Finding your Way in Sagittarius

"EUO - Further evidence that Diabloesque games kill real role-playing games."

Moderator: EUO Moderators

Post Reply
Celerion
LAUGHING OUT LOUD LIKE A MORON
Posts: 64
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 6:29 am

Finding your Way in Sagittarius

Post by Celerion »

Hi,

it seems, not too many people play Sagittarius these days. The beginning is rather difficult, and you (as a player) don't have an idea yet, what is going on or what it's all about.
So I wrote a text about it. It's not supposed to be a walkthrough, but of course it has some hints and information.
I'd like to post it here, but if somebody considered it spoilering, I wouldn't. So I'm just asking, if it would be ok, to post such a text here.
User avatar
Balmung
I once posted in TFIOOC!
Posts: 100
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2018 5:10 am

Re: Finding your Way in Sagittarius

Post by Balmung »

you could cover puzzle answers with the spoiler text function?
Celerion
LAUGHING OUT LOUD LIKE A MORON
Posts: 64
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 6:29 am

Re: Finding your Way in Sagittarius

Post by Celerion »

Balmung wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2020 8:14 amyou could cover puzzle answers with the spoiler text function?
Good idea, but basically all of the text has to be covered then, because whole Sagittarius is a puzzle somehow ...

Or to be more concrete: Five levers have to be found. They're very hard to find, unless somebody at least vaguely tells you, where to look.

I also wonder, how many mages would have VOG, if they were never told by somebody else, where to look for it. :)
Celerion
LAUGHING OUT LOUD LIKE A MORON
Posts: 64
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 6:29 am

Re: Finding your Way in Sagittarius

Post by Celerion »

Ok, let's try then:

Spoiler-warning: I'm just trying to give some hints for people who are stuck, it's not supposed to be a full walkthrough. Nevertheless the information may already be a spoiler for some. If you want to find it all out yourself, better just not read this text.

Introduction
Sagittarius is an EUO-map for higher level characters (minimum level 100, I'd say, maybe higher) created by Lord Mortiferus.
Although it doesn't give an ordinary EUO-quest, it has its own storyline, that goes like this:

Powerful dark wizards are making genetic experiments with snow beasts and other creatures. They also breath life into dead creatures again. Horrible monsters are created.
But the wizards also experiment with plants. They've created a huge aggressive carnivorous monster-plant called the "Dionaea". But it got out of control, so the wizards built up five energy barriers to hold it back.
Your goal as an adventurer is to find and pull five levers, that lower the barriers. The levers are well hidden in the maps of Sagittarius. When all five barriers are lowered, you can reach the Dionaea. Then you can fight it and its seedlings. On your way you also get the opportunity to fight the dark wizards.
You need some patience, as this will be quite a long journey.

The entrance to Sagittarius is located in Maeondir, at 36'61''. On the map of Maeondir, it's not marked as a yellow point, but its entrance is just shown as a forest tile.

Part I: A Rather Uninviting Snow Landscape
When you enter Sagittarius, you arrive in its first area, which is cold and full of blocks in the way.
You'll find, that it's not much use exploring to the left, as there are too many unscalable obstacles such as water, trees, stone blocks and voids, and you can't blink either. So go to the right. You see a hole in the ground. It looks, like you should go there. It leads down (of course), but you'll find, that the area you get into is not the one, where you have to be. The way would lead to the second area of the main map, but you have to do something in the first area first. So you should go back to the start. But it seems, you can't, the way back to the south on the main map is blocked.
So get out the good old white stone, Virgil once gave you, and return to the start of Sagittarius that way.
Move right again. Stay on the main map, but move in a kind of cirlcle upwards to the left, then to the right again, a bit like an enclosing spiral. Explore the area a bit. Near a fireplace with ogres you have to use your grappling hook to find a waterfall, that pulls you down. Then you see some entrance going down into caves. (Don't take the lava fall to the right of the fireplace down instead (where a devil is) - it'll take you away.)
In the caves, you even come to the place to the south of where you had arrived falling down the hole before. You can open the door to this area now, by pulling a switch. (Don't care about not being able to unlock or open the other doors like the one to the right.)
But don't leave yet. Instead, go back and explore the left of this area carefully first. Somewhere there should be the first lever. It's rather difficult to find. Maybe it's the most difficult to find lever of the five. But it is definitely there. Only leave the area, after you have found and pulled it. When you do, a message tells you, that barrier number one is "off" now, and barriers number 2 to 5 are still "on".
Now take the way to the place where you arrived, when you first fell down the hole. Go north and find the exit to the main map of Sagittarius. Head north. There are stairs and a dragon. The map scrolls up, and you reach the second area of the main map. Fortunately, moving gets easier from now on.

Part II: In the Realm of the Dark Wizards
Explore the area around a building. Remember how wizards entered the "Ministry of Magic" in the movie "Harry Potter 7.1"? Find a similar opportunity and enter a swampy area below.
Look for the second lever there. Notice, that the five levers seem to be in or near cosy rooms or studies of dark wizards. Often you find books, telling the story of their gruesome experiments in these rooms too.

Following the way to the left of the swamp area, you find a kind of hall or temple of the dark wizards.
The third lever can be found around here relatively easy.
Then you find a very interesting place (I don't want to give away too much here, just find out for yourself, it's really cool). And then you enter a huge maze.

Part III: The Maze
The wizards seem to have found a way to another dimension, which holds a maze and lots of rather nasty invisible ghost-like creatures. In the maze, you have to avoid these creatures, search for switches and set them all to the left.
There's also a place called "Shadow vs. Blood", but it's not the exit, it's just a distraction, so I suggest not going there, unless you really want to see it.
When you finally exit the maze, you come to a large castle of the wizards, which is surrounded by lava.

Part IV: The Lava Castle
You have to find the entrance to this castle. Look in the down middle part and walk underneath some bridges. You also have to use the grappling hook once. Strangely, in the castle there's also a grappling hook on the floor, and you get some text message when you reach it.
Use the grappling hook and follow the way to the left around the castle to enter it.
Proceed through the castle until you find another "interesting place" of the dark wizards.
Explore it carefully. And there - is the fourth lever!
Exit the castle through a portal. You return to area 2 of the main map.

Part V: A Dark Forest
Find your way to the left around the building. You get to area 3, which has a rather dark forest. Just keep exploring to the northeast.

Part VI: The Garden of the Dark Wizards
After that, the landscape becomes more gentle, like a garden. There are fences, lovely bridges, plants, signs, that show the names of the plants, trees and some water. Someone seems to have cared for the plants. But the plants are very hostile and strong. It's the garden of the dark wizards!
And up there is the entrance to the Dionaea.
Close to it, there are a few buildings of the dark wizards, that guard the plant. Look around in the area for the last lever. When all barries have been lowered, you can finally reach the Dionaea.

Sagittarius is a marvellous EUO-adventure. I hope, with this text more people like to take the trip.
Last edited by Celerion on Thu Jul 09, 2020 7:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
LordMortiferus
MACRO > me
Posts: 872
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:23 pm

Re: Finding your Way in Sagittarius

Post by LordMortiferus »

Thank you Cel!
I totally approve of this.
Weird that you cannot exit the first cave but have to use the white stone to exit that area.
Never ever make a maze an essential part of any map! - even worse with the levers within the maze. And the dark forest is yet another maze of sorts - what was I thinking?! - to quote some famous internet personality.

Edit: I found the original maze layout:
xmaze.jpg
Source

I think Sagittarius was my first map - either that or the GoD-Clanhall, which has a similar aesthetic to it - definitely from my Lovecraft/Howard/Smith-Phase. Ohh I am forgetting the vampire maps - which may pre-date Sagittarius. A big influence for Sag with its background story, if not all my maps except CoC, was Catherine's Valley of the Trolls - though I never reached her level of story telling.

If you know your way, it is hopefully a fun map. It is meant for exploration, but in hindsight, obstacles like the maze or the levers should either be used more cleverly or not at all to accomplish this.

Anyway, thanks again Cel and I hope you all have fun playing this games and that map.


Small compilation of reference found in the map that I still remember:
Sagittarius refers to Sagittarius A and has something to do with a giant black hole in the centre of the milky way.
Dionaea is the Venus flytrap, however I wanted Seymour from My little Horror Shop.
Elder Kaluza Devotee probably refers to Theodor Kaluza a scientist.
Did Schrödinger's Cat make the cut? Cannot find it in the script files but it was supposed to be in the small hut before the maze.
Probably most text in books throughout the map is inspired or used under fair use terms from above mentioned horror authors (yes Howard did wrote stuff besides Conan)
"It's alive" - Universal Studios' Frankenstein
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by LordMortiferus on Fri Jul 10, 2020 3:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Celerion
LAUGHING OUT LOUD LIKE A MORON
Posts: 64
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 6:29 am

Re: Finding your Way in Sagittarius

Post by Celerion »

Wow, thank you very much for approving the help-text, Mort!

Maybe there is a way to get back to the start in the first area without using the white stone. It seems, I got a little impatient there, when I couldn't just walk down again. :)

In general, I think, the idea of the levers is great! It may be just a bit frustrating for the player, that he can go on without pulling them, so at the end he might stand in front of the Dionaea and can't reach it, because the barrier's still up, because he hasn't pulled a lever somewhere in the middle or at the beginning.
But that's not a request to rework the map. I think, it's alright the way it is, and there's the help-text now too, if someone is really stuck.

A black hole in Sagittarius A, H.P. Lovecraft, "Little Shop of Horrors", yeah, I can see the inspirations. Sometimes, the map has quite a sinister atmosphere. I was also quite surprised by the sight of the big castle after more or less stumbling out of the maze. And the garden at the end is really funny. After all: Well done!
Post Reply