The Cold, Calculating Jack - main quest walkthrough | Underbelly Torment: Tides of Numenera Guide
Last update: 01 March 2017
How to unlock: The quest starts automatically once you've completed the Fallen to Earth main quest.
Your main goal is to find a citizen named Matkina. From the conversation that happens at the end of the Fallen to Earth quest, you will learn that the woman was last seen in the Underbelly district. This is where you need to go.
There are lots of people to talk to in this location, but at the moment you need to talk to just one, Mapper, who is found more or less in the center of Underbelly (M4.1). In the conversation, he promises help in locating the woman you're looking for but in return wants you to do him a favor: find a secret sanctuary.
You can get to the sanctuary in two ways:
- By talking to Ch'kekt (M4.2), a Stichus, which is the peaceful, non-combat solution.
- Breaking in there by force, which requires you to clear out the Sticha Lair.
Peaceful way - speaking with Ch'kekt
Talk to the Stichus (Ch'kekt) in Underbelly (M4.2). In the conversation, it turns out that the protagonist is unable to understand the creature. Once you've exhausted all dialogue options, a new one, ending with [Anamnesis], will appear. It lets you become familiar with the Stichus language after passing a quite difficult Intellect check.
After you've remembered their tongue (+3 XP), ask the creature to transport you to the secret sanctuary. The monster will agree.
Attention! You have to complete the Shaky Foundations quest in a peaceful way first for the monster to consider you a friend and agree to transport you. Once there, head southwest and go to Buried Crossroads and you will reach the sanctuary of the Changing God.
Violent way
In order to reach the lair you must first head over to the cave-in (M4.3), where you can interact with the rubble to discover a body (you must use Might to clear the rubble). Examine the corpse, finish your interaction and meet with Peliai once again, in order to hear her advice. You can now set out to find one of the robots in the Underbelly - the Master Foreman (M4.4). During your conversation you will be able to ask him to create a robot for you, which will help you reach the lair - do not worry about the choices in the dialogue options, there is only one way this discussion can end and it always results in the creation of said robot.
When the conversation is done, head to the place where you the body after clearing the rubble and talk to Stichus Automaton, which is now standing there. During your conversation, ask him to drill a tunnel to the Sticha Lair. Your team will automatically be transported to that location (M11.1).
There is a group of sticha in the lair. The enemies will greatly hinder your ability to move around the location, as they will engage you and your team whenever you are detected. You can try concealing all of the team members before you step into the main corridor, however, the sticha will once in a while use a skill that allows them to scan their surroundings, which makes it possible for them to detect even hidden heroes.
If you find yourself in a battle against the sticha, then you should not expect a very difficult challenge. These creatures are relatively easy to defeat, and they often miss. Try to use area of effect attacks, whenever a larger group stands close to each other.
Reaching the device marked in the picture above can help you avoid fighting the sticha (M11.3). After interacting with it, you can choose to go through one of the skill checks, which will make the statue start projecting sounds. This action will distract all of the sticha that are currently in the lair.
When you are through with the beasts, it is time to move on to the main part of the mission.
Important - in the Sticha Lair you can also complete the quest Shaky Foundations - you can look at an identically named chapter of the game guide for more details.
The Changing God's Sanctuary
You don't have to do anything in the sanctuary-it's enough to discover it and then tell Mapper about it.
Regardless of the way you got to the lair (M11.1), head to its southern part where you can find the entrance to the sanctuary you're seeking (M11.4). Upon entering, the quest will be updated. In the western part of room, there are two chests-inside, you can find The Tome of Singing Thorns (M11.11), which is the book you need to complete the Borrowed and Lost side quest. Moreover, with Anamnesis, you can obtain one more book (M11.10) - Callistege will be interested in it and will ask you to hand it over if present in the party.
In this location, you can also start a fight with quite mighty opponents. It's enough to interact with the mirror in the center of the room (M11.8) and click through the available dialogue options-afterwards, a group of enemies appears in the room. The battle is a difficult one so it's a good idea to prepare for it and have a full party of four.
Having examined the room, report back to Mapper and describe the looks of the sanctuary. The man will tell you where to find Matkina.
Cave of Last Words
You can get to Cave of Last Words in the same way you got to the Sticha Lair-by talking to Ch'kekt, a Stichus, or by using the robot constructed for you in the course of the Foreman's Brood quest. The choice is meaningless to the story.
Before you go there, however, it's a good idea to rest in the city-Might, Intellect, and/or Speed points will come in handy in the next conversation.
When you arrive at the small room, Matkina will start a conversation with your party. Its course practically has little meaning since it boils down to one thing: launching a long scripted scene in which you have to make a myriad of choices. Similarly to the beginning of the conversation, they don't have much of an impact on the plot's development so you have to wade through the dialogue options until you go back to the "regular" conversation with Matkina.
When the conversation is over, the quest is complete. A new one, On the Builder's Trail, then unlocks, and you will be to recruit Matkina into your party. It's worth it since this gives you a full party of four which makes it significantly more effective in combat. Moreover, Matkina may already be on a higher experience level than the rest of your party. Furthermore, you receive 200 XP for completing the quest. Head to the passage to the south. There, you will come across an edge of a precipice-climb up using Speed until you see a dome.
The dome riddle (optional)
Despite completing the quest, you can still head over to the passage to the south. You will end up at the edge of the chasm - utilize your Speed and climb upwards until you reach a dome.
Interact with the dome and go through the following steps:
- Check what's inside the dome;
- Analyze the interface using Lore: Mystical;
- Try to open the dome using the interface.
The force field will disappear. When you regain control, approach the control panel that resembles a tower and interact with it. Try to decipher the text and then go to the smaller panel located next to this one and:
- Examine the interface carefully;
- Try to remember why this sight is familiar to you;
- Determine the meaning of the interface's elements;
- Launch the network connection with the symbol of star constellation;
- Touch the sun symbol;
- Touch the three eyes;
- Touch the crystal mesh;
- Press the tesseract;
- Examine the network's state;
- Repair the network;
- Launch the network connection with the symbol of star constellation.
Afterwards, you will be able to teleport to a location of your choosing (not all of the locations from the list offer the possibility to teleport). Also, more portals will be activated in the city (just like the one you appear at after the teleportation) which you can use to move throughout the city.