Tensions Rising - NWN Main Quest (Chapter 1)
Blacklake: Tensions Rising is a quest that begins by speaking with the guard outside of the gate leading to the Blacklake District (pictured above). You can also start this quest by talking with numerous different people inside of the Blacklake District. When you go through the Blacklake gate in the City Core you will find yourself in No-Man's-Land which is a transitory zone between the City Core and Blacklake.
The only 2 things for you to do in No-Man's-Land are the Trouble In No-Man's-Land and Grimgnaw's Tale side quests. At the gate leading into Blacklake you'll also be ambushed by a group of assassins that will start one of the 3 cult related quests when you look their Anonymous Letter.
Inside Blacklake District there are a few side quests for us to finish before proceeding with the main story. Some of these quests will require you to visit Meldanen's Estate too which is part of the main story for this area. The quests that require Meldanen's Estate are marked below.
(Meldanen Estate) Blacklake: Samuel's Rescue
(Meldanen Estate) Linu's Tale
(Meldanen Estate) Blacklake: Killing Formosa
(Meldanen Estate) Blacklake: Unrest
When you are ready to proceed with this quest you'll want to enter Meldanen's Estate in the northwestern portion of the Blacklake District. There will be a guard standing outside the gate that leads in whom you can Intimidate or Persuade to get out of your way. You'll get unlimited chances to Persuade or Intimidate him so keep trying until it works.
I recommend you explore Meldanen's Estate thoroughly as there is a lot of loot to pick up in here and you'll also have a few quest objectives to complete here too.
You'll find Meldanen on the basement floor of his estate - he will appear and attack you when you approach the Dryad that he has taken prisoner. Beat Meldanen senseless and he'll surrender to you and ask you to let him go. In exchange for letting him go you can have him release the Dryad he's captured and give you his key to the grain warehouse.
The Key Meldanen gives you is required for the Blacklake: Unrest quest. Aside from the key Formosa also wants Meldanen's Silver Tooth which you can only get from eliminating him and looting his body. Alternatively, you can choose to work with Meldanen too in which case he'll start the Blacklake: Killing Formosa quest.
Once you decide what path you want to take free the Dryad in prison and she'll give you a Lock of Dryad Hair. Before we take this item back to Aribeth and complete this quest you should return to Formosa in the southeast corner of Blacklake District and complete the Unrest quest or the Killing Formosa quest.
If you're helping Formosa then I would recommend you use Meldanen's Master Key on the grain storage in the southeastern corner of this area before giving it to her. This will allow you to collect the available loot from inside (there isn't much) before you lose access to the building.
All in all, when you're done return to Aribeth and give her the Lock of Dryad Hair to complete this quest.
Return to Chapter 1 Walkthrough