Side quest Lake Zarovich Level 8

The Bell Under the Lake

Old Nistor, the last fisherman on Lake Zarovich, says the fish went deep forty years ago. He knows why, and he's never told anyone.

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

Old Nistor, the last fisherman at Lake Zarovich: the Fishers' Landing, is out mending nets from 7:00 to 17:00, except in a storm. He only tells this story once the business of the missing Vistani girl is settled (The Missing Girl: Arabelle rescued or lost). After that, his menu has "Why did the fish go deep?"

Before the count dammed the Luna, a village called Pescari stood where the lake is now. The people who wouldn't leave its chapel are still down there with the bell, and it rings when they want company. A sack a month used to keep them quiet. Those were Bluto Krogarov's sacks. Bluto wasn't mad; he was paying the bell, and now he has stopped. The journal opens at Asked. You can try Insight DC 13 on Nistor first; it only tells you he's afraid for Bluto and for himself. Then answer "We'll be here when it comes."

Step by step

  1. Wait for moonrise. Once the quest has started, "The end of the jetty, over deep water" can be examined on the jetty. By day it shows only the pale square of a drowned roof far below. Come back at night (19:00 to 6:00) and examine it again. The bell rings under the black water, the journal moves to The Bell, and the water along the shore stands up in the shape of people.
  2. Choose who stands where. The drowned come for the last living men on the landing.
    • If Bluto is alive and still at the landing (you saved him from the jetty, or left him to live with what he did), they come for him. "Stand in front of him." puts you in their way (Godrick Pendlebrook and Liriel Dawnsong +2). "(Stand aside. Let them have what they came for.)" lets them drag him down into the lake (Thistle and Kip Smudgewick +1, Godrick −2, Liriel −3). They rise again anyway, because they were never coming for just one man.
    • Otherwise they come for Nistor, who sits down on his step to wait. Your only choice is to stand in front of him.
  3. The drowned of Pescari (drowned_landing).
    • Below level 8: the Bellringer of Pescari (a Wight), 2 Ghasts and 6 Ghouls.
    • Level 8: the Bellringer as a Wraith, the Lake's Undertow (a Water Elemental), 4 ghasts and 6 ghouls.
    • Level 9: as level 8, plus a second Undertow and a Drowned Bride (a wight).

    From level 8 this is a Moderate-to-High fight with a lot of bodies. The ghouls' and ghasts' claws paralyse anyone who isn't undead (and, for ghouls, isn't an elf) and fails a DC 10 Constitution save. Keep together so someone can strike the paralysed free. The wraith resists ordinary weapon damage and drains life. The Undertow's Whelm grabs and drowns whoever is in its space. Winning moves the journal to Risen.

  4. Silence the bell. Go back to the end of the jetty. The shore is quiet, but the bell is still swinging far below. Any one of these silences it:
    • Athletics DC 15: swim down the bell rope and cut it loose. If you fail, the cold drives you back up and half an hour passes. You can try again.
    • Cast Water Breathing and go down properly. No roll. Someone in the party must be able to cast it; it goes up as a Ritual, so it takes ten minutes and no spell slot. If Water Breathing is already running (it lasts 24 hours once cast from the character sheet), pick "(Go down for it properly, breathing water.)" instead.
    • Drink a Potion of Water Breathing, if you carry one. No roll.
    • Religion DC 14: ring it once from the jetty for every one of the dead. If you fail, the note comes up flat and angry, but you can try again or try another way.

    In the drowned chapel's doorway, caught on the broken rope, you find the priest's Staff of Healing and an iron box of chapel silver worth 200 gp. The quest ends at Silenced.

Choices and endings

There's one ending, Silenced, and the reward is the same however you get there. What differs is Bluto, and what Nistor says afterwards:

  • You let the drowned take Bluto. His shack stands empty, and Nistor sometimes thinks he hears him singing out on the water.
  • You stood in front of Bluto. Nistor isn't sure what he thinks of strangers who would stand between the lake and a man who put a child in a sack.
  • You stood in front of Nistor. He's been waiting forty years for the lake to come up that shore, and never thought anyone would stand there.

Either way, the next morning he catches a pike the length of his arm, the first fish in a year worth keeping.

If you're stuck

  • Nistor doesn't mention the fish. Settle Arabelle's fate in Vallaki first. Nistor is only at the landing from 7:00 to 17:00, and not in storms.
  • Nothing happens at the jetty. It has to be night (19:00 to 6:00). By day it's just water.
  • You can't make the dive. You can retry the Athletics and Religion rolls as often as you like.

Rewards

What your companions think

  • Godrick Pendlebrook: +2 you stood between the drowned and the man they came for; -2 you let the drowned take Bluto
  • Liriel Dawnsong: +2 you stood between the drowned and the man they came for; -3 you let the drowned take Bluto
  • Thistle: +1 you let the drowned take Bluto
  • Kip Smudgewick: +1 you let the drowned take Bluto

Fights

By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)

Journal

Every journal entry and hint

Asked: Before the count dammed the Luna there was a village where Lake Zarovich is now: Pescari. The ones who wouldn't leave its chapel are still in it, and so is the bell, and it rings when they want company. A sack a month kept them down; that was what Bluto's sacks were for. Now the sacks have stopped, the bell rings every night, and they're coming up the shore.
Hint: Go to the fishers' landing on Lake Zarovich after moonrise and walk to the end of the jetty, over the deep water.

The Bell: The bell rang under the black water, and the drowned of Pescari came up the shore, led by a tall figure in a priest's sodden black. They came for the last living men on the landing.
Hint: Stand with Old Nistor on the landing and drive the drowned back into the lake.

Risen: The drowned are back under the water, for tonight. Far out, the bell swings, waiting.
Hint: Go back to the end of the jetty at the Lake Zarovich landing: cut the bell loose (a strong swimmer, Water Breathing) or ring it once for the dead (Religion).

Silenced (the end: success): The bell under Lake Zarovich is quiet. In the drowned chapel's doorway we found the priest's staff and the chapel silver nobody carried up the hill. The fish are coming back.

Every skill check in its conversations
  • Insight DC 13: (Is he afraid for Bluto, or for himself?)
  • Athletics DC 15: (Swim down the bell rope from the jetty's end and cut the bell loose.)
  • Religion DC 14: (Ring it once, from the jetty, for every one of them, the way it should have been rung…