A Question of Azimuthal Vectors

A Question of Azimuthal Vectors is a Mages Guild quest available during the events of. The Agent is to retrieve a forgotten artefact to aid a Guildmagister's research of "a thorny problem".

Background
After completing several mundane tasks for the Mages Guild, and improved their magical skills, the Agent will be accepted as a member of the Guild. Guildmagisters will therefore begin to offer the Agent more difficult tasks, rewarding them with and a boost to their reputation, meaning they can climb further through the Guild's ranks.

Objectives

 * Speak with a Guildmagister from the Mages Guild.
 * (Either) Journey to the dungeon specified for the Catalogue.
 * Find the Catalogue within said dungeon.
 * (Either) Find the item within a second dungeon.
 * (Or) Meet with the scholar.
 * (Or) Journey to the dungeon specified as the home of the scholar.
 * (Possible) Complete a trip to an Alchemist shop for the scholar.
 * (Either) Head to the dungeon specified by the scholar to find the item.
 * (Or) Leave the scholar's dungeon.
 * Report back to the Guildmagister, with or without the item, before the time limit expires.

Walkthrough
Having spent some time working for the Mages Guild, the Agent will be offered the chance to assist some research. The researcher in question is one of the Guildmagisters, who will ask that the Agent obtain an instrument that has long since disappeared from the Guild. The Guildmagister suggests two methods to find the instrument, one using a catalogue, the other through speaking with a scholar researching the item.

The Catalogued Quest
Should the Agent choose to use the Catalogue, they will have to enter the dungeon where the Guildmagister originally found a reference to the artefact. The Agent must search through the specified dungeon to find the catalogue, found lying on the floor somewhere inside, although the Agent will face a random assortment of creatures and enemies. Upon picking up the Catalogue, the Agent will instantly be offered another pair of paths to complete the quest, depending on its contents.

A Museum Piece
The more preferable of the two potential paths will be seen in the Catalogue, for it identifies where the instrument was originally from. The Agent will therefore have to delve into a second dungeon to retrieve it, fighting another set of dungeon dangers, before finding the item lying on the floor somewhere within. Confirmation that the Agent has found the item comes via a notification.

With that, the Agent may return to the Guildmagister, before the time limit expires, to complete the quest.

Deep Storage
The more hindering revelation from the Catalogue will be the fact that the piece has been catalogued, but its last known location has not been recorded. Without any further information, the Agent has a choice to make: Either give up and fail the quest, or track down the scholar mentioned by the Guildmagister.

The Researcher's Path
Should the Agent decided to visit the scholar, either from their conversation with the Guildmagister or finding the Catalogue, then they will have to dive into a separate dungeon. Another search is required before the Agent finds the scholar, who will be standing inside and ignored by the many creatures inhabiting the dungeon. When spoken to, the Agent will once again be presented with two paths, one vastly more complicated than the other.

A Well Researched Artefact
Speaking with the scholar reveals that they have known about the location of the artefact for some time, a fact quickly proved by a quick read through their notes. They will give the Agent the location of the artefact, meaning the Agent will have to head to a second dungeon (or third if they tried the Catalogue option) to retrieve it. There will be a random assortment of creatures and enemies in the artefact dungeon, which will be lying somewhere within.

Once the artefact has been recovered, the Agent may return to the Guildmagister, before the time limit expires, to complete the quest.

The Shopping List
The alternative scenario will see the scholar state that they simply do not know where the item is, although they will instead offer the Agent a simple task. The rather innoculous errand will see the Agent handed a list of ingredients, which are to be obtained by a specific alchemist. All the Agent has to do is head to the alchemist, who will state:

"Another shopping list from [scholar's name], eh? I swear, if I send another shipment out to [him/her] without getting paid ... "Charge to my account", ha! That's rich. Listen, I'll give you the [ingredient] [he/she] asked for, but the rest will have to be special ordered, and I'm not doing that until [he/she] pays me for everything else I've sent to [him/her]. I'm sorry, but that's the best I can do."

- An Alchemist

Returning with the lone ingredient to the scholar will see the Agent rewarded with a random magical item by the scholar. They will also reveal that they know the location of the Catalogue, and will offer to teleport the Agent to it. If the Agent has not gone to the Catalogue dungeon then this is the only way of potentially finding the artefact, otherwise the quest is over.

It should be noted that rejecting the offer to pick up ingredients for the scholar means that Agent will have to either find the Catalogue or fail the quest.

A Dead End
There is a one in four chance that the Agent's search is incompleteable, as neither Catalogue nor scholar know the location of the item. This will not be grounds for failure, however, as the Guildmagister will still reward the Agent for their efforts.

Rewards
The Agent will receive a random amount of for completing the quest successfully, although there will be no major benefits to their reputation regardless of which successful outcome occurs. The penalties for failing the quest are relatively high by comparison, but will also see gains among some anti-Mage Guild factions:

Trivia

 * This quest was only originally open in the CompUSA Special Edition version of.
 * Both the catalogue and the scholar may be randomly placed in the same dungeon, but it has no effect on the quest.
 * When asked for any news, NPCs will make a variety of comments referencing the quest:
 * Acceptance: "Did you see (Guildmagister's name) wandering the streets last night, mumbling something under [his/her] breath? Crazy old coot!"
 * Success: "[Guildmagister's name] has been telling everyone about some [player's race] who saved [his/her] research. Hey, that was you, right?"
 * Failure: "Crazy old [Guildmagister's name] seems more despondent than usual."