You remember Morytania's absentee ruler, Lord Lowernial Neverthere Drakan? Well, he's coming back, and it's your chance to spring a trap and defeat the Myreque's greatest opponent. Of course, it doesn't work out. If it did, we wouldn't have a quest. Drakan finds out, defeats the Myreque there, and dumps them on Vampyrium, the home plane of the vampires. Why didn't he just kill you already? Well, he wants to hunt you. Drakan has decided that the vampyres will return to Vampyrium and to their ways as nomadic hunters. You're the first test subjects.
So, after you solve some puzzles, run through the version of Castle Drakan on Vampyrium, lose several members to Venators (devolved vampyres), Drakan himself, and other hazards, you finally get the portal back working and return to Gielinor. Of course, Lord Drakan isn't just going to let you waltz out of there, so first you'll have to beat him in a very long fight, with the help of Ivan Strom (who will restore your health, food, and prayer at the beginning of each phase), Safalaan (who will protect you from one of Drakan's special attacks), and Vanescula (who is stabbed with the Sunspear early on, but manages to survive and stab her brother with it in turn). But even when you've killed the lord of Vampyrium, your troubles aren't over yet.
It's time for Vanescula's sudden but inevitable betrayal. See, she wants to cross the River Salve in order to conquer Misthalin, to return the vyres to where they were during the age of the Zarosian Empire. And to do that, she needs Safalaan's blood so she kidnaps him. The Myreque disbands, and you inform King Roald of the threat.
Meanwhile, back on Vampyrium, a mysterious prisoner, kept in place by fear of Lord Drakan, senses his death and escapes...
Tropes
- Antagonist Title: Lowernial Drakan is the Lord of Vampyrium.
- Anti-Villain: Vanescula is actually telling the truth about her goals- it's just that she doesn't think that vampyres can live in peace with the human nations.
- Despair Event Horizon: Veliaf becomes completely hopeless following Vanescula's betrayal and Safalaan's supposed death at her hands, and disbands what little remains of the Myreque.
- Dwindling Party: The Myreque is slowly whittled down when fighting through Vampyrium. Finally, after you return to Gielinor, only you, Veliaf, Ivan, and Safalaan remain.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: There's an odd Lampshade Hanging if you talk to Kara-Meir after the quest. See, one of the quest rewards is the Sunspear, a legendary vyre-killing weapon. However, in the novels, Kara-Meir also gets a weapon called the Sunspear, and it's a dagger. If you equip your Sunspear when talking to her, she'll get confused since she thought she already had the Sunspear, and your character will speculate that either there was more than one Sunspear, or that your Sunspear and Kara-Meir's Sunspear were once part of the same weapon.
- Graceful Loser: Lord Drakan, when you finally defeat him.
- Heroic BSoD:
- Vanescula, when Mornid (her friend and the new leader of the Vyrewatch) is killed by Lord Drakan.
- Veliaf, when Vanescula kidnaps Safalaan.
- Never Found the Body: Polmafi is knocked back into the portal to Vampyrium after Drakan, out of nowhere, lands in the middle of the Myreque. His fate thereafter is left unknown.
- Number of the Beast: Drakan boasts a combat level of 666.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Lord Drakan finally meets his downfall at the hands of the player character... albeit at the cost of nearly the entirety of the Myreque's lives. To rub salt in the wound, Vanescula supposedly kills Safalaan and takes his lifeless body away, intending to use his blood as a means for the vampyres to freely pass the River Salve. With no hope left of fighting back against the vampyre threat, Veliaf ultimately disbands what little remains of the Myreque as he wallows in despair by his lonesome.
- Rasputinian Death: Lord Drakan. You drop his HP to 1 three times in a row. then he's stabbed with a weapon specifically made to kill vyres, and then you finally kill him.
- Taking the Bullet: While Polmafi is busy powering the pylons to activate the portal back to Darkmeyer, Drakan appears and throws Sunspear in his direction. Vanescula intervenes and takes the blow for him, seemingly killing her.
- Villain Respect: In the end, Lord Drakan respects how hard you fight to live.
- You Will Not Evade Me: If you try to fight Drakan from a distance, he will drag you within melee range and stun you, followed by rapid, hard-hitting melee damage.
