Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - The House of Ballads

Song of Sir Sagrell
Head to the House of Ballads to pick up this quest. When you get there, you will find out that one of the members of the Court of Enchantments has died and his seat has opened. If you talk to the person at the top of the steps, he will tell you that no mortal has ever even tried to take a seat in the Court. However, he will let you try.

Head to Gorguath SE of the House of Ballads. There are five Lorestones in this dungeon so keep an eye out for them. Go inside and talk to Pledge Ficon. You will have to take down the Heartvines that are protecting the Thresh. First, head W and follow that path. It will lead you N over a room. You'll have to fight some boggarts but they're nothing special. The path will eventually turn ESE. There will be a path off to the left and a dead end ahead. Go to the dead end and activate the button there to bring down the first Heartvine.

Turn around from here and take the path that you just passed by (that leads NNE). You'll come across more Boggarts here. Eventually, this path will come to a room and turn ESE. There is actually a secret door to the N that leads to a lorestone here. After you've checked that, take that path to the ESE and about halfway across the dungeon, you will come to another of the Heartvine buttons. Hit the button and continue E. You'll come to another room just beyond with more Boggarts and a chest. From this room, head S to find the last of the Heartvine buttons. Continue S until you get back to the start of the dungeon and then take the middle path.

Along the middle path, you will pass a secret door to the left with some chests and a few minor enemies. Continuing along the middle path, you will approach a large room with the Grave Thresh in it. The Grave Thresh will some Boggart enemies to help. The Thresh doesn't have a lot of health (compared to some other tough enemies) but still has the variety of Thresh attacks and that still makes him dangerous, especially when it has help. Thankfully, the Boggarts aren't particularly strong so take them out so that you have some maneuvering room, then focus on the Thresh. On his own, hopefully the Thresh shouldn't be a problem but make sure to watch out for that dreaded moving root attack.

Grab the chest in this room and continue in the same direction as before NE. There will be a long stretch of hallways (watch for the lorestone on the right). At the end of the hallway will be another round room. Near a tree will be the body of Sagrell. Loot the ring from the body. You will then be attacked by two Threshes and some boggarts. If you are fast, it is possible to take out one of the Threshes before the other appears making this fight far easier. Make sure you loot the two side rooms here and continue NE for a lorestone. Then head back out of the dungeon. Return to the House of Ballads. Using his ring will act as a key to get into the Court of Enchantments.

Ballad of Bloody Bones
After a chat at the House of Ballads, you will be sent to the Ballads Oratory in the S part of Entenmere. Head there and talk to the King of the House of Ballads. The King will send you to help another of the Court of Enchantments. You must travel to the N part of Entenmere to Uduath. Once inside, take that path that leads S. When you get to the first room, you'll come to Sir Farrara. Talk to him and he will accompany you through the dungeon as you free prisoners.

Your first set of prisoners is in this very room. Simply open the door and then go W. The next room will have a couple of Barghest in it and a cell to the N with some prisoners in it. There's also a chest in that cell so loot it and then continue W. You'll come to a room with more Barghest and a couple of Sprites. In this room is the third set of prisoners and a chest. From here, go N. The next room to the N will house another group of prisoners and more Barghest. When you take the path leading out of this room to the E, be careful of a poisonous pool on the way. Beyond that pool is the last cell of prisoners and some sprites. Go E from here for the boss fight.

Save before the fight because there's a persuasion opportunity here. This will free the last group of prisoners but I'm not sure that even matters. It is, however, another successful persuasion. Bloody Bones is a mage and will be accompanied by various wildlife. The wildlife isn't all that dangerous and Bloody Bones isn't any more dangerous than a Tuatha Priest (if you've faced one). Kill his help and then go after him. You'll likely keep him staggered and he won't be able to do anything. Once he's dead, go back to Sir Farrara and revive him.

Once you've looted here and your business is concluded, leave this dungeon and return to talk to King Wencen in the House of Ballads.

Two Knights and a Troll
From the House of Ballads, you will have to travel SE to the Ballad's library. When you get there, Tenhwa will tell you that she has been trapped by the Maid of Windemere. She tells you that the counter spell for the trap is in a book called Two Knights and a Troll which has been stolen. You'll have to travel to Sundur Caverns to collect the pieces of this book.

Travel there and make sure you get the first piece S of the dungeon's entrance to save yourself some time. Go into the dungeon. The Caverns themselves are rather simple. Talk to the two Fae at the entrance to get the second part of the book and then you will slowly work your way around the Cavern counterclockwise. So first go W and then N at the corner. In the first room will be two bears and a chest. With two companions, the bears should prove to be no problem at all. To the N, you'll come to a T-intersection. To the W will be a group of three bears and some loot but nothing major so if you want the cash and XP, kill them. Otherwise, go E and follow the path as it winds N.

This N path will lead to another room and you'll find the third part of the book here amongst some Barghest. Check the sack on the ground for the book and then continue E. You'll pass a N offshoot with Barghest that you can explore but there's not much there. Continue E and then S. At this point, you'll start coming across Sprites. The path will turn E again to find the fourth part of the book. Continue to take the path S to get to the Boss. If you missed any of the books, the Troll won't appear until you get all books except the last part.

Nix the troll has a decent amount of health but he's just like any other troll and probably not as tough as some Prismere trolls if you've fought any of them. Once he's dead, loot the last piece of the book and take it back to Tenhwa at the Library. Inside the library, she will tell you that there's no way to actually read the books so you'll have to take the books to the echostone in the library to hear the books. Take the books to the echostone in the next room over. They will be read back to you. Listen to each one and then talk to Tenhwa again. If you listened to the books, you should already know the answer but if you didn't, the answer is "You are human now! Go!" This will remove the books from your inventory. Return to the House of Ballads and report in.

After you've talked to the "King" you will have to meet up with Hallam the White outside.

What Lies Beneath
Travel to St. Eadric's Mission. Go to Father Etair's House to discover that he is dead. Go outside and talk to the Monk tending the field directly in front of the house. After you talk to him, head to the NW to find a well. Go down into the well. Just inside, on the right will be a chest. To the left will be a path leading to a room of Kobolds. Kill the Kobolds, loot the chest in the room and then continue on this path. The dungeon itself is very linear with kobolds scattered along the path. Kill the Kobolds and take the crystals that they have. Keep going until you come to Brother Wulf. If your dispel is at least level 4, you have a chance of dispelling the effect on him. Get the Whistle from him and then go into your inventory to play it. When you play it, the last crystal will temporarily appear and be marked on your map. Follow the Quest Marker to the crystal and play the whistle again if it disappears. Collect the last crystal and return to Hallam at the House of Ballads.

The Champions
It's time to find the Maid of Windemere. From the House of Ballads, head NE. Most of your hunt for her will actually take place outside. So head NE to get to Windemere and when you get to the Quest Marker, you'll find the two Fae from Two Knights and a Troll fighting. Talk to Sir Airmer. If your dispel skill is high enough, you can dispel his curse and save him, otherwise you will have to fight one of the two. You can choose which you like but both are relatively easy. From here, continue E (hit the lorestone if you like). Whether you fought or dispelled, you should receive a set of Ballads armor or robes. Equip the full set or the door won't unlock. Go through the door to the next section.

This area is a wide open plain filled with different types of enemies but mostly sprites. As you make your way NE, you will come across a troll but he shouldn't be any harder than Nix was. About the area where you fight the troll will be some stairs that will lead S. Go up the stairs, then further S and wrap around W. You'll go up a hill and head N towards a bridge over the plains. You'll be stopped by the Maid who will inform you that you'll have to kill someone who is already dead for the bridge to be repaired. Head back down the hill and take the jump point down into the water. Under the bridge will be your opponent, Sir Elswin. Use the Resurrection Phial on him and then kill the poor bastard again. He's actually a mage but he will also fight you alone making for an easy fight.

Once he is killed you'll have to go down stream to get back up to the point where you jumped off. From there, go back up to the bridge which will repair itself now. Go across the bridge and on the other side will be the other of the two Fae you dealt with earlier (Either Airmer or Creth). You'll have to dispel the curse or fight him too. Go NE to exit the area.

Cursed Kingdom
Move forward and talk to the Maid again. The village bellow will be populated with monsters but they will not attack you. Atleast, not yet. Head to the middle of the village and go into the first building on your right (marked with a Quest Marker). Inside the building will be the old Sir Sagrell. Talk to him and he will tell you that there are a bunch of Prismere Crystals in the area that need to be destroyed. Go outside and play the whistle again to reveal them all. They will only be there for a short time so if they disappear, play the whistle again. Once you destroy the fifth and final crystal, all the monsters in the area will become aggressive (they will also fight amongst themselves).

There is a crystal in the middle of the town, one to the N by the front door of the castle (I would save that for last), and the other three start at the NE and are along the outside edge of the map going around to the S. Destroy them all and then go back to talk to Sir Sagrell who will tell you that the last thing you must do is ring the Village Bell to destroy the barrier in front of the castle. Go to the adjacent building. Go upstairs and in the first room on the left will be the rope to ring the bell. Go back outside and up to the castle. Go inside.

The Hero and the Maid
Inside the castle, walk forward to talk to the Maid once more. There are five more lorestones in this dungeon and most are not far off the main path so keep an eye out. Move ahead (NE) to the first room where you will come across Farrara. You can dispel or fight him (may require level 5 dispel). Like the other Fae, he's nothing too dangerous if you do have to fight him. Once you defeat him, there is a lorestone in the SE part of the room. Continue NE and follow the hallway but watch out for the snapping plants on either side of the hall. The hallway will take you to a rectangular room with boggarts and a poison pit in the middle.

After you kill the boggarts, leave the room going NW and you'll come to a small square room filled with more boggarts. Once you kill the first group, a second group will appear and attack you. Exit through the far side of the room and you'll come to a large room swamped with poison. On the far side, you'll see a lorestone but you'll have to cross the poison to get there. From the poison room, there is a room to the S which will lead you to King Wencen. You'll have to cross the poison, talk to him (loot the chest behind him) and cross back.

Make your way back to the rectangular poison room and take the path leading SE. You'll bump into an Ancient Leanashe but between you and Wencen, you shouldn't have a tough time of it. A little further on, you'll bump into another in a square room but should be equally easy to kill. Beyond that room will be a very large room with a couple of Fae in it. Talk to Queen Belmaid and dispel if possible. If you can't this fight might be a little bit tougher because there are two of them. Queen Belmaid uses Faeblades and Lady Oleyn is a mage. Mages and Faeblades are very dangerous because their attacks are always off time so you're always moving. Keep on the move and wait for a good opportunity to strike at one of them.

After they have been dealt with, head back to that rectangular poison room once more and this time, take the path that leads NE. Wencen will give you the King's Token so that you can continue. He will then run away and leave you to fight the Maid alone. Follow the path until it leads you to the Maid.

The Maid of Windemere
The Maid is a mage. Watch out for the snapping plants around the outside of the room. She will summon plenty of help like Sprites and Threshes which can make this fight difficult. When you attack her, try not to knock her back into the plants because it can make it difficult to reach her. Fateshift to kill her more quickly because a drawn out battle will just bring more enemies but you likely won't get a bonus to your XP because just as she dies, a conversation will trigger. You can choose to side with her or not, the choice is yours. After that, you will have to kill her or not as appropriate. If you kill her, report back to Hallam at the House of Ballads to be made King of the House.