Overgrown Caves
Given by:
50
Daily
Cooldown Timer:
Preceded by:
Followed by:
Story Arc:
Rewards
945 
825 
720+320 
20 
In Overgrown Caves, the player helps some Romulan scientists locate a missing team member.
The player must accept (or replay) this mission in order to gain access to the Paehhos Caves, which is required in order to complete “Web Access”.
Synopsis[ | ]
The player enters the Paehhos Caves and meets with the leader of the science team. He explains that one of his scientists went off to investigate mysterious occurrences and has not returned.
The player goes off to find the missing scientist, scanning Dewan artifacts as they go. They eventually find that the scientist is being held by forces of the Tholian Assembly, and rescues him. With the scientist back to safety, they press onward and eventually defeat the rest of the Tholians in the caves. At the end of the caves they discover a strange portal, which appears to be a trans-dimensional transporter constructed using knowledge obtained from the natural inter-spatial rifts of Nukara Prime.
Outline[ | ]
Mission Text[ | ]
We've recieved a message from a science team exploring a series of caves here in the Paehhos Crater area. They seem to be having some trouble and now one of the scientists is missing.
It may be nothing, but I'd feel better if we had a trained team check it out. Please find the science team leader in the overgrown caves. He should be able to tell you more.
Goal[ | ]
Explore the Overgrown Caves.
Objectives[ | ]
- Explore the Overgrown Caves
- Explore the Caves
- Scan the Alien Artifacts (10/10)
- Locate the Missing Scientist
- Disrupt Tholian Operations
- Defeat the Tholian Captain
- Close the Tholian Portal
- Free the Trapped Scientist
NPCs[ | ]
Accolades[ | ]
| Icon | Name | Description | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
The Last Days of the Dewans | Scan the Dewan monuments to learn their history. | 20 |
|
The Last Days of the Dewans: Part One | In the distant past, the gods walked among us. They appeared in light and performed great miracles. They ordered us to serve, and any who did not obey were destroyed by weapons that spat fire. For eons were their slaves. Eventaully we learned more about their technology and miraculous device they used to travel from world to world. But we were not the only slaves of the gods, and on a hundred worlds people bound together. They fought the gods. Millions of rebels died, but they kept fighting. Our planet was one of those targeted by the rebels. Great ships attacked from orbit, creating chasms that swallowed entire settlements. Giant clouds of ash blackened the sky. The gods used their device to disappear. They left my people to die. |
5 |
|
The Last Days of the Dewans: Part Two | After the gods left was the darkest period in our history. Thousands died. None of the devices left behind worked, and the archives were closed to us. All of the wonders they had given us were lost. My ancestors struggled through disease, war, starvation and disaster. But they survived. They developed a culture of their own, one that didn't depend on the largess of mysterious aliens. They developed their own technology, and built a civilization that we thought would last forever. It was a glorious time to be Dewan. We were the rulers of our own destiny. |
5 |
|
The Last Days of the Dewans: Part Three | When you have explored every inch of your own world, when you have stood at the peak of the highest mountain and plunged deep beneath the sea, then you turn your eyes to the stars. It was difficult at first to get support for space exploration. The cost was very high, and the chance of success was slim. Other needs were more pressing. Politicians talked about the folly of wasting resources that could be used for the people here on Dewa. The folly, however, would have been not to explore. To stagnate. Space was calling. A million gems in the sky, each one holding secrets to explore. Long ago, the stories said our gods came from the stars. Now we would join them. |
5 |
|
The Last Days of the Dewans: Part Four | When our first ships left orbit it was like being a child again. Everything was new. Anything was possible. We had sent unmanned probes to other planets, and even managed to find one where our scientists thought life could exist, a place we called Narendra. Not every mission was a success, and the greatest debate on whether to build starships was the risk involved. Eventually, however, we realized we needed to see these worlds with our own eyes, and not on a screen. We needed to step onto Narendra. We needed to become a part of something greater than us. |
5 |
|
The Last Days of the Dewans: Part Five | We were planning a manned flight to the edge of our solar system when they found it. A science team working near the eastern volcanic zone discovered a series of lava tubes that looked like they had been worked with ancient tools. These tunnels led to a great chamber, and inside of it was the device. It was the doorway of the gods. All work on space flight stopped. Our leaders said opening the door was a sacred duty. Soon our entire civilization was focused on the door. Where did it lead? Would the gods welcome us? Would we be gods ourselves? A few of us knew this was the wrong path. The gods --- if they were truly that, and not just aliens -- had enslavde and then abandoned us once. What could we gain by finding them again? |
5 |
|
The Last Days of the Dewans: Part Six | It took decades of work before we were ready to activate the doorway. Our biggest problem was power. The mechanism required massive amounts of power, more than our entire power grid could supply. We determined that the beings who created this device must have used geothermal power, which was why it was located deep underground. We needed to develop new technology to be able to tap the power successfully, and upgrade our grid to be able to handle it. Even new types of cable had to be developed. All along were were being pushed to do it faster. The public wanted to see progress. The leaders called for status updates. Maybe that's why it happened. There was so much pressure people started cutting corners. Finally we were ready. Dignitaries from all fields gathered in the doorway chamber for the great day. Three men had been chosen to be the first through the door. They were the best of us. The minister of science threw the switch. With a great thrumming vibration, the doorway came to life. It was a success! And then disaster struck. |
5 |
|
The Last Days of the Dewans: Part Seven | We made a horrible mistake. We should have left the doorway where we found it. We never should have created the geothermal taps. Every faultline on the planet destabilized. Every volcano on the planet erupted. Great fissures appeared. Thousands died in the initial event, and thousands more every day after. For more than six months, the ground shook day and night. People said we had offended the gods. I know the truth. We tried to be gods, and in the process we destroyed everything. It was the end of our world. |
5 |
|
The Last Days of the Dewans: Part Eight | These are our last days. In a few years, decades at the most, my people will be extinct. Small groups of us have retreated to caves like this, the only places left that are safe from the killing cold that has settled over this planet. But we have limited resources and no way to get more. It will be thousands of years before the surface is safe again. By then it will be too late. As I write this story in the final days of the Dewan civilization, I am struck by how similar our situation is to our ancestors. They took, suffered through great hardship. But unlike us, they found a way to survive. If anyone finds this record, remember us. Once we lived and loved on this planet. We raised children and mourned our dead. We created a great civilization and destroyed it through our mistakes. We existed. |
5 |
Walkthrough
- For a walkthrough of this mission, visit the Walkthrough page.
Map[ | ]
A map of Paehhos Caves. - Click to Enlarge
with Accolade locations
Gallery
Cave Entrance.
Romulan Science Team Leader.
Overgrown Tunnel Opening.
A Figurine.
Tholian Forcefield.
Trapped Scientist.
A Dewan Monument.
Tholian Hologram.
A Tholian Commander.
Tholian Portal.
Notes[ | ]
- This mission was once only available to players who have completed Tier 3 of the Romulan Reputation System prior to the Agents of Yesterday Artifacts update.
- Overgrown Caves is a daily/repeatable mission, and has a 30 minutes cooldown. 20 hour cooldown for maximum rewards.
- Accolades: Only one Dewan monument will appear per mission randomly in one of eight possible locations (see map). To make collecting them easier, ensure the cave mission is set to 'Primary' and enter the caves. The 'Alien Artifacts' will be highlighted in the mission color on your map and any Dewan monuments will be highlighted in a basic color. If no highlighted monument appears on your map, then you have already collected that monument, so leave the caves and enter again. Repeat until a monument appears on your map.
- Tip: DO NOT exit the Cave when the mission is complete. Turn in the mission, pick up the next one "Web Access", Input the Tholian Codes and Submit the Recording. Then exit the Cave.
External links[ | ]
 New Romulus Missions
|
|---|
“New Romulus Aid” • “Staging Area” • “Warehouse” • “The Atlai” • “Vastam Peaks” • “Mountain Base” • “Paehhos Crater” • “Overgrown Caves” • “Hwael Ruins” • “The Power Source” |
“New Romulus: Isha Forest Epohh Collection” |
| Reputation System Missions
|
“Hidden Camera” (Tier I) • “Secret Shuttle Codes” (Tier II) • “Web Access” (Tier III) • “Latest Findings” (Tier IV) • “Secrets of the Ancients” (Tier V) |
| Duty Officer Assignments
|
Epohh Collection: “Research Tagged Epohhs” • “Raise Epohh Pup” • “Raise Epohh Moppet” • “Raise Epohh Adult” |
