Betrayal in Antara

Betrayal in Antara
Developer(s)	Sierra Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Sierra Entertainment
Designer(s)	Peter Sarrett
Platforms	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	July 31, 1997
Genre(s)	Role-playing video game
Mode(s)	Single player

Betrayal in Antara is a Windows 3.1 role-playing video game developed and published by Sierra On-Line in 1997, after the success of their previous RPG, Betrayal at Krondor. Sierra had lost the rights to produce another game based on Raymond Feist's Midkemia, and therefore had to create the game world of Ramar. Although it is not a sequel, Betrayal in Antara uses an updated version of Betrayal at Krondor's game engine.

Plot

A ship, the Fair Current, is sailing from Januli to Pianda when it is attacked by pirates. With the ship on fire, the crew and its two passengers abandon ship. William Escobar finds himself in the same lifeboat as the other passenger, a joyman named Gregor. The two of them make it to shore but are attacked by a magical griffin and Gregor is mortally wounded.

Chapter 1

The game begins near Briala. While fishing, Aren Cordelaine sees William fighting off the griffin and, trying to help, unintentionally kills the creature with a blast of magic. Before he dies, Gregor gives William a medallion and warns him that the Imperial Consort is in danger. William asks Aren to accompany him home so Aren can learn how to control his powers from the Escobars' court mage Finch. Aren agrees and the two of them set out for Panizo. In the forest near town, they save a woman, Kaelyn Usher, who is being attacked by bandits and she decides to join them. Journeying west, they eventually reach Panizo, where William informs his father of Aren's help as well as Gregor's message. Learning that Prince Farril will be traveling to Antara for his wedding to Princess Aurora, William wants to go to Ticoro and warn him. Nathan Escobar allows Aren to be trained by Finch, but does not explicitly permit William to go to Ticoro.

Chapter 2

William, Aren, and Kaelyn sneak out of Panizo early the next morning and head north to Midova, where Aren starts his magical training with Finch. They then head west and arrive in Ticoro in the middle of the spring festival and learn that Prince Farril is in the city, though his location is being kept a secret.

Chapter 3

In Ticoro, William, Aren, and Kaelyn meet Kaelyn's friends, Raal and Fellich Marr, head of the church of Henne. They discover where Prince Farril is staying and attempt to warn him, but both Lord Caverton and the prince's guards ignore them. William, Aren, and Kaelyn return to their inn frustrated, but are awoken in the middle of the night by Caverton's guards, who inform them that Farril has been kidnapped. Having known about it beforehand, William, Aren, and Kaelyn are arrested as the primary suspects.

Chapter 4

Raal springs William, Aren, and Kaelyn from prison and the four of them escape from Ticoro. Raal informs Kaelyn that wraiths have appeared and are attacking people in the Ridgewood and her father Garvin has disappeared. Kaelyn leaves with Raal and heads north to find her father, promising to meet up with William and Aren when she is done. William and Aren suspect that the Shepherds were responsible for kidnapping Prince Farril and follow the trail of the Shepherds through Ticor and Chuno, eventually learning about their secret headquarters. Tracking down another Shepherd medallion, they use it to enter the Shepherds' headquarters north of Ticoro.

Chapter 5

Kaelyn and Raal head north to Kaelyn's home in the Ridgewood. Following a note from her father, the two of them discover Garvin's magical workshop in a cave. Garvin informs his daughter that wraiths have mysteriously appeared within the forest, possessing humans and creatures and driving them mad. With Garvin's help, Kaelyn and Raal find and destroy all the wraiths in the forest.

Chapter 6

William and Aren eventually find Gar Warren, leader of the Shepherds. Warren informs them that Farril has disappeared, taken by a traitorous Shepherd magician. Before William and Aren can learn any more, Imperial soldiers storm the caverns and Warren escapes. William and Aren follow, but lose him in the tunnels. Without Warren to prove that they weren't behind the kidnapping, William and Aren have no choice but to rescue Farril themselves. Following the only clue they have, the name Kahleth, they discover that Farril has been taken by a band of Chunese mercenaries. Posing as new recruits, they are taken to the cabin where he is held. William and Aren find him in a magical sleep and, after Aren dispels the enchantment, the three of them escape.

Chapter 7

William, Aren, and Farril head south to Antara with the mercenaries in pursuit, leading a trail of destruction in their wake. Bidding farewell to her father, Kaelyn and Raal head south to meet up with them, eventually finding them trapped near Ciaga Pass. After helping them escape through the pass, Raal returns home while William, Aren, Kaelyn, and Farril continue on to Antara. The Imperial guards are suspicious but, finding no holes in their story, let them go.

Chapter 8

Antara gathers for the presentation of Prince Farril to the Emperor. During the ceremony, a wraith appears out of Farril's body and attacks the Emperor. The Shadows, the Emperor's magicians, fight it off but the creature takes the souls of Farril and Princess Aurora and escapes from the palace. Prince Farril and Princess Aurora are placed in stasis and the Emperor asks William, Aren, and Kaelyn to save Farril and Aurora. Realizing that the attack on the Fair Current was meant for Gregor, they head to Januli to unravel the mystery behind Gregor's death and the assassination attempt on the Emperor.

Tracking down the Fair Current's crew members as well as Gregor's mistress, William, Aren, and Kaelyn learn that Gregor spent much of his time in Havesly, the capital of Januli. They head to Havesly, where they discover that Gregor was a spy for Lord Caverton, whose entry into the salt trade was driving House Sheffield to the brink of bankruptcy. Desperate to save her family from financial ruin, Selana Sheffield employed pirates, allowing them harbor in Januli by forging her father's signature. Selana planned to kidnap Prince Farril and hold him for ransom, joining the Shepherds to carry it out. Gregor discovered her plans so she arranged to have him killed. William, Aren, and Kaelyn arrive at the Sheffields' castle to find it under attack by pirates.

Chapter 9

William, Aren, and Kaelyn enter the castle, eventually finding Lord Sheffield and Selana, pursued by an assassin named Petrov who is killed by Lord Sheffield. They learn that Petrov was sent by someone named Silver Hawk to cover their tracks by killing Selana and court mage Calvert Bryce. Questioning Selana, William learns that while she was responsible for the pirate attack, she knows nothing about the griffin. Several months earlier, a griffin had been sighted in Januli and Bryce had reportedly disposed of it. Realizing that Bryce was responsible for sending the griffin to attack Gregor and the wraith to kill the Emperor, William, Aren, and Kaelyn enter the salt mines behind the castle and follow them to Bryce's workshop.

Bryce tells them that he tried to kill the Emperor out of revenge because the Shadows had humiliated him when they forbade his ethereal travel research. He continued anyway, but by traveling to the ethereal world to capture a wraith, Bryce allowed a few to escape into Ramar, where they appeared in the Ridgewood. Selana's plan to kidnap the Consort happened to provide a vessel for the wraith to strike at the Emperor. Before they can learn how to get Farril and Aurora's souls back, Bryce commits suicide. Using Bryce's notes, Aren is able to summon the wraith. The wraith refuses to return the souls so Lord Sheffield and Selana, feeling responsible for the turmoil that has occurred, volunteer to give up their souls instead. The wraith takes their souls, killing them, and returns Farril and Aurora's souls in exchange for the promise that humans will never disturb the wraiths again.

Two months later, William, Aren, and Kaelyn reunite in Ticoro for Farril and Aurora's wedding. William has been busy working for his father, Aren has become Finch's apprentice, and Kaelyn has been appointed ambassador to the Grrrlf in Antara. During the ceremony, William and Aren notice the silver hawk on Fellich Marr's staff. William realizes that Marr was Silver Hawk, but due to his political influence and lack of evidence, they are powerless to do anything and he has gotten away with his crimes for the time being. With those directly involved (Bryce, Selana, Petrov) in his conspiracy dead, Fellich Marr has little to fear from anyone attempting to connect him to the attempted murder.

Reception

GameSpot gave Betrayal in Antara a score of 6.6/10, commenting that despite being "one of the first RPGs to utilize high-resolution SVGA graphics, the graphics are, frankly, as ugly as an orc." Although the story was well-developed, it was "perhaps one of the most linear RPGs ever made" with the gameplay "more than a little frustrating." However, they praised the interface and skill systems as being "topnotch."

External links

• Betrayal in Antara at MobyGames