~*~POTENTIAL SPOILERS~*~
When I first entered the "contest" and read the riddle I figured this was another person trying to exploit a Bhaalspawn. An obvious trap. So, I had a new enemy. Best to walk into the trap knowing it is a trap rather than tip them off and let the person come up with another plan. So, gathering the goodies I prepared to sick Kendrik (my go-to-guy for gutting spellcasters) on the Mystery Guy.
Nice surprise. Nice twist. Got you expecting one thing, then threw a curve ball. After returning from the Deep Garden I hoped to find the Mystery Guy and let Kendrik have his fun. But oh well. It was the journey and new experience that mattered. It felt like one of those Bhaalspawn inner struggles that we see in the Pocket Plane during
ToB, where the PC delves into his psyche, uncovers his true nature, and taps into it. I kept getting that sort of vibe from the Gardens.
The setting itself felt very awkward. Like the PC didn't belong there. The concepts were easy to grasp, the people and their extremes felt very alien. Adding Touch to that, someone you could connect to, helped. But I was never certain that Touch wasn't just one more alien personality. I defiantly could see this place growing and more personalities being added to the environment.
The tactical encounters were fun. I like that each one was very different. The Silver encounter, I figured out the nature of immediately. But I kept killing myself in the process. So I felt that there might be another approach. Some tool that I needed to use but hadn't exploited in the process. This lead to my purchasing the Silver healing spell and casting it on the Monument. That one encounter took me more time than the rest of the quest because I kept going in circles trying to figure out what I did wrong. Which was dish out too much damage to the PC. The idea itself, I enjoyed though.
Leaving the Deep Gardens I was both happy to get away from it and reluctant. Being a cold hearted bastard my character had exploited the place as best he could. Unfortunately, he didn't have the coin to aquire a stock of cool new Colour inspired items. I really wanted to see what that sign painting thing, where you get connected to a colour, was all about. At the same time, the place gave off such an unnerving vibe I was glad to be returning to a world of manipulative vampires, power hungry liches, and man eating trolls. Something I was familiar with and knew how to deal with.
There was, however, some text that stated the Deep Garden had been added to my world map (yes, I installed that component). However, when I looked, nothing had changed on the map. A bug? I do not know. On one hand, if feels fitting that you shouldn't be able to return to this otherworldly realm. On the other, it might be nice to visit again. See if the Bhaalspawn's pressance had any lasting effect. Colour's Dream seemed to allude to this ...
Edited by Urborg Vengrath, 22 December 2009 - 06:10 PM.
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