Age of Conan: the first steps in Tortage

This is how life begins in Age of Conan. Stranded on the beach outside a thick jungle, fresh off a slave boat. The chance for a new beginning.

Out of nowhere, a man strolls down the beach and introduces himself as Kalanthes. You may have heard his name before, and you will certainly hear it again as you progress through the game's story. He mentions some deep and meaningful things, telling you to seek a woman named Nadini in Tortage city, and then points you up the path ahead.

Blocking your entrance to the jungle will be a scantily clad woman by the name of Casilda. She's been the victim of some unruly pirates, and to gain access to the path ahead you will need to chase up the key to her cuffs.

Down the beach a short way, Scavenger Tuut will be waiting. He has the key to Casilda's chains in his possession, but he won't just hand it over. Thankfully, there's another way of doing things around here.

Depending on your class, you should have either a broken oar or a broken bottle, and it's at this point that you should consider jabbing Scavenger Tuut with them.

After downing Tuut, you can pick up the key and free Casilda. Alternatively, before rescuing her, there are some mobs both up and down the beach that you can choose to kill, and one way in particular yields extra rewards.

One corner of the beach is home to a nest of crocodiles and a boss called the Ancient Crocodile. If you can beat him and his reptilian pals, you'll be able to loot the glowing chest that he's guarding. After you've satisfied your desire for a romp on the beach, head back and free Casilda (who comes along with you) and enter the jungle.

Upon entering the jungle, there are two mini-bosses located immediately to the left and the right. Pick a side and take out the camp for a chance at some more powerful newbie items. The left side houses Kier-Deed, wearing his frightening slaver hood. There is a chance that he will drop this item for you to be able to wear.

Over on the opposite camp is Ehtuu-Agh, and another chance at some better weapons and armor. After clearing both of these mini-bosses, you can continue through the jungle, clearing pirates as you go.

Eventually you'll run into the Head Poacher. He casts some sort of lightning spell, and carries a cool weapon. He's also no match for a broken oar or bottle, so take him apart.

It's at this point that the enemies you're facing will switch from thugs to savage Picts. Difficulty-wise, there's not much difference, but these guys look much more insane.

Eventually you will arrive at a gate, being guarded by an old 'friend' from the slaver ship, Saddur. He has been man-handled by something, but still feels up to blocking your path. You get to hurl some nice insults before he charges at you.

Exact revenge on Saddur for his evil ways on the slave ship. There's a problem though -- the gate is still locked. Time to head down the other path to see what gave Saddur all those injuries, and to try and find the key.

Along the way you'll run into another mini-boss, this time the Bat Pict Shaman. By this point you will likely have picked up a new weapon from one of the bosses you've faced.

You'll start to see the sort of monster that took chunks out of Saddur before long.

The big boss of these demons is called Fha'quth, which sounds vaguely rude for some reason.

After killing Fha'quth, you'll be able to access his treasure chest, which contains the key you were after.

If you feel like clearing a couple of exra demons, you can get a chest with actual loot in it. After that, back-track and open up the locked gate with your newly acquired key.

Past the gate you'll find a handul of apes to clear.

This King Kong wannabe will be your last main roadblock before leaving the jungle. If you clear the other apes near him, there's another chest to loot.

Make your way along the path.

Casilda will leave you here, but not before promising to erm... repay you later on in the city. The gate then opens, and you can head through it, towards Tortage.

The path to Tortage. The lava flow comes from the nearby volcano.

Coming down the track, you'll finally get a look at Tortage city.

Unfortunately, you'll only be seeing the city from the outside for now, as the guard captain Laranga notices your slaves mannacles and blocks your entry. He mentions that a blacksmith named Turach may be able to help with this situation.

Turach is found back along the path you came in on. He can help get your chains off, but he wants you to get him some bricks from the quarry first.

The quarry is guarded by Brutal Pirates, and you'll likely need to clear through quite a number of them to get to the bricks.

Look at all those bricks! So, help yourself to the three that Turach is looking for...

Upon picking up your first brick, gas starts shooting out of some nearby rocks.

And out jumps the Bat Demon, to knock you on your ass!

Slay this horrifying foe to resume your brick collecting.

When you've got all the bricks and have brought them back to Turach, he is willing to aid you.

With a swing of Turach's hammer, your chains are smashed to pieces. Go back to Laranga and show him your clean wrists, and he'll grant your pass to the city -- but not before asking you to pass on a letter to his woman Tina in the Thirsty Dog Inn.

Ta-da! You will now be able to click on the gate to raise it, and enter the city.

A look at the inside of the city.

There are merchants near the city gate that you can unload your collected loot on.

Don't forget about your promise to Laranga! The Thirsty Dog Inn is just near the city gate.

Hand Tina the letter from Laranga, and then ask her about Nadini, the woman that Kalanthes had you looking for. She knows of her, and tells you that it would be best to go about his sort of pursuit at night time, for the sake of secrecy. You will switch into Night time here, which is the game's single-player destiny quest mode.

Travel through the town under the light of the moon to get to Nadini's residence.

Nadini is a wise old woman, and is able to reveal things about your destiny based on your birthmark. She will send you off to your class trainer to begin your destiny quest. It is here that we will leave you for now, to claim your own destiny! We hope you enjoyed this look at the early stages of the game, and be sure to check out our other Age of Conan features that are going up today.