Search and Rescue (Eveningstar) - 2 quests in 1?

[Bradik_Losdar]

SPOILERS AHEAD!

I recently replayed Search and Rescue in Eveningstar and was stuck with how odd the adventure was.

On the surface, and right up front, it is a mission to rescue some lost adventurers. However, a small crack in a wall in a side passage of this quest leads to an optional and completely separate Underdark adventure. There is seriously enough material and mapping that there are two medium length adventures in this single quest title. The first of course is the mission to an old tomb to rescue adventurers that eventually leads to a showdown with a Red Dragon. A wholly viable and self-contained story. The second (optional) quest involves infiltrating and stopping a Drow stronghold from bringing Slaad warriors to our world. Again, completely self-contained with plenty of mapping and content to make it its own quest.

Most optionals are simply side tasks with a very simple completion criteria - kill a mini-boss, find a few lore objects, etc. This optional however is truly an entire quest on its own.

I'm curious as to the reason behind this. As I said up front, it makes this adventure every odd. It's almost like they created two quests and then said, 'You know what? We don't really have a reason to start a Drow quest on its own. Let's just jam it into that dragon quest with the tomb."

Anyone know why this quest is set up this way? It seems like such a waste of a lot of really good content to be thrown away as simply an 'optional' that many will never play.

[Valerianus]

yea that opt is pretty long.

it has 2 special things:

1- that opt drop specific named loot (see wiki) (imho a bad idea to deliver named loot, a long opt that no party will normally run, but nowdays this old quest drops do not matter anymore)

2- somewhere in there, there's a corpse of a phaerimm. i guess it was supposed to be a teaser, years ago there was some talk about an anauroch setting, expansion or pack. i guess an abandoned project. even if i am imagining things, and that phaerimm was just a deco\setting thing and nothing more, well, it is a really nice detail.

[Mindos]

talk about an anauroch setting, expansion or pack. i guess an abandoned project. even if i am imagining things, and that phaerimm was just a deco\setting thing and nothing more, well, it is a really nice detail.

Don't make me get the torches and pitchforks out and start shouting and demanding we go there (again). It's where the STANDING STONES actually are, ya know!?

[kmoustakas]

That is one long optional and kinda hard, too.

I would argue it's more like three quests in there because I'd love to know how the adventurers got past the lich in the first place

[Bradik_Losdar]

somewhere in there, there's a corpse of a phaerimm. i guess it was supposed to be a teaser, years ago there was some talk about an anauroch setting, expansion or pack. i guess an abandoned project. even if i am imagining things, and that phaerimm was just a deco\setting thing and nothing more, well, it is a really nice detail.

I think you may have nailed the why the 2 quests in 1 question with this (the corpse is right outside the crack in the wall that leads to the optional). This optional quest is all about the Drow and an elaborate gating ritual; so elaborate it takes up 4 floors in the largest room in the quest. This quest may have been set up to allow movement to and from the Anauroch setting once the quest was completed using that huge gating room. But for whatever reason (licensing issues, lack of dev time, etc.) the idea of Anauroch was dropped, but they had this quest already done so they simply stuffed it into the Rescue quest as an afterthought.

That is one long optional and kinda hard, too.

I would argue it's more like three quests in there because I'd love to know how the adventurers got past the lich in the first place

There are a couple of ways. The dragon has a large passageway high up in one part of its lair room, presumably to go outside and hunt. The adventurers could have entered this way, missing the Tomb entrance. Once encountering the dragon, they fled into the small corridor across the way to escape since the dragon would be too big to fit. There is also a rope hanging down into the lair which you can use to end the quest. They could have come down that way with the same results; with the dragon stopping and imprisoning the wizard and the Kobolds pursuing only the dwarf as the party scattered into the various side passages.

[kmoustakas]

I think you may have nailed the why the 2 quests in 1 question with this (the corpse is right outside the crack in the wall that leads to the optional). This optional quest is all about the Drow and an elaborate gating ritual; so elaborate it takes up 4 floors in the largest room in the quest. This quest may have been set up to allow movement to and from the Anauroch setting once the quest was completed using that huge gating room. But for whatever reason (licensing issues, lack of dev time, etc.) the idea of Anauroch was dropped, but they had this quest already done so they simply stuffed it into the Rescue quest as an afterthought.




There are a couple of ways. The dragon has a large passageway high up in one part of its lair room, presumably to go outside and hunt. The adventurers could have entered this way, missing the Tomb entrance. Once encountering the dragon, they fled into the small corridor across the way to escape since the dragon would be too big to fit. There is also a rope hanging down into the lair which you can use to end the quest. They could have come down that way with the same results; with the dragon stopping and imprisoning the wizard and the Kobolds pursuing only the dwarf as the party scattered into the various side passages.

Well explained, thank you!

[Saekee]

I remember running that opt and thinking to myself why on earth I was bothering to go through so much trouble

[Dabima]

yea that opt is pretty long.

it has 2 special things:

1- that opt drop specific named loot (see wiki) (imho a bad idea to deliver named loot, a long opt that no party will normally run, but nowdays this old quest drops do not matter anymore)

2- somewhere in there, there's a corpse of a phaerimm. i guess it was supposed to be a teaser, years ago there was some talk about an anauroch setting, expansion or pack. i guess an abandoned project. even if i am imagining things, and that phaerimm was just a deco\setting thing and nothing more, well, it is a really nice detail.

Not imagining things. They were planning this, as it was announced in the dev letter one year, and a quest called "It Came From the Desert" was in the in-game compendium for about 3 months or so (1 update) til it disappeared. The Anauroch was never mentioned again after this