The Fabric of Time

The white sands of Qalia hold many of the core quest lines in Vanguard: The Hunters League, Infineum and Pantheon of the Ancients to name a few. Recently I've been working through the Infineum quest line, however I started this line before I decided to blog so the early stages are missing.

The story starts with a gnome called Donovan who is located in Donovans Roost, north of the Infineum mines. He gives you a little speech about the mysterious formations in the southern mines and asks if you care to know more. In the mines is a thrall of Infineum, enslaved my Kronus Infineum who promised great power to those who would join his cult.

Down in the mines there are constructs of Infineum - rocks, blood who bare the mark of Kronus that protect the secrets of the mine at all costs. Hidden in the rocky formations of Infineum is the slave, resisting the temptation of empty promises made by the mysterious Keeper of Time.
The slave appears to know nothing, his mind warped over years of exposure the the Infineum or driven insane over the years of laborious work. Through the little sense he made, he pointed to the horizon, to a settlement of humanoids and with them, a library.
The library is heavily guarded by soldiers who defy the rules of time and space, their weapon and armour pulsing with energy. Inside the library, just as the slave promised are the answers. The book talks of a potion, one that imbues the drinker with the ability to resist the Infineum radiation and keep them sane. The recipe is complicated, so we head to Donovan, the intelligent little gnome to see if he can decipher the resistance. As we go to leave the library, something stirs - a ghost or spirit, a casualty to the Infineum. The spirit takes us back hundreds of years, to when he was still alive. He had a wife, a powerful leader with great power. It is unclear what happened, but through greed or jealously, she was killed and her blood rubied the sands. From this act of evil, where the blood was spilled great formations shot from the ground. They appeared to be otherworldly and possess great qualities.

Back at Donovans Roost, the gnome is able to determine the components needed to make the Infineum Immunity potion. Each vial requires dust from the Infineum constructs and blood from the Infineum oozes. Aiding the battle against the Infineum we set out to gather the reagents needed to shield us from the radiation. Left: Sunset over the Infineum mines.

With the ingredients, Donovan was able to concoct the potion that would grant us Immunity to the sickly Infineum. Donovan also rewarded us for our efforts with a ring infused with flecks of Infineum ore.
With the potion and no longer under the threat of becoming exposed to the Infineum, we were able to travel deeper into the mines and meet another gnome by the name of Accad.

After weeks of research, Accad has been able to determine that the followers of the cult are crafting weapons, armour and great constructs to aid them in the assault on Aghram. Accad explains that if we discover how to craft similar weapons and armour we may stand a chance to defend the heart of Qalia. On the hills of the Infineum mines there is a workshop, where great sheets of Infineum are manipulated and worked into time infused weapons. As the weapons are only granted to those of the Infineum Cult, a disguise was required. Right: The city of Aghram is under constant threat.

The perfect disguise to pose as an Infineum cultist would be their distinct blood red robes. However, one doesn't walk into a shop a buy one of these robes. So it was time to break out our own weapons and make ourselves an honorary member of the Infineum cult.
Now able to walk freely among the Infineum, we were able to meet this craftsman and acquire some weapons of our own. The smith explained that for the weapon you desire, you need the hilt and blade and Infineum ore to infuse the power. We quickly gathered Infineum ore from around the mine, using a special pick that we forcefully took from the slave masters. Before we could use these weapons, we had to see Tahir Jahani, Traveller of the Ages to teach us the art of wielding an Infineum weapon.
After hailing Tahir, you are given a choice of questions - the peaceful way or the forceful way. No matter which way you pose the question, a mere human is inferior to Tahir Jahani and he triggers an event. The event starts on the sundial construct with Tahir and his 3 stewards of time. Once the 3 guards are dead, Tahir phases out of our plane of time and teleports to a nearby podium surrounded by minions of Infineum. He repeats this process 3 times until he is finally dead, and in his killing we have earned his respect and learn the art of wielding Infineum. With Kronus Infineums' right hand dead, there is only two tasks left: stop the creation of the army and defeat Kronus Infineum.

Now better equipped, Donovan sends us to the nearby Infineum Sanctuary. An instructor at the Sanctuary unfolds the next part of the tale, in the present day. When the Infineum formations rose from the ground, the area was left untouched for many years until an adventurer who called himself Kronus Infineum was intrigued by them and began to study them and their properties. Through these Infineum formations, Kronus discovered a way to manipulate time and began recruiting for his cult. Those who joined were promised great power. Kronus, however had other plans. He used the Infineum to weaken the minds and enslave those cultists and set them out in the mines and serve him for eternity, mining Infineum to be made into armour and creatures - enough for an army.

The instructor is worried, the cultists are tampering with magic beyond their control, to build a super weapon. The instructor sends us to the place where the Infineum monstrosities are created. He explains that the cultists are attempting to summon a creature with great power into this world, we must stop the event. By the time we arrive, the event had already started. The monster broke the magical bonds of the cultists and launched a ferocious attack on its captors. We seized the opportunity while the monster was weak and finish what we came to do. Left: Yes, we're grouped with a tiger...

Aghram cannot reduce it's guard yet. The minions of Kronus may have been dealt with, but Kronus himself has not left his sanctuary in years and is still very much alive. To face Kronus and ward off his trickery, you must be able and ready. Donovan sends us to the nearby Shidreth Mining Camp, where a smith will able to share the knowledge of crafting Infineum Armour. For this, he requires a scrap of Infineum Armour and an energy crystal. When both are combined it gives the Infineum armour great qualities. Right: Myann forging Infineum armour.

Now we're ready, it is time to fight fire with fire. It is rumoured that Kronus Infineum has not left his observatory in over a decade, he is consumed with his chronology. Before we rid Telon of Kronus Infineum, we must see The Ageless One who rests inside the Sanctuary.

The Ageless One recites the story of Kronus Infineum and explains that he is stuck between this plane of time and another making him unattackable. If we wish to bring Kronus back to our time, we must kill the 4 shades that grant him his power. These shades are located in rooms that branch away from the time elevator. Once these spirits are dead, Kronus will be vulnerable.

After a strange surprise where one of the shades turned into a frog and began licking our warrior, it was back to The Ageless One for a progress report. Now that Kronus is weakened, we might survive an encounter with him and as a level 33 -6 dot, it ensures to not be a brief one.
The Ageless One is satisfied with our chances of survival (I was not!) and hands us a scroll with an incantation written on it. When these words are uttered in the presence of Kronus, he will be bought forward to our plane of time and will be attackable.

Another threat of Telon has been wiped out, rejoice! As Kronus died, we received properties to enhance our weapons further. With this, we headed back to The Ageless One to deliver the news of Kronus Infineum's demise. As we stepped out onto the bridge, a great rush of energy blew past. The Ageless One knew of his death before we arrived. Him, along with all the other minions of Infineum can now rest.
One last stop is to the smith at the Shidreth Mining Company. On hearing of Kronus's death, he is more than happy to repay us in forging our weapons with the great properties and turning them into Legendary quality, the weapons bearing the mark of Infineum who will soon be just a myth in time.

Like always, thankyou for reading and a thanks to those who i've grouped with along the way. There is a real sense of achievement when completing a quest like this. In all, it has taken me nearly 2 weeks to complete this and the reward at the end feels deserved. Coming from WoW, where there are no adventures like this and where everything is easy to obtain this has been a breath of fresh air. I recently added a gallery section to the website which can be found here. Next it is onto the Shadowhound quest. See you in Telon!