I'm currently playing Arcanum. I bought a lifetime membership in the Library. There's a certain book with an interesting title called "The Orcish Question". For context, this book is a transcription of speeches of a human speaker; Mr. M'oran (real subtle) is an Elf (who aren't so jewish, but rather they have a hippie, kumbaya mindset and believe that everyone should get along regardless of differences), then Mr. Gustav is a half-orc, who apparently almost chimped out because the speaker urged him to calm down and behave (not included in the screencap). They don't make 'em like that nowadays.
Ha, that game is fucking awesome. Have you stumbled upon the gnomish conspiracy? Once you progress in the story, don't forget to head back to the bar in Tarant. I think that's where the quest starts, but only later on in the game.
Yeah, I know about that, it's pretty complicated.
The (((gnomish))) scientist at the university tells you to procure the skulls of Siamese twins from the cemetery. Right away he's telling you to go desecrate a tomb in the name of science. If you go there and check the tomb, turns out the skulls are already gone, and you find a matchbox that leads you to the Gentleman's Club.
As expected, if your character is a woman you're not getting so easy there. The bouncer will tell you to fuck off and procure a pass. You'll have to contact the club's founder, who is another (((gnome))). Being a sick piece of shit pervert that he is, he will demand your body, but you can threaten him or just kill him, no one will miss his sorry ass.
In the club you find a weird drunken guy who tells you to piss off. Ok, fair enough. Next up you find a guy in the square who tells you to deliver a message to the same drunken guy. You go there to relay the message, and before you know it, two dipshit assassins storm in and the drunk guy immediately shoots them up high-noon style (he was pretending to be drunk all along). He then tells you to follow him behind the corner outside.
He reveals you that there's a huge conspiracy going on with these skulls, and that you shouldn't return them to the gnome, and instead get to the bottom of it. He doesn't know where the skulls are though, but tells you that they might be locked up in some warehouse in Tarant. And indeed, the skulls are located in a locked barrel in a locked warehouse guarded by a wererat and a half-ogre, very tough fight for a weak character. The drunk guy then tells you to head out and meet his buddy, but you only meet him in Caladon, waaaay later in the second half of the game.
When you meet that guy, he tells you in detail about the whole conspiracy. Apparently (((gnomes))) have been doing breeding experiments on a remote island to create perfect bodyguards: strong, obedient and dumb half-ogres. Usually no woman will mate with an ogre, so almost every single half-ogre (if not all) are a product of rape. The skulls were from their first experiments with orcs and elves, which evidently didn't go so well. No, gnomes required humans.
On the "Half-ogre Island", you find the journal and delve even deeper into the horrifying details of this project. Turns out Tarant used to be a monarchy, which really upset the gnomes because it limited their power and prevented them from influencing the society at large. So they conspired to assassinate the king, and kidnap the queen. The queen was used as the first "seedbed" for the breeding experiment, lasting a good several times before she perished. Then they used daughters and wives from the nobility whom gnomes didn't like or wanted to cancel them. In the end, they abandoned the island, because they've reached an acceptable half-ogre population level, and they could just do it with random prostitutes in a secluded spot instead if they required any addition.
When you journey back, you will not find that guy again. Instead, you will find a (((gnome))), a very cheeky one. He will tell you everything, making fun of you and claiming that no one will ever believe you because you'll sound like a conspiracy nut. But it's a good thing for them because people like you keep the truth hidden in plain sight. Lastly, he finishes his speech with a line "What have I told you that is real?", trying to further confuse and demoralize you.
You can try to sell the journal to the press, but the journalist guy is (((their))) stooge, so it goes nowhere. If you sell the skulls to the scientist gnome, you're also playing in their hands because that gnome is involved in the plan. You know what the gnome said about it not being real a lie, because you can speak with a very educated Half-Ogre on the Island of Despair (penal colony). He tells you that he worked for a gnome all his life, and was taught manners and skills by a maid. But eventually he started asking too many questions, and he was deported.
I love this game, I just bought it on steam the other day. I plan on hopping back into it. I never finished it when I first played it like 20 years ago I spent a ton of time trying to max everything out and do all the side quests
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