I went to Solberg’s tower, looked all around for clues, got the Demonslayer repaired (Fort Draco is another place I had barely been in – I had been in to get a boat but hadn’t looked at the rest of the town), poked around every square inch of the Tower of Magi, and finally read the University of Regensburg Avernum page on the tower from beginning to end.

I had overlooked the switch in the garden that opens the door to the restricted area. Oops. I had always assumed you got to the dark patch from a stairway from above.

Things were straightforward after this epic gaming fail. I’m not sure where to go from here because I put so much into the Adze-Haakai quest but I’ll regroup tomorrow. Be kind and give me a hint if it’s obvious. I have the release and banish Groh-Hoth (or whatever his name is) quests and the kill-Hawthorne quest.