Overview
Harken ye, brave adventurers, to the lay of the Stolen Lands and it’s Cursed Mistress! A Fairy Tale that plumbs the abyss of despair, before climbing to the heights of “Happily Ever After”…There is a secret ending to Pathfinder:Kingmaker, and it is not at all easy to unlock. Many choices from the beginning of the game up until the final moments will feed into this quest.You will have to lean over the precipice of despair to earn your happy ending!But if you are wise, brave and most importantly compassionate, you can pursue and hope against hope, win, the heart of thorns… Note: This guide was entirely FreeSergey’s work, and my humble task was but to translate it into English. Please convey all accolades to the individual for their very hard work!
Introduction: The Redemption of The Guardian of the Bloom, Nyrissa
Below, as you can guess, there will be numerous and very serious spoilers. Therefore, to anyone who wants to learn about everything on their own, my recommendation is to stop reading right on this line.
In this guide, I will describe in detail how to achieve the True Ending of the Game – The rescue of Nyrissa from her curse and the destruction of the Lantern King.
For those who want to do it themselves and are looking only for a general direction – I will give a brief description without details in the first section of this guide. And then I’ll describe each step in detail.
In order to get the True ending, you need to rid Nyrissa of the curse that the Lantern King put on her. For this you need to fulfill a number of conditions:
1. It is necessary to return Briar to Nyrissa along with her ability to Love. In order for Nyrissa to accept Briar from you, you need:
1.1. A good relationship with her that lasts throughout the game. At a certain point you will need to have a good alignment in order to advance further. (This is not required though it does make certain things easier)
1.2. Do not have completed Romances with any other Parties (Octavia, Valerie, Tristian, Regongar).
1.3. To possess, in fact, the Briar itself. To obtain the Briar, it is necessary that Nyrissa did not find it herself, and for this it is necessary that the Eye of Abaddon never falls into her hands.
2. Need to convince Nyrissa that it is possible to get rid of her curse. For this you need to be:
2.1. Well versed in curses. To do this, you need to study at least 13 curses throughout the game.
2.2. Have additional arguments to convince Nyrissa. These arguments can be obtained from conversations with various subjects of curses that we will encounter during the game – Tartuk, Vordakai and Armag.
Good luck to those who leave us now and aim for a self-conquest of this achievement. For the rest below, I will provide a detailed guide with a detailed description of all steps.
Monitoring Progress
You can monitor/control the progress towards the true ending by tracking variables in the player.json file
To be able to work with this file, take the last save game – for example, Quick_1.zks, rename it to Quick_1.zip and unzip it. Find and open player.json file with any text file viewer.
In this guide, at each stage I will indicate the values of the variables that should be in this file. If the values do not match or the variables are missing, then something went wrong.
A Rose has Her Thorns: Interactions with Nyrissa
The relationship with Nyrissa begins from the very beginning of the game – from the first meeting at Oleg’s Trading Post. Nyrissa is not like the other romances in the game, where the relationship is mutual. In the case of Nyrissa, for a long time, this will be a one-way street and not anything reciprocal. At this stage all that is required from the protagonist is a good attitude towards her and showing a desire to help. However/Moreover, this attitude must be maintained even when Nyrissa betrays us and becomes our nemesis.
Building the relationship can be divided into several stages. Moreover, each stage has a limit on the maximum degree of affection that can be achieved. Although there may be more opportunities to improve the relationship, affection will not rise above the limit. The relationship can not only improve, but also deteriorate, depending on which replies you choose.
A Mask of Petals (Stage 1)
The period of friendly relations with the nymph – from the first meeting at midnight during a restless night at Oleg’s Trading post to the betrayal in the Verdant Chambers. During this period, the following meetings take place:
1. After sleeping at Oleg’s Trading Post
2. At the Stag Lord’s abandoned hut
3. Before going to the Stag Lord’s Fortress when the fog dissipates.
4. In the capital, when you are invited to Nyrissa’s Verdant Chambers for a reward
5. In the Verdant Chamber itself
At each of these meetings, you can improve Nyrissa’s attitude. If you choose the right replies (at this stage they are pretty obvious), then the maximum level can be achieved after meeting before going to fight the Stag Lord. Be careful during the betrayal during your final meeting – refrain from rudeness.
From the point of view of information at this stage, the nymph feeds us half-truth, the image Nyrissa projects is that of the Keeper of Flowers: An image of who she was before she was cursed.
After this stage, the variable 816b7cc721f372041a3475144a6176d4 in the file player.json should be set to 40.
The Encircling Bramble (Stage 2)
This stage is crucial for obtaining the relationship necessary for The True Ending and mistakes at this stage can make it impossible to achieve it.
The next time we will meet with Nyrissa, is during The Vanishing of Varnhold. At this point you probably would really like be nasty to her for her actions during the Season of Bloom, but you should not. Choose the kindest option.
The variable 816b7cc721f372041a3475144a6176d4 in the file player.json should be set to 50.
The next meeting (true for 1.1.0f) may or may not take place, depending on whether we follow Tristian first or not. If we go, then we will have time to catch Nyrissa in the fortress and talk to her. During the dialogue, ask her why she pursues us – this will open the opportunity to once again improve relations with the choice of following option).
(Translator’s Note: The option is in Russian, so I have not included it. If anyone can provide me with an English translation, I would be happy to with the proper recognition, of course.)
This meeting is not mandatory and if you miss it, you will still be able to achieve the necessary level of affection.
The variable 816b7cc721f372041a3475144a6176d4 in the file player.json should be set to 60.
The next meeting is a visit to Nyrissa’s dream during the chapter “War of the River Kings.”
In the dream, we finally find out what happened to Nyrissa (although we could already see some scraps of this history during the Season of Bloom). The first time we can increase affection is in the scene after the Lantern King condemns and curses Nyrissa. By his curse he condemns her to Destroy a thousand kingdoms. And so that she does turn away from her grim task, the Lantern King removes from Nyrissa the part of her that would stop her.
In the next scene, if you have a good alignment, you will then have access to an option that will allow you to penetrate to a deeper level of Nyrissa’s dream.
Further narration takes place in the book episode. Choose answers like in the text below:
(Translator’s Note: Either Choice here is fine)
As a result of this episode, we will slightly improve our relationship with Nyrissa, open access to an additional meeting with her, and obtain a new ability.
After the interactive cutscene, you will be taken to the last episode in the dream (if you do not have a good alignment, you will get here immediately), which will take place in Nyrissa’s Throne Room. During it, you can further improve the attitude of Nyrissa.
After that, the variable 816b7cc721f372041a3475144a6176d4 in the file player.json should be set to 80 for the good and for those who went for Tristian first, and 70 for the rest.
In principle, for good characters, for those romancing Tristian and for those for whom both are true, this level of affection is enough for Nyrissa to agree to accept the Briar from you.
For everyone else there will be another meeting in which you can either achieve the desired effect or spoil everything if you choose the wrong remark.
Some time after visiting her dream, Nyrissa will pay you a return visit to your throne room.
Be careful in choosing your answer. If you choose to abdicate your Kingdom, it will enrage Nyrissa, worsen her attitude and make the true ending inaccessible.
(Translator’s Note: I do believe that the option highlighted is the only correct one. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.)
There that’s everything! Now you are ready and your relationship with Nyrissa is at the right level.
The variable 816b7cc721f372041a3475144a6176d4 in the file player.json should be set to 80.
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world…: The Briar
The Briar is a part of Nyrissa’s soul, the best part in fact, Her Love. The Lantern King, with his curse, snatched away this part of the Nyrissa, turned it into The Briar, and hid it in the Stolen Lands. Since then Nyrissa has been trying to find and return it to herself, but to no avail.
At the start of the game, The Briar is in the caves under the Old Sycamore, which in fact has grown so huge from the power it received from The Briar.
King Irroveti of Pitax was searching for ways to influence Nyrissa and sends the sorcerer Tartuccio to the Stolen Lands with orders to find and deliver The Briar to him, at which he at last succeeds, thanks to the gullible kobolds and random luck.
Having received The Briar, Irovetti tries to figure out what it’s power is and why Nyrissa is searching for it. But he isn’t very successful. Details about his experiments can be found in his diary, which can be found in a secret room next to his bedroom in the royal palace of Pitax.
Concurrently, Nyrissa continues in her search The Briar. She believes she can detect its location with the help of a powerful artifact – the Eye of Abaddon. To find the Eye, she dispatches the Numerian Barbarians led by her little wolf Armag and her Faceless Sisters. They almost succeed, but at the last moment you beat them to the finish line.
However, Nyrissa has another trump card up her sleeve – her pawn, Tristian.
If the Eye of Abaddon falls into the hands of Nyrissa, then she will be able to find out that Irovetti has The Briar and can retrieve it without your participation. This will close the path to the True Ending . To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to ensure that Tristian destroys the Eye in Vordakai’s Tomb immediately after stealing it.
Added. There is information that even if Tristian does not destroy the Eye and Nyrissa finds The Briar, then she will still have not be able to receive it voluntarily. And we will have the opportunity to find The Real Briar in the House on the Edge of Time and still give it to Nyrissa, subject to all other conditions. This option requires verification.
In order for this opportunity to appear, you must complete Tristian’s first quest with the Kingdom of the Cleansed, and also take Tristian with you to Vordakai’s tomb. In communication with Tristian, show mercy and emphasize the importance of the fight against evil and good in the world. Then you will be able to influence Tristian at the last moment.
It seems like there is another opportunity to influence Tristian – if you have a romantic relationship with him, but I did not check it.
In the future, everything will proceed as usual, and sooner or later we will remove The Briar from the cooling corpse of Irovetti. It is imperative to keep The Briar and take it with you to the House on the Edge of Time in order to use it in conversation with Nyrissa.
You can also show The Briar to the Storyteller and find out a piece of his story.
At the end of this section, I want to reproduce a conversation with the nymph Evindra (Translator’s Note: Nyrissa’s cousin), which is a compilation of the whole history with Nyrissa and describes everything that happened.
What a Horrible Night: Curses
In order to understand how to break Nyrissa’s curse, you will need to understand the curses yourself. To do this, you have to learn about all kinds of curses throughout the game. Projects for their study will appear after completing the main and secondary quests associated with the object of the curse. In total, there are 16 curses available to study in the game. But to achieve the Best Ending, it is enough to study only thirteen of them.
Each curse study project takes a long time. The High Priest (Religion) and the Magister (Arcane) are responsible for studying the curses. Some curses can be studied by both of them, and some only by one of them. Unfortunately I did not take notes on who can study which curse.
You will have to plan this process, because it will take up almost the entire game. In this case, your advisers will not be available for other tasks or projects. But it is possible and should be doable even with a large margin of time. In addition, the longest non-curse projects cannot be done, obviously.
The variable 3600f309e5279fb45b83f45b186b927b in the file player.json is responsible for studying curses – it should increase by 1 after studying each curse and reach a minimum value of 13 befoer going to House on the Edge of Time.
List of all available curses in the game with a report on the study.
1. Davik Nettle (45 days and 50 Build Points)
As it turned out, curses are a mysterious, little-studied area of magic. Their impact on the life of the victim can be incredibly destructive, but the source of the power that feeds this effect is still not known to scientists. We may be able to learn more if we encounter other instances of the use of curses, but even this study has somewhat deepened our knowledge of arcane magic.
2. Village in the swamps (45 days and 50 Build Points)
Our study showed that the “damned well”, which, according to local sources, was a source of disasters, is in fact harmless and not at all connected with magic. Dorsey, the rejected bridegroom of a local girl, tried to use the well to curse the fairy, believing that she had bewitched his bride. The girl herself, Nita, wanted to curse her father with the help of a well. Both curses worked, but it was not the well that gave them the strength. We can assume that some unknown third party intervened in this story and gave curses power. Another possible explanation: curses don’t really need a strong source of magic to work. Nita and Dorsey themselves somehow led them into action, although none of them was a magician or priest. That’s all that was found out.
3. Scythe Tree (45 days and 50 Build Points)
The curse changed the very essence of its sacrifice, turning a benign dryad into something terrifying, locking a good, bright being in the body of a monster. It is unclear whether it was possible in any way to release this captive beginning.
4. Bald Hilltop (60 days and 100 Build Points)
Most likely, the Bald Hilltop was really exposed to a curse that was born in ancient times, when evil rituals were performed on the top of the hill to raging forces whose name had long been forgotten. This curse still weighs on this place, filling the air with gravity and contributing to the degeneration of any vegetation.However, the area of this curse is only a small piece of land on the top of a hill. It is unlikely that it is the cause of attacks on the barony.
5. Tartuk (65 days and 65 Build Points)
Apparently, Tartuk was really cursed. As usual, the actual magic in the curse was amplified quite a bit. How such a weak magical effect could lead to such an extraordinary result is absolutely impossible to understand.
6. Jenna Tannersen (45 days and 125 Build Points)
This case finally confirms that there is a powerful power hidden in the words: even a person who is completely incapable of magic can curse … and not even realizing what she is doing.
7. Lake Candlemere (60 days and 100 Build Points)
The curses are undoubtedly mysterious, but neither Lake Candlemere, nor the island on it is cursed. They owe their ill fame to the portal located on the island and the wandering lights that lived around it.
8. The Everblooming Flower (90 days and 200 Build Points)
We did not find any signs that the Everblooming Flower was the result of a curse. However, the visions of the First World showed us the Mysterious Woman who created the flower. We know that she was cursed, and the curse demanded of her to “turn Kingdoms to dust.” Probably, the Everblooming Flower was not the result of a curse, but a tool for fulfilling its conditions. As for this most extraordinary plant, each petal is permeated with magic. Thanks to this research, it is now possible to grow flowers from the First World in the Exotic Garden.
9. Ivar (60 days and 65 Build Points)
Ivar denies participation in any magic rituals, and there are no traces of any known spells on him. It seems that the only thing that has changed is his attitude – he realized that his condition can be both a source of evil and a source of good.
10. The Hanvaki family (45 days and 175 Build Points)
It is impossible to establish whether anyone really cursed the Hanvaki family. If so, then it must be an incredibly ancient family curse – so ancient that time erased any traces of magic. Despite this, this study has somewhat deepened our knowledge of arcane magic.
11. Vordakai (75 days and 150 Build Points)
Many forces took part in the struggle that unfolded around the Eye of Abaddon. The main thing to understand is that in order to curse someone, you need to know his real, deep essence, what determines his being. Without this, the power of the curse will be much, much weaker.
12. Faceless Sisters (45 days and 275 Build Points)
Now we know for sure: the suffering of the Faceless Sisters is the result of a curse that affected their faces and their soul at once, destroying and disfiguring both. However, the curse had a different effect on the Sisters. Some of them easily succumbed to evil, others were able to keep a piece of their soul intact. All this leads to a curious conclusion: the power of curses is not absolute. There is a certain way to resist it, even if we do not yet know how to do it.
13. Tristian (90 days and 300 Build Points) – the project will appear if you forgive Tristian.
Although there is no evidence that Nyrissa cursed Tristian, this incident still left many questions. Nyrissa seems to have a special power over those who have lost something vital. This may be an allusion to the nature of her own curse.
14. Armag (60 days and 150 Build Points)
Now we are sure: what happened to Armag is the cursed sword of Ovirnbaane. The curse caused insanity, but it also became a source of strength and accounted for Armag’s ability to resist falsehoods. The nature of the curses is truly mysterious and worthy of further study.
15. The Briar (120 days and 500 Build Points)
All the information we have suggests that The Briar is closely connected with Nyrissa, and also with the emotions of love, affection and passion. This is not just a magic spell, but something more, affecting differently different creatures. It can even destroy the mind, but isn’t it the same thing that sometimes happens from strong love? Our research suggests that willingness may be the key to this mystery. Being willingly surrendered and willingly accepted, The Briar can show its true strength.
16. The First Crown (???) – the project will appear if you keep the Crown to yourself.
There is no indication that the elf king, trapped inside the crown, was cursed. However, the First Crown itself seems to have a mystical connection with Nyrissa and her curse. Her creation allowed Nyrissa to destroy the first kingdom and get the first grain for the cup named Forgiveness. Perhaps, in the right hands, the crown may show unexpected properties, but for us its usefulness is severely limited.
The Skylark’s Song: Additional Arguments
But knowledge of curses alone is not enough to convince Nyrissa to break the curse. You need a few more real-life examples. These arguments can be obtained in dialogues with Tartuk, Vordakai and Armag. Vordakai you need in any case, and from the Tartuk and Armag, one will be enough.
Tartuk
In order to be able to ask the right question to Tartuk, you must first kill Hargulka, then Tartuk will start a conversation before dying. The conversations requires checking the skill of Intimidate DC 23 – choose it immediately because otherwise it will no longer be available. Here is the content of the dialogue – it will give you the necessary information.
If you have a chaotic alignment, there is an option to attach kobolds to your barony. Then then the same information from Tartuk can be obtained without any checks.
After that, the identifier 966f49753c6c2d44582d34c9757dc52b should appear in the file player.json. It has no chil value – it just has to be the number itself.
Armag
After defeating Armag in battle, you can talk to him and ask questions. If you were quick enough and found the tomb of Armag before the power of the sword has time to subjugate Armag, then in response to the question of what he will do, if we keep him alive, Armag will tell you how he could draw the power of the curse to his advantage.
After that, the identifier 9c0b744e62fd6854a97216dd87907b6e should appear in the file player.json. It has no chil value – it just has to be the number itself.
Vordakai
After you defeat Vordakai and begin his deathbed dialogue, then at a certain moment a Knowledge (Arcana) test will be performed with DC of 23. If it is successful, you will have the opportunity to learn from Vordakai a little more about the curse he was cursed by Tristian. If you fail the check, you will have to re-load this moment again. But at this point in the game, this is no longer a very high difficulty – achieve the necessary skill value before the fight.
After that, the identifier d675b1f0fbbb52c4ba6a3a7642bd79cd should appear in the file player.json. It has no chil value – it just has to be the number itself.
In which several endings might be discerned: The Finale
Well, we got to the final act, where we use everything that we prepared earlier. It all starts with a conversation with Nyrissa in her Sanctuary in the House on the Edge of Time. If we have a good relationship with her, then we can persuade her to surrender without a fight.
After that, we will have several options for how to deal with Nyrissa. If we have The Briar with us, then we can choose the option to return it to Nyirissa. When she asks about the reasons – choose the first phrase. If our relationship is as good as possible and there are no other Romances, then Nyrissa will take The Briar and heal her soul.
Next comes the Lantern King, who drops his masks and appears before us in his true guise. After the King retires to destroy our kingdom, it will be possible to discuss the situation with Nyrissa. If you have studied at least 13 curses, then in the conversation you will be able to use your information.
You will need information received from either Tartuk or Armag. Finally, regardless of which option we choose, the dialogue will come to the fact that we still need the information received from Vordakai. Now that we have put our hope in Nyrissa, the Lantern King will have a surprise waiting for us in front of our throne room. After this begins the additional quest “You will reap”;
In the course of this task, Nyrissa asks you to meet at the past site of the Everblooming Flower and there you will have to talk and satisfy the demands of the three Eldest who were present at the curse of the Nyrissa – Shyka the Many, Magdh and the Lost Prince.
The Lost Prince will agree to help just like that. Good guy, as it turns out. Magdh will ask for the destruction of a Tane, the monstrous Jabberwock who defeated Nyrissa in the past and doomed her to the subsequent events. After defeating the Jabberwock, Magdh will give us the reward of the first mask of the Lantern King. Shyka the Many will ask to solve the same riddle that we solved in the First World during the Season of Bloom, but in the opposite order – to start with a flower and go through the whole chain in reverse order.
(Translator’s Note: Flower – Poison – Lake – Bones – Pedestal – Songbird, which you can then give to Nyrissa)
At this the quest is almost complete – we’ve got all the necessary information.
Well then – next we have a little time to be alone with Nyrissa.
(Translator’s Note: *Ahem*)
Further events develop as usual before meeting with the Lantern King in your throne room. But now Nyrissa is much more determined. If you then somehow defeat the Lantern King in battle (Translator’s Note: It isn’t easy.), the final dialogue follows. But this time, among other options, we will have one more…
And with that, They Lived Happily Ever After…
Seasons of Transformation: Changelog
11.12.2018: v1.0 of translation uploaded.