Gem Quest: The Mind of the Master

Gem Quest: The Mind of the Master is one of the main quests in Solasta: Crown of the Magister. It is unlocked automatically when the player completes the previous main quest and grants certain rewards upon completion.

## How to obtain the quest

The quest unlocks as you progress through the Path to Glory main quest.

## Objectives and quest log entries

**Reach the Lava Forest**

* You have reached the Lava Forest.

**Find Your Way to the Gem**

* You surprised a group of Soraks who disappeared inside a shed, the place that the crownbearer is being drawn to.

**Enter the Shed**

* You touched the gem, but it disappeared, and you found yourself in a completely unknown place.

**Find a Way Out**

* The dragon you fought seemed to suddenly vanish into thin air, leaving a fragment of the gem you are looking for. Now you are in a new and even more mysterious place.

**Find Another Fragment of the Gem**

* You encountered a cube of light that kind of reminded you of the dragon. This too disappeared and gave way to a new fragment of the gem. After recovering it, you found yourself in a new, unknown place.

**Enter the Manor**

* You entered the manor and were greeted by a butler who will lead you to his master. Follow him.

**Follow the Housekeeper**

* The housekeeper led you to his master. The latter challenges you to one last fight to make sure you are worthy of recovering his gem.

**Fight the Master**

* You defeated the master. Take the gem and get out.

## Walkthrough

* Travelling here won't take long, provided the correct Major Gate is used: Cradle of Fire is 3 days away, Bone Keep is 5 days away, Fortress of the Shield is 7 days away, Coparann is 9 days away, and Caer Cyflen is 11 days away.
* There won't be a bonfire until after one or two fairly difficult fights. So you'll need to travel between the Lava Forest and another location if you'll want to take a long rest (remember to interrupt the travel after it has been taken).
* At several points in the forest and lava areas, there are traps made of explosive sacs that deal 4d6 poison or fire damage and can be triggered early by a ranged attack. They can also be highlighted with the Alt-key even if they haven't been spotted with a Perception check.
* The official introduction to the traps, however, is behind a patch of removable bushes – a small labyrinth that holds several traps. To get through it, keep to the right, you'll end up in a small clearing that holds an empty basket. Touching it starts an obnoxious fight.

**(Optional) Fight (5 Crimson Spiders) - 2250 XP**

* The Spiders have awful Wisdom saving throws (-2 modifier) and will attack from a distance, often passing their turn if they can't hit and only sometimes climbing down to attack.
* If the party is gathered at the empty basket, only the northernmost spider will climb down. Being in the northern corner of the clearing can take the party out of range of all but one of the spiders, letting them fire off long-ranged attacks with impunity.
* To the south, there is a container with a scroll (and with a trap nearby) that can be reached with Misty Step.
* To the north, there is the forward path behind some bushes. The following area is littered with fire traps.
* To the south, after the bushes, there are platforms in the lava that can be knocked down (by attacking the traps nearby) to reach some Primordial Lavastones. To the north, there is an optional fight. You'll have to fight it if noone can get across the gap to the west to progress.
* Before triggering the fight to the north, you can remove the traps and fell a tree to create a shortcut by using ranged attacks.

**(Optional) Fight (2 Fire Elementals, 1 Fire Spider, 1 Skeletal Knight, 2 Skeletal Marksmen) - 1700 XP**

* The fight opens on a series of small rock platforms bridge by fallen trees, making the area to maneuver in rather small, especially due to the Fire Elementals being able to box characters in using their fly speed.
* After the fight, you can access an area further north. Its most notable feature is a small dwarven ruin which is connected to the Wartime Treasure, accessible from a quest board after completing this quest.

* Regardless if you got over by using the fallen tree or by going through the previous fight, there is some more fire themed enemies lying in ambush.

**Fight (2 Fire Ospreys, 5 Fire Spiders) - 1725 XP**

* One of the Ospreys is the only enemy that is easily available on the first turn, with the Spiders hiding at the sides of the pillars and the other Osprey hiding off-screen.
* It is possible to instantly kill the Spiders by shoving them off the platform. Their immunity to shoves makes this somewhat difficult however, leaving Thunderwave as the most viable alternative.
* Up the cliff, there is a lonely hut surrounded by Soraks, and a bonfire. However, when you arrive, no Soraks can be found. Mysterious. Regardless, only touch the gem if you are prepared to continue and are done for the moment with the Lava Forest area.
* Touching it brings the party into The Id.
* There is another bonfire just north of the entrance, if it is ever needed. Going west and following the trail of Sorak corpses leads to the only survivor of the group that entered here before the party and a short conversation before their life ends as well.
* Beyond, there is a glowing gate that can't be opened yet (and also a warning) and the road splits to the north and south.
* Following the northern path, it splits in two again.
* The western path brings you to an easy fight almost immediately.

**(Optional) Fight (1 Phase Spider, 2 Pilgrims) - 725 XP**

* The mobs aren't visible initially and only appear after a few steps have been taken. One Pilgrim and the Spider, the latter hidden behind a ledge, appear in the front, while the second Pilgrim appears from behind.
* At the path's end, there is a crawl space that takes the party to the end of the eastern path. See the next fight for the enemies in the area.

* The eastern path continues a bit longer before splitting again, but this one is irrelevant as the next fight lied directly on both paths.

**Fight (2 Phase Spiders, 3 Spectral Spiders, 1 Zealot) - 1412 XP**

* The fight area is a massive and mostly empty room with the enemies fairly spread out. A Fireball can still hit the Zealot and several various spiders, but something like Hypnotic Pattern can only target one or two at a time.
* The Zealot is the most dangerous foe – it hits quite hard, but can only attack once per turn, so granting it disadvantage through something like Vicious Mockery is useful.
* Otherwise, only the Phase Spiders are a danger and that is mostly due to their teleporting, which lets them get around freely. The Spectral Spiders meanwhile are fragile and only have normal attacks.
* Of the three offshoots leading from this room, the eastern one holds a glowing rune that, when stepped on, activates a rune besides the glowing gate.

* Taking the southern path is simpler. It has a small offshoot leading east that holds a barrel with some arrows, bolts, and crafting ingredients. Continuing south brings the party to The Arena. It locks the party in, if approached, and holds 4 fights (though the last one can be skipped, since the door opens after the 3rd) with a possibility to take a short rest only in between. Therefore, it is a good idea to head back to the start and take a long rest if significant resources have been expended already. Please refer to the linked quest article for further information.
* After both paths have been completed, there is another good opportunity to take a long rest before going through the golden door.
* While it would be nice to skip the chest, that isn't possible, since the door forward is locked. There is no choice, but to set off the alarm.

**Fight (2 Air Elementals, 4 Earth Elementals) - 2700 XP**

* The Earth Elementals are the sturdier foes, but have somewhat limited movement, as they can only approach using the walkways or by jumping over from the sides. The Air Elementals meanwhile can use their flight to approach however they like, making it potentially more valuable to lock them down.
* After actually looting the chest, a GREEN DRAGON APPEARS!

**Fight (1 Green Dragon) - 0 XP**

* As can be seen from the XP rewards, this is actually a fakeout and the supposed dragon dies in 1 hit.
* Touching the pile with the gem brings the party to the next area, The Ego.
* One tip for dealing with the floating platforms here is to simply have one character step off and then on a button to activate the function again.
* The first obstacle is some floating platforms with optional treasure chests. Proceeding forwards (south) is directly available.
* Getting to the northern chest is only slightly more complicated and is done by having one party member on each of the 4 buttons, rotating the yellow-green platforms one step counter-clockwise. The chest holds a Mithral Stone.
* Getting to the western chest is more difficult. First, use the middle platform to rotate the inner (yellow-green) platforms twice from the initial position (once if the previous chest was taken) and then activate the buttons on the outer (blue) platforms 3 times. Go back to the central platform and activate the new buttons twice to rotate the outer (blue) platform layer vertically. Finally, return to the outer (blue) platforms for one final activation to rotate the central platform to its initial position, so that the chest is reachable (additional platforms pop up for the last third). It is trapped and locked (both with a Thieves' Tools DC of 15) and contains the Staff of Metis.
* Heading in the correct direction leads to a boss fight and the end of this small area.

**Fight (1 Cube of Light) - 975 XP**

* The Cube has 17 AC and 144 hit points. It is a dangerous spellcaster with Blight, Cone of Cold and Ice Storm, so spreading out is a good idea.
* The Cube has a +10 to Wisdom saves and +11 to Intelligence saves, but only +2 and +3 for Dexterity and Constitutionones respectively, making spells that target those substantially better.
* The next section is the final area, The Superego.
* To get past the initial gap, either jump over and push down the tree for anyone who can't or attack the tree with a ranged attack to bring it down.
* In the middle of the platform, there is an amazing magical item, Tome of All Things, that sets all of a characters abilities to 20 when held. Unfortunately it is not possible to leave with it, as taking it locks the door forward until it is placed back on its pedestal and it cannot be picked up at all when the door is open.
* On the southern (left) side of the large central Platform, there are some foes patrolling around.

**(Optional) Fight (2 Earth Elementals, 2 Spectral Avengers) - 1450 XP**

* The Elementals serve as sturdy bruisers, while the Avengers are fragile but hit quite hard and are generally the best to take out first.
* Through the manor entrance door, there are two other doors. The one straight forward is locked, but following the Spectral Servant through the next series of doors takes you to a long rest area.
* On the way, some shouts can be heard from the second floor (this is in the room just before the long rest area). See The Escape from the Manor for further details, but be aware that whether you choose to free the slave or simply leave after entering the cell room upstairs, no reward is given. You only get the satisfaction of helping (or greatly angering) someone.
* East of the long rest area, there is another room with a hidden side quest, where you can steal some valuable items or heed the servants warnings and leave the room. Be aware that simply opening the chest counts as taking the items. If the chests was not interacted with, exiting the room locks the door permanently. See A Very Tempting Place for the rewards (there is a unique crafting ingredient and a usable item that temporarily makes a weapon a +3 magical weapon, leaving gives you nothing).
* Continuing to follow the Servant takes one over a bridge and to a bend. Going to the right continues the quest, while taking the door directly forwards leads to an untidy room with a maid. See A Well-Ordered Room for the details, or exit to end the side quest immediately. Either way, no reward is given.
* Through this door, you finally find the Master of Conjuration, Zhoron. Unfortunately, he is a bit of an old-time imperialist and won't hand over the gem unless killed (he would also like to enslave a lot of people, so bad news all around).
* Using spells to buff up before entering the door is a good idea.

**Fight (4 Spectral Servants, 1 Zhoron) - 1125 XP**

* The Spectral Servants are simply renamed Spectral Avengers and the same is true about them: frail and only with 1 attack per turn, but hits quite hard and can fly.
* Zhoron starts out in a high elf form, with only 14 AC and 40 hit points, but is immune to all damage in this state. He remains in this state, until 4 statues on raised platform have been interacted with.
* For every statue that hasn't been interacted with (using the item interaction of a character), every character is hit by 2 lightning bolts that deal 1d6 lightning damage each, though Spectral Servants and Zhoron are immune to this damage.
* After the statues have been used, everyone (including any Spectral Servants that are still alive) is transported to another room. It's rectangular and entirely flat, except for a low raised platform in the middle which Zhoron starts out on as the second fight begins. Party members start halfway between a corner and the central platform.

**Fight (1 Green Dragon) - 3275 XP**

* He then transforms into his true form, the Green Dragon seen earlier. In this state he has 19 AC, 207 hit points, 3 charges of legendary resistance (auto-succeed failed saving throws, does not refill), and 3 legendary actions per turn (options include: 1 charge to make a tail attack, or 2 charges to deal 2d6+6 bludgeoning damage and knockdown nearby enemies (DC 19 Dexterity save) before potentially flying up to 8 cells away.
* In this state, he also has Poison Breath (DC 18 Constitution save), which can be used to deal a massive 16d6 poison damage in a cone-shaped area, as well as Frightful Presence (DC 16 Wisdom saving throw) used to frighten enemies once per day.
* The biggest danger is the Dragon choosing to fly away using Wing Attack as its legendary action and then using Poison Breath to hit all or most of the party for heavy damage (if they don't have resistance to poison damage and/or good Dexterity saving throws).
* His high mobility (especially with Wing Attack in-between turns) means persistent area of effect spells, such as Spirit Guardians or Wall of Fire, will be less effective.
* Picking up the gem dropped at the central platform after the fight puts the party back at the wooden hut in the Lava Forest, where The Id was entered, and the quest ends.

## Rewards

* **Relationship Gain:** Principality of Masgarth, Scavengers