Community wants to watch me suffer once more , I keep the same rules apart from giving myself extra 6 hours , cause 24 hours I have to admire was very optimistic.
Extra Rules:
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Fresh Start ( completely erased save folder)
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no cheat death procs ( fail safes that proc at 50% life or lower)
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no Aether Cluster
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no Epic and Legendary Gear
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no level 60 and 90 relics
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no lower difficulties EXP grind
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30 hours in game time to get the Badge
WARNING!!!: This story is based on Grim Dawn lore but is completely fictional , this post contains spoilers as well , read at your own risk if you are new to Grim Dawn! I do fanfiction purely for fun and entertainment not to be the next J.K. Rowling , so please respect.
Leander “Blackwater” Greene
Road to Redemption
Leander “Blackwater” Greene
Road to Redemption
Chapter 1: (CLICK ME)
My name is Leander Greene , they called me “Blackwater” because I invented this high potent explosive , I know this sound like something sick arsonist will say ,but this is far from the truth cause I am normal arsonist not a sick one… I was part from the Imperium Demolition team , they deployed me at Fort Ilkon for a simple mission . Imperium builds a very big Necropolis for all soldiers that sacrifice their lives , my duty was to completely seal a tomb that they decide to not use due to safe protocols , it was very suspicious to me this entire section of the map was not in the architects plans , but they paid me to blow stuff not to ask questions. They convinced me tomb is secured and all the staff work in a different section , so I did what I do best . Imperium did me dirty , I burrowed everyone that work on the Necropolis and since all this families will have a questions about their most beloved ones , Imperium just throws me as a sacrificial lamb , I was convicted of manslaughter. During my trial I did something really bad to avoid custody and few innocent people get killed , so I am not the good guy. Imperium forced me to seal some really dirty secret back then and I would never know what I actually seal that day , because they send the most dangerous assassin after me and he throws me behind the bars in Devil’s Crossing and today is my execution , not gonna mention my last meal was horrible - Edwin should be restricted to at least 5 meters from any cooking equipment , this is guy is a food criminal. I was very surprised when a Luminari Inquisitor enters my chamber with an interesting proposal , they will drop all the charges against me if I help Black Legion save the world , at first I spit on his offer and tell him “Look Gandalf , you want from me to work together with the people that throw me in this sh*thole ?” and he explains to me the alternatives are basically to make Jarvis the most happiest person all around because he was ready with my neck measurements. This is one of this moments when even the bad deal is a form of a deal but this long robes lover put some conditions that makes me very unhappy , basically this Merlin “wanna be” banned me from using explosives. I have to find a different way to deal with the enemies so I visit the local crazy scientist and make a deal with him - me bringing some Aether energy and he gives me his prototype of a Crossbow that works with cryo bolts. John Bourbon waits for me in the armory and gave me a small bat and " shield" - shield was just a standard wardrobe door. My first mission was to shut down the source of all zombies , so I found very ugly Aetherial Reanimator , thanks to my military training I just slap him really hard multiple times with my wardrobe door aka shield , I collect the aetherial crystals for my deal with Kasparov. I go back to Devils crossing proud because not everyday I win a fight with a furniture , get my new shiny crossbow and hide it from Inquisitor Creed (I don’t want another ban from guns and certainly I refuse to save the world with a wooden plank) . John sends me to Barnabass to have a nice glass of water , you won’t believe but the pump was broken so I give him few scraps to fix it. He managed to fix the pump but the water turns green , I ask him " Are you sure you fix it ?" , he was " Leander if you want you can try to fix it better" , I asked him “Sure buddy , do you have a grenade by any chance?” , you have to see his face , he wasn’t ready for my Arsonist’s humour ( I will tell this joke to Edwin , he seems like a guy with sense of humour , cause if your meals are such a joke you should be funny). Barnabass was pretty sure the water source is corrupted , I was pretty sure he was talentless but I go down deep into the prison just to met some half human-half lizard using the water source as a bathtub , ideal moment to test my cryo bolts and was fun - not fun like putting entire armies in flames but still quite satisfying. Sybil Hart was worried about his brother , so I track him down he was still alive but I desperately need his soldier equipment so I killed him and I told Sybil Hart " I didn’t managed to find him , really sorry! " and I said this when in the same moment I am completely dressed like him ( I am not sure if she was sold to my bs). Time to move on closer to Krieg’s Mansion on the way I stop to a cave infested with bandits (some of them know me already) , I catch them off guard and they were pretty vulnerable to my cryo crossbow , I was on the way to dispatched one more guy but he end up just resident in this cave and refused to be saved. Who am I to judge if he likes this moldy and wet cave as a home , so be it - after all I was a prisoner before couple of hours and my best friend was a mouse that I named Mr. Jingles . Harmond wants revenge for his wife death and he offers some nice pile of iron bits to put down three soldiers for my luck they were already zombies and this by my living standards counts as a job done - easy money. John was afraid the ceiling won’t survive another day and ask me if I can fix it and I asked him “Sure mate , do you have a grenade ?” - spoiler alert he has the same dumb face expression like Barnabass.I traveled north to the Waterfront , reading the shipment journal I discovered a lot of dead bodies was send here from Port Valbury and the receiver was Warden Krieg ( I know from a first place he is a sadistic maniac but this is on another level ) , it’s time to continue my wee investigation. I reached Krieg’s Mansion and discovered a lot of gruesome stuff like I know now what happened to all the prisoners that were scheduled to be moved to Port Valbury prison - they never leave , they were testing subject to the Aetherials and it’s seems they twist good old Warden Krieg’s mind . I kicked the door to his office and I have to admire he didn’t expected me… Krieg and I , we have old settling scores to take care of and I ask him " Do you remember me?" and he was “Milton is that you?”… I think killing someone for his uniform wasn’t one my brightest ideas. Fight between us starts with him charging at me but bringing a mace to a gunfight which is equally bad like bringing a knife … I killed him and take a seat to take a breath when he stand up to show me his true power , funny enough his “true power” has the same range like his actual power … so he bites the floor again. I am still not trustworthy , but this entire plan wasn’t my idea , I just want to clear my name and punish all the people that used me and throw me to the wolves. Stay tuned
Video Day 1 (videos are not related to the story):
Act 1 CLICK ME
Chapter 2: (CLICK ME)
My day starts with John and Mornay. Mornay is some sort of a scout , but a bad one cause he was captured , tortured and shoot in the chest but even Underworld doesn’t need such a useless person so he survived … They want Cronley , cold so that is my net mission as a proud Black Legion member , Cronley and me we have some story behind during my stay at the prison , he was very impressed my talent and offer me a management position in his gang if I find a way to detonate an escaping route - I refuse and he threatening me with Edmund “Shanks” Doyle , some knife expert apparently. I laughed at his face , telling him " Mate , I am the most dangerous military demolitionist , do you think some one tooth scumbag can be match for me?“. I packed my stuff and for the first time of my life I actually repair a bridge instead of my usual orders to blow it. I step into a small Fort and I saw Edmund there , finally first person that I usually plan to kill for free , he starts showing off his knife skills and I show him my perception with the most clean head shot in my career , I cut his head with his own knife and I plan this to be my gift to Cronley. Barricade was placed to block the path to Old Arkovia , this is really bad news cause I am banned from using explosives and I don’t want Black legion to eliminate because I was naughty , so I report this to Mornay and they send another explosive expert to help me with the barricade . We reached the spot and this guy told me " We can’t detonate the barricade” and I was " What you talking about " and this amateur told me we don’t have dynamite… I left him there and go straight to the closest mine , today is my lucky day - Balthazar another “old friend” guards Cronley’s explosives supplies , was really dynamic gunfight , thankfully Cronley members aim is similar to the troopers from “Return of the Jedi” , so was a cake walk to dispatch them . I cut Balthazar head as well , I want to destroy Cronley gang in every possible level to show Cronley himself how serious I am . I visited the Heneffy mine , scouts report was very clear - Halion " The Rat" guards this one (no idea why they call him the rat ) , when I met the guy he used a giant rat to attack me , man that thing was huge and was somehow mutated - absolutely gross , I don’t like how this thing looks at me so I make two clean shots in this pet eyes. You have to see my face when this thing still attacked me even with two bolts in the head , Halion pulls his gun but this idiot forgot the safety lock - thats why military training comes in clutch and take his head. I managed to reach heart of the Cronley’s operation and found few prisoners that wait their turn for the Pit , they tell me a scary story about Boris the Pit Master how he can split man in half , I just walk into the Pit shoot the guy ,go back and shoot the prisoners cause I don’t like myths… I destroyed every forge in Four Hills so I can shut down all the weapons production and completely cripple Cronley’s gang . I reached the hideout late at night so element of surprise was on my side , I met an old friend “Moneybags” Martin - he was part of the demolition team as well , we have several missions together and he is one of the best explosives expert in Cairn (after me of course). I don’t want such a talent goes in vain , so I decide for a first time to talk before shooting , I make him an offer since I am banned from using explosives and I prefer a real demolitionist in my team not the idiot Black Legion send . We need “clean papers” for Martin so I let him send on a permanent holiday my old company and get his identity , during my report I include Martin’s bounty and one of his fingers so they can check the database and confirm the kill . This plan net me better companion , money and I get rid of the talentless noob they send to cover my back. Martin’s nickname represent his gambling addiction and also he toss a coin before every big decision , but still I prefer a skilled mass murderer than babysitting some twenty years old that freshly graduate the military school. We enter Cronley’s chamber with style and I throw all of his lieutenants heads at his feets just to show him his operation is done for , with his best man on my side things are not very good for Cronley . Martin forgot to mention Cronley is not exactly human anymore and he pop up some force field that makes him immortal , thankfully this force field battery life was very short , if it was like the battery of Nokia 3310 - we are doomed . Cronley managed to do few clean swings , Martin got few ribs broken and me I got knee injury , since Cronley spend few minutes beats the sh*t out of me he didnt noticed how Moneybags placed two thermite mines under the carpet and start taunting Cronley in his direction - flames of the thermite mines , triggered the energy from the Aether crystals on his back and the most famous gang leader disintegrate to atoms . We go back to Devils Crossing to report , Martin use his Incendiary casque as a cover so nobody suspect what we did , with the boy papers was easier to eliminate any doubts . Mournay non stop ask for Elsa - some girl that he apparently feels like a daughter , I tell him " Look buddy , all the prisoners were gone , she wasn’t there but looking at your face I am not surprised she run away …". We have to take some rest cause the bridge to Homestead is gone and the only way is deep into the ruins of Old Arkovia and I don’t like it ,cause very old curse fills the air and all dead people there are not exactly dead , Martin gave his list for equipment to John , we gonna need all the grenades needed to survive the slaughter in the catacombs. Sybil Hart takes care of our wounds and she shows some affection to Martin - poor girl didnt know he was a mercenary and was convicted of mass murder , but we have to keep the story up otherwise we gonna end up on the Jarvis wall… Stay tuned
Video Day 2:
https://youtu.be/9yOLI2yl-6g?si=9rIxmmrzeF2wT8xg
Chapter 3: (CLICK ME)
Our next mission is to find a way to provide more food , idea is to reach Homestead the main problem is Rutnick and what’s left from Cronley’s goons destroyed the bridge and we have to go deep into Old Arkovia ruins. Long time ago Old Arkovia elders decide to get rid of the necromancy , they build a very special prison called Steps of Torment to held and torture all the necromancers they managed to catch. Legend said the most powerful one called Uroboruuk was among them as well , arkovian elders become greedy they decide such a power can be wasted and they can force him to perform ritual for immortality , after days of tortures and starvation Uroboruuk was convinced and he performed the ritual. Arkovian elders and everyone in the old empire become immortal but not in the way they wanted… Martin prepared few salt bags to keep us safe from the evil spirits and don’t fall into the madness , last thing I want is to end up as a resident in Steps of Torment and being tortured by the most sadistic executioner - Alkamos (legends said you can still hear the screams of his victims). Martin slap me at the back of my head and tells my " Stop with this superstitious crap and let’s move on , before someone notice I am not exactly the person from the documents " . He was right we can’t afford this , so we move on but Mornay wants to come with us so he can find Elsa , unfortunately we don’t have a choice if we refuse by any means this will rise suspicions. Main problem is Mornay recommend the boy that we executed for the job and he knows him so we have to work on plan B. We reach Old Arkovia early at the morning and me met outside a necromancer and a spirit ( I know sounds like the beginning of a really bad joke) , we make a deal - they give us plans from Steps of Torment so we can loot all the goodies there and we kill all the elders in exchange. Mornay was " We don’t need money , we have to save Devil’s Crossing " , he starts to notice that we have some side plans and I really don’t like it. We refuse Death’s Vigil offer just to keep our cover for now. We go deep into the ruins and go on a skeletons killing spree , main problem is we bleed and they don’t , we take cover in some secret room inside the wall to take a breath and this was the ideal moment to get rid of Mornay , so Martin snaped his neck , anyways this guy has a survival instinct of a fish anyways , it’s so bad that if he acts in a horror movie they will kill him after the introduction of he producer… We found a shortcut to Broken Hills and we managed to see daylight , Martin is a bit weird he attached few skulls into his belt and he asks me " Dude do I look like the Predator ?" , as much as I want to not answer I just said " You look like a weirdo with skulls into his belt". We found Elsa in the middle of troll fight , we helped her and she decide to accompany us to Homestead , she asked if we met her scout partner - Mornay. We tell her this mission was his idea but unfortunately we were ambushed in the ruins and he got smoked. She looks relieved cause he was kinda stalker and all this “she is like daughter to me” were a bullshits. Three of us reached Smuggler pass and the exit was blocked the biggest troll that I ever see , our weapons means nothing to his thick skin so we have to go hand to hand combat , we are not very skilled in this so Voldrak send us with single blow in the corner of the room , Martin told me " I am fine , nothing very injured" and I was " Of course moron cause you land on me , the only part that dont hurt in my body is my left ear" . Thankfully Elsa was part of the Nightblades squad and she methodically slash every important muscle connection and finally beheaded the troll , this woman is something that we can use for sure but her plans were just to join Black Legion in Homestead . Deadman’s Gulch was very depressed scene , until we met the guy that captured me after I escape my trial - First blade of the Emperor a man with no name and unremarkable skills for tracking and kill. Martin draws his gun and I stopped him cause all of us will be dead before we managed to blink. He introduced himself as Ulgrim (the most stupid made up name ever ) and he ask for assistance save this refuges ,in return we will receive his help saving the world . Martin didnt like the idea having one of the best investigators in our side cause that means our plans to clear my name and get rich after that will be in constant risk. Mountain deeps was infested by troggs , unfortunately we are close to run out of ammo and explosives and as we know both me and Martin horrible in hand to hand combat ( we skip this classes ) , Elsa carried us the whole way to the exit , I can’t complain because I am a bit tired of all this aiming and sniping enemies. Homestead outskirts was very busy , a lot of Aetherial corruptions , Martin managed to smoke a guy and stole his Aetherial gun and start blasting and ask me " Do I look like Jango Fett ?" , I don’t know why he wants to look like a movie character that lose to purple sword when having all the distance advantage, blasters and rocket jet on his back… We secure the path to Homestead so Ulgrim arrived couple of hours later , Black legion take care of our wounds and promise to restock our equipment. Ulgrim looks not very sold about the story Martin is 18 years old and fresh recruit , especially watch him inspect all the explosives and packing our weapons , we have to keeping this low , because Black Legion are ruthless killers and they won’t hesitate to hang us. I visit Douglas to negotiate the food supply for Devil’s Crossing , he wants few favours in exchange - thats sounds a fair deal. Black legion also have job for us we have to fight Aetherials into the west and they build some monstrosity , Martin spends most of his time at the armory picking some new toys . We will spend the night to recover a little bit from all the beating we take last few days. Stay tuned
VIdeo day 3:
https://youtu.be/eIQQ1frhpWw
Chapter 4: (CLICK ME)
We wake up early the morning bu I decide to stay in Homestead and gather some valuable intel for the situation and Black Legion plans , also Creed and Ulgrim roles in this is a big mystery to us. Martin shows some skill and stole Creed’s journal and we discovered Ulgrim is some sort of ascendant or demigod. Martin wasn’t happy about it cause that make our task of assassinating him kind of impossible… Creed was sent by Luminari to investigate strange events in Burwitch and find himself in the middle of a war , so he is not our concern for now , also the deal that I make with him back at the prison should keep him away from our dirty schemes. Douglas wants from us to clear the crops’ fields , Martin was very excited cause his favourite movie is “Starship troopers” and after every insect mayhem he said " I am doing my part!“. We kill horde after horde of insects , until we reach an abandoned house to take some rest , we found some diary there and apparently Urobuuruk was resident here - he is not something that we want to mess with. We reach a refugee camp and they did something horrible buried alive a kid with nightmares and they call us criminals … Martin carefully detonates the entrance and we free the kid and we explain to her how to reach safely Homestead for our huge surprise on the way back we saw the entire camp incinerated and fiery demon laughing at the middle. Martin tossed a coin , unlucky for me I have to be the bait until he place some explosive traps . our weapons are probably useless and we don’t have a priest in our wee DnD party . I taunt the demon and immediately start running towards the cave entrance , Martin waits for me on top of the cave to pulls me up shockwave from the explosives send the demon back inside and Martin detonates the entrance again so we seal the bad guy again. We take some break , check what we have left as ammunitions and explosives , this encounter was out of our calculations but at least we dont smell like barbeque , I can’t say the same for the refugees in the camp … Later that day we found the source of all bugs , we go deep into that underground tunnel and two very short guys running towards us - Martin shoots both of them and one of them has a ring on his neck and with his last breath he told us " You have to toss it into the fire " . Thankfully Martin is very superstitious so he never put the ring on his finger but later on a very ugly creature attacked him for the same ring screaming " My precious " and I shot the poor thing . I told Martin to get rid of the ring cause seems like something cursed he said “No” . We reached the queen’s room and there a woman with flamethrower fighting for her against the big queen , Martin throw a flashbang to give me some time so I can get closer and finish the big bug with single precise shot , woman introduced herself as Lt. Ellen Ripley , she said her entire crew was slaughtered by the insects and she comes to finish them off by killing their commander . Another strong woman that we can use but I am start thinking we are not very good looking cause she refused as well … We did our part here so we depart to Devils Crossing with the promised food , Martin said to Sybyl Hart " Life is too short” and propose to her with this damn ring , she said “Yes” and the moment he put this ring on her finger , she disappeared - my jaw dropped. She appeared not far away from us scared and start explaining how she saw a giant eye watching her and we awake Witch-king of Angmar - I never heard about this mf but thanks to Martin seems this guy is after us and the ring , we can’t leave this ring in Devils’ Crossing because this guys can’t repair a pump on their own , somehow I can’t see them fighting this Witch King. Black legion send us in Pine Barrens to assist another squad , their weapons were far superior to ours but somehow they send us to do the dirty work , we don’t have much of choice because we want Black Legion’s trust . Tyrant Hold was nasty place , we make our way towards hordes of grobles and we found a warning letter “Warning: Groble Attacks on the Rise” but was too late they are everywhere , we reached their boss and this guy was huge - again our weapons were useless , he was covered in armor and ancient plates. Martin shout at me “His armor is weak at the neck and beneath the arm” so I did few clean shots and drop the giant before both of us end up in today’s menu as " Criminals with gravy and mashed potatoes" . We run out of ammunitions and weapons in general and was nearly dawn , so we decide to spend the night in the Black Legion camp , over the night Martin seasoned their food with manticore venom so we can solve our equipment problem. Martin and I , we have very nice breakfast compared to our friends they died in agony . We packed everything into their cart together with the bodies and ride to Homestead to report for the successful mission and the bad news that manticores bested our comrades , Martin ask if we can keep their weapons since they don’t need it anymore - Black Legion granted permission for that and now we have proper guns. Devil’s Crossing was ready for the wedding so we go there for a feast after we supply them with plenty of food and we deserved some fun after everything we go through , somehow I can’t see Martin as happy farmer after all of this over but I am happy for him. Stay tuned
Video Day 4:
https://youtu.be/MriopbouXFE
Chapter 5: (CLICK ME)
After the wedding we packed and go back to Homestead , our next deployment was deep into Blood Grove to shut down the cultist plans. Ulgrim said to us there are two groups that want to assist but the problem is they hate each other so e have to pick a side . I was ready to join Kymon Chosen simply because they look like proper military unit compared to the guys that use dead people as servants. Martin disagreed and told me " Think about it , if we join Necromancers we can get better loot from the fanatics , what we gonna do with magic wands and cursed beads when we side against the Urobuuruk people " . That’s why Martin is genius and we side with the necromancers and met them in their hideout , they need help to bring back to life one of their most experienced warriors , so we go deep into Blood Grove to find his remains. We met Bolvar , one of the best gunslingers in Cairn , bullets start flying in every direction , so we take cover behind a tree to reload and we didnt saw the cage that swing above us so Bolvar did one clean shot and this cage dropped on top of us , he steps closer and said " Thalonis will be happy , more blood for our plans " . We closed our eyes because this was the end and then we heard a loud bang and then I saw Bolvar chest wide open and he drops like sack of potatoes. I know only one person that use this type of explosive rounds capable of such severe damage and his name is Valduun. He stepped close to Bolvar cutting his head and said to us " You can’t imagine how lucky you are , if I don’t have this man’s name on a piece of bounty paper you would end up in the Darkvale bath " . I am not sure why cultists want to give us a shower , but I don’t want to push my luck against a person that carry his own bounty on his neck , this is real badass. Valduun head towards Devil’s Crossing for his reward and said to us " Don’t end up on the bounty table , because I never miss " , my blood froze and I look at Martin he was " Nah we did it well even before this bounty hunter arrived , everything was under control". I think the cage hit him pretty hard in the head cause we are dead mans if wasn’t Valduun . We found Malkadar’s remains and on the way to Deaths’ Vigil headquarter Martin lost his left arm , I hope he is not a shield user … We delivered the remains or at least part of them , necromancers wasn’t very happy cause one handed skeleton is not very useful. We continued to Darkvale Village and the scene there was depressing we found several bodies completely drained , this place turns into blood factory. We sneak in through couple of houses so we can avoid alarming the nearby cultists , they bested us once so we want to prevent this in the future. We gather valuable intel which one is our enemy here and that’s the local apothecary - this crazy girl was secret agent for the cultists and she drug every citizen here. We wait until dawn so we can set up few traps and explosives , we corrupt the water supply with manticore poison as well so we can secure our way out without fighting too much. Martin told me he goes after Zaria to end this madness and my duty is to locate the Darkvale gate and secure the path , I don’t like the idea of splitting because the most handsome person dies first and Martin is not very pretty if you know what I mean… He found her in the local bath draining few people to death , she draw a gun but Martin was faster and throw a dagger into her shoulder with sleeping toxin after that he hangs her on a hook and does few not so deep cuts so her blood can go slowly - he gave her some from her own “medicine” . Martin might be ruthless killer but his justice alarm is surprisingly high and I don’t want to cross this man. I found a safe entrance to Darkvale Gate , we can’t just step in and say “hi” so I decide to use underground escaping paths , our goal is to get Karroz operating plan so we can shut this whole operation , we sneak into his room and start searching for the diary. After a while we heard a voice behind us whispering " Any last words " , we turned up immediately but both of us got struck by some chaos energy and send across the room , Martin lost consciousness . Karroz channels another charge to finish me off , I grab the mirror in the last moment and redirect this bolt of energy next to him , that was enough to stun him and I emptied my clip in his body. I managed to wake up Martin and then something pierce my left shoulder and someone shouts " Get over here" , I was pulled towards nasty demon with tentacles .Martin reacts really quick and throws at me a holy water bomb (something that we worked on secretly so we can take care of the demons ) , I catched this mid air and stuck this in the demon’s mouth way before he ripped me apart . This maniac explodes into pieces , shockwave is very small so we survived , I look into Martin and ask " How you was so sure this will work out?" and he was " I wasn’t " … We go back to Homestead with all the intel we gathered and of course to get medical treatment. Creed and Ulgrim decide next destination to be Fort Ilkon and they will wait for us there , until we recover a bit from the last beatdown. Good news are Fort Ilkon feels like home because is proper military unit and I am close to discover why Empire set me up at the Necropolis. Stay tuned
Video Day 5:
https://youtu.be/M6M29C9JEl4
Chapter 6: (CLICK ME)
We have to cross Asterkan mountains - a very nasty place full of mythical creatures for some reasons , but this is the way to learn what happened at the Necropolis and why they used me a sacrificial lamb. Martin starts to kill both aetherials and cultists , cause when two sides fight usually the third one wins… We met few Kymons groups so we it’s like free reload of ammunitions , Martin idea to go against them was brilliant. Deaths Vigil gave us an important task to find some ashes , so we reach Tomb of Archon Barthollem - we don’t expect good hospitality so we just shoot on sight. Archon Barthollem guards the ashes , I genuinely ask Martin " How we gonna deal with this , he is some sort of fiery spirit ?" , Martin didnt said anything just fill a bucket with water from the nearby water source and splash the guy - my jaw dropped when he vaporized. I will be lost without my partner in crimes , end up we risk our lives for something that Death Vigil planning to smoke , this way they contact the other side . This is total bullshits and excuses to get wasted , this dark circles below their eyes is not from chatting with the other side. We finally reach Fort Ilkon so I look first for the commander that sign me for the Necropolis controlled explosion - Commander Lucius. Inquisitor shared with us that Lucius was corrupted and now gathers army in the armory and plan to detonate the whole fort since he stole all the explosives. This is good news for me cause I can kill him without consequences. I wave to Martin and we go deep into the prison , this time I was furious and we shoot our way to Lucius chamber , I told Martin we need Lucius alive so I can interrogate him. I was shocked when I saw him this guy was fully corrupt , his right arm was a cannon and he has multiple legs. We take cover cause he blasts like a mad man , Martin wait for the best opportunity when Lucius start to charge massive blast and he runs towards the cannon and tap it with grenade - massive explosion cuts Lucius right arm and send him next to the wall. Fight with him wasn’t finish , even with one arm he is still dangerous , Martin places few thermites mines to secure the gap between us and him , but he doesn’t care this mines were useless , our weapons also can’t scratch him . I saw an Aetherial gun on the ground so I slide under Lucius , grabbed the gun and open few holes in him. I have some questions to him so I told him " Tell me everything about the Necropolis and what I sealed that day " , he wasn’t very cooperative at the beginning but a little bit of salt into his wounds does miracles. Lucius explained that orders comes directly from the emperor and by his request they needed a demolitionist to take all the blame , on the question what I sealed that day he answered some very dangerous cargo - apparently couple of people died during the escort , person in charge for the escort was First Blade of the Emperor. Emperor send his best man to secure the mission which means the reason why Ulgrim is around is to dispatch us the moment we become useless. I am sad because I can’t kill the Emperor myself , he is already dead - during one of his sane moment as an aetherial possession he ordered Ulgrim to finish him off. I keep my word and put Lucius out of misery , I got few names but still the I don’t know what was down there when I press the button. I explained to Martin that this information can get both of us killed , so we have to pretend we are the good guys until we get good opportunity to kill Ulgrim. We keep part of the explosives for us , we are going to need every possible advantage when the time comes. I am not sure how much we can trust Creed as well because the whole story with my amnesty seems like a completely scam, we have to play dumb in front of him as well. Black Legion scouts come back from the Necropolis and report cultists managed to open the secret section , Ulgrim immediately jump and told us we have to stop them. Three of us sneaked into Tomb of the Watchers and we managed to reach the sealed section but was too late , all the barrels from the cargo were wide open , I noticed Luminari sealing runes on the barrels so Creed definitely knows more than he shares . I found a dusty diary and read part of it , apparently my biggest fear comes true - I sealed the whole staff here to starve , someone opens the barrels thinking what’s inside was a food , I keep the diary. Thalonis waiting for us on the other side and told us " You are too late we bring Chthon back , outcome with this fight doesn’t matter " , Ulgrim just flicked behind him and stab him through the spine , I never see such a speed in my entire life me and Martin we are dangerous but Ulgrim is on another level. We enter a small chamber and inside was some weird creature and I am not sure if we can win against god , Ulgrim didnt hesitate and attack the thing , we were busy with the hordes this creature summons . Fight against this enemies was tedious , Ulgrim received few really hard hits but it seems he is not human at all , he managed to cut all tentacles and was nearly victorious when this demon opened a void portal and start to consume all of us . Ulgrim stab the ground with his blades to counter the vacuum , this was our chance so Martin shoots Ulgrim in the head and he was consumed by the void I slide for the swords and throw both of them to finish the enemy , no wonder this swords work so well they were infused with Luminari runes. We can’t kill Ulgrim but at least we managed to banish him to fight eternally for his life at the void . Revenge is very sweet , they picked the wrong guy for the job and their second mistake was to think they can controlled me , most of the people responsible for this monstrosity at the Necropolis are dead or banished. I expected Creed to keep his word but wasn’t that easy , John arrived at Fort Ilkon in the worst possible shape just to share Aetherials took Malmouth and control everything at the North , they found a way to reproduce themselves rather than possess people and Creed said our deal stay the same - me saving the world , he drops all the charges against me. I told Martin this is not his fight anymore if he wants to go back to Homestead and build his little farm , I wouldn’t mind it but he looked me and said " I don’t plan to miss all the fun and you are not very good at taking care of yourself", in dire times like this having someone to trust is priceless. Stay tuned
Video Day 6:
https://youtu.be/9IMMI66s-0c
Chapter 7: (CLICK ME)
Inquisitor Creed refused to believe Ulgrim is dead so he gave us some rusty pan and send us after him , but to exactly locate him we need help from some witches. Martin suggest to travel east from Krieg’s Mansion so we can at least use safe passage. We enter Ugdenbog , this is very nasty area - things dont want to kill us , usually the ones that want to eat us. We saw behind the trees some pub which seems to be functional one , which is very strange in this dangerous area , Martin was sure we can gather some intel from the staff there. We are very surprised from the hospitality here , owner offer to us free drinks . I started to feel a bit dizzy I tried to reach my gun but got knocked out . We wake up in some weird chamber and some lady cuts vegetables in large cauldron. I looked at Martin and ask him whats going on here and he told me with the most possible calm voice " We are part of the main menu" . This woman come closer in attempt to cut our throats so they can carve us , she goes first for Martin I can’t believe we gonna die like this as a soup … Martin was skilled criminal so he freed himself and with one single move snap this woman neck , thankfully this guys are not very clever and they left our weapons in the corner. We prepare ourselves , cause we have to deal with some cannibal tribe that looked like normal people. Martin moves like a shadow and managed to kill the guard that can rise the bell so nobody can alarm rest of the village. We saw very good looking house which is one level taller than the rest so this might be the major’s house. I lockpicked the back door so we found the owner on the second floor sleeping , we managed to entangled him to a chair and start with our usual army interrogation. His name was Scorv and he explains how he safed this village from poverty and turn them into community - this is strange name for a cult but who I am to judge. Scorv and the pub owner worked together so they have unlimited supply of fresh meat and main plan was to bring back from exile some mythical creature called Ravager , after a little bit more torturing he gave us three names - people that are also behind this monstrosity. Martin said to him " You don’t deserve to waste a bullet , scumbag" and cut his throat ( I don’t want to be Martin enemy , this guy is nuts ) . We found Tyvold (muscles behind this operation) , Jordyth and Aurin (mastermind behind everything ) inside their houses and silently kill them so we don’t alarm the whole village , Martin wants to leave a message so he impale their heads in the front fences. This situation was really bad for us but at least Scorv pointed on the map location of the Coven , so we move towards it. Witches there watching us like a toddler - candies , Martin whispers " I bet they didnt saw men for a while , I am married but you are not so prepare for marathon" . That’s way too much women even for a person that spend last two years in Devils Crossing prison. Witches proposed favour for a favour , so we have to fix some totems and hunt some animal hearts for the ritual so they can enchant this fckn rusty pan that we carry all the way here. I am against animal cruelty so I stay away until Martin finished this , he is criminal without remorse so his karma is fine. Our new friends do their mojo and enchanted the pan , honestly I expect pan to change or something glowing or much cooler but it was the same fckn rusty pan at the end , Martin was really disappointed and asked " That’s it no glowing , no flashes and no flames from the pan, what sorcery is this? " , Garradia answered " This is not movie, dumbass !“. Martin said to me before we go to this suicidal mission we have to go back to the pub , because we have unfinished business there. Owner’s face when he saw us was priceless , Martin drags him into the basement and start heating up the cauldron and ask the owner if he likes carrots or potatoes more - he begs for mercy but Martin can’t be bargained with, can’t be reasoned with .He doesn’t feel pity or remorse or fear and absolutely will not stop ever… until you are dead! Watching how Martin boils this guy alive wasn’t my type of thing so I just wait outside until he gots his revenge , Martin come back with two bowls of soup and I was " Thats disgusting mate !” and he was " Relax , I prepare a soup without human parts in a separate pot , you have pretty low opinion about about me , especially after I saved your ass several times" . Soup was actually better than Edwin’s one , Sybil is a lucky woman. We have several close calls and I feel guilty involving Martin in all of this , especially after he met a special person and plan to leave behind his past and become a different person. Martin and I , we have a really nice bowl of soup and after few healthy kills and some witching mojos we can move towards the Altar of Ratosh. We standing in front of big red portal , similar to the one that consumed Ulgrim , we have to swap our weapons to crossbows with silver bolts and we prepared some holly bombs as well cause demons can’t be killed with casual guns and explosives. We jump inside and we was very surprised to see another demon hunter fighting packs of demons - that was Edith the Bloodied , she was part of the cultists and se decide to betray them. We rushed to help her cause such a strong ally is what we need to get out of here and reach Lone Watch with all of our limbs. Edith used the legendary crossbow called Silverbolt , this weapon was build to kill every demon , we make a deal if we help her to kill Ekket’Zul - demon that she tracks , she will help us to get out. This demon was nothing that we ever see before - massive monster with black wings and summons armageddon upon us , we toss a coin again and this time was time for Martin to be the decoy and me and Edith we positioning for ambush. Martin throws few holly bombs under his feets but no effect , I think holy water doesn’t work on such powerful deities ,so Ezek grabs Martin and plan to eat him alive. We step in and did two very clean shots into this guy eyes so he falls like sack of potatoes , Edith didnt hesitate and cut his head with silver cutlass - we look like completed amateurs in terms of demon killing compare to her. We reached nearly the exit when we saw Ulgrim sitting around bunch of dead enemies and mumbling something about his mom , he was out of his mind. Edith asked us if we know him - lying to a woman that is expert killer is not the most smart move so we decide to tell her the truth and why for the sake of all of us is good to leave him here. She explains to us that in their cult used to be a myth about silent killer that kill most of their leaders and she is on the same boat like us because bounty for her head still active even after her redemption arc. We reached daylight and Edith asked us if we want to go after Lunal’Valgoth together with her , but we have to reach Malmouth before is too late , we hand her few holy bombs as an act of kindness - after all if wasn’t her , we are dead men. Martin offers to make a camp here and take some rest , he cooked another pot of soup and we fill up our bellies before the challenges in Malmouth. Stay tuned
Video Day 7 (Part 1):
https://youtu.be/nW9CmRA3XjA
Video Day 7 (Part 2)
https://youtu.be/PQJf6uR4Igs
Video Day 7(Part 3)
https://youtu.be/9v4c1yOZh-g
Video Day 7(Part 4)
https://youtu.be/0AgLoDk-vy4
Chapter 8: (CLICK ME)
We arrived at Mourndale early at the morning , air was filled with smell of a battlefield , watching Aetherials and Chthonians kill each other is like watching the trash throw by itself… Martin did a plan how to reach the sewers with minimum risk and also preserve some resources , because this starts to look like suicide mission. Creed is very suspicious towards us and we have to deal with him quick before entire Luminari is after us for all the dirty schemes we did according to get out of this situation as rich men. Sewers were smelly and moisturized , very nasty combination if you ask me and I come from one of the worst prisons. Wilford , the captain of Malmouth resistance never heard of the Black Legion , this is a bit concerning because that means level of intel here is on the bare minimum. He doesnt trust us , so we need to do few simple tasks like burn some wagons with Malmouth corpses and bring back some supplies so this camp don’t starve . Creed refused to go through the sewers so we have to find a way to bring his lazy ass inside the camp . Martin was very curious about this corpses and why Wilford wants them to burn , we dispatched a lot of aetherials until we reach the first cart with dead soldiers , I lid the torch but Martin stops with the words " Something seems off here , I think someone tries to cover evidence ". Martin examined few corpses and there is a shocking discovery , all soldiers have a gunshot wounds and last time we checked aetherials don’t use guns , that means someone in the resistance work with aetherials to destroy the resistance from the inside. We are in the middle of something much bigger than we thought , we have play dumb for now until we got bigger proof . We managed to rescue a young couple , sadly he won’t make it but he promised to us to give us a location of his savings if we save his girlfriend , supplies were nearby as well but the whole place is warzone - the more enemies we kill , the more they come out of nowhere. Martin said " We can’t continue like this our ammo are nearly finished , we have to come back and make a better plan , so we go back to the hideout and contact the Black Legion to send supplies , good news are they will do - bad news are Creed comes with it. Wilford shares intel that we can secure the bridge so our people can pass safely from there , we have one little problem which is actually big - gates are under aetherials control. We reached the target a big monstrosity aetherial golem guards the control panel for the bridge , we toss a coin again and this time Martin is the decoy , idea is to lure him in the nearby house and just detonate the whole place to seal him , Martin should run towards the window and jump then me trigger the detonator , nothing can goes wrong but the window ended up jammed and now Martin was inside the building fighting for his life with a golem. Thankfully aetherial giant was kind enough and break the window using Martin so , I detonate the bad guy and mission was complete. Martin laying face down completely wrecked and humiliated is something that can be seen everyday so I take few pictures for my journal before I wake him up . Before we release the bridge , we sabotage it with few explosives so we can get rid of Creed , he wasn’t very happy to see us but that doesnt matter the moment he steps in we detonate the whole thing and Creed was done , sadly we killed the Black Legion squad but this was a necessary casualties , we cover our steps and make it looks like aetherials blow up the bridge. Luminari send another Inquisitor to investigate and supervise us - Ignaffar looks ruthless , there is something dark in his eyes , legends said he is the only inquisitor that manage to embrace the Void , this studies definitely leave their marks . He goes straight to the point and tell us he knows what we did to his colleague and the fact we are still alive means he is up to something then he said " I know you killed Creed but I am more interested in a deal rather then incinerate you in place. I need something that is located deep into Infestation area and that’s the heart of Theodin Marcell , that artefact will help me to master the aether energy and use it as my advantage when the time comes " then Martin asked " Lest say we bring it to you , what’s left for us ? " . He assured us that any charges against us will be dropped ,he will bring our wee secret into the grave and his final report to the Luminari will accuse aetherials for the Creed’s death , this sounds like a fair deal to us. Martin said to me " Luminari are more criminals than us " , we don’t have choice , the deal is really good . We managed to negotiate extra access to resistance armory so we can prepare better for the final conflict with Theodin Marcell
Day 8 videos:
Part 1:
https://youtu.be/BadhELj3Yy4
Part 2:
https://youtu.be/mBppOzv6qSI
Part 3:
https://youtu.be/DqIcQTeFM2A
Part 4:
https://youtu.be/B2shxEgor3U
Part 5:
https://youtu.be/mF9qxw6RDvY
Part 6:
https://youtu.be/3svdpOP7XY8
Part 7:
https://youtu.be/cs5fJ_asDYE
Part 8:
https://youtu.be/ppPcKE0e2sk
Final Chapter: (CLICK ME)
Black Legion and Malmouth Resistance veterans support us so we can reach the main entrance to Theodin Marcell headquarter. This place can’t be described with simple words , Devils Crossing prison looks like heaven compare to this nasty building. Martin find a shortcut and we arrived in the “maternity” ward and leading doctor was Warden Krieg , I genuinely asked him " How many times I have to kill you , so you can stay permanently dead ?" . Martin is not much into good vs evil speeches so he just shoot Krieg between the eyes and we throw few black water cocktails to release all this women out of misery. Aetherials have to pay for what they did , I am criminal and military man but I never saw such a gruesome stuff. We continued our mayhem when suddenly we met a host of an aetherial who wants to release him , after I saw what they did to this poor women I slashed his throat without hesitation. Theodin Marcell time comes and we entered the most gruesome scene ever , in a big room completely created from flesh we found a guy that controls all the flesh - he wasn’t human anymore. He starts to mumble something about his creation but as we know Martin is not very chatty so we start blasting on sight , it’s pointless to share that our weapons was completely useless. We were outnumbered for seconds and Martin told me " I don’t want to end up as a shoes or a carpet like most of the people here" , I was out of ideas and options but then I noticed two Aether crystals and realise that’s the source of power . I told Martin " You have to cover me I have a plan " , so I immediately run in the crystal direction so I can attach explosives and shatter them , after my success I noticed all the enemies drop like sack of potatoes and Theodin was visibly weaker at this point so that’s our opportunity to finish him off. I go down on my knees and screamed " Martiiin" and then he runs towards me and use me as a trampoline to jump and cut Theodin’s head. We put the heart in a cooling bag and go back to Steelscap District. High Inquisitor Ignaffar kept his word and gave me the clean papers , also he lied in his report to the Luminari what happened to Creed and Ulgrim in return we gave him the pulsing heart of the aetherial tyrant. That was the end of my journey I managed to get my revenge , clear my name and save some money to start my life over far away from the army and for sure far away from the Black Legion. Martin on the other he bought old Tornsbury farm and start his new life as a farmer , we said our goodbyes because this is the right thing to do , if we stay close to each other chances Valduun knocks on our doors was pretty high. Black Legion and Luminari took all the credits for the events in Fort Ilkon and Malmouth , world will never learn the truth about us and what we did to save it , but deep down both Luminari and Black Legion know that there are two people that are much more dangerous than the Grim Dawn.
THE END
Part 1:
https://youtu.be/3uKwynJg-Qo
Part 2:
https://youtu.be/Ftx9YNOWtqI
Part 3:
https://youtu.be/O5CPizqNMqA
Part 4:
https://youtu.be/U2RuOoo2DyM
Part 5:
https://youtu.be/ia3PKT5IX8o
@romanN1 I did the impossible and this was so far the hardest thing I ever did in my 8000+ hours in Grim Dawn. I failed the timer with 3h20mins , I did a lot of mistakes this run and I am pretty sure this can be done sub 30 hours with some practice , huge shoutout to @Spraynerb for sharing few really good pointers during the first run which leads to better strategy for the second run and supporting the entire run in YouTube. Huge thanks to everyone that support the wee fan fiction story here , another huge thanks to the Grim Dawn community for the positive feedbacks and the motivation. Last but not least huge thanks to Crate for the amazing game , dedication and the great work over the years !!!
