I downloaded Dark arisen to carry on playing my new game plus save. Out of everything about this game i cant get my finger around once particular scene.

The quest is Arousing Suspicion and the scene is the one where the Duke Strangles the Duchess.

Here is the scene to refresh your memory.

She was the love interest the first time i played the game but i let her die in new game plus. What is the purpose of the duke strangling her ? I understand being given the choice to intervene or not but i felt this scene and the whole story of this game to be pretty random at times.

@jimmyfenix: I'm assuming he was possessed by some entity. Its clearly laid out that the duke basically sold his soul to the dragon in exchange for the power he has.

If you've finished the game, you've figured out by now that the Duke took the deal the Dragon offered him. The price for his becoming ruler and the Dragon leaving for a while was, as it is for you, the love of his life, Lenore; the woman he's calling for in that scene. He's been ruler for quite a while, and the guilt and shame of sacrificing his love has driven him towards madness. It's also likely that Lenore was his Pawn, explaining why he'd forbid Pawns from the grounds of his castle and also why his own pawn is nowhere to be found, even though he's an Arisen like yourself. On top of all that, his problems are compounded by this new bride Aelinore, whose name further reminds him of his deal with the Dragon, and with the Dragon's return to destroy his kingdom. As seen when you talk to him after slaying the Dragon yourself, he's terrified of it, and outright refuses to believe that you or anyone else could possibly have killed it. Quite simply, he's losing his already tenuous grip on sanity for a multitude of reasons as the game goes on. The story can be awfully vague in that game; lots of scenes and characters you can miss entirely, which can make a lot of the story just plain baffling. I still enjoy it quite a bit, though.

Isn't that a spoiler in the thread title? I've never done that specific quest. I've done most, but I haven't seen that. For the most parts, I much preferred the gameplay over the story - hence I loved Bitterblack Island and Everfall the most, because gameplay was much denser there than anywhere. Basic exploration was baller too.

I suppose the topic is already covering spoilers, but just in case:

@demoskinos: @make_me_mad: @gravier251: Thanks duders now i understand what drove him to do that. Such an intriguing game this is.

@seppli: I have fixed the title and added a spoiler tag just in case!