Walkthrough/Summary: The Sewer-Fire Way

[kobold38]

Stormreach is the wealthiest city in Xen’drik, the gateway to all manner of peril within the jungle continent. But the City of Dungeons has a plumbing problem. A kobold-shaped plumbing problem, to be precise. The waste the city generates has to be managed by someone, and the kobolds work cheap. But what happens when the kobold clans decide they’d like to renegotiate their contracts?

Level Range: All levels
Journal Section: The Harbor
Takes Place In: The Waterworks
Bestowed By: Secretary Sandry
Quest Acquired In: The Harbor
Relevant Quest(s):
The Slug Line
Film Treatment
The Screen Play
Scrip Rioting

Hey everyone!

I know there's a ton-ton-ton of hype around this new questline SSG released last week, and I also know a lot of people are having trouble with it. That, plus with that I think only a few people have bought access so far, is probably why there's no walkthroughs or summaries anywhere yet (as far as I can find, if you've done your own walkthrough, plz link and I'll link it here). So I'm gonna be posting my stuff about the questline in the hopes that maybe it'll help someone else down the road.

This is gonna be part-walkthrough, part-me just posting excerpts and stuff (but I have to go back manually and re-do the quest to grab excerpts and stuff, so I might post details more slowly, we'll see).

Good luck! And if you have any ideas for how this guide can be more useful, or questions about what happened on the quest, or even just your own opinions on the new questline, totally feel free to post em here. I thought it was a fun story arc and I wouldn't mind just chatting about it, haha.

I'm gonna post the first bunch of info in a bit about the first quest: "The Slugline".

[kobold38]

Heya, kobold38 here! I just completed this quest a week ago and thought it was really fun, though idk why there’s so much dialogue in it. :P Anyways it’s a pretty tough questline, but the first is super easy. Just get a pot of invisibility or three if you haven’t got the spell. It’s a lot like Stealthy Repossession in terms of strategy, so I won’t repeat that guide here. Just remember, Dungeon Alert is a PITA if you take too long, especially when you get to the levers and there’s fifty kobolds on your butt.

---

CHAPTER ONE: THE SLUGLINE
There’s something fishy going on in Clan Leechmaw—just what are they trying to catch?
Heroic Level: 4
Duration: Long
Takes Place In: The Treatment Plant
Bestowed By: Secretary Sandry
Quest Acquired In: The Harbor

Secretary Sandy's a new NPC, they're right next to Harbormaster Zin by the Waterworks. I'm pretty sure from the dialogue that you have to have done the questline saving Tember's cousins before you can do these quests, but that's probably obvious!

Below I've got their dialogue options. I tried to get all of the options for you to read, just for fun! Let me know if you want me to skip the dialogue in the future and just focus on the actual action stuff.

Secretary Sandry
Faction: Coin Lords
Race: Human
Appearance: White, red hair done in a big Queen Elsa-style braid. They're dressed in a nice purple suit, can't really miss them tbh. I bold their dialogue and do [italics] like that for your options.

"Oh, hello there! You must be that adventurer who helped rescue those Gnashtooth hostages. Good job, that! Does adventuring pay well? I’ll bet it pays well."

[It pays fine, I guess. Are you thinking of taking up the sword?]
"Haha! Who, me? No, no, no. I mean, I imagine I’ve got a bit of magic to toy with, but nothing adventure-worthy, you know? No, certainly not. The pen is mightier than the sword, after all! Or so I’m told. Not exactly keen to test it out."

[Who are you?]
"The name’s Sandry! I work for the Harbormaster, or the Coin Lords, strictly speaking. If you want to be technical about it. I keep the books in order, and let me tell you, that kidnapping spree was a total nightmare. So much paperwork! The city owes you a great debt. Dang kobolds..."

[Is there something you want?]
"Ooh, well, if you’re offering… golly, there certainly is, pal! See, the city contracts with the kobold clans to manage our, ah, mortal chaff, you get me? That’s why we let them stay down there. As long as they do their job, the dogs stay above-ground, and we even pay them a fair wage for it."

[If it’s so fair, why do I keep getting called in to handle kobold problems?]

"Ooh, well that’s just the thing. See, sometimes kobolds split off from the big four clans and start little, ah, groups like Gnashtooth or the Tunnelworms to make trouble. It’s a mess, but what can you do? We try not to send guards in if we can help it, which is why adventurers come in handy."

[But…?]

"But there’s something strange going on now. See, there are four really big kobold clans in the Harbor right now—Clan Leechmaw, Clan Slimeclaw, the Smokespitters and the… oh, forget the last one. No matter. The trouble right now is the smallest, Leechmaw. They’re up to something. I need someone to go in there and find out what their leader is doing. You'll be handsomely rewarded!"

[Why are the Leechmaw kobolds making trouble?]

[What's the catch?]

"The catch is if you make too much of a mess, the kobolds will launch a rio… a… a little fun temper tantrum that will see half of this city in flames and the other half knee-deep in our own, ah, chaff. You just need to find if they’re doing anything, um, problematic, and shut it down without killing too many of them—or their obnoxious leaders. Then just get out of there!"

[You’ve got a deal.]

[Forget it. Do your own dirty work.]

[Edstienkin]

Not sure what is going on here, but you have certainly piqued my interest.

[kobold38]

Not sure what is going on here, but you have certainly piqued my interest.

Haha yeah, thanks so much for the nice comment! It's a fun quest. I'll try to get more info up soon about the Clan Leechmaw dungeon!

[cdbd3rd]

Not sure what is going on here, but you have certainly piqued my interest.

Kinda like...

[Fedora1]

A new Stormreach L4 quest line? When did this happen? Before or after Sharn? Why are these not in my quest logs? What am I missing? I am so confused!

[kobold38]

Hi again everyone! Sorry for the delay in this, and sorry if the guide has been confusing to people! I try to be clear, but I'm a bit new at walkthroughs. I'll maybe look into getting some screenshots next time I run through the adventure; Greg was telling me that I should try some of those to make it all easier to understand. Anyways, I hope it's fun to read, even if you're having trouble doing the quest!

Okay, so I'm posting the first part of this quest walkthrough now. Let me know if you have any questions and I can see if I can answer them!

Clan Leechmaw Treatment Plant

So to get to Clan Leechmaw, you've just got to go into the Waterworks and, in the room with the guard, down into the water. There's a tunnel leading west down there, I think they added it for this quest. It's a really long tunnel, but as far as I can tell, there's never any encounters or traps. Just a lot of old signs. Oh, there is some GM voiceover text!

"The air reeks of chemicals and refuse, the unwanted leftovers from a port city dripping magic from every orifice—and all down into the Waterworks."

And when you get into the main room, with four sewer entrances in the floor (you can only take the one with the big leech painted on the floor next to it), some more text:

"Warnings scratched out in the kobold tongue join faded signs painted by the city, dire consequences promised by both for the unwary trespasser."

Whoops! Guess it's not safe. Time to turn back. It's a weird quest, but I guess rules are rules, haha.

Anyways, kidding aside, you can go down whenever. Reminder that you're gonna want access to good stealth/speed-boosting buffs! This quest can butcher you if you're not careful. And don't wear any Guard armor items that deal damage automatically.

One more piece of advice before you go in: Keep an eye on the tracker in the quest box. You can kill 30 kobolds before it’s a problem, and if you kill more than 1 of the Kobold Elders, you lose a ton of XP. There are 3 Elders (technically, but we'll get to that) and two of them can pop up wherever basically.

Room #1: Entrance and Hallway
So as soon as you enter, make sure you watch your step, cuz there’s a nasty sawblade trap right by the entrance. Just stay away from the dark tiles. WAY away. I thought I could get close to the dark tiles to disarm the trap, but TBH, I wouldn’t bother. The panel is really hard to get to without getting hit and the trap has a stupid hair trigger. IDK how even the kobolds are supposed to get past it, haha, but who else would put such a nasty trap right at the exit for the Treatment Plant?

Once you’re past the sawblades, run through the hallway up ahead and honestly, unless you have good paralysis/sleep magic, just kill the 2 kobold guards there—it’s super hard to keep them alive, since you have to get the door open. If you wait to kill them, though, they do give some fun dialogue where they argue about whether an owlbear could beat a normal bear. There's a lot of NPC dialogue in this quest, and it's honestly kind of fun, sometimes. Maybe a bit distracting, though.

The first elder, Grackle the Storyteller, very rarely generates in this hallway. He's basically dressed like a silly bard, super colorful with a big floppy hat, and he's got a bunch of scrolls and books strapped to his back. He basically just buffs and heals the kobolds he’s with and sometimes tries to hit you with enchantment spells. he sucks in a fight on his own so he’s not a threat, but try to avoid him or incap if possible. He's honestly the easiest elder to deal with, as long as you can take out whoever he's with. If he's alone, you can just tank him for a while if you want to see all his quips and jokes.

[Starp]

Kobold38,

Don't stop now! More, more, more!

[kobold38]

Kobold38,

Don't stop now! More, more, more!

Aw man, sorry! I know this is gonna sound like a copout, but I came down with a crazy awful fever and totally lost track of all my online responsibilities. Getting back into them now, and more's on the way!

[kobold38]

Rooms #2-4: Processing Chambers
Past the hallway and through the door (you're gonna want to stealth pretty much immediately) is where you start going through the main facilities, where there are dozens of Kobold Laborers at work. I was meaning to get a screenshot, but basically, picture a gigantic room with lots of pipes and three "rivers" of sludgy sewer water flowing through. Sometimes the sewage sparks, which is actually really pretty for what I think is probably a pretty simple effect.

GM voiceover text:

"The air in here is acrid and bitter, smelling almost more of chemicals and errant magic than sewage. Sparking flares crackle from the surface of the streams, leaving spots in your vision and a taste like soiled ozone on your tongue."

The kobolds line each side of the rivers, using long spears to prod the water. I think the idea is that they're breaking up big clumps to help the rivers flow.

If you can sneak through, do, because the door only closes if they notice you so you don't have to break stealth. This room is nasty because they can glitch if they swarm you and basically shove you (and each other) into the sewage, which is a good way to die very quickly. If they see you, you can either kill the kobold before she closes the door or you'll have to pull the Emergency Lever, which is really hard to do if they're all chasing you. Some key layout tips:

• There are about four kobolds on each side of each river, and the only way across the rivers is by jumping over the pipes. You can get pretty high this way, jumping up toward the ceiling, but if you're in reach of the spears the kobolds can still attack you.
• Some pipes release steam now and again, which I guess works as a "trap" but I think the idea is just that everything's trashed and disrepaired. Watch out overhead (and under, if you're walking on the pipes) to time it before walking close.
• If you go across the two rivers to reach the right-most wall, there's a mushroom collectible and an adventurers pack collectible next to the Emergency Lever.
• If you can't shake the kobolds to use the lever and want to avoid killing any, climb all the way to the top of the pipes and you can kind of lose them. The kobolds are super fast climbing up but really slow and careful climbing down, so they'll all get stuck running into each other up there while you pull the lever.

I will say, its actually pretty fun to just watch the kobolds work, since every now and then one just falls in and they say things like “Gonna miss Frenk” or “Zero days without accident”. You aren't penalized if they fall in or get killed by the steam, so technically you could probably spend like a month waiting and they'd all die and you could just walk on through. Pretty boring, though, not to mention it feels a bit morbid. :P

There are two other processing chambers like this, separated by short empty hallways, and they're basically identical to the first, with minor variations. In the second chamber, there's a line of kobolds up above fishing from the top pipe with long fishing polls. If you make it up to them, you can see their buckets of mutated leeches, which is just a fun easter egg. In the third chamber, there's a kobold fisher who's dangling from his own line, like he got tangled up. He struggles a lot and tends to glitch really easy, but if you get up to the pipe he's swinging from, you can actually cut the netting and he'll fall to the ground and be fine. Again, mostly just a fun easter egg, but it's right by the secret door, so maybe worth going up there!

The second Elder, “Mogget the Healer”, shows up randomly in one of these three rooms. You may have to kill her if combat starts. She makes combat a NIGHTMARE, and she’ll sometimes follow you and heal+buff other kobolds you’re fighting. Good news is she’s super frail (dialogue indicates she’s really old), so she goes down in one hit usually.

Okay, so finally, the third processing chamber contains a secret hatch in the ceiling above the highest pipe. The ladder behind it sometimes leads to Witch Doctor Zeeck, who isn’t an Elder so you can kill him (but you better be watching the counter—if you’ve killed more than ~20 kobolds total by this point, you’re not gonna succeed and should just restart). He has a Giant Leech with him, which you should kill first if possible (it runs away at 50% health and you miss the XP reward for killing Lamper). He’ll also give some cool dialogue hinting at the final encounter.
“You not supposed to be here! Die!”
“We not miss quota this week!”
“We not afraid of Storm Lords! Ancient One will make you pay for this!”
(if you hit the leech to 50%) “No! Stay away from Lamper!”
(if you kill the leech) “Mammals die now!"

Room #5: Forking Path
This is less a room and more just an area. After the processing rooms, you come to a forking path with two kobold guards eating dinner (you can usually stealth past them if you have invisibility). Go left.

You can go right to fight a couple leeches and get a chest, but I don’t recommend it because sometimes Grackle is in this hallway (info on him above). If you do, I guess that hallway is technically Room #6, but I really don't recommend it because it's not worth the risk of having to kill an Elder. The leeches are also super super nasty and annoying to fight, and the left-hand path is just overall way better. Only go right if you have some plan to get the XP bonus for killing more enemies! It might seem quicker, but appearances can be decieving.

There is an acid trap on the left-side path, on the tile that's slightly above the others. Disable Device works, but I also think small creatures don't actually set the trap off at all, which makes sense (and makes me super sad that I can't cast Reduce Person yet—get on that, SSG! Haha).

The left tunnel is super long and atmospheric, though pretty boring if you just want to get to the end. There's lots of little dragon statuettes and candles all over the floor and on top of the pipes jutting out of the walls. Luckily there's, yup, you guessed it, more GM voiceover text to keep you "entertained":

"The stench of filth and chemicals is less strong here, but the statues put you ill at-ease all the same: Dozens of little shrines to the kobolds' many dark gods, perhaps. Their glowing eyes seem to follow you as you pass them by, burning with malice and judgment. The hallway stretches on, winding deeper into the Leechmaw's domain, and you notice that each pipe is surrounded by many sets of kobold footprints. Could these each lead to the sleeping quarters of a contingent of kobold soldiers, ready to spring out and attack at any moment?"

The big twist: There's nothing (aside from the leeches). That's right, you walk down a hall for like forty-five seconds while the narrator talks to you. Unrelated, does anyone know who they hired to voice the GM voiceover text for this quest? Greg and I both swear she sounds like Betty White.

The right-hand hallway is way shorter and leads to the Kennel, while the left-hand hallway leads to Scrip. I'll get to both of those locations next time I post! Until next time, folks! Should I try to post sooner, or try to go back and get some screenshots, even if it takes me longer?

[Starp]

Hey, Kobold38!

Glad you're feeling better and back into the write-up! You're doing very well.

I can hardly wait for the next segment.

Thanks!

[kobold38]

Boy, this site sure does love to eat posts, doesn't it? I'd try to write this stuff elsewhere, but copy-pasting is such a mess for the forums to handle. Sorry about the delay!

Room #6: Scrip
Proceeding down the left pathway for a while, you eventually come to a little room, and you get some GM text.

"At the end of the endless passage, you enter into a cramped chamber. Unlike the rest of the sewer, this part of the tunnels seems to have been modified from a natural cave, explaining its lumped, misshapen shape. Within, a strange kobold clad in furs watches you calmly."

Screenshot:
So first things first: Do not, and I can't stress this enough, do not attack Scrip (this fluffy little kobold's name is Scrip). It's really freakin' stupid, but if you kill him, even by accident, it's an auto-failure of the quest as if you killed two elders. I even checked with an all-stealth run to be sure—even if you havent killed a single elder yet, you fail if he dies. Extra unfair because they don't warn you, and because he's sitting on an explosive barrel, so all it takes is one misclick. You can't actually attack him,but if you attack that barrel, he dies instantly. Hes got like one hit point.

So Scrip is, from what I gather so far, essentially the villain of the series. The GM in me wants to scold SSG for putting the final boss in the same room as the PCs before they're allowed to kill him, 'cause you know that never goes well, but it's kinda cool that you get to talk to him, I guess. I just hope they give him more HP by the time it's time to fight him!

Here's his dialogue text, or as much of it as I could get (it's kinda tedious getting to him, so I haven't explored all these dialogue options in full). I underlined the ones that lead to him not being willing to talk to you any more (since these forums will not let me cross stuff out). You need to get through the whole conversation without ticking him off or the game doesn't let you find the secret door.

"Hey. Who are you? You not belong here."

[You don't look like you belong here either.]
"Huh. What do you know? We kobolds come all kinds of colors. You working for Storm Lords?"

[No, I just got... really, really lost. What's going on around here, anyways?]
"Not my, what is word? Business. Leechmaw got plans. Scrip just here to try to make sure plans not hurt other kobolds. You better stay out of it, get out now. Metal men should not go in sewers. Here, take shortcut behind me. Scrip do you favor, maybe you pay it back."

[Yes. They sent me here to see what Clan Leechmaw is up to.]
"Oho, did they now? Old Scrip's got nothing to say to you, mammal. Get out while you still draw breath."

[Who are you? Are you from the Leechmaws?]
"I am Scrip. Not from any clan. I go between the clans and make sure kobolds not fight each other, make sure kobolds stay strong. Try to see what Storm Lords are doing. Are you the one who went into Gnashtooth and Tunnelworms?"

[Yup, that's me.]
"Very bad. Was not our idea. Wasted time, wasted kobolds. Kids should not go in sewers. Gnashtooth and Tunnelworms very angry."

[You're being awfully calm about it.]
"It is alright you save kids, but bad you kill so many kobolds. Nothing is simple, Scrip always say. They send dogs down, chase kobold families out warren. Sometimes we punish wrong people. Burn the throne instead of king."

['They'?]
"Storm Lords. Very bad people. City force us to live in bad water, deal with slimes, send dogs down when we not do work. Your city is bad. Maybe soon the city pay the price."

[What's the Leechmaw Clan up to?]
"Not my, what is word? Business. Leechmaw got plans. Scrip just trying to make sure plans not hurt other kobolds. You better stay out of it. Metal men* should not go in sewers. There is way out in here. Scrip do you favor, maybe you pay it back."

[What’s it to you, lizardrat?]

[Close dialogue.]


*When I was playing a halfling, he said "mouse humans". When I was playing an elf, he said "knife-ears".

So here's the thing: There’s a secret door behind Scrip, which you can only use if you complete the dialogue with him. It leads to a grate that serves as a shortcut out of the sewers, but there's also a ladder that leads straight to the final room, so I strongly suggest you go that way. It's good to at least unlock the area!

[kobold38]

Sorry for the delays! I have had to take a break from DDO for the time being, as the reclusive owner of Standing Stones Games invited me to his mysterious factory as a reward for doing such good walkthroughs and it was full of spiders. I will only resume playing this game when the reclusive owner comes forward and apologizes for my bad spider tour experience. That will probably take a little while, so assume this walkthrough on hiatus until at least December.