Sage Erideus

**Major Spoiler**This page contains unmarked spoilers about important events. Proceed at your own risk.

**Sage Erideus** is the main antagonist of Grim Tides, and the head of the renegade Sages that Asmodius orders the player to track down.

A keen investitgator of the Mua-Ta's ways of magic and outlawed malpracticioner of the arcane, he holds the keys to your freedom and the secret to removing the File:Warden's sigil hd.pngFile:Warden's sigil legacy.pngWarden's Sigil.

**Biography**
Before the events of Grim Tides, Erideus was a sage at the Sun Court, a reverred keeper of knowledge and advisor to the Imperial Throne. He had a cordial relationship with the headmaster of the Sun Court, Sage Asmodius, and specialised in researching the Mua-Ta, the natives of the Southern Isles. He kept a journal, which detailed the events of the Southern Isles Expedition.

One day in 1245 IE, Asmodius approached Erideus in the Sun Court's central library about a pivotal discovery that shakes up the fundamentals of magic, keeping the latter awake at night for several days. The details aligned closely with his specialised field of research, which ended up piquing his interest. This discovery is to do with an ancient Mua-Ta ritual that defies the previous understandings of magic, potentially leading to a seventh arcane realm.

While Asmodius was simultaneously experimenting on the incomplete text of the ritual, the two assembled a crew for Erideus to head for the Isles and retrieve information about said ritual. The crew consisted of Sage Bartimeus, Sage Luxious, Adept Sonorius and Stormspeaker, travelling on an aether-fueled ship from the imperial navy.

Arriving in early 1246 IE, the crew docked in Farhaven, where Asomdius arranged a narrower ship more fit for the geography of the Isles. While lodging in the Salty Rat, Asmodius contacted Erideus again, informing him that blood was used as a catalyst to proceed with replicating the ritual, now called "Heaven's Gate", much to Erideus' concern. Leaving Farhaven early in the morning and surviving a pirate ambush, the group made their way to Great Nuk, where Erideus finally saw a Mua-Ta face-to-face, with the other sages laughing at his obsession.

With weeks of trekking through jungles, the crew failed to obtain relevant information about the dream ritual, instead resorting to the sacred Mua-Ta Memory Stones, which can no longer be created due to losing the process according to their Mua-Ta guide. Eventually, with the help of Luxious meditating, a memory stone relevant to the dream-ritual was found, much to Asmodius' glee. However, this memory stone turned out to be foggy and nightmarish, detailing an unusual male shamanic leader obtaining an artifact and becoming psychotic. After many conquests, a cabal of priestesses overthrew and killed him, then sealed the artifact in the obsidian temple of the Sunless Oasis.

When the group made their way to the Oasis in 1247 IE, Erideus and his crew entered into the obsidian temple to obtain the artifact - the temple was noted to be built at a far more advanced level than contemporary Mua-Ta buildings. While exploring and dissolving each arcane ward guarding passages, the crew became more restless, ending up in the temple halls that swarmed with skeletons. After Bartimeus and Stormspeaker cleared them out, Erideus contacted Asmodius again, with Asmodius petitioning the Emperor to reinforce the crew with the imperial knights and templars.

However, disaster struck. Erideus began to question the visions of the nightmarish memory stone, believing that the artifact made the shaman go insane. Sonorius became impatient and tinkered with the artifact, summoning more undead and horrors. When Luxious was assigned to supervise Sonorius, it ended in his death, while the Adept fled for the jungle. When Asmodius was informed of this incident, he insisted on continuing the research, to which Erideus called him a power-hungry fool, and was then retorted with a promise to detain the entire crew. The members of the expedition were now outlawed, and the imperial reinforcements were sent to detain them, to which the crew responded with lethal magic.

Eventually, Bartimeus succumbed to the insanity from the artifact, fleeing the temple, and Stormspeaker was sent away to cast a storm across the Isles. Alone in the dark, Erideus managed to maintain the last semblance of sanity, nearly dead but still alive.

**In-Game**

Sage Erideus is the final boss of the main quest, and the last sage you need to complete The Price of Freedom, available to fight from Floor 30 of the Sunless Oasis once at Character Level 21. Powered by insanity and arcane aptitude, it will be the most intense battle in your journey so far.

**Combat Proficiency**
At the start of the battle, Erideus is accompanied by two Arcane Horrors. There's no easy way out for your Morale - all enemies in this fight will reduce it. The standard strategy applies - take down the Arcane Horrors and heal with an item or spell if you meet any trouble. Once Erideus is isolated, you will want to mute or apply light stuns to keep him from using **Essence Shift**, as once he is concealed he can easily undo your progress. For both instances, Spirit Shield is one of your best friends, able to keep your morale at managable levels.

For mages, the fight is incredibly long - bring a couple bottles of Sage's Wisdom and make sure you obtain the bonus from the Elixir of Clarity at the very start of the dungeon. Use Word of Power and Death Bloom to ensure your damage is low, with Aether Bolt or another spell to immediately strike once he exits his concealed state.

For physical fighters, you will have access to many instant-kill options - Culling, Phantom Blade, Flurry. However, these should be used sparingly, at most to take out one Arcane Horror - proper mute and stun usage will ensure that you have enough damage for Erideus. It may also help to cast Word of Power for a chance to mute all enemies, preventing the Arcane Horrors from inflicting their debuff on top of the sage's **Mind Onslaught**. Amanita Extract and Venomous Stab will eventually whittle down Erideus - don't be afraid to retreat when safe to do so, as poison still remains and you will regain all uses of your spells and skills back.

With these steps and careful decision-making, the battle should be yours...

  **Damage:** 13-16
  **Critical:** 16%

* **-10% CRIT/EVA**
* **-1 S.RES**
 **Essence Shift** | *Temporarily shifts into another realm of existence, restoring health and becoming untargetable for 1 turn** **Restores 20 HP**
* **Becomes HIDDEN for 1 turn**

**Second Form - Sage's Nightmare**

Upon defeating Sage Erideus, his mind will fully succumb to the dark power of the artifact, transforming psyche and body alike into an unholy abomination devoid of emotion or sanity. You are no longer fighting the renegade Sage, you are fighting a true abhorrent being on its brand new terms...

Sage's Nightmare is a transformation, removing all status effects and purifying poison. From there, it only has one goal - to make sure you never cast a spell or skill again. It will relentlessly spam **Call of the Dark**, locking you out of your precious abilities and sapping away your sanity turn by turn. While your spells and skills are now gone, you can still use items, attack, defend and retreat - drink a few glasses of File:Item wine hd.pngFile:Item wine legacy.pngBlood Moss Wine and retreat so the turn starts with you. If the nightmare is suddenly unable to spam its ability, such as from **Wounds**, then you must seize this opportunity for as long as you can. Immediately cast Disintegrate Essence and when it wears off, unleash all of your mutes and stuns at your disposal - Insect Swarm, Thunder Strike, Stunning Blow, and everything else. Everything needs to align right - timing, power and luck - for you to finally vanquish the miserable creature, and to receive your freedom.

  **Damage:** 14-17
  **Critical:** 17%

* **Disables spells and skills for 1 turn**
* **85% chance of reducing morale by 1**
 Hidden - does not have a bestiary entry

**Trivia**
* Sage Erideus' in-battle portrait, as well as the rest of his crew, were drawn by Mislav Nimai Smetana. The Sage's Nightmare was drawn by Mislav was well, and a monochrome version is available as a collectable portrait of the Arcane Horror in Grim Quest.
* Sage's Nightmare does not have a bestiary entry.