House at the Edge of Time - Exterior¶

On the other side of the portal you’ll find yourself alone in a typically First World area, which is never a good start. Continue northeast a step and you’ll witness Nyrissa tempting one of your weak-minded companions - in this case, Linzi. After that’s done you, too, will be pestered by a fey, in this case the far less malevolent Evindra… whether you killed her earlier or not. Damn First World fey tend to linger like a bad odor. She’ll inform you that Nyrissa knows you’re here and has taken your “toys” from you just like you took hers. Exhaust her dialogue options to learn about where you are, the nature of the place, and how you may find Nyrissa in such a formless place where time follows different rules. There’s also a pervasive mist here that can cause you to lose your way, similar to the area in the First World you traveled to when resolving the first Bloom. Fortunately, Evindra will gift you with another Magic Lantern you can use to dispel said mist and allow yourself safe passage without the unfortunate teleportation that it otherwise induces.

When you’re finally done chatting with Evindra, make your way northeast to find some locked doors. Looks like Nyrissa doesn’t want you strolling into her abode. Turn northwest and you’ll find a well you can use to travel about. Before that, though, you can find a fey named Issili standing near the well, who will serve as a merchant. She sells all kinds of top-tier gear, so any need you have unfulfilled, any money burning a hole in your pocket… this is a fine place to consider resolving those issues.

When you’re ready to move on, head on over to the well. Evindra said the mist would affect how you got around, and she’s not deceiving you; this very first area transition will prove her right, as you’ll be taken to two different places depending on whether you have the Magic Lantern equipped or not. If you do, you’ll go to the House at the Edge of Time - Underground, while if you don’t you’ll go to the House at the Edge of Time - First Level. To make it easier to get your party back, we suggest unequipped the Magic Lantern before entering the well, and when you appear on the first level (you’ll know it by the green and yellow carpet and luxurious fey decor), put the Magic Lantern back on to avoid any more teleportation incidents… at least for now.

House at the Edge of Time - First Floor¶

The major thing to do in this area is to find your lost companions. No more beating around the bush, Nyrissa has them, and is working to demoralize them or kill them. The outcome of these encounters depends on a variety of factors, but often requires you to have completed that character’s companion quests in a satisfactory manner. Your alignment and romantic entanglements may also influence the outcomes. Suffice to say, if you’ve been loyal to your companions thus far and need their powers to achieve victory you’ll want to get them back as soon as possible. If you’re using customized, hired companions, this will be much, much easier and you might not have much riding on the well-being of the pregenerated companions.

Either way, under the following headings you’ll find out how to reach each companion. If you didn’t complete their companion quests earlier or otherwise didn’t satisfy the conditions required to keep them alive or loyal, Anoriel Eight Eyes will appear (typically after seeing a number of companion outcomes) and will allow you to hire new characters free of charge. It might be somewhat tedious, but if you took the gear off of characters whose companion quests weren’t completed, you won’t lose too much ground.

First up, let’s discuss how to get back outside. If you went through the well without a Magic Lantern you’ll appear in a room on the southern edge of the map. Head northwest into a hallway and turn northeast, staying out of the adjacent rooms to the southeast as you go. When you reach a bend in the hallway, turn northwest and make sure your Magic Lantern is equipped so you can enter the larger room to the northwest. If the Magic Lantern isn’t equipped you’ll instead be teleported past the room to the northwest to the room where Valerie’s encounter occurs.

From the northwestern room head southwest and stick to the hallway, again ignore side chambers. Anoriel Eight-Eyes should appear where the hallway and the first room to the northwest intersect, but possibly only after you’ve seen some companion scenes play out. In any event, when Anoriel appears they’ll babble a bit before saying they’ll be waiting outside. Continue southwest to find a door that’ll take you to back to the exterior where Evindra, Issili and perhaps Anoriel await.

You don’t have to go after the following companions in order - in fact, you should do so in order of usefulness, which can be somewhat subjective. It should be noted, however, that Ekundayo’s encounter is notably more troublesome than some of the others. If you don’t have a particular preference, following the text below in order should be a relatively easy way to go about rebuilding your party.

House at the Edge of Time - Valerie’s Fate¶

From where you appear after using the well outside without the Magic Lantern equipped head northwest into the hallway, then follow the hallway northeast, ignoring all the side-rooms. When the hallway bends make sure you still don’t have the Magic Lantern equipped and turn northwest and enter some mist, which will teleport you past the room to the northwest. Keep heading northwest into another room, where you’ll find Valerie.

Valerie’s test is simple - if you completed her companion quests, it seems like you’ll get to keep her. If not, not. If she remains loyal you’ll have to fight a Wild Hunt Scout - an easy enough fight even with only two characters - after which merely talk to her and pick the option “Are you ready to keep going?”.

House at the Edge of Time - Harrim’s Fate¶

Equip your Magic Lantern equipped and head southeast into the large room you teleported past en route to where Valerie was tested. From here turn southwest and if you’re in World State 0 some mist will be at the front of the hallway, otherwise it’ll be further to the southwest. Head southeast through the aforementioned mist until you find a short hallway leading to a chamber to the northwest.

Here you’ll find Harrim, dour and moribund as always. If you didn’t complete his loyalty quests, he’ll succumb to his desire to die and make it a reality. If you did, you’ll be able to cajole him into joining the party by saying “We have to go. Are you ready to move?”.

House at the Edge of Time - Nok-Nok’s Fate¶

From where you found Harrim, head southeast back into the hallway, then turn southwest down a hallway. At the end of the hallway you should find two more rooms (one to the northwest and another to the southeast) and an area transition leading back outside. If you find Wild Hunt Scouts there, you’re in the wrong World State and need to take off the Magical Lantern and teleport through some mist. Assuming you’re in the right World State, head into the room to the southeast to find Nok-Nok.

Nok-Nok is being accused of not being heroic by Nyrissa, an outright absurd notion. If you didn’t complete his companion quests, Nyrissa will kill Nok-Nok, if not he’ll survive can chastise you for your tardiness. Get him back on your team by saying “Let’s go, Nok-Nok.”.

House at the Edge of Time - Jubilost’s Fate¶

Jubilost can be found right across the hallway from Nok-Nok, in the room to the northwest. Here he’ll be tempted by Nyrissa, and if you didn’t complete his companion quests his loyalty will favor in favor of self-interested pragmatism. Kind of hard to blame him, too, considering what Nyrissa tends to do to those who resist her. If you failed to retain Jubilost’s loyalty, you’ll have to fight him along with two Ghostly Guards. If he rebuffed Nyrissa, welcome him back to the party.

House at the Edge of Time - Tristian and Jaethal’s Fate¶

Return to the room where you found Valerie and from there simply head up a short hallway to the northeast to find Tristian being taunted by Nyrissa, ultimate instigating a fight between him and Jaethal.

This is easily the most complicated of the companion encounters here, and it’s somewhat tricky to keep both alive. To have any chance at this, you must have kept Jaethal’s daughter alive during her companion quests, and convinced her to die at the end. You must also have successfully completed Tristian’s companion quests without his faith in Sarenrae being devastated. If you met all of these conditions, the two should have withstood Nyrissa’s manipulations well enough to avoid killing each other. Otherwise, what determines who survives seems to be based on whether you romanced Tristian, and what your protagonist’s alignment is. If you romanced Tristian or are good-aligned, Tristian will have slain Jaethal, if not, Jaethal will have emerged victorious. The survivor(s), if any, will join your party.

House at the Edge of Time - Octavia and Regongar’s Fate¶

Return to the room where you found Valerie and from here continue northwest until you reach another hallway intersection. The hallway continues to the northeast and southwest, and to the northwest you’ll find an area transition leading to the basement. Ignore the basement for now and head southwest to find a chamber with three cells in it, inside of which you’ll find Octavia and Regongar being tested by Nyrissa in the guise of Maestro Janush.

The outcome of their trial is a bit more complicated than the previous ones, as they’re heavily intertwined. If you completed both of their companion quests and saw them chase off or kill Maestro Janush, both should survive. If you completed one of their companion quests, one will die saving the other, or opportunistically saving themselves. IF you did neither, both will die. The survivor(s), if any, will join you.

House at the Edge of Time - Amiri’s Fate¶

From where you found Octavia and Regongar at their little barbecue, continue southwest down a hallway to find an area transition to the “Frozen Boneyard” area. Once there, continue southwest and west to find Nyrissa demoralizing Amiri by calling her an unwanted outcast. Amazingly, this line of attack will actually work if you didn’t complete Amiri’s companion quests and find her a place she belongs.

House at the Edge of Time - Ekundayo’s Fate¶

To find Ekundayo, leave the “Frozen Boneyard” area and return to the first floor of the House at the Edge of Time. Continue northeast past where you found Octavia and Regongar, then pass by the area transition leading to the basement area of the House at the Edge of Time. Keep going northeast to find another area transition, this one leading to the “Troll’s Lair”. Because of course trolls would play heavily into his test.

Here you’ll find Nyrissa up to her usual tricks, which Ekundayo will fend off if you completed his companion quests. If not… well, you know how this tends to end by now. If Ekundayo remained loyal continue northeast into the chamber he occupies and talk to him and he’ll tell you how your past deeds inspired him to thwart Nyrissa. He’ll join your party now, but there is a slight complication - there actually is a troll here, and Ekundayo and trolls… well, he’s not fond of them, of course. Talk him out of his genocidal intentions by saying “I can’t make any promises. We need to defeat Nyrissa. But after that, if we have the time and strength…” or agree to help him kill yet another troll by saying “All right. Let’s kill the troll together!”.

If you do want to kill the troll anyways, make sure you’re prepared. It can’t be killed by normal weapons, and it’s immune to acid and fire. Unless you have a death spell (Disintegrate works well) that can finish the beast off, you’ll find yourself trapped in a room with an unkillable foe. That’s right, the mist behind you will form a barrier when danger is near, something that you’ll need to be wary of as you fight through the House at the Edge of Time.

On top of simply being tricky to put down, the Misbegotten Troll that lurks in this chamber is a 20th level Cleric with 400 Hit Points, a whopping 46 Armor Class and a high enough Attack Bonus to regularly hit your warriors. The Misbegotten Troll really has no glaring weaknesses, either, boasting a prohibitively high Fortitude and Will Save, and a lower - but still very difficult to beat - Reflex Save. If you’re going to bother with spells, you might as well go for the jackpot and try to hit it with Baleful Polymorph or Insanity. You probably only have a 5% chance to succeed so… hope for the best.

Defeat the Misbegotten Troll and you’ll earn a whopping 60,000~ experience and acquire a Flaming Longspear +2, Full Plate +5, a Belt of Physical Perfection +8, Manticore Skin Boots an Amulet of Evil Doom and a Cloak of Resistance +6. Quit a haul!

House at the Edge of Time - Linzi’s Fate¶

Everybody else has been dealt with, so it’s time to find your oldest companion. Return to the room where you found Valerie and from there head into the larger room to the southeast. From this hub room head northeast to find Nyrissa’s throne room, where the wicked nymph will punish Linzi for her loyalty. After the scene continue into the room to find the Horned Hunter, who doesn’t have much to say before inevitably resorting to violence. This is one of the few fights in this area you need not worry about, as the Horned Hunter and his minions are woefully underpowered. Cut them down, then deal with a trio of Wild Hunt Scouts that come at you from a hallway to the southeast.

After combat has ended you’ll be treated to perhaps the last Illustrated Book Episode in the game, where Linzi will tell you about Nyrissa’s Shrine where she keeps her cup of crumbled kingdoms - her “Apology”. More importantly it details that you need three keys to enter this shrine; one possessed by the Knurly Witch, one by the Wriggling Man and a third which is hidden in a chamber which can only be reached by passing through some mist in the basement area of the House at the Edge of Time. It seems that unlike most of your companions, Linzi was useful even in death. It doesn’t matter what options you pick, you’ll go through the same dialogue either way and realize something startling about the book you now hold. Looks like you couldn’t save Linzi, but at least you can keep her close.

Now that you’ve saved everybody who can be saved and discovered what you need to do next, it’s time to thoroughly explore the House at the Edge of Time. The next section of the guide will be devoted to exactly that - clearing the place of enemies, collecting loot, and generally setting things up so you can go after the three keys Linzi told you about without much fuss. There’s also one more side quest you can get to, which will be covered below in the Mirror Memories section of the guide.