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Arcanum Low-Spoiler Directory of Quests
Without spoiling any of them, here is a list of the major quests in the game, with the synopsis you get when they're assigned (note that this
information may be incomplete or wrong in some cases--questgivers do not always tell you the whole story!)
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Not everything you can do in
this game is on the list--conversations you can have with townsfolk, fights you can get yourself into, and treasures you can find or steal,
for instance, are not. If you're curious about something that isn't significant enough to make your game journal and you don't find it on this
list, try looking in my Area Guide under the town or area you found it in. Overly explicit hints and notes about
multiple ways to go about solving quests (there are many in this game) are linked to on another page to prevent accidental spoilage.
Major Arcanum Quests
One Ring To Rule Them All
You get this quest: From the dying gnome in the intro scene.
The quest is: Find the owner of the ring he gave you.
A Letter From Wilhemina
You get this quest: You don't per se, but when you find her tragic letter, it should probably occur to you to deliver it.
The quest is: Deliver her letter for her posthumously.
The Cursed Ghost
You get this quest: From the ghost of Charles Brehgo in the cave at the crash site.
The quest is: Kill the priest Arbalah to release him from his undeath.
Notes: This quest and the Arbalah's Artifact quest are tied together, but it's possible to complete either, neither, or
both. See here for details.
Arbalah's Artifact
You get this quest: From Arbalah if you talk rather than just killing him.
The quest is: Retrieve his holy artifact from Simon Fahrkus.
Special conditions: You must have accepted the Cursed Ghost quest to get this one.
Notes: This quest and the Cursed Ghost quest are tied together, but it's possible to complete either, neither, or both. See
here for details.
Remove The Bandits
You get this quest: From Constable Owens in Shrouded Hills.
The quest is: Kill or otherwise dispose of the bandits blocking the only bridge out of town.
Notes: There are several ways to get rid of these bandits besides just killing them; see
here for details.
Rob The Bank
You get this quest: From Jacob Bens in Shrouded Hills.
The quest is: Rob the bank and split the loot with Jacob.
Notes: This is an evil quest.
Damn Newfangled Machines
You get this quest: From Jongle Dunne in Shrouded Hills
The quest is: Destroy Constable Owens' steam engine.
Notes: This is an evil quest, even if you manage to avoid killing the dwarf working the engine.
Jongle Dunne's Errand
You get this quest: From Jongle Dunne in Shrouded Hills
The quest is: Pick up a package from Dernholm.
Special conditions: You must have finished the Damn Newfangled Machines quest to get this one.
You must not have finished Now How Did That Got Broken? before finishing this one.
Now How Did That Get Broken?
You get this quest: From Constable Owens in Shrouded Hills
The quest is: Find him a special gear to fix the steam engine you sabotaged.
Special conditions: You must have finished the Damn Newfangled Machines quest to get this one.
Find Some Ore
You get this quest: From Lloyd the blacksmith in Shrouded Hills
The quest is: Fetch him some pure ore. I'm almost embarrassed to clutter the quest list with this, but it does appear in your journal.
Notes: Lloyd wants pure ore, not just iron ore. If you have Smithy tech or Magnus the dwarf, you can make some right on the
spot. Otherwise, you can find some in another blacksmith shop or, once you've freed Bessie, in her mine. Any old lump will do.
Lawman
You get this quest: From Doc Roberts in Shrouded Hills.
The quest is: Help him kill some bank robbers.
N'Tala
You get this quest: From Gaylin the herbalist in Shrouded Hills
The quest is: Bring the amulet N'Tala back to Gaylin.
Notes: You won't find this amulet on the course of any normal quests--it's being worn by a minor character. If you're a thief who
pickpockets people as a matter of course, you will run into it; if you're playing an evil character who kills anyone irritating, you
may wind up with it too.
The Ghost Of Bessie Toone
You get this quest: From Percival Toone in Shrouded Hills
The quest is: Lay Bessie Toone's ghost to rest.
Notes: This quest comes in two parts, and has two possible solutions. Click here for details.
Retrieve The Ring
You get this quest: From Gladys in Dernholm
The quest is: Bring her back her family ring.
Notes: You can always kill Archibald for the ring, or steal it from him, but if you talk to his son Bernard instead, you can learn the true
story. Go back to talk to Archibald again, and you can eventually set things right between the two lonely old birds.
Taxman
You get this quest: From King Praetor in Dernholm
The quest is: Collect the taxes from Black Root.
The Strongbox
You get this quest: From the innkeeper in Black Root
The quest is: Get his strongbox back from the blacksmith.
Notes: You can accomplish this by thuggery or negotiation, but negotiation works a lot better.
Find Dudley
You get this quest: From Kietzel Pierce in Black Root
The quest is: Find his missing student, Dudley.
Notes: This is a very annoying quest because Dudley is too nondescript to find reasonably. Click here
if you need to know where he is, or are worried about how abruptly this seems to end once you do find him.
The Missing Inventor
You get this quest: From Lydia Cameron in Black Root
The quest is: Find her missing son.
Notes: If you're getting lost on this one, click here.
Retrieve The Dagger
You get this quest: From the mayor of Black Root
The quest is: Get his dagger back from some local bandits.
Notes: There are several ways to accomplish this. Click here for details.
Riddle Me Ree
You get this quest: From the wizened halflings in Black Root
The quest is: Not really a quest, more of a game. Answer their riddles and win a prize.
Tomb Raider
You get this quest: From Mrs. Pettibone in Tarant (West Garillon Bridge District)
The quest is: Loot an elven tomb and bring her back a funerary stone.
Notes: You will have the option to complete this quest or not, with interesting results for Mrs. Pettibone. Click here for details.
The Art Thief
You get this quest: From Mrs. Garringsburg in her home in Tarant (West Garillon Bridge District)
The quest is: Retrieve her stolen artwork.
The Old Boy Network
You get this quest: From the bouncer at the Wellington Gentleman's Club in Tarant (West Garillon Bridge District)
The quest is: Get special permission to enter the club from Mr. Wellington.
Special conditions: You only need to do this if you are female.
Notes: There are several ways to attain permission. Sleeping with the dirty old gnome is not necessary (though you can).
Ask No Questions
You get this quest: From the dark elf in the Wellington Gentleman's Club in Tarant (West Garillon Bridge District)
The quest is: Deliver a letter without opening it.
Notes: You can disobey the dark elf and open the letter if you want, but this will botch the quest and just give you information you could have
gotten at the Hall of Records anyway. This quest connects to the Art Thief one, but you don't need it to solve the Art
Thief and you can complete either quest, neither, or both.
My Ring Fell Down The Loo
You get this quest: From a man loitering around by the tailor shop in Tarant (West Garillon Bridge District)
The quest is: Get his wedding ring out of the sewer for him.
Notes: The hardest part is spotting the ring in the poor lighting. It's just lying there on the floor, so if you're not finding it, check your stupid
NPCs, because some of them tend to pick stuff up off the floor before you have a chance to.
Editor's Errand
You get this quest: From the newspaper editor in his office in Tarant (Vermillion Station District)
The quest is: Deliver a check. That's really it.
Crystal Ball
You get this quest: From Delores the Seer in her shop in Tarant (Vermillion Station District)
The quest is: Steal a crystal ball from her rival fortuneteller.
Notes: When you get to the rival fortuneteller's place, you can choose to side with either lady, though they're both rather unpleasant.
Siamese Twins
You get this quest: From the phrenologist in the University of Tarant
The quest is: Bring him the skulls of some elven Siamese twins.
Notes: This quest is going to get complicated and lead you into an involved conspiracy, so don't bring the skulls back to the phrenologist
until you've gotten to the bottom of it first or you'll miss out. If you have gotten to the bottom of it and are frustrated at your
inability to take the matter any further, click here for what assistance I can offer.
WARNING: If you find sexual abuse a serious matter, this quest--which winks at it a bit much and never permits you the option of
exacting any vengeance on the victims' behalf--may really piss you off. The game blithely assumes that this is the one quest no one
would really care about enough to pursue, and doesn't even allow you the option to seriously try. If this is going to annoy you irrationally,
just give the skulls to the phrenologist and skip the whole thing.
Gimme That Old-Time Religion
You get this quest: From the theologian in the University of Tarant
The quest is: Sacrifice to all the gods in the right order and get some hefty bonuses.
Notes: From the theologian's book and chart, it is not too hard to deduce the right order to make these sacrifices in. Actually doing it
takes a lot of legwork, a lot of collecting the appropriate sacrifices, and a lot of patience. Also, whenever you sacrifice to a greater god,
you lose all the blessings you got from the lesser gods, and when you sacrifice to the chief god, you lose all the blessings you got from
the greater gods. This is very annoying and may not be worth it to you, so save before you sacrifice to see if you just want to call it quits.
You do get some very nice blessings from the chief god if you finish the whole thing in the right order.
Factory Protection
You get this quest: From the guards outside Bates Mansion in Tarant (near the university)
The quest is: Wait for some saboteurs to arrive, and kill them.
Notes: This quest is sort of timed, in that the saboteurs arrive at midnight. However, they arrive on any midnight you happen to be there,
so don't worry about missing them.
Sabotage
You get this quest: From Cedric Appleby in Tarant (Commercial District)
The quest is: Sabotage one of Gilbert Bates' steam machines.
Special conditions: You must not have spoken to Gilbert Bates yet to get this one.
Notes: This is an evil quest, and it makes Magnus very angry.
Black Mountain Dwarves
You get this quest: From Gilbert Bates in the Bates Mansion in Tarant (near the university)
The quest is: Find out what became of the Black Mountain clan of dwarves.
Fetch Matt
You get this quest: From Thom Grak in Tarant (Kensington Park)
The quest is: Tell Matt de Cesare to come meet him by the subway station.
The Exterminator
You get this quest: From Simon Plough in front of the walled warehouses in Tarant (Docks District)
The quest is: Kill the rats infesting his warehouses.
The Sewer Tour
You get this quest: From Thaddeus Mynor in Tarant (Docks District).
The quest is: Steal a map of the sewers from the Department of Water.
Special conditions: You can't solve this quest without lockpicking and pickpocketing abilities.
Notes: This quest is slightly evil.
Blackmail Gilbert Bates
You get this quest: From Thaddeus Mynor in Tarant (Docks District).
The quest is: Steal some dirt on Gilbert Bates for Cedric Appleby.
Notes: This almost isn't a quest, so much as it is an alternate way into Bates Mansion if you want to try something different. It does
count as an evil quest.
Special conditions: You can't do this quest until you've finished The Sewer Tour, and I don't think you can do it
if you've already spoken to Gilbert Bates.
The Idol of Kree
You get this quest: From Thaddeus Mynor in Tarant (Docks District).
The quest is: Steal an idol from some local barbarians.
Special conditions: You can't do this quest until you've finished The Sewer Tour.
Notes: I'm not sure why--just association with Mynor, maybe--but this quest is slightly evil.
The Whore's Necklace
You get this quest: From Madam Lil in Tarant (Docks District)
The quest is: Discreetly recover a necklace left behind in a john's house by one of Lil's girls.
Notes: You can get the necklace back from the maid by various means, though discussing her employment with her is probably the
most interesting.
The Collection Agency
You get this quest: From Madam Lil in Tarant (Docks District)
The quest is: Collect some money owed Madam Lil by a john.
Special conditions: You can't do this quest until you've finished The Whore's Necklace (or alternatively, if
you're female, turned a trick for Lil).
Notes: It will take him five days to raise it, but no one, Lil or otherwise, cares about time in this game.
The Happy John
You get this quest: From Madam Lil in Tarant (Docks District)
The quest is: Bring a present to a john's wife to keep his home life smooth.
Special conditions: You can't do this quest until you've finished The Collection Agency. Also, only male
main characters can get this quest.
The Medallion of Beauty
You get this quest: From Madam Lil in Tarant (Docks District)
The quest is: Find a Medallion of Beauty for her.
Notes: This is Madam Lil's last quest, so you can just report back to her once you've finally found a necklace. There are about
four medallions of beauty in the game, not always in the same places.
Special conditions: You can't do this quest until you've finished The Happy John if you're male or
The Collection Agency if you're female.
Booze Wars
You get this quest: In the bar in the Boil in Tarant, if you sided with the Pollock gang.
The quest is: Steal a case of booze for the gang members.
Special conditions: You can't get this quest if you accept the Pay Up Or Die quest.
Kill The Rival Gang
You get this quest: From the gang leader of your choice in the Boil in Tarant.
The quest is: Kill the leader of whichever gang you didn't side with..
Notes: In both cases you can either barge in the front door and kill everyone, or sneak in through the sewers.
Pay Up Or Die
You get this quest: In the bar in the Boil in Tarant, if you sided with the Maug gang.
The quest is: Get a poor schlump to cough up some money he owes or kill him.
Special conditions: You can't get this quest if you accept the Booze Wars quest.
Notes: You don't actually have to kill the man if you don't want to; it's easy to avoid.
The Jilted Gnome
You get this quest: From the gnome guarding the Maug gang's headquarters in the Boil in Tarant, if you sided with them.
The quest is: Kill the man who stole the gnome's girl.
Special conditions: You can't get this quest if you accept the Booze Wars quest.
You also must have finished the Pay Up Or Die quest.
Happy Hour
You get this quest: From the bartender in the Boil in Tarant.
The quest is: Safeguard the delivery of whiskey to the bar.
Labor Dispute
You get this quest: After reading about striking workers in a newspaper headline in Tarant.
The quest is: Go to the orcish factory and do something to resolve the conflict.
Notes: There are three basic ways to finish this quest--see here for details.
Public Speaking 101
You get this quest: From the mayor of Ashbury, in front of Town Hall.
The quest is: Find a plan for the local monument that everyone will like.
Special conditions: None just to get the quest, but you need a decent intelligence to solve this quest and a high intelligence
to solve it with flair, so if you haven't got the right stuff, chug a potion of intelligence before going in
Notes: Contrary to popular opinion, there is no one right answer to each question--there are several, and which answers will please
or annoy people are very common-sense. The real problem here is that if your INT isn't too high, you may not get many or even any
of the reasonable answers among your set of choices. If people are booing you, reload and boost your intelligence first.
Undead Can Dance
You get this quest: From Geoffrey in front of the cemetery in Ashbury.
The quest is: Retrieve a necromantic item from the graveyard for him.
Special conditions: Geoffrey won't give you this quest unless you're moderately intelligent and say witty things to him.
Notes: It's up to you whether to give Geoffrey the item once you find it, but it's rather anti-climactic if you don't.
The Shirt Off My Back
You get this quest: From the guy lurking around 12 Trellis Way in Ashbury.
The quest is: Get his armor out of the house.
Pigs Are Your Friends
You get this quest: From the farmer in Ashbury, Theo Brightstart.
The quest is: Kill some wild pigs digging up his crops.
Notes: For some strange reason, this quest is evil and your good NPCs will object loudly every time you attack a pig. One of the
game designers must really like pigs or something.
Lifting Heavy Rocks
You get this quest: From the farmer in Ashbury, Theo Brightstart.
The quest is: Find five heavy rocks scattered around and carry them back to the farmhouse.
Special conditions: You must have finished Pigs Are Your Friends.
Notes: This quest is very heavy on the encumbrance and inventory shuffling to accomodate the rocks. If your strength isn't high or you
don't have room in your bags, skip it.
Dragon's Blood
You get this quest: From the crumbling skeleton in the Ancient Temple (get the location of that in Ashbury)
The quest is: Bring him back some dragon's blood.
The Sorcerous Beast
You get this quest: From the guard outside the encampment gates on the Isle of Despair.
The quest is: Kill the beast lurking north of the city.
The Sexually Harassed Daughter
You get this quest: From the prisoner's daughter hanging around in the encampment on the Isle of Despair
The quest is: Help her escape to the women's labor camp so she won't be raped by the male prisoners anymore.
Notes: The women at the women's camp aren't very nice either, though Cynthia seems a lot happier there. You can also
take her with you when you leave the island if you like, though you'll never get this as a conversational option.
Deliver the Moonshine
You get this quest: From the moonshiner in the encampment on the Isle of Despair
The quest is: Deliver some moonshine to a customer of his in the woods.
Primogeniture
You get this quest: From Maximillian in his house on the Isle of Despair
The quest is: Bring Lianna Del Par word of his imprisonment.
Special conditions: You must have accepted Deliver the Moonshine to get this one.
Salvager
You get this quest: From the trader in the encampment on the Isle of Despair
The quest is: Bring him back a tech item from the submarine wreckage on the beach.
Notes: It doesn't matter which one you give him--none of them have special uses elsewhere.
Stonecutter Clan
You get this quest: From Thrayne in the "town" level of the Wheel Clan
The quest is: Bring a message to his brother.
Family Heirloom
You get this quest: From Vegard in the "town" level of the Wheel Clan
The quest is: Recover a family heirloom of his from the Dredge.
Place of Iron
You get this quest: From Erick in the "town" level of the Wheel Clan
The quest is: Bring him back the Durin stone from the fabled Place of Iron.
Notes: You'll have to find where the Place of Iron is, first, which will take a while.
Help The Miners
You get this quest: From Arvid in the "mines" level of the Wheel Clan
The quest is: Kill the monsters that have been pestering the miners.
Check On The Wizard
You get this quest: From Richard Leeks in Stillwater
The quest is: Go make sure his friend Cyrus is all right.
Notes: You will have to do a little tracking to find out what actually happened to Cyrus. Just reporting back to say he's "missing" will not please Leeks.
Free Love Is Groovy
You get this quest: From the high priestess of Geshtianna in Stillwater
The quest is: Bring the idol of love back to the temple.
Notes: You don't have to kill the thief if you have either persuasion or thief skills.
The Sneaky Jewel Thief
You get this quest: From Gildor the halfling in Stillwater
The quest is: Bring back a ruby he's been obsessed with from a magic altar.
Notes: It may seem like the ruby should, by rights, obsess you at this point, but it doesn't happen that way for some reason, so you can hand it over with impunity.
Stillwater Giant Pelt
You get this quest: From Myrth in Stillwater
The quest is: Bring him the pelt of the Stillwater Giant.
Notes: You can solve this and the related Capture The Stillwater Giant quest in a few ways; click here for details.
Capture the Stillwater Giant
You get this quest: From Stanley the cryptozoologist in Stillwater
The quest is: Go into the dread Stillwater Giant's cave, naked, and catch a blue bunny rabbit in a little box. No kidding, this is what he says he wants you to do.
Special conditions: You must have accepted Stillwater Giant Pelt to get this one, but you must not have finished it yet if you want to finish this one.
Notes: You can solve this and the related Stillwater Giant Pelt quest in a few ways; click here for details.
Bright Lights, Big City
You get this quest: From Swyft in Qintarra
The quest is: Take her to Tarant.
Notes: You will have to leave on this quest right away, or Swyft will get angry and leave.
The Missing Hunter
You get this quest: From Winde in Qintarra
The quest is: Look into a hunter's strange disappearance.
Notes: There are three distinct ways to solve this quest (well, technically there are four, but one of them is just plain stupid). Click here for details.
Elven Murder Mystery
You get this quest: After you talk to Jormund in Qintarra
The quest is: Find the murderer.
Notes: There are two different satisfying endings to this quest. If Ivory is refusing to talk to you anymore, you have been too aggressive in
questioning her and will need to either reload or settle for the ending that doesn't require talking to her further. Click
here for details.)
Wisp Essence
You get this quest: From Whysper in Qintarra
The quest is: Bring her some wisp essence.
Notes: You're guaranteed to run into some later in the game, so don't knock yourself out scouring the countryside for a wisp.
Falcon's Ache
You get this quest: From Raven in Qintarra
The quest is: Remove some humans from an elven holy ground.
Notes: Raven's not kidding about the curse--if you or your followers shed blood in this glade you will all drop dead. There are two
different ways out of this dilemma; click here for details or if you keep dropping dead anyway.
Wabbit Season
You get this quest: From David Wit in Caladon
The quest is: Find out what's been killing his rabbits and solve the problem.
Notes: You can end this quest by simply slaying the miscreant, but if you do, you'll miss out on the second, 'solution' part of the quest.
Better to go back and talk to David once you learn what's going on. Also, ignore the thing about Cynthia's fiance; he's a red herring, and
you won't find him anywhere in the city.
Heavier Than Air
You get this quest: From Maxim in Caladon
The quest is: Prove his aeroplanes worked.
Notes: This is also the Repair Mastery quest, but you can do it even if you're not a repair master, receiving a gift instead of
the Mastery. If you've already sold the evidence, just go buy it back--there's only one shopkeeper who buys it, Ristezze in
Shrouded Hills, and he'll still have it in inventory.
Kill My Dad
You get this quest: From Ryan Sanders in Caladon
The quest is: Kill his father.
Notes: There is no peaceable/"good" alternative to this quest--if you accept it, you can't fink Ryan out or spare his dad or anything.
The Leaky Servant
You get this quest: From Mrs. Misk in Caladon
The quest is: Find the source of the media leak.
Notes: This quest seems to stall when questioning the servants is not productive. You need to find a clue in one of their abodes, which is on
Dragon's Turnabout, to continue with it.
The Missing Princess
You get this quest: From Prince Farad in Caladon, and/or from King Praetor in Dernholm once you've learned where Caladon is.
The quest is: Find Princess Aria.
Jack The Ripper
You get this quest: From the Inspector in Caladon
The quest is: Find out who's been murdering prostitutes and bring him to justice.
Notes: One of the victims will actually respond to a "conjure spirit" spell, something few corpses in this game do, but if you don't have
this spell, you can instead return to the inspector with a different clue and reach the same result.
Clean Up The Boil
You get this quest: From Edward Willoughsby in Tarant after learning where Caladon is.
The quest is: Take out one or both gang leaders in the Boil.
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