The Belurat Gaol in the Gravesite Plain is the key to finally understanding the origins of those living jars you might’ve encountered before (including our best friend, Alexander). But there is a lot more going on than just that in this huge area that seems to go ever downward…
Unique Rewards:
Greatjar
Greater Potentate’s Cookbook [11]
Demi-Human Swordsman Yosh (boss drop)
The Belurat Gaol is located just past the lake with the slumbering Ghostflame Dragon, in a cave with an open metal gate.
Entering Belurat Gaol
After entering the Gaol and descending for a short while, you’ll reach the dungeon’s Grace (Belurat Gaol). Then, you’ll quickly enter a large, bluish cavern. Stick to the ledge you enter the cavern at, and head to the left. Watch out at the bottom of the second set of stairs down; a shade will launch from a room (Image 1) and, if you are going quickly, attack you and possibly knock you of the ledge and to your death. After you kill the shade, go in the room he rushed out of and pick up 6x Frozen Maggots.
After that, continue down the ledge until the stairs break, falling out from under you and depositing you in an area with several weak shades. Look to the left of where you land in this area, and enter the room (Image 2). A shade will come from the right and try to attack you. Deal with him and the other shade in the room and grab the Frozen Maggot sitting in the room.
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After dealing with that, exit and cross the bridge spanning the cavern. Shades will attempt to throw rocks at you from the other side, but so long as you run you can usually reach them before they even toss a rock. If they do start, though, you’ll need to roll away from the rocks in order to avoid being knocked off. In the next room filled with pots, jump through the window to your right (Image 1), then drop down.
Continue through the dungeon, and pass through a “dining room” and onto another ledge, where you can pick up Thawfrost Boluses. Continue to your right and into another room, where you can talk to a shade who seems to be terrifies of “the jar”. After speaking to him, you’ll find yourself in a large circular room with a pit down the center. Take note of the hanging jars, but before you deal with them, deal with the shades and go through the door on the opposite side of the room (Image 1).
Descending into the Gaol
When you enter this room, look to the left, and you will see a pinkish mass exiting a pot. Meet the Jar Condemned, a new enemy in the Realm of Shadow (Image 2). These enemies come out of jars, and can most easily be dealt with by simply attacking and staggering them. If you notice one shaking, though, you should back away; they will either spew blood or fire a tentacle from their chest.
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Once you’ve taken out the Jar Condemned, grab the Shadow Realm Rune [3] in the room, and head back to the circular room.
Now, it’s time to descend into the hole. There is a hanging jar near the door with the Jar Condemned. Start by walking off the ledge onto it, and then rolling to get to the next two jars down (Image 1). Be very careful not to roll or jump into the chains, but instead between them, as the chains can block your movement and make you fall. Next, jump or roll off your current jar down two more jars until you reach the one with the Glass Shard (Image 2).
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Once you reach this jar, don’t immediately go to the next jar, which is the obvious route forward. Instead, turn around and roll on to the jar that is behind where you’ll be facing when you land (Image 1). From here, you can easily roll or jump onto the wooden platform with the jars.
Be careful when you get here, as two small living jars will attack immediately. There is a chest on the other end of the wooden beams from where you land, but beware: it is guarded by a Jar Condemned that will burst out of its jar when you approach (Image 2). Once you defeat it, you can claim a Hefty Cracked Pot from the chest.
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Next, drop down to the area below. In this area, you will find a Great Living Jar and two smaller Living Jars patrolling the area. Dispatch them or continue forward, under the wooden scaffolding. You will encounter another Jar Condemned partway through the room, crawling out of a jar, and another walking back and forth from the exit to the room and the living jars.
Once you dispatch them, crouch and go through the door leading to another cavern. Look to your right, and you should see a Jar Condemned with its back to you (Image 1). Backstab it and then finish it off. Continue down and start crossing the bridge. When you are partway across, a Jar Condemned still wearing its jar will come out from behind a jar (asking how many uses of the word “jar” can go in a sentence) (Image 2). You can dispatch this one like any other, though it’ll take a hit to shatter the jar it is wearing first.
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There are two more Jar Condemned with jars at the end of this bridge. Take them out, then go down the stairs to your left. Just when you step onto them, they will collapse, sending you into the area below (with no fall damage).
The Jar Room
This room is filled to the brim with jars, and can be a bit confusing to navigate. Just know that you are on the lookout for the following things, which we will route in more detail after the list:
An exit, with a stairway down to the next part of the dungeon.
Smithing Stone [6], to the left of the exit.
Innard Meat, on top of some large pots (accessible via some other broken pots).
Hefty Cracked Pot, on some pots you can jump to from the Innard Meat.
Greater Potentate’s Cookbook [11], on a body just before some broken pots you can walk onto.
Hefty Cracked Pot, atop other pots like the previously mentioned.
Lost Ashes of War, on a body near the Hefty Cracked Pot.
Now, for the actual best routing. Walk forward until you see a medium-sized pot that is colored differently from the rest (Image 1). This is a larger (and therefor more dangerous) Jar Condemned ‘in disguise’, which you can attack. If you don’t then it will eventually rise up and attack you instead. Kill the Jar Condemned, and then go through the gap between pots that it left, killing the Shades that were behind it.
Look to your left, and you will see the exit to this room. You shouldn’t go there yet, but take note. Still, approach the door and look to the left, where you will see a corpse with a Smithing Stone [6] (Image 1). You can also go to the immediate right of the exit to grab 2x Frozen Maggots. Facing away from the exits, you will see a pile of broken pots which you can climb (Image 2). Do so, and then drop down to face off against the Jar Condemned on the other side.
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After it is defeated, head down the path to the left (Image 1) from where you dropped down from the jars. Look for a gap just in front of you (slightly to the right), which leads to a path against the cave wall (look for a ladder). Take a right when you reach the cave wall. There will be a Jar Condemned along this passage. Defeat it, and then look for a gap to your right, this one leading to some pots to climb (Image 2). Be aware once you start climbing that there will be a ‘disguised’ Jar Condemned at the top of this pile to the left.
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At the top of this pile of jars, you’ll some Innard Meat. Jump across a small gap toward and item atop some other jars to acquire a Heavy Cracked Pot. Then, drop back down and then go through the path with the ladder on the left and the pot lid on the right of a gap (Image 1). Go through it and to the right to reach a corpse with the Greater Potentate’s Cookbook [11].
Go up and over the broken pots next to the corpse, where you’ll have to fight (or backstab) another Jar Condemned. From here, go along the path to the right and continue (past a single tilted jar) until you reach the cave wall. Take a right when you do, until you reach some more tilted jars you can climb at what would otherwise be a dead end (Image 2). Climb it and grab another Hefty Cracked Pot.
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Immediately in front of this, you’ll see a corpse on the ground with an item. Drop down and pick up the Lost Ashes of War, then turn around and head through the path through the pots to the right. Keep going straight down this path until you once again reach the exit you passed earlier. Go through it and down the stairs.
Secret Jar Elevator
At the bottom of the stairs, look to the left and right to take note of the two playing Living Jars to your left, and the large, stationary Living Jar to your right. If you aggro any of these jars, they will all trigger. Because of that, you should take out the Great Living Jar immediately, grab the Smithing Stone [3] on the body next to it, and then take out the no-longer-friendly smaller Jars.
Next, you will see a rocky pathway leading to a small gap (Image 1). Approach the gap, but do not jump yet. Once you get close, the jar on the other side will burst open, revealing a Jar Condemned. It will immediately shoot a tendril out, which can knock you off if you decided to jump. Otherwise, dodge the tenril and let it come to you.
After that, leap over and deal with the other 3 Jar Condemned that will rise up (still wearing jars). One of them is larger than the rest, but can be dealt with the same. Once you have slain them, turn to the right of where you entered and peer off the right ledge to see a chain, leading to a hanging jar below, which you can jump on (Image 2).
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This jar actually doubles as an elevator! Simply wait a moment, and then the pot will rise up. When it is at its peak (and before it automatically starts going back down), jump down to the closest jar. Jump from there to the pillar, then jump along two more jars until you reach a ledge and doorway (Image 1).
In the next room, you will soon come across a Great Living Jar. Eliminate it, and then turn around. On top of the altar that you were so rudely prevented from reaching before, there is an item that you can reach by jumping up the broken pots to its right side. And, behold, you now have the most fashionable headwear in the Realm of Shadows: the Greatjar!
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After acquiring the largest possible ceremic cerebellum holder, head back down the stairs and to the right. Look for more hanging pots, which you can use to safetly jump down until you get back to where you were before, just before the small jumpable gap (Image 1). Jump across the gap again, and then go to the other side, where a hanging pot sits. From here, you can drop down onto the pillar below, and then the ground below that (Image 2).
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Now having descended to the depths of the Belurat Gaol, you will find yourself in front of a fog gate. Behind it lies a peculiar (albeit deadly) foe: the Demi-Human Swordmaster Onze. Defeating him will complete the Belurat Gaol. But will you be able to take on this glintsword-wielding maniac samurai? Thankfully, we’ve got a boss guide. You just might need it.
Graves is an avid writer, web designer, and gamer, with more ideas than he could hope to achieve in a lifetime. But, armed with a mug of coffee and an overactive imagination, he'll try. When he isn't working on a creative project, he is painting miniatures, reading cheesy sci-fi novels, or making music.
