Mursaat's Game

Mursaat's Game is a Janthir Side Stories collection achievement and a follow-up of Missing Scout.

Achievement

Mursaat's Game	Janthir Side Stories	3
Complete the steps to free Riven Marl.It's just a game. Or is it? Prerequisite: Missing Scout Objectives: 13 objectives in total What's happening? The game was rigged from the start. You need help. Maybe Ocean Bloom and Blinding Sunrise have some ideas. Riven Marl learned to whittle during an art class in Harvest Den. It is one of their favorite memories. Riven Marl would often while away the hours with a nice, hot bath at their favorite spot in the lowlands. Riven Marl once Won a bet by climbing to the top of the Cathedral of Blood. Riven Marl's worst scouting experience was soaking in the rain near Dead Lovers Rock. Riven Marl was scouting Yagon's Gift during a period when the agony had dissipated. Riven Marl was part of the group that helped the Priory explore Celsa's Orchard. Riven Marl was known to whittle high up above the Alliance Staging Ground. Riven Marl was one of the first to volunteer to enter a mursaat mirror. You've got your army. Now win the game and save Riven Marl. ... You've beaten the game. Time to see if Riven Marl is okay.	Completed 1 Step to Free Riven Marl	1
	Completed 7 Steps to Free Riven Marl	1
	Completed 13 Steps to Free Riven Marl	1

Walkthrough

	Objective	Map	Nearest Waypoint	Notes
1	What's happening?			Checked when you return to the Strange Box during step 12.
2	The game was rigged from the start. You need help.			Checked automatically upon start of the quest line.
3	Maybe Ocean Bloom and Blinding Sunrise have some ideas.		Alliance Staging Ground Waypoint —	Just south-west of the waypoint.
4	Riven Marl learned to whittle during an art class in Harvest Den. It is one of their favorite memories.		Harvest Den Waypoint —	Rytlock Carving: At the top floor of the  Denning Forge — in Lowland Shore.
5	Riven Marl would often while away the hours with a nice, hot bath at their favorite spot in the lowlands.		Hot Springs Waypoint —	Caithe Carving: Behind the house at the  Lowland Hot Springs — in Lowland Shore.
6	Riven Marl once Won a bet by climbing to the top of the Cathedral of Blood.		Sanguine Crater Waypoint —	Logan Carving: At the top of  The Cathedral of Blood — in Janthir Syntri.
7	Riven Marl's worst scouting experience was soaking in the rain near Dead Lovers Rock.		Stricken Plains Waypoint —	Eir Carving: on a rock pillar south-west of  Dead Lovers Rock — in Janthir Syntri.
8	Riven Marl was scouting Yagon's Gift during a period when the agony had dissipated.		Alliance Staging Ground Waypoint —	Garm Carving: in a small room north-east of  Yagon's Gift — , only accessible after the Agony Field Survey (north Lane) event chain in Mistburned Barrens. Cannot be reached during the Defeat Yagon and the captured jade construct event, even during the phases where the agony is temporarily gone. You may enter the cave/alcove right after the event when the agony is temporarily lowered, however.
9	Riven Marl was part of the group that helped the Priory explore Celsa's Orchard.		Alliance Staging Ground Waypoint —	Snaff Carving: In a small room at the edge of the map, east of  Celsa's Orchard — in Mistburned Barrens.
10	Riven Marl was known to whittle high up above the Alliance Staging Ground.		Alliance Staging Ground Waypoint —	Zojja Carving: On a pillar above the waypoint in Mistburned Barrens.
11	Riven Marl was one of the first to volunteer to enter a mursaat mirror.		Alliance Staging Ground Waypoint —	Mr. Sparkles Carving: Interact with the mursaat mirror at  Valravn's Vigil — in Mistburned Barrens.
12	You've got your army. Now win the game and save Riven Marl.		Alliance Staging Ground Waypoint —	Return to the Strange box near the  Hidden Sacrarium Vista — in Mistburned Barrens.
13	You've beaten the game. Time to see if Riven Marl is okay.		Alliance Staging Ground Waypoint —	Get back to the location of Ocean Bloom and Blinding Sunrise, and talk to Riven Marl to initiate the end dialogue.

Dialogue

At the Alliance Staging Ground

Talking to Blinding Sunrise and Ocean Bloom

Blinding Sunrise: Wayfinder, you're back. Any word on Marl?

I'm sorry. They have fallen into a mursaat trap.

Ocean Bloom: They are dead, then... A great loss for the bearkin. We all knew the price we might pay by coming here. We should retrieve their remains if possible.

They're not dead. They're trapped inside the realm of a crazed mursaat.

Blinding Sunrise: You have seen them, then? In this...realm? We should rescue them at once! Perhaps your wizard friends can assist?

It's too dangerous. Others could become trapped.

Blinding Sunrise: We do not leave kin behind. Is there nothing we can do?

Don't worry, I won't leave them. There was also mention of their carvings?

Ocean Bloom: Carvings? They were never interested in fighting, but they did their duty for the bearkin. Their true passion is wood carving and painting. I'm not sure how they will help you, though.

What did they carve?

Blinding Sunrise: In between your adventures, they liked to listen to Caithe tell stories of her travels. They carved figures based upon those...tall tales.

Any idea as to where they could be?

Blinding Sunrise: During our scouting missions, they whittled to pass time in between searches. I can give you the last few missions we were sent on. Maybe that will put us on the right track?

Great. Show me the spots.

I'm sorry, I have to go.

Inside the Strange Box

Sybil: Ah! You did come back. Splendid. Are you prepared this time?

<Character name>: Are you?

Piece enhance panel

What piece will you enhance (+1 Dam) this round?

Caithe?

Eir?

Garm?

Logan?

Mr. Sparkles?

Rytlock?

Snaff?

Zojja?

After selecting the piece.

Round X, Rolling Initiative

Sybil quotes

Sybil: An interesting choice.

Sybil: A tactical error.

Sybil: I see.

Sybil: Unpredictable, but hardly strategic.

Sybil: Novice's luck.

Sybil: Don't toy with me!

Sybil: Unbelievable.

Sybil: Don't waste my time.

Upon finishing all of Sybil's pieces

<Character name>: You've lost. Let them go.

Sybil: No. It's taken an eternity to collect them. I won't give them up!

Upon finishing the Champion Jade Armor piece and Sybil

Sybil: The pieces I've had for centuries will crumble if you take them. What would it cost you to let me keep them?

Riven Marl: Thank you, Wayfinder. I couldn't move... could barely think.

Riven Marl: I thought I'd never see blue skies again.

Sybil: This one. This one is still lucid. Don't take them. I need...

Sybil: It's been so long since I had someone to talk to.

<Character name>: This place isn't really a sanctuary, is it?

<Character name>: But you chose this. You're not going to force anyone else to endure it with you.

After the fight

Sybil: Alone. I'll be alone.

You already were.

The first piece I captured... I didn't care for her pious nonsense, but she spoke—until she learned that we couldn't leave. Not a coherent word from her since.

Despair can do that to someone.

I could lapse into mindless screaming, if it pleased me! I could make my skull an empty grave. Am I the only one with the fortitude to bear it?

You gave them no other escape.

Is that why they all break? Too weak to challenge me. Too stubborn to accept defeat gracefully.

Can you accept defeat gracefully?

I must. I have no choice. But...you can choose. You could come and go as you please from time to time. You could come back.

I'll consider it.

You're on your own.

You haven't learned anything.

Good-bye, Sybil.

Another White Mantle betrayed by her "gods".

Goodbye, Sybil.

Back to the Alliance Staging Ground

Talking to Riven Marl

Blinding Sunrise: Marl, why would you ever go prodding a strange artifact in a place like this?

Ocean Bloom: Lucky, you are, that the wayfinder fetched you back.

Riven Marl: I'd hate for you—or Maw—to think I'm a fool. But it called to me.

Riven Marl: Wanted to see how it was crafted, I did. I couldn't look away.

<Character name>: Your craftwork saved us both. And I'll bet a carving of Big Snaff could take on a jade construct alone.

Riven Marl: Big Snaff's a real undertaking. He's in my "someday" pile... with fifty other ideas.

<Character name>: Well, keep me posted. I'm going to take this box to the Wizard's Court—they'll know what to do with it.

Riven Marl: I hope they lock it up and forget about it. I hope I forget about it, too.

Mechanics

The instance at the beginning of the game

The Mursaat's Game in the instance follows a dice-based RPG. You have the characters from your carvings as pieces that fight for you. Every round, each piece on your and your enemies' side will take turns where each piece will make an attack. The effects  Armor,  Damage,  Hit Points and  Initiative indicate the attributes of each of the pieces.

Each round starts with a message "Round 1, Rolling Initiative" followed by a selection where you can choose which of your remaining pieces you want to enhance by applying  Damage Enhancement to increase the Damage value by 1. It appears that regardless of the selection, Rytlock will always gain a Damage Enhancement, so it is advised to choose someone else.

During the round, each piece will attack one after another, dealing their respective amount of damage (reduced by the target's armor). This is noted in the chat as "<Attacker> attacks <Target> for <Amount> damage". The dealt damage is then reduced from the stack count of the Hit Points effect. If the stack count reaches zero, the piece dies. The order in which the pieces attack appears to be random so it is not clear how the initiative attribute and the rolled initiative at the beginning of the round affect the order.

Pieces

Sybil and the player character have 10  Hit Points each.

Player pieces	Armor	Damage	Hit Points	Initiative
Snaff	-	3	4	20
Garm	-	2	2	40
Eir	-	2	8	25
Logan	1	2	10	5
Caithe	-	2	4	60
Rytlock	1	3	13	10
Zojja	-	2	4	25
Sparkles	1	2	15	4
Sybil pieces	Armor	Damage	Hit Points	Initiative
Riven Marl	-	3	14	25
White Mantle Knight	1	2	10	50
Bloodstone Elemental Sprite	-	2	6	10
White Mantle Elementalist	-	3	8	30
Champion Jade Armor	1	4	15	50

Sybil starts with the first four pieces. The Champion Jade Armor appears when all other have been defeated.

Notes

Bugs:

The instance will bug out if the Champion Jade Armor piece is swapped in after a round instead of mid-round. This will cause the game to freeze with only exit to Log Out or Exit the game.

• If this happens, you will have to start the battle from the beginning.

• Trying to re-enter the box after beating Sybil will show the message, "This should never be reopened. Maybe the wizards can hide it away."
• Selecting the "Examine corpses?" near the box after beating Sybil will show the message, "The bodies look like they've been dead for years; the magic keeping them alive is gone."