| Name | Cry For Help Quest Guide |
| Category | Quest |
We all know that the quest Prison of the Planes (POP) is a good source of loot and xp. What's more, it gives you the Ancient Giant Relics that you need. However, when you have ransacked POP, you turn to other quests which will give you giant relics. One of which is "A Cry For Help". The quest is in the Rakshasa Lair found in the southernmost part of the Ruins of Gianthold. Story has it that the Zakya cultists have taken someone as their prisoner. This mystery person's cry for help echoes from deep within the lair. Your main objective is to find out where the prisoner is by following the cry for help.
Just like any other side quest, you will receive the quest upon reaching the entrance. One of the ways to get to the quest is to teleport to Stormeye. If you have completed the Prison of the Planes, you will have access to the Stormeye teleporter, othewise you will have to make a long run going to the POP entrance (the dome). Once you get there, you can go up top using the spiral staircase and jump down to the other side and follow a bridgeway leading to a small cave. There is one shrine just outside the quest entrance. Note, however, that enroute to the entrance, you will encounter cultists and archers. Expect to get hit from all directions.
PREPARATION
As the quest takes place in the Rakshasa Lair, expect quite a number of Rakshasas that will stop you from getting to the prisoner. They hit very hard and have really high resistance to spells. So, what you need to do is use a good-aligned weapons, preferrably piercing ones. Also, have those Transmuting weapons ready. The Rakshashas and Jariliths have high DR and this type of weapon will help greatly as they bypass the DR. The insta-kill spell known as the Finger of Death will still work on the Rakshasas, but not always on the first try. It will work a little better if the caster has taken necromancy spell focus or is using an item that gives bonus to resist DC.
Along with Zakya Rakshasas and Raskshasa Lords, you will encounter Zakya Archers and Cultists who are not too shy to shoot arrow at you. The most annoying creatures you'll encounter here are the Jariliths. They will knock you down and while you're down, they beat you until your health drops to uncomfortable level. Banishment works but only on normal and hard difficulty. They save a lot on those spells on elite setting. It's best to bring good-aligned and cold iron weapons. When the Jariliths arent knocking you down, they are also casting fear. Clerics should have an immunity to fear item (ex. Reaver's Ring) so that the party will be kept healed. It's also a must to stay together so that clerics can just use mass heals. The encounters can really be overwhelming and if you are out of the Cleric's range, then you will have to rely on your healing pots. Also, make sure you have Fire, Cold and Acid resists so you wont take much damage when they hit you with melf acid and scorching rays.
With the number of enemies ready to pound on you, Crowd Control is a must. Solid Fog, Acid Fog, Otto's Sphere of Dancing, and Firewall work very well. Charming creatures and making them fight on your side is a good way to make the battles a little less painful.
WALKTHROUGH
Upon entering the quest, buff up and head north until you reach a door. Behind this door will be the first set of Zakya archers atop the stones. You will also find Zakya cultists covered in Ice Shield. They can be easily killed by insta-kill spells like Finger of Death and Phantasmal Killer. Once they are gone, then it's much easier to focus on a couple of Jariliths and Rakshasas. It's best to cast Otto's and Solid Fog on the doorway so that they will bunch up there while you deal damage. After the encounter, get the key from the small chest in the room. Head back out and turn right to find a metal door. Use the key to open it. This will lead you to a hallway with another room to the end. Behind every door are cultists, archers, jariliths and rakshasas. You can manage the aggro well if you fight them at the door with crowd control spells. There is a disc trap at the archway which can be disarmed. The trap box is located on the other side of the door at the left side.
If you continue to move north, you'll see another door. However, the floor leading to it will collapse once somebody sets foot on it. Below are spears that will give you big damage. Don't worry though, once you fall, all you need is to jump back up to get to the door. If you don't want to fall, walk at the center and midway, turn left. You will find yourself just barely hanging on to that narrow pathway.
Behind the door are beds as well as the same set of creatures you've encountered previously. Just apply the Crowd Control strategy that works for your party (see choice of spells mentioned above). There will be a door to the left and a door just straight ahead. Just head north and turn right. You will then find a narrow hallway that leads to another room. Only one or two tanks needs to pass the hallway to get into the room and kill all the creatures there to get a key. On their way back, the floor of the narrow hallway will collapse. and there will be nasty slash and spike traps at the bottom. If any player falls, they can either rely on their reflex saves or jump as quickly as possible to get to the other side of the hallway. Of course, you can always disarm the traps but the trap box is located at the bottom of the pit, which can be very challenging for a rogue.
Head back the way you came in and this time moving to the room on to your right. This hallway will lead you to another room down south. Before you get to the door, there will be 3 or 4 Jariliths that will attack you. Once you defeat them, don't proceed just yet. There are traps just up ahead. This has got to be the most interesting set of traps in the game. The floor will blast air when you run past it and this will catapult you up top where a whirling spike/blade trap is activated and ready to slice you up. Good timing is key here. What you need to do is walk on the left side of the hall while hasted. Do not jump. The rogue can easily evade this trap so he can disable it. The trapbox can be found on the right side of the door. After the trap is disarmed, you can now open the door and slowly walk down the hallway. There will Zakya rangers and cultists waiting for you as you make your way to the only shrine in the quest.
After the fight, you will find two drawbridges, one on the left and one on the right side of the shrine. There are traps on both drawbridges so let the rogue disable them first. The trap boxes are found on the left side of the wall. To lower the drawbridges, you have to go to the rooms on to your right and left. It doesn't matter which way you go first, the important thing is that you all should stick together. The door to each room will be opened by the Rakshasas and Jariliths themselves so, once they sense your presence there, the door will open and they will attack. Apply crowd control and pull the creatures there. At the end of the hall is a switch on the wall. There will Zakya archers atop a stone ledge. So, make sure you kill them first so they wont interrupt the switch puller. This switch will lower the right drawbridge. Do the same way on the other room to lower the left drawbridge.
On each of the drawbrige, there will be Zakya cultists and archers atop the ledges guarding a lever that will lower the drawbridge at the other end. There's a ladder to get to the lever. There will also be Rakshasas on the bridge as well as Jariliths. It's best to kill the archers first so you can focus on the Rakshasas without having to worry about getting attacked from 4 corners. At the end of the bridge will be another set of archers atop a stone ledge. There is a rune on the wall that you need to activate. Head back out and proceed to the left drawbridge. It has exactly the same scenario. You need to go up top the ledge to pull a lever and drawbridge on the other end will be lowered which gains you access to the room where another rune is waiting to be activated.
When the final rune is activated a gate leading down south will open up. You can choose to go there immediately or get the chest by jumping down the water on the right drawbridge. Make sure to have underwater action item on as it's quite a long swim. As you swim across, you will find a secret door on the floor that will open a small chamber that contains a switch. This switch will open up a gate that will lead you to a tunnel. There will be two ladders leading to the room where Jariliths, Rakshasas, and Zakya Cultists are. You will need to sneak your way up to the top room to avoid all the aggro. There might be little time to set up Crowd Control because the encounter can be overwhelming. If you have a bard in the group, he or she can fascinate the creatures and the tanks can focus their attention to the named boss Tholatha. In case the fight gets ugly and party members die, the cleric can jump back down and get into a safe spot atop a ledge. This can be found in the area before you get to the ladders (on your way in). Heal up in this spot if needed. Once the named is defeated you can loot the chest and make your way back to the final room on the south part of the map. In the middle of the room, there is teleporter you can use to get to the shrine. Most parties prefer to do this optional part after they completed the quest to save up on resources, given that there's only one shrine.
Back at the south gate, you will reach an intersection and another fight will ensue. Head on to the right hallway and you will find a room where you will find a key to open the final room, which is actually a prison room. Behind the door is Jailer Koki (a Rakshasa). He will come beat you up with the help of his guards. After you defeat them, you will find prison cells. You can't open these cells until you get a key. The key (together with your loot) is in the chest just across the room. Once you get the key, go to the second cell (from your left) and speak with Ursula Tador, the prisoner. Talking to her will reveal that everything is just a set-up, just to lure you into the place. At this time, start laying Solid Fog, Otto's Sphere, Acid Fog and other Crowd Control spells. Ursula will then transform into a named boss Lothar the Insidious (CR 22). Those locked up in other cells will then transform into Rakshasa's. It's quite a tough fight if the Rakshasa's start pounding on you first. But with crowd control and damage dealers swinging, you'll be fine. Once you defeat Lothar, the back of the cell will open up and you will find a chest there. The quest is completed and you can head back to Gianthold and get your end reward from Pheryl Barlo.
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