The Utraean Peninsula is a region in the south-west of Aranna, bordering the kingdom of Ehb in the east.
As the original multiplayer campaign in Dungeon Siege, it features:
- An overall design made for playing with other players, however, you can play alone.
- The ability to import your character from the campaigns "Kingdom of Ehb" or Legends of Aranna if the expansion is installed.
- There are 3 levels of difficulty of the world: ordinary (1-50 hero level), veteran (~ 50-80 level) and elite (~ 80 +) [1].
Multiplayer[]
When starting a multiplayer game, you should be aware of a few key differences between multiplayer and single player Dungeon Siege. In single player mode, you are allowed up to eight party members at a time— here you are only allowed one. The rest of the party is made up of people that you meet and play with online or over a network.
Characters can be transferred over from single player mode, but the reverse is not possible. High level characters can advance to the Peninsula's Veteran (54+) and Elite (83+) modes, which feature strengthened monsters, treasure lodes, and merchants. Try to band together to take on these increasingly powerful monsters. You may also make a multiplayer session in Ehb, with a number of level-restricted starting locations to choose from, but only the Normal Mode version of this map is accessible.
Travel in the Utraean Peninsula is different than in The Kingdom of Ehb. A network of teleporting elevator pads called Displacers has an extension in each town. While these are very fast and convenient, there is a level requirement for activating each town's Displacer. The 10th Legion has also constructed a few of their own displacers, but these do not form a network and instead serve as "town portals," forward-calibrated from points in the wilderness. The player's activation flag for them moreover does not persist from game to game.
By default, if you die, your character will drop all his equipment to the ground. You can set it to another setting using the game options when you start the game. Multiplayer is more merciful in death than single player; unless resurrected, you become a ghost. In this state you have to either wait on a countdown or find a resurrection shrine. These shrines are found throughout both the Peninsula and Ehb, but are only visible to those Marked with Fire, the ingame identity of multiplayer clients; therefore, Ehb's shrines are not seen in single player mode.
History[]
The name of the peninsula comes from the race of the ancient Utraeans, who settled in these lands many centuries ago. They have built many of their magical mechanisms here, many of which work to this day.
Possible flag of the Utraean Peninsula, in Hiroth
During the outbreak of war on their home island, the Utraeans were forced to leave the region, abandoning their inventions and buildings. One of them is the H.U.B. (Helios Utrae Basilicus) - the so-called Utraean Basilicus, which is a network of teleporters between important cities. Leaving the peninsula, the Utraeans locked up the strange demonic force of the Maljin in a deep dungeon near Hiroth, and the key to it was divided into several parts, which became known by future residents as the Townstones.
After many centuries, soldiers of the 2nd and 10th legions arrived here in order to create a state similar to the kingdom of Ehb with its monarchy and capital in the castle of Hiroth. A Utraean historical community was founded here to study the land's ancient culture and heritage.
Campaign Plot[]
The player can start the game in one of 8 towns (only 1 is initially available), the town of Elddim. From conversations with the guards of the 2nd Legion, the hero finds out that the island was previously inhabited by the Utraean race, which went missing and left behind a broken system of teleports (transporters), which only those "marked with fire" can use. Around the study of these teleporters by modern magicians, a "Utraean society" was organized, striving to restore the transporters in order to save the kingdom from gaiters. A member of this society, the priestess Kelti, is now in the Azunite Temple. From a conversation with her, we learn about the Utraean Circle - the energy center of the transport system and about townstones - a kind of key for the circle, 8 stone slabs, representing 8 cities of the island. The company intends to collect the 8 stones and put them in the circle, hoping that would make the Utraean H.U.B. transporters become publicly available. The priestess instructs the player to collect stones and bring them to the high priest in Hiroth.
Having collected all 8 stones, the player brings them to the High Priest Kavaren in Hiroth and sets them in the Utraean circle. Then the circle begins to transform: it glows, opens the elevator somewhere in the dungeon, and the air turns blood red. Priest Kavaren informs us that we accidentally opened the way to the underworld, and the air was filled with ash and sulfur. The priest gives us the Tenstone stone and says that we must go down to the Utraean catacombs, destroy the Maljin demons and install the tenstone in the sanctuary, consecrating the dungeons. After successfully completing the assignment, the priest says that we will always be remembered "as the person who saved us from our own ambitions."
Geography[]
Due to its close proximity to the kingdom of Ehb, the peninsula has a similar type of terrain. A warm southern climate prevails here, along with cold snowy peaks and a huge desert in the very south of the region.
| Cities | Level | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Veteran | Elite | |
| Elddim | 0 | 54 | 83 |
| Crystwind | 5 | 56 | 87 |
| Fallraen | 9 | 59 | 90 |
| Meren | 18 | 64 | 96 |
| Lang | 25 | 68 | 99 |
| Quillrabe | 42 | 77 | 103 |
| Grescal | 46 | 79 | 105 |
| Hiroth | 50 | 80 | 106 |
Dungeons[]
- Around Elddim: Ancient Crypt, Hovart's Folly
- Around Crystwind: Crystwind Mines with Crystwind Old Mines incl. Miner's Haven
- Around Fallraen: Frozen Rift, Fallraen Barracks, Furok Cave, Glacial Caverns, Ancient Temple
- Before Meren: Crystal Caverns
- Around Lang: Sulfur Tunnels, Goblin Warrens with Goblin Outer Warrens
- Around the Redwood Gap: Pit of Despair, Flooded Sanctuary, Fury Den
- Around Quillrabe: Drake Nest; Trial of Gallus
- In Hiroth: Castle Hiroth and Hiroth Mausoleum; Utraean Catacombs
- Around Grescal: Abandoned Ruins
- Far out: Volcanic Caverns & the Lost Pyramids
Fields[]
- Around Elddim: Elddim Lowlands, Elddim Glade, Iliarth Valley (sometimes "Iliarth Meadows"), Iliarth Divide; Hovart Marsh; Great Northern Forest
- Around Crystwind: Crystwind Grasslands, Iliarth Falls (low-level); Iliarth Canyon (high-level)
- Around Fallraen: Fallraen Forest, Mount Utrae Forest, Mt. Elspen Forest with Dornek's Stone Quarry
- Around Meren: Meren Coast, Cloud Forest, Mount Utrae (Mount Utrae Foothills, Mount Utrae Alpine Reaches, Mount Utrae Summit, Mount Utrae North Slope)
- Around Lang: Lang Mire, Redwood Gap
- Around Quillrabe: Quillrabe Canyons incl. Forgotten Mesa
- Around Hiroth: Hiroth Ravine
- Around Grescal: Mesa Desert, Endless Dunes
- Far out: Eastern Island
Inconsistencies[]
While the map generally follows the in-game geography, there are a number of inconsistencies due to how the game handles regions and loading. Most of these involve the scale of land bridged by underground dungeons and lifts; they seem to warp time and space into their own pocket dimension.
One example is Loola's Lift which goes from the Great Northern Forest to the Eastern Island; at least this one takes a long time and the lift might as well be flying. Another is Hovart's Folly, which seems to cover the entire Elddim area and has places where the dungeons should be sticking out into the world but don't, such as the Great Northern Forest entrance. Maybe it's Utraean displacer magic at work? Who knows. A particularly egregious time-space inconsistency is the Ancient Temple and its associated elevator, which spans a full half of the overworld map despite its relatively small size and the fact that its elevator is attached to a fixed shaft.
Even overland routes are somewhat inconsistent, again due to how the game handles loading of regions. If pasted together on a direct overhead map, most locations beyond a starting point would not match up. A big offender is the Mount Utrae North Slope, which cuts clear across the Peninsula to the southern Lang Mire with little regard for all the other varied land that the map says lies in the way.
Other minor problems with the map can be found in its presentation. For instance, Hovart Marsh is a dry scrubland in-game but an actual marsh on the map. Additionally, the Peninsula seems to suffer from Patchwork Map syndrome, with different biomes seeming to be thrown in haphazardly, with little regard for geographical or meteorological effects. I suppose we could blame the Great Clock for this. Finally, some areas don't appear to be colored consistently on the map; for example, while Fallraen Forest is colored whitish blue to indicate snow, the equally-snowy Mt. Elspen Forest is green.
Townstone Locations[]
- Elddim Townstone / Sunrise Stone: is in the Ancient Crypt, in a little room close to the entrance on the right-hand side. (The Gavel of Convening for the Hovart's Folly quest is also there, close to the exit into Hovart's Marsh.)
- Crystwind Townstone / Hammer Stone: do the Diamond Rune quest for the NPC near the smith shop, she'll give you the townstone afterwards. The Diamond Rune is in possession of a Krug Shaman in the ruins outside Crystwind.
- Fallraen Townstone / Snowflake Stone: following the words of Apprentice Flessan, you'll find the townstone (and the dead but resurrectable Priest Lagreth) in a Furok Cave behind Fallraen.
- Meren Townstone / Fish Stone: lies in a temple out in the Cloud Forest (stick to the right after Verrus).
- Lang Townstone / Mosquito Stone: directly in possession of the priestess in Lang. Only sensible priest on the Peninsula imho.
- Quillrabe Townstone / Mask Stone: in the hands of the Dragon Queen.
- Hiroth Townstone / Crown Stone: lying in the Utraean Circle ready for the unification.
- Grescal Townstone / Palm Stone: in the dungeon of the Abandoned Ruins north-east of the oasis.
Trivia[]