Black Root – Arcanum

This guide will walk you through Black Root in Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura.

1 – House

Inside you’ll find a note from Tyron reading, “The crow is in danger.” This is part of the Matt de Cesare quest in Tarant.

2 – Tugal the Hedge Wizard’s House

You might get a quest from the thieves (#21) to rob him. Otherwise, he isn’t important for anything.

3 – Deirdre’s Charms and Magickal Potions

4 – Annabelle’s Galley

Inside the bar you’ll find Clarissa Shalmo, Master of Throwing. She’ll tell you that she’s looking for Azram’s Star, a thrown weapon with five blades. If your Throwing skill is high enough, she’ll ask you to retrieve it for her from K’Na Tha. Completing that quest will make you a master of Throwing.

Next to Shalmo you’ll see Kietzel Pierce, the Master Bowman. He’ll ask you to track down a student of his named Dudley Crosston, and tell him that Pierce has moved on to Caladon. You can find Crosston in Dernholm. He’ll only be labeled as an “elite bow guard” so you’ll have to keep talking to them until you recognize one as Crosston. Of course, Crosston won’t really care what you have to say. This is a quest to make Pierce happy if you decide to become a Bow master.

5 – Drop Yer Anchor

If you tell Daniel Hallaway the innkeeper that his prices are too high for you, he’ll give you a quest retrieve his strongbox from Garret Almstead the blacksmith (#7). Of course, Hallaway and Almstead are in the middle of a dispute, but you can convince Almstead that Hallaway has been a good customer in the past and will probably be a good one in the future, and he’ll let you have the box for 80 gold. You could also try killing Almstead for the box, or stealing it from him (it’s in the chest next to the door). When you return the box to Hallaway you’ll receive 3100 experience, plus gain a little alignment, and you’ll be able to stay at the inn for free.

6 – The Dancing Needle

7 – The Steadfast Anvil

If you ask Garret Almstead how a half-orc became a blacksmith, and then tell him you’re sorry for his loss, he’ll give you a pair of Dwarven Gauntlets.

8 – Inventor’s House

The inventor sometimes sells interesting technological items.

9 – Grunwalde’s House

Grunwalde creates poisons. You might need a poison from him to complete a quest for the thieves (#21). Grunwalde is also wielding an Envenomed Sword, a pretty good melee weapon for technically-minded characters.

10 – Franklin Payne‘s House

Franklin Payne will only show up after you’ve visited T’sen-Ang and learned the fate of the Black Mountain Clan. If you ask him the most dangerous place he’s ever been, he’ll say Thanatos. At that point you can invite him to come along with you to Thanatos, even if you joined the dark elves and thus can’t go to Thanatos. Payne is level 36 and is good with guns. He’s also carrying an Elephant Gun and Mithril Chainmail, so you might want him to join briefly just to get his equipment.

11 – The Cameron House

When you talk to Mrs. Cameron, she’ll tell you that her son Liam has gone missing from his workshop. Then she’ll mark the location of his workshop on your map. After you find Liam’s body and destroy the portal he discovered, go back to Mrs. Cameron and tell her the bad news, but also let her know Liam’s death wasn’t in vain. You’ll receive 4600 experience plus a boost to your alignment, plus either a Mage’s Dagger or a Chapeau of Magnetic Inversion (the latter reward depends on your aptitude).

12 – Mayor’s House

If you’re working on the tax quest for King Praetor of Dernholm, then the mayor will tell you that Black Root is now allied with the Unified Kingdom (that is, Tarant) and doesn’t plan to pay any taxes to Dernholm. There are three ways you can change his mind:

• You can show the mayor the newspaper from Dernholm and suggest he might want to keep Black Root out of the coming conflict between Tarant and Caladon. (For some reason the dialogue option for giving the newspaper to the mayor doesn’t always appear. If you have that problem, try putting the newspaper in your main character’s inventory, reading it again, and then exiting and re-entering the area.)
• You can steal the taxes from the mayor’s inventory, and then point out his Tarantian guards couldn’t even protect him from petty thieves.
• You can retrieve the mayor’s ceremonial dagger from the thieves (#21). If you take this option you’ll receive 800 experience plus gain alignment.

13 – Halfling Wizard

The first wizard will introduce you to an ancient game. Agree to play, and then answer the riddle he asks you (clock). The second wizard is west of the thieves (#21). When you answer his riddle (spring), he’ll direct you to the third and final halfling to the north. When you answer his riddle (fire), you’ll receive 800 experience and a mysterious gem. The gem causes a level 50 halfling to appear.

14 – Theriacal Herbs

15 – Captain’s Quarters

16 – Seaside Salvage

17 – The Sour Barnacle

At the bar you can speak to Dante, the former head of the Church of Cumbria. If you’re working on the tax quest for King Praetor of Dernholm, if your level is high enough (9 isn’t enough), and if you’re not evil, then he’ll join you.

18 – Herkemer Oggdoddler’s House

You’ll find Herkemer wandering around outside of his house. If you let him tell his war stories for long enough, he’ll offer to give you expert training in Melee, Dodge, Firearms, and Spot Traps.

19 – Master Shipbuilder

At one point in the game you might need to buy a ship.

20 – Train

The train can take you to Tarant or Ashbury. Tickets cost 75 gold per party member. If your magical aptitude is high enough, you’ll have to use the “Mage’s Caboose.” You won’t be able to use the train at all if you have Dog / Worthless Mutt with you.

21 – Thieves

If you’ve already picked up the taxes from the mayor (#12), then there isn’t anything you can do with the thieves, other than ignore them or kill them. If you still need the taxes, and if you took the mayor’s quest to get his ceremonial dagger back from the thieves, then you’ll have a few ways to do it:

• You can kill the thieves for it. If you decide on this course, don’t walk up and talk to D’ak Taan (the leader of the thieves) and initiate combat through conversation. That will just get you surrounded by thieves and probably killed. Instead, start from the southeast and work your way toward D’ak Taan. You should be able to split up the battle this way, and fight the thieves one or two at a time. Once the thieves are dead, check D’ak Taan’s corpse for the dagger.
• You can steal the dagger from D’ak Taan.
• You can buy the dagger for 300 (or perhaps less) gold.
• You can rob the hedge wizard (#2) for the thieves. (This is the “good thief” option.) You don’t actually have to be a thief for this. You can just kill the hedge wizard if you want. You can also talk to him and then strike up a deal where he gives you a Scroll of Summon Undead and you use it to defeat the thieves. The scroll creates a level 50 undead creature to help you, and it makes defeating the thieves much easier. If you rob the hedge wizard, then you’ll earn 800 experience and lose a lot of alignment when you return to the thieves.
• You can purchase poison from Grunwalde (#9) for the thieves. (This is the “master in commerce” option.) Just tell Grunwalde you have a rat problem, and then upgrade the rats to orcs. Grunwalde will charge you 100 gold. If you don’t want to pay that much, you can just kill Grunwalde for the poison, and also pick up his Envenomed Sword. When you give the poison to D’ak Taan, you’ll receive 800 experience but lose a lot of alignment (the same reward as with the option above).