Aurora Glade (mission)

Mission Objectives
Gain access to the Henge of Denravi.
 * Get to the Henge Portal.
 * Attune the Henge Portal before the White Mantle do it.
 * ADDED Attune the thorn pedestal to clear the vine gate.
 * BONUS Assassinate the Demagogue.
 * ADDED Attune both thorn pedestals to clear the vine gate.
 * ADDED Kill the Henge Guardian.

Primary
The mission begins with an easy but long run through the jungle. Attune the first pedestal to clear the vines blocking the path (A on the map). To do so, talk with the druid, take a rune crystal from the thorn pedestal next to him and place it on the other thorn pedestal. Fight on until you get to a spot with two pedestals, one on each side (B on the map). To open the way forward, both pedestals need to be attuned with crystals. Doing this starts the White Mantle running to attune the Henge Portal, so make sure you have your tactics discussed first. Attune the Henge Portal by attuning all three pedestals with crystals before the White Mantle succeed in attuning them all. The crystals are located at point C on the map and the pedestals at the three point Ds on the map.

After the pedestals are attuned, a cinematic plays and you are transported into the henge. There you need to kill the Henge Guardian, a level 20 Behemoth and his two Root Behemoths; this should be an fairly easy fight (although the Behemoth tends to deal less damage than his two minions). Afterwards, another cutscene plays and you will find yourself at the Henge of Denravi.

Tip: One tactic that worked was to let the Mantle claim all but one pedestal. The last one they try to claim is the one directly opposite where they appear from. To get here, they have to go between two cliff areas and then across a land bridge, providing two natural choke points where it is easy to kill the runners with their crystals. Place the majority of the group between the two cliffs and another one or two back at the bridge in case the crystal-runner gets through. Often, you can body block the runner. Once you have done this, just slay all White Mantle that come out. When no more come, the bonus mission is trivial, as is claiming all the pedestals.

Tip: Slowing down the Mantle runners makes this quest a lot easier. Take a look at the movement speed reference, crippling skills reference or knockdown skill reference for skills that you can bring along, based on your profession. You can also try to simply outrun the White Mantle if you're not doing the bonus objective.

Tip: Also consider bringing enchantment removal skills: the White Mantle Abbots cast several of them, and have a tendency to cast Divine Intervention at the most inconvenient times. Removing it will make fights easier and faster, especially during the final phase, when they will not hesitate to cast it on their runners, causing potential problems.

Tip: It is possible to get the 3 pedestals in solo with henchmen. You take the close one first of course, and try to compete with the White Mantle runner for the other 2. This seems as an endless battle, but you can place your henchmen where the White Mantle have their guardians. When they cleared the spot (they can do it alone), place them further, where you see the next group. Concentrate on the left pedestal, because you can see into their route there quite far. Place your henchmen as far as possible, and then all you have to do is continue running. Henchmen will kill all guardians, and when their runner is alone, he will fail.

Bonus
Rescue the warrior Less Longbow from the White Mantle attacking him (1 on the map). He will tell you of the Demagogue, a powerful member of the Mantle, whom you should kill.

Note: When you first catch sight of Less Longbow on your radar, pause a moment and observe if he is being attacked by the two White Mantle Knights near him. The Knights' attack script is not triggered until you come too close to Less, which means that if you dally around long enough, Less will be able to slaughter the two Knights all by himself and will therefore be in no danger. If, however, you come too close, the two White Mantle Knights will start pummelling Less. He can take some punishment and uses Healing Signet liberally, however if you defeat the nearby boss just before reaching him the knights activate "I Will Avenge You!", which is a problem. In this scenario, you'll have to quickly rush to Less' aid before he dies. If you have a human-controlled monk in your party, send them on ahead to keep Less alive until the rest of the group can get there. A Ranger with Throw Dirt and a running skill can also keep Less alive for a few more crucial seconds.

Note: There is another path just before that area, guarded by two White Mantle, hidden by a house/bush figure. You can go up it and only have to deal with the two White Mantle instead of the groups.

Tip: One way to complete the bonus is to kill all the Mantle's runners first, and then drive your way to where the Mantle are coming from. This means that at least one pedestal needs to be in the possession of the White Mantle until the bonus is completed. You will need to be extra vigilant in ensuring that all the Mantle runners are dead.

Note: If you do dive into the giant mob of White Mantle watch out, anyone of them can turn into a runner for the crystal and can go on a different path away from the battle.

Tip: One way to do the bonus is to do the following:
 * Capture the pedestal nearest you (Southwest; immediately to your right as you enter and nearest the crystals pod).
 * Let them take the leftmost pedestal, then kill the forces protecting the pedestal, but do not take it (it is usually the first one taken by them).
 * Capture the pedestal nearest the White Mantle (straight across from the one you hold).
 * Now, one of your members should stay behind (preferably a Warrior with Sprint, but class makes no difference) and grab a crystal.
 * The White Mantle will try to retake this one consistently. They will send forces there, group by group and their runners will come here.
 * Ignore the White Mantle runner. Every time he runs to the pedestal, let him retake it and then have your runner retake it again. The dumb runner will go back to get another crystal; you should have your runner do likewise and wait for him.
 * Make it very clear to your runner that he should not take the third pedestal, otherwise the mission ends before you get the bonus.
 * The remaining five members of your group should slowly advance, killing small group after small group until you demolish all the White Mantle forces. In the end, the Demagogue will be left alone and easy to kill. Do not rush the entrance, or you will be swarmed by a group of 8-10 White Mantle; wait for them to exit group-by-group.

Alternative Strategy
 * A running skill is helpful but not essential.
 * After taking the SW pedestal, go ahead and take the NW pedestal. Post everyone, except your runner, around this pedestal as closely as possible.  (For best results, work alone with heroes and henchmen, and use the hero controls to flag them right on top of the pedestal; set them to Guard.)
 * (runner only) Run back and grab another crystal, because the White Mantle will have targeted the SW pedestal. Let them take it, and retake it as soon as they leave.
 * Now the Mantle will be focused on the middle (NW) pedestal, which you are bodyblocking. Grab a crystal in case they get through, and go watch the fight.
 * The Mantle will send 3-4 troops at a time. As they round the corner, order your heroes to target the one carrying the crystal.  When he goes down, another group will grab another crystal and come toward you.
 * If the runner reaches the pedestal, immediately retake it and go back for another crystal.
 * Eventually the Mantle will run out of troops. When this seems to have happened, check by walking toward their base until you see the Demagogue.  If he is alone, you're done.  Kill him and then attune the third pedestal.

Alternate Route: The easiest way to do the mission and bonus is to necrotic traversal or consume courpse over the gate on the corpse of a warthog. Do this before you open the vine gate, and only the Demagogue will spawn. Either bring a build capable of soloing him, or have everyone kill themselves using vamp weapons or saccing skills, and rebirth them through. This allows you to take your time in killing the Demagogue without worry of the mantle attuning the portals.

Tip: Another way to do the Bonus is by force-killing the Demagogue. It's the fastest way, but there's no assurance that you can complete the Mission afterwards. Therefore, doing the Bonus this way is meant for players who already did the Mission. As you get the crystal, let the White Mantle attune the left pedestal. Let them go (do not attack) and then attune it yourself. Now, run to the right path, past the middle pedestal, and wait for the White Mantle runner to come back to attune the left pedestal again. As they leave his quarters, rush there (by the right path), ignore the White Mantle there (you can possibly avoid aggroing them) and go straight to the Demagogue. Throw everything you've got at him; hopefully you will kill him and complete the Bonus. Also, you can choose to avoid the crystals altogether and head straight for the Demagogue, again, taking the rightmost path. If you want to take a risk, you can leave 2 or 3 of your party behind with running skills and have them attempt to attune the pedestals while you are killing the Demagogue. However, be sure that they don't attune them before Bonus is complete.

Note: Occasionally the White Mantle will send out a group which does not contain a runner; these will sit around one of the pedestals as if to guard it. Be wary of engaging these longer than necessary, as it is all too easy for a runner to slip in during the combat and claim the pedestal. If you see a large group of more than 4-5 approaching, chances are it is a "guard" group and a runner group combined. If this happens you should retreat, since you will be overwhelmed by numbers should you choose to fight them all at once.

Note: Even if you fail the mission before completing the bonus, it is possible to still get the bonus if you have lowered the Demagogue's health enough and have placed degen skills on him before the failed mission kills your party. You then just sit and wait for the degen to kill the Demagogue, get the bonus, and then return to outpost.

Note: It is possible to steal the enemy crystal from their pedestal while they are distracted. You use it to attune a portal for yourself, or simply keep it from them.

Note: If, for any reason, you kill the Demagogue before speaking to Less Longbow and get the bonus objective, you won't get the reward, even if he is dead.

NPCs

 * Human
 * 15 Less Longbow
 * 20 Markis (cutscene only)
 * 20 Saidra (cutscene only)
 * 20 Evennia (cutscene only)
 * Spirit
 * 20 Druid

Monsters

 * Behemoth
 * 19 Root Behemoth
 * Devourer
 * 17 Thorn Devourer
 * 17 Fevered Devourer
 * Human
 * 16 Demagogue
 * 16 White Mantle Knight
 * 16 White Mantle Seeker
 * 18 White Mantle Abbot
 * 16 White Mantle Ritualist
 * 16 White Mantle Sycophant
 * 16 White Mantle Savant
 * Plant
 * 17 Thorn Stalker
 * Rider
 * 12 Wind Rider
 * Scarab
 * 12 Moss Scarab
 * Spider
 * 16 Maguuma Spider
 * Troll
 * /18 Jungle Troll

Bosses (Skill Captures)

 * Behemoth
 * 20 Henge Guardian
 * Plant
 * 18 Tree of Vitality
 * Human
 * 20 Holt the Iron Boot Heel
 * 20 Cuthbert the Chaste &rarr; Dryder's Defenses (unavailable before Marhan's Grotto)
 * 20 Garr the Merciful
 * Convert Hexes (unavailable before Camp Rankor)
 * Divine Intervention (unavailable before Copperhammer Mines)
 * 20 Kenric the Believer
 * Order of Pain (unavailable before Port Sledge)
 * Well of the Profane (unavailable before The Misplaced Sword at Heroes' Audience))
 * 20 Lars the Obeisant &rarr; Guilt (unavailable before The Misplaced Sword at Heroes' Audience)
 * 20 Manton the Indulgent
 * Glyph of Elemental Power (unavailable before Port Sledge)
 * Searing Heat (unavailable before Copperhammer Mines)
 * Rider
 * 18 Chott Stormsinger
 * 18 Wydd Kindlerun
 * Spider
 * 18 Kezra Spindleweb

Dialogues
Briefing from Elder Gretchen.

Follow-up

 * The players will be in the Henge of Denravi at the completion of this mission.
 * To continue the storyline, take on the following Primary Quest: Passage Through The Dark River from Shadow.