Esoteric Ebb is an isometric Disco Elysium-like, a tabletop-RPG-turned-CRPG with a bizarre post-Arcanepunk fantasy setting. You play as The Cleric, an expert in esoteric events, and a glorified government goon. Inspired by classic CRPG games, Esoteric Ebb features deep and branching dialogs with a staggering amount of choices.
In this part of the walkthrough, we finally head to the Undercoast, find our witness Meriadoc Moonwatch, meet Everglad, an older god in the pipes, find our assassin Freydis, meet an old snail Isk, and finally find where Gorm went. Maybe we cast our vote along the way as well.
Locations
Day 4
The Tower
Day 4 starts as every other day did – in the tower. Prepare all your spells as you see fit and check with Ettir if you have any dialogue left to exhaust, then leave the Tower. I am going to first of all head to the Goblin Garden and pick up Snell to head down to the Roots. However, I stopped at the Church of Urth first.
The Church of Urth
At the Church you can check out the wooden statue of Urth behind the shrine.
You will see it has been vandalized and you can remove the writing with an Effortless difficulty Dexterity check.
Quest: Election Week
I just noticed I had completed the questline for Election Week. It is completed by reinforcing your political belief at least 10 times. In my case it was saying I was apolitical 14 times.
You will be given a number of choices for your Feat after “Taking Root” related to the various political beliefs in the game, with a particularly hilarious one for the Azgalists. You can choose whichever suits your playthrough. For me it was Apolitical which gave me +1 proficiency in rolls. Very helpful.
Off to Goblin Garden now. Before that, though, head to the northern part of Tolstad to trifle a “Plume of Righteousness” off a glorious Seagull. You can speak to him if you cast Speak to Animals and learn all about Saint See and all that entails. In my opinion, it’s a waste of time really.
Also you can now meet Thalassos, the landlord of the Drunk Sphinx on the right and above the bar.
Speaking to Thalassos will reveal that he is the one who saved your life at the start. Or rather, fished your dead body out and took it to the morgue. This will update the quest “River Take Ye”.
And that there is an Esoteric occurrence in the park leading to the Goblin Garden at night. We will figure that out later – its an event related to an Esoteric pocket that will take an hour to complete. You can fish with him but it requires a Constitution check which I wasn’t willing to do.
Your next stop is at the Dragon mural in the park. Go there and place your hand on it. There will be a Constitution check to find out its secrets.
It will tell you it was painted by Iomestra and has been here for 2000 years and his name is Chancy. I did not get anything further from it. Next go to the the snail-shaped Garden Monument and cast Comprehend Languages on it.
You will learn a little bit more about the Touln’ Cait and get a minor XP increase. Head to the Garden now to pick up Snell and then head off to the Roots. Head to the first level of the City Below either through the Lichhouse and to the Pillar of Jor and then head south.
The Roots
Once there go past the Beware Monsters sign on the southern part of the area.
The Southern Caverns
Check the Divine era mural on the wall on the right. If you try to listen to the wall there will be a challenging difficulty Constitution check. If you pass it you will find out that it’s Chancy again.
While not tracked in the Quest Tree, you need to go find Iomestra at the next wall near the Gravity Flip.
A little bit further ahead, you will find the Golden Horde Ambassador from earlier. After a short conversation, he will leave. Check the wall paintings he was looking at.
There will be a Moderate difficulty Intelligence check if you want to get more information.
There are three figures, like the three dragons on the Chancy drawing at the start of this hallway. You learn these paintings are ancient and indestructible. The subjects look humanoid but more like the mythic Beasts of Jor. Move on.
Loot every one the alcoves along the walls, getting the Fancy Hat, an accessory which gives you +2 Dexterity (Modified) and -2 Strength (Modified). This belongs to our suspect/survivor.
Head straight to find the corpse of a Rogue and pick up the Esoteric Lockpick off his body. It will give you +3 Dexterity (Modified), making easy work of any lockpicking job. Head north now and you will be jumped by a “Big Big Monster” (?). If you have Meek, he will warn you.
Roll Initiative. You will learn it’s called The Roper. You can either roll a Effortless Dexterity check to run away, or a Daunting Strength check to punch it (?). I suggest going through the other thought choices.
This way, you get the No Sweat Intelligence check to figure out a potential weakness. You will find out that its eye is its weakness. You can use strength to hit it in the eye and then use dexterity to dodge it attacks, allowing Snell to take its eye out.
Heal up and go deeper. You will find another engraving.
Quest: Lost Mines of Toul’Amon
Check the engraving for the Symbol Akzel wanted you to find. This will update the quest “Lost Mines of Toul’Amon”. There is a No Challenge difficulty Intelligence check to figure out the Shrine.
This will lead you to inserting the Jacinth you picked up from Bondavol in the Crypts.
It will spring a trap and you can now pick up a Spectral Halberd which gives you +1 Intelligence and 1+ Wisdom without modification.
You can also check out the Lion’s skull on the floor. You can cast Speak with Dead on it and Snell will talk to it. Besides the XP gain, there’s nothing of interest.
Let’s get back to Akzal. Handing the quest into Akzal will get you the Item Pickaxe of Secrets which gives you +1 Strength and +1 Intelligence, while also completing the quest.
Its time to go through the secret door we opened last time we were here.
Upon entering you will immediately be attacked by a Masked Assassin. I lost the initiative roll here (gets you an achievement but horrible for an already difficult fight). Immediately I was down to 1HP from the assassin’s attacks, so I healed by casting Cure Wounds.
On the attack front I got 4 options and 1 question.
The easiest option for me was a Moderate Dexterity Check. Getting close to the Assassin makes the fight a lot easier. However, I cast Inflict Wounds, which increased the gap between him and me, and then finally, I tried grabbing his mask. She ran away after that.
Head down to the Undercoast Path now.
Undercoast Path
Quest: Valkyrie
Ettir will now join you and complete the quest Valkyrie.
To your left you will find a path leading to a labyrinth. Entering it will give you three options and you will be in the dark. Going through the Fallen hallways will lead you to a trap with a Dexterity check.
You can enter an ancient burial chamber before exiting. Here, you will find a dead giant snail with a Ring. Taking it will grant you an Item, the Ring of Spell Storing – it has +2 Wisdom and allows you to cast spells.
If you do take it, skeletons will surround you and you’ll have to fight your way out. Roll initiative and then focus on intelligence and wisdom checks to notice a pattern in their movement, then use dexterity to escape. You cannot beat them.
Once you are out of the exit you will be at the bottom.
Going into the rough cavern, will show you a painting of a whale but lead you to the same ancient burial chamber.
Going through the tunnels above will see you pass a Wisdom check to find your way through. Otherwise, it’s the same outcome as the other two paths.
Heal up at the bottom if you chose to get the ring. Otherwise, move on.
On your left is a localized blizzard and in it is a fungus? Fungoid? If you cast Druidcraft you will make some headway. An intelligence check will tell you it’s a curse. Cast Thaumaturgy to break the curse.
You will have saved the life of Brrr. This will update the quest “Primal Kin”.
He will give you the item, Ioun Stone, Insight which has 4 Wisdom (modified). There is a shrine to the south of this location. To your right you can pick up a Bronze Shield.
Brrr’s hut is to the south. He will heal you if you speak to him and you can pick up 8 Apples from here.
If you head south here you will find a bridge. On the left, right before getting on the bridge, you can find a Shard of Jor, Crowns and 2 Incense. However, you’ll need Mage Hand to get them.
You can pick up three Svamp Extracts as well. Crossing the bridge will allow you to meet Gourgalash, a Frost Troll.
You have a few options here. You can sneak up and check the cage or set a trap of sorts or fight, or maybe even talk to it. Alternatively you can yell at it? Sneaking closer will need a Challenging Dexterity check.
Remember that Moveable Rod we picked up earlier from the Windmill? If you succeed in closing the gap, you can use it to set a trap. Checking the cage will allow you to find “Frank” – our star suspect. Back to fighting the troll now – I cast Charm Person during the fight and succeeded.
You can then ask him what his weakness is, which is his left knee. Eventually you will have 3 options, Intelligence to figure out a non violent way to end this, Dexterity to run around and Strength to fight him.
I tried Intelligence and succeeded. The troll crushed me, but Brrr showed up with some mushroom based healing. Another Intelligence/Strength/Charisma check will follow.
Finally you will have the choice to end this fight. You can push him over the bridge into the Gravity Flip below.
You will get an item, the Troll Tooth, for all your trouble. It has +2 Strength (modified) and will regenerate HP over time.
Before checking on the cage, check the Pillar of Jor.
This final engagement with the pillar will need an Intelligence check of 22 and will unlock Fast Travel between the Pillars if successful.
Quest: The Star Witness
Open the cage with the key on the floor and meet Prince Meriadoc Moonwatch. This will update the quest “Star Witness”.
Speaking to him reveals that he is on a quest to write a travel guide. You can choose to punch him in the face on Moongore’s behalf.
He will tell you he saw an Invisible Smoking Man with his magic glasses on the day of the explosion. This will complete the quest.
He will also tell you that the man went inside the Pillar of Jor. Speaking further on this will add the quest “Gate of Jor” to your Quest Tree.
If you give him his hat back, he will give you a book “Beyond Reeds”. Since you have completed the quest you can “Take Root”. Your choice of feats will be:
- Luck of the Fool (Charisma) – Whenever you roll a natural 1, you get another result and take damage. But it can’t kill you.
- Dungeoneering Reflexes (Dexterity) – Whenever you roll 10 or below, add an extra proficiency to the roll.
- Professional Cleric (Strength) – you cannot critically fail.
- Curved, yet Balanced Bell (Intelligence) – Whenever any d20 is rolled, the outcome will lean towards 10.
I picked Dungeoneering Reflexes. Check the Pillar of Jor next and it will tell you that you need to get to the top part of the pillar if you want to get in. Alternatively, cross the rickety bridge on the left. Pick up the lingonberries and the mushrooms. Then, enter the snail door to head to the Old Prison.
The Old Prison
Quest: River Take Ye
You will now fight the assassin again. I used a Wisdom check to end this non-violently. I then let Ettir attack her and with a final Strength check, defeated the assassin. This will update the quest “Cult Hit”.
It’s Freydis Darrow, the girl we met in the Pillars Crossing on our first day and the Daughter of your patriarch. Speaking to her will finally let you know who killed you – she did. Now we need to find out on whose command she did this.
Quest: Cult Hit
Pick up her dagger “Unluck Blade”, which has 4 Dexterity and -2 Constitution and has an advantage against Lawful Characters. Go up the stairs and into the tunnel. Head north and then to the right to find a sealed door.
Cast Comprehend languages to understand the prisoner inside. He is a devil, or rather, the spirit of a devil. You can choose to break the spell or let him rot. I chose to break the spell. If you do this, you will need to pass a Charisma check to not let this devil possess you. He will fly off to Bloocity Bay and you will not gain anything except XP.
You’ll find a similar door on the north end. This one has an elemental locked up. Here, you have the option to use the Empty Efreeti Bottle, the one you can steal or purchase from the Vendor in Tolstad. This will upgrade the Bottle to give you +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom and +2 Constitution.
As for the tunnels, there are two more sealed doors on the left part of the tunnels, as well as a map room.
You can only gain XP and lore from this room, so it’s up to you if you want to read the lore of this world.
On the far left is a door where the only option is to tear down the seals. However, it is locked in with Primal magic. You need to pass a Challenging Strength test to succeed. Regardless of whether you succeed or fail, the result is the same – the chimera inside disappears with the seal.
There is a door at the end of the northern tunnel. Beyond this door is a voice that will ask you to save her husband. Ettir will crash out and ask you to save Isk-Urum. Even removing the seals don’t add anything to the Quest Tree, but you need to go to the first room of the tunnels. Once you are done checking the entirety of the tunnels, check the water.
You will now face Ever-Glad. This will complete the quest “Cult Hit”. Exhaust all the options, and he will now confirm that you can enter the Gate of Jor and that updates the quest “Gate of Jor”.
To understand the secret of why he was trying to kill you, you need to offer him a secret or at least pass Dice Checks to convince him on why his secret is not worth a secret of yours.
If you succeed, you will find out he wanted to blow up Norvik on election day or at least would support it. In order to do that, he needed The Cleric out of the way.
Exhaust all the dialogue options. There is also an option to fight him, but I didn’t take it.
Head back to the first room of the prison and interact with the Magic Circle.
You will now meet Isk-Urum.
Exhaust all your dialogue options with him. He will then go on a quest to revive his dead wife and also give you the “Staff of Strings” – 3 Intelligence and 3 Constitution.
Eventually you can get him to give you multiple spell scrolls – Scroll of Astral Project, Aura of Vitality and more. Finally he will give you a Scroll of Wish. You can’t cast it though.
He will also tell you about Isometra and Chancy. Once you are done with him, head back to the Undercoast.
The Undercoast
Head north from the door to the Old Prison and you will find some climbable vines.
At the top you can find the spell “Speak with Plants” from a corpse. Go back down and pickpocket the Ancient Helm from the other side. It has +2 Wisdom, -1 Charisma and – 1 Constitution.
Go to the Pillar of Jor and fast travel to Tolstad. Head to the Lich House.
The Lich House
Quest: Elven Connection
Speak to Visken and you will see the Elf corpse has been stolen. This will complete the quest. Next you can find out who paid to have you “rezzed”. It was Lady Sageleaf.
Quest: Gate of Jor
Ask him about entering the Gate of Jor. He will tell you that you need Astral Projection, which is good considering you picked it up a bit earlier, although you can’t cast it. Hand it over to Visken to complete the quest. Then, head to the Pillar.
Tolstad
Go to the pillar and start the process. This is a point of no return. Ettir will show up as well. Call for Visken, complete your free long rest, and head in.
Jor’s Crossroad
You are in the void. Move around and call for your party. Eventually there will be a Constitution check, which I failed. Then you get to watch a cutscene.
Once you see the man in the distance, set up your spells at the shrine then go speak to the man, Knut, The Cobbler.
Quest: A Missing Paladin
Speak to him, exhaust all the options and then go up the stairs.
You will find Lord Gorm here.
This will complete the quest. He will tell you the Leader of Norvik, Akesam was stuck by a Feeblemind spell and is good as dead. The magistrates run the city now. He tells you that the election is supposed to go in Urth’s image and so he was taken out. The Magistrates have a deal with the Freestriders, and together, they took out Akesam.
Gorm owns up to killing the elf and he is here to bring back Urth. The elves paid for the components of the spell and Ever-glad, discount Cthulhu, told him how it works. He caused the explosion as well, and imported the necklace of fireballs because the final component to the spell to resurrect Jor is 27 Urthfolk souls.
As the final confrontation approaches, you will have the choices to deal with Gorm.
Wisdom is the easiest check to pass while Charisma and Strength are both daunting and impossible respectively.
I passed intelligence and saw his point of view. Then I tried Charisma to try and convince of another path. Nothing helps – he is determined.
I wasn’t going to help him out anyway, so I tried everything else. I passed the Strength check too, but to no avail. I ultimately had to fight him – or so I thought. Pick up Flametongue now.
Go talk to the Cobbler, or rather, Urth. Exhaust all your options and get closure for you, Snell and Ettir. Once you are back, watch the ending play out.
Tolstad
Talk to everyone and head to the ballot box to cast your vote. I voted for me.
Thank you for reading this walkthrough of Esoteric Ebb.
More indie games
For more articles on other indie games, please check out the links below:
Videogames.
Gym.
Sneakers.
Manga.
My dog.
In that order.
