began. The devan agent clutches at her side almost as desperately as she clutches her weapon. In a cutscene, she tells us how she spied on her kind for the Valkyon Federation and overheard how Dakanius was responsible for the corruption of the Fey Forest. However, she was caught before she could deliver the information. One might say she narrowly escaped, but she collapses in the dirt and dies pleading that we stop the devan leader.