A History of Violence

A History of Violence is one of the secondary quests in Solasta: Crown of the Magister. It is a quest connected to the Wanderer background.

## How to obtain the quest

If you have a character with the Wanderer background in your party, this quest becomes available after you complete Gem Quest: The Monastery quest. You need to talk to Auroc in Coparann to start the quest.

## Objectives and quest log entries

**Meet with Auroc**

* You received word that an old acquaintance, Auroc, is in Coparann and wants to talk to you.
* You met with Auroc.

**Enter the Mine**

* Gather your party at the mine entrance.
* You entered the mine.

**Explore the Mines**

* The bandits are hiding somewhere in the mines. Find their hideout.
* You found an old tomb in the mines. The hideout should be nearby.

**Find the Switcher Lever**

* The path to the North is blocked by a locked door, and clearly it should be possible to push a heavy cart into it to force it open, but you may have to activate a rail switcher first. But it has no lever.
* You found the rail switcher's lever. Now find a way to break the door open.

**Repair the Switcher**

* The rail switcher is working again!

**Launch the Cart**

* Set the switcher correctly and launch the cart through the door. If you send the cart the wrong way, follow the tracks and bring it back.
* You finally opened the door and gained access deeper into the mines.

**Explore beyond the Door**

* Search for the bandits.
* You found the entrance to the necropolis!

**Find the Key**

* The fallen undead has the key to the necropolis!

**Open the Necropolis Door**

* You have found a key that might unlock the door to the necropolis. Use it - and find those damn bandits!
* You entered the necropolis!

**Find the Bandits**

* The bandits you're looking for are trapped somewhere in this necropolis. Find them!
* This room seems to be a dead end.

**Solve the Puzzle**

* This looks like a dead end, but there might be a way out. Look out for clues!
* You found a way out of the locked room.

**Find the Bandits**

* They can't be far away now. Find the bandits and put an end to their crimes!
* You found and killed the bandits, but Auroc was not who you thought he was. He was with the bandits, and lured you to the mines to kill you!

**Fight Auroc**

* Auroc lured you here to kill you! Defend yourselves!
* You killed the bandits who ravaged your home - and Auroc, who turned out to be a traitor. Leave the mines and resume your mission for the Council.

## Walkthrough

* You will have to escort a critical character, Auroc, throughout this mission. He is a barbarian with limited ranged capabilities and cannot regain health on a short rest, so it may be best to leave him behind when you proceed if he ever falls low on health.
* Enter the mines and proceed to a four-way crossing. To the left (west) there is a mine cart but also a rather difficult fight. The Pilgrims only appear after a few seconds from the west and the southeast, so be careful.

**Fight (3 Pilgrims) – 825 XP**

* Pilgrims are resistant to physical damage from non-magical weapons and cause heavy acid damage, ad well as a small amount of additional acid damage at the end of your next 3 turns.
* After the fight is over, you can loot a somewhat hard to spot crate in the northwest corner.
* The mine cart in the middle of the room can be pushed, but until you grab the lever it will just roll over to the eastern end of the area, which does give access to a trapped chest on a ledge
* In the westernmost end, there will be a series of traps that can't be disarmed with cages above that you can shoot down to cover them. Be aware, however, that the last cage will cover a corpse with some loot. Climbing on top of that last crate will get you to a pushable crate blocking a hidden room with a trapped chest.
* You will have to head east now to progress.

**Fight (2 Skeleton Archers, 2 Skeletal Enforcer, 1 Skeletal Marksman, 1 Skeletal Sorcerer) – 600 XP**

* The Skeletal Sorcerer and the Skeletal Marksman are the most dangerous foes here, but they are also out of reach the first turn due to the distance, and the Skeletal Sorcerer has Shield which makes it more difficult to hit.
* After the fight, you can find a high tower with a barrel of loot on top which requires either Jump, a teleport spell (like Misty Step), or Fly to reach
* Further south, in the dead end, you can find some pushable boxes to the east, which cover a corpse you can loot. To the west, there is a chest up some boxes that hold the rail switch lever.
* Head back to the four-way crossroads. You can now put the lever in the rail switch to repair it and then activate it to alter the path of the mine cart.
* If the mine cart is in the west area it can be pushed to make it so it hits the doors that blocks your progress. If it is in the east area it has to be pushed to the west first.
* A bit beyond the now broken open door is a bonfire and a broken railroad track above the ground level. If you proceed on the track there is two traps on the other side of a gap, but regardless you will also come upon a fight.

**Fight (1 Badlands Wraith, 1 Phase Spider, 2 Skeletal Marksman, 1 Skeletal Sorcerer) - 1150 XP**

* The Badlands Wraith and the Skeletal Sorcerer are the most dangerous foes here. The Wraith for the drain on its attacks, its fly speed and its durability from resistances, and the Sorcerer for its control spells and having Shield to defend itself.
* The Marksmen provide annoying ranged attacks while the Spider can walk up walls and teleport short distances, letting it get past melee fighters to attack others.
* Afterwards the Manacalon Key required to progress can be found on the Skeletal Sorcerer. There is also a basket to the right of the beginning of the mine tracks and two chests: one behind a trap to the left and behind a wooden wall, the other at the end of the stone platform at the end of the raised tracks.
* To the west the necropolis door can be found and opened with the key. On the opposite side there is two traps in the tight corridor below and a false wall that closes as you approach. Instead you have to approach a hole in the wall to the north.
* The clues to the puzzle that follows is "Bring light only to those whose souls are not resting." and "Leave others in the darkness of death.". This means that you need to light the candelabras besides the open coffins while extinguishing those besides the closed coffins. If you need some help with this then there is a demolished crate next to the crawl hole with some torches and candles, while extinguishing only requires interaction.
* However, what awaits is not a reward but a fight as the walls open!

**Fight (2 Badlands Ghasts, 1 Ghoul, 1 Spectral Avenger, 1 Wight) - 725 XP**

* The walls that open are in the western and central sections of the tomb. The Ghasts spawn behind the central northern door and the westernmost door, the Ghoul behind the western northern door, the Avenger behind the western southern door, and the Wight behind the central southern door.
* The Wight has several melee attacks but is also light sensitive (disadvantage on attack rolls and on Dexterity and Wisdom saving throws when in Bright Light) so a taking out a torch cripples it. After that, the Avenger hits the hardest and has resistance to physical damage but only has one attack.
* The Ghasts and Ghouls are mainly dangerous for their ability to paralyze the party, leaving them extremely vulnerable due to automatic critical hits on any non-elf party members.
* The central southern cell and the western northern cell hold a plaque of who their former inhabitants were, while the westernmost cell and central northern cell holds a corpse and some pots with loot.
* To the south and behind a breakable wall is a locked door. As such a hole behind a movable crate is the way forward, if with a trap in the way afterwards.
* SURPRISE! Auroc is not guiding you here for the reasons he said and you are forced into a dangerous fight in tight quarters.
* If you are in Cautious mode as the conversation ends you can try and get in a spell (especially a controlling spell like Hypnotic Pattern) or attack before they detect you to (somehow, given that they were ambushing you) surprise them.

**Fight (1 Auroc, 1 Badlands Hunter, 1 Darkweaver, 1 Lorson, 1 Scout, 1 Shock Arcanist, 1 Spy, 1 Veteran) - 1812 XP**

* Auroc has 15 AC and 70 hit points, can attack twice at melee or range has Reckless Attack to melee attack with advantage while giving attacking creatures advantage towards him.
* Lorson has 15 AC and 65 hit points and can attack up to three times.
* The enemies are initially clustered in two groups. Auroc, the Badlands Hunter, the Scout, and the Spy are to the east while the Darkweaver, Lorson, the Shock Arcanist, and the Veteran are to the south. The southern group is the most dangerous due to all the attacks and the Arcanists spells.
* After that there is only looting to do. There is a locked chest and a nightstand at the southern end, behind where Lorson stood. In the western part there is a weapon rack and an armor stand. Additionally you can now unblock the previous door by moving a crate.
* Proceed further west and you can find a ladder leading to a contraption that opens the false wall seen when entering the necropolis.
* The quest is done.

## Important Loot

* Circlet of Blasting
* Ring of Necrotic Resistance