Wisdom of the Ancients

Wisdom of the Ancients
Quest type	Storyline quest
Estimated length	More than an hour.
Requirements
Act	Second act
Preceeding quest(s)	Mac Taidg Must Die
Succeeding quest(s)	A Gaelic Alliance
Rewards
Reward first ending	10 skill points 2500 valuables
Achievement(s)	Ambrosius

Wisdom of the Ancients is a storyline quest which must be completed in order to become an ally of the Picts. This quest is started when you finish Mac Taidg Must Die by talking to Caustantin. He wants to unite his people by showing respects to the old Pictish gods and Christianity by having official leaders for both religions. Because he doesn't have a leader yet for the old gods, you are tasked to find one for him.

• Selecting "It's admirable of you..." gains morale with peaceful followers, but loses morale with aggressive ones.

After your conversation with the king is finished, you must talk to Grianne to have the location Seahenge added to the map.

Seahenge

When you arrive at Seahenge, talk to Bega ingen Druiain in the middle of the wooden circle. You can convince her with 3 diplomacy or 4 leadership to reveal the location of the last druid on the map.

Ravine

From Seahenge, it takes one full day to travel west to the Ravine. When you enter the area, you can head east or north, you either meet the villagers or Cilian mac Caelain first. The villagers give you directions and Cilian takes you to the druid directly. The druid, Myrddin Emrys, no matter how the conversation goes, is unwilling to accept the offer from the King of Pictavia.

After the conversation, you should leave the cave and talk to the apprentice again, who is willing to talk about Myrrdin and his situation during his task of gathering fireflies. During the conversation, you will learn that Cilian feels unwelcome in the homestead because he does respect the old hermit, unlike most of the other villagers of the homestead, who fear that Myrddin is a powerful sorcerer who serves the Devil. He also tells you that he kept his apprenticeship secret and fears that they might kill him if they find out. After the conversation, you should return to the druid with the pots filled with fireflies. If you want to explore the village or trade with the inhabitants, you should do that now.

Hostilities

When you return to the cave and talk to Myrddin, you will notice that he is more welcome this time. You can ask question about the druids and mention Cilian's desire to leave the homestead. As the conversation goes on, the druid mentions that Cilian is late to return from his task. Instead of Cilian, a group of young adolescents from the homestead enter the cave. They are outraged about the druid "conspiring" with heathen warriors and want to kill your group and the druid as well. If you bought the talisman in the village, you have to protect the druid from five enemies instead of six, making this unavoidable fight somewhat easier. Note: If a savefile is loaded when the party is already inside the cave, they will not slowly walk towards the druid and start the battle from the entrance of the cave. This will make it a lot more difficult to defend Myrdinn, since only the player character stands between them.

After winning battle, the druid realises that he is more unwelcome here than he thought before and accepts the offer, as long as you make sure that you get his Cilian safe and sound from the village. When you return to the homestead, you will find out that the villagers have beaten Cilian and tied him to a stake and are a few moments away from setting the pyre on fire. You can either enter the fray immediately to save him, let the villagers kill the apprentice to avoid a battle or decide to stall them by saying you will give them the druid instead.

In case that Myrdinn gets incapacitated during the battle with the adolescents, he will be killed very swiftly afterwards. In that case, you can only succeed your mission by saving the apprentice.

Saving Cilian mac Caelain

You can save Cilian by either initiating battle immediately or by stalling them by saying that you will give them the druid instead of letting them burn Cilian. When you arrive at the peak, you can tell the druid that Cilian is in danger and he will join the party. When you return to the homestead with the druid among your hirdmen, they realise that you betrayed them and start the battle. You have five turns to defeat them before Cilian dies. Don't bother trying to rush someone through the village to reach Cilian - the post he's tied to is not interactive, and water flasks can't target it, and even if you land one next to him, it will not splash and put it out like a normal fire. Just focus on dealing with the opposition as quickly as possible.

Tip: starting positions of your hirdmen can make a huge difference in this battle. Try to position your hirdmen (especially melee units) as close as possible to the homestead before entering the battle.

Failure

When you win the battle but lose the war to the villagers who successfully killed Cilian, Myrddin will still head to Perth, but not before digging a proper grave for his apprentice near the pyre. Even though Cilian's death is mentioned when Myrddin talks to the king, the rewards for the quest is the same nonetheless.

Success

After the successful battle, you manage to save the boy from the pyre. Even though he is wounded severely and might have burn wounds as well, Cilian will survive this ordeal. When you return to Perth report to the king, Myrddin will praise your efforts during the conversation.

Killing the druid

In case you strike a deal to kill the druid in order to save Cilian, you must head back to the druid circle on top of the hill. You can either kill Myrdinn immediately or ask him to sacrifice his life in order to save the boy. After you killed him, you must take his corpse to the homestead. When you talk to Aedan, he will release the boy, but Cilian will be angry at the villagers. He will join the party as a temporay party member.

Leave Cilian behind

===
Returning to Perth === Speaking to king Caustantin

• Selecting "We're happy to have..." gains morale with cooperative followers.
• Selecting "I will do what I can..." gains morale with ??? followers.

Rewards

• Able to unlock the quest The Isle of Apples when you have access to the Ravine area.
• Unlocks A Gaelic Alliance, the next quest to gain the alliance of Pictavia.
• 10 skill points.
• 2500 valuables

Achievements

When you finish the quest by taking Myrddin to Perth, you get the Ambrosius achievement.