@SapphireIce101 that's awesome news! I had put aside my BG run on hold because of the deadlock but it'll be nice to see a BG2:EE and a BG3 plus some needed patches. Look forward to your run! Actually, when I first started posting here I thought I was gonna just make quick inserts of the characters thoughts. It sorta turned into a novelization on its own but then I started posting pages worth each time XD anyways, wonder if they'll do a ID:EE, going through the sound files, IWD2 had a lot of well done sound sets. Like 30+ entries per voice while BG has roughly 13 per voice.
@Wanderon heh yeah, you needed a healer bad. Interesting group though, quite the lot of earth dwellers you got going. I thought about making a theme party. Like a barbarian party (using the more wild classes) or an outcast party (races like drow, half-orc and tiefling). I don't think I ever have many NPC's alive afterwards. Usually the guy you give the wine to is off in the corner too scared to do anything and maybe one of the iron collar band is still alive. I'll find out today how things go for me. But you're off to the river next I think?
Yep - Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river! - that is as soon as we get some better gear with all our goblin coin!
I was going to go with one of my favorite ID2 characters Ghostwise Halfling Barbarian x/Stormlord 3x mostly using the great throwing hammers but the Grey Dwarf was already set up for hammers so I went with an Axeman. The halfling build is really better as a back up cleric anyway.
I played a bunch of theme parties in ID2 back in the day - all little people, all ECL, all rogue, all girls (Copper Corset) etc...
Off to work for now tho might get to play some tomorrow but probably not til Sunday
When the boat, the Wicked Wench, finally pulled into port, many of the remaining sellsword bands were eager to get on land only to be greeted by a gruff and wounded Targos soldier. He demanded everyone to stay on their ship until the current troubles were resolved. Many of the men looked around and complied. They were none too eager to put up arms yet again, for goblins have gone loose in the town. How was still a mystery. It was no surprise to the band that Ria chose to step forward and offer their service fighting off the rampant goblins.
The town guards had mixed feelings at first for they did not know the bands credentials, but their fellow guard was dead another, their lead, was injured. Ria offered yet again, to help better their situation and mend his arm. It took some convincing but the guard inlisted the band to help clear out the little blighters.
Constantine speaks his concerns, "many of us are unarmed and unarmored. I would not like to risk Sister Valerie in such unfavorable conditions." "Hmm," Ria acknowledges. "Ish, can you..." "Yeah, yeah." Ishtaida mutters. "I'll take a quick look around and see what I can find."
Ria turns to the rest of the band of six, "For now, we'll stand guard of this foot hold till she returns." Valerie asks with great concern, "would she be all right on her own?" "I have faith in her. You will too in time." Ria replies. "We'll see." Constantine mumbles.
Ishtaida scans the surrounding area, first north than arcs her way around south of the docks, darting from shadow to shadow. There didn't appear to be many goblins out in the open but their gibberish could be discern from within what houses that still had rooftops. A few dead soldiers littered her way which she released them of their protective gear, a few axes, a short blade and a bow and some arrows.
When Ishtaida returns, Ria greets her with absolutely no surprise in the tone of her voice. "What's the situation," she asks her. Ishtaida tosses down the clutter of weapons she acquired and answers, "There's a few goblins down south along the docks and a few to the southwest. I found the storehouse and some equipment along the way. Here. Who needs armor?"
Ria and Valerie moved forward, along with Hector. When Ishtaida lift up the leather armor she found and looked to the large barbarian, she notices the gear was cut shaped for an elf.
"Yeah, you know what Hector. I think I found you a sleeve."
She hands it to him as though he was to accept it literally. The large man glares at the leather armor in his hand with a grimace.
"Alright then. To the south." Ria issues.
Ishtaida quickens her pace to stay ahead of the group and disappears in the shadows.
Valerie leans over to Ria, "Does she do this often?" "Enough to now the swing of things," Ria replies. "Can you do that thing with your voice any time?" "Uh, um, Yes! Yes. I could also do so with any instrument." "Ishtaida is going to give us a signal, I'll need you to lend us your voice alright?" "Certainly!" Valerie answers most dutifully. "Then what?" "We'll handle the rest," Constantine replies. "Oh," she murmurs with a somewhat disappointed sigh.
Ria could tell she wanted a larger roll but she said nothing to encourage her to take more action than what was already intrusted to her.
When the group spot Ishtaida's signal, Valerie clears her throat and let emit her enchanting voice. The others could feel her magic entice their hearts and soul and the group felt a confidence swelling within them. Together with Hector and Constantine, Ria charge forth along the docks to the group of goblin raiders. Ishtaida kept to the shadow waiting for something.
As the three warriors came swinging at the goblin combatants, an archer detaches from the group and takes aim.
"I don't think so," Ishtaida murmurs as she pulls back her bow string. Her arrow sinks through its skull and pierces inches through the back of it. The goblin archer falls to the ground with but the sound of it's body hitting the snow.
On all accounts, goblin warriors were no match for human soldiers. This brief battle prove to be no exception. Draith shakes Valerie to redirect her attention and draw her to the rest of the group.
The group executes this maneuver several times more that day, sometimes rescuing or finding stranded civilians along the way. Ishtaida urged the group to searched the houses as that's where she heard most of the ruckus going on. She even encourage them to search the storehouse, though her motives were elsewhere.
The harbor master, Magdog was hidding out within and offered whatever equipment to their disposal provided they searched the place themselves. Ishtaida grins under her hood as she realizes she'll never get legal authorization to loot a place ever again.
"Well, you heard the man," Ishtaida shouts. "Let's get us outfitted right."
Hector manages to find himself armor that actually fits him. There were a few shields as well that Constantine and Ria made use of. A few potions to heal that whelp of a guard Reig. A crossbow for both Valerie and Draith and excess equipment which Ishtaida plans to sell back to the very storekeep that original owns them. She made sure Ria was too distract to notice her pilfering.
When everybody was certain they have found all that they could find a use for, Ria speaks to the group.
"So where should be our next objective?" she asks. Hector offers his input. "Many of the tracks come from the north along the coast. Ye'd find them goblin den there."
True enough, when they follow the coast line, they are stopped by another guard who had locked a band of goblins inside the warehouse. He demanded for them to seek out the Iron Collar Band and wouldn't take no for an answer. The short of it, they refused to leave their mugs.
When Isthaida popped the lock off the warehouse doors, the three warriors looked to each other, nodded and kicked the doors open. Together they rush the entrapped goblins while Ishtaida hid in the shadows shooting arrows. Valerie continues to sing and Draith - Draith just watches, occasionally shooting a bolt from his crossbow.
Once they cleared the store house, Ria discovers a trapdoor leading into a cellar. The sink of goblins emanated from within. The passageways were dark and dank. A few goblins loitered the tunnels. One by one, they eliminated the stranded goblins. Draith instructed Valerie not to sing for the time being for her voice would travel down the walls and alert the entire cavern. Ishtaida kept to scouting the tunnels. Whenever she found a lone goblin, she had no trouble slitting its throat in a dark corner.
Ishtaida finds the head of the goblin raiders at the end of the cave with what was left of his band.
"That's them. " She mutters. Draith steps forth and says, "Than lets do this proper."
In seconds, Draith summons up those war dogs from that night of the naval battle. They once again bolt out from the distorted space Draith creates. The dogs maliciously attack the goblins' leader. Draith then fills the cavern with an enchantment, putting several of the goblin peons to sleep.
He turns to the group and says, "The rest is yours."
The band rushes in, sweeping through the remaining goblin forces. Draith nods to Valerie that it was okay to sing once more. In moments, Hector was sending goblin body parts through the air and the goblins were beginning to freak out. Nothing like seeing your closest friend explode into chunks of meat right before your eyes. It was a bloody mess down there when he was through with them.
With the goblin raiders vanquished, the Six Swords made their way to the lord's manor. Lord Ulbrec was in a fluster desperately awaiting news of the docks. There was no hesitation in Ria when she explained the events that took place there.
His gratitude was a short reprieve before he laid bare the the various problems that was plaguing his town. Ulbrec even assigned their company under the commander of the guards, Shawford Crale. When the group was given their chores at the palisade, the group decidedly disbanded for the eve.
"Well, I'm leaving this part to you." Ishtaida tells Ria. "What? But we're on duty." "Yeah. No. I'm not playing fetch today. I'm taking the priestest with me." "Huh?" Valerie ques in. "Laters!"
Ishtaida drags the soon-to-be Lorekeeper with her.
"I probably shouldn't leave her in that girl's care," Constantine mutters under his breath. "No. No, you shouldn't," Ria admits.
Hector includes his thoughts on the tribesman that was down at the Salty Dog earlier that day. He was eager to find out more information from him.
"Sure. I guess." Ria sighs heavily.
Draith needed only to look at her before Ria waved him off to do his own bidding.
It was a very uneventful eve as far as the war was concerned. With the group off doing various things, no one was certain what all was actually accomplished that day.
Ishtaida and Valerie manages to lose Constantine in the streets of what was left of Targos's town.
"Uh." Ishtaida gripes. "To think I had enough troubles with one of them following me around." "Miss Ishtaida. Are you up to no good?" Valerie inquirers. "Of course not." She snorted. "In fact - we're going to deal with that priest of Skull first. Something just doesn't sit right with me about that one." "Hm... I don't really have any interest in writing the tale on him." Valerie says dishearteningly. "Never you mind that. There's more important things to be done."
Constantine decided to take a moment with the wounded in the clergy's tent that was erected by followers of Tempus. One of the brothers was distressed and in constant search of something.
"What troubles befell him?" Constantine asks the other priest. "Our only prayer books has gone missing," the priest replies. The other one shouts out while searching the cabinets. "I swear it was that tiefling that was here earlier!" "Yes. Because that's what tieflings do. They still religious literature to sell on the black market," mocks the other priest. "You don't say..." Constantine grumbles.
Constantine left the tent in earnest to find the deviant before she corrupted the newly faithful. "Damnit, how could I have let them out of my sight!"
Ria watches as Constantine makes off in one direction only to see the two girls pop out of a different side-street and run off in a completely different direction. Ria chose to ignore the goings-on.
"So the crane is broken?" She asks a fat stubby man.
Constantine bursts in Ulbrec's manor to find Draith conversing with the lord's wife. "Have you seen them?!" He shouts to Draith. "Hm?" "The tiefling. By god I'll have her hide." "Eh. No. But I need to trouble you about their diviner." "There's no time." "Actually. You're going to make time. He's fallen ill by what seems to be foul magics. I might need your help in the curing of it."
Constantine brought his search to a halt when Draith mentioned it. He could recall such a patient back at the clergy's tent.
"Oh, I don't know," Valerie moans. "Isn't this no better than what that grave robber was doing?" "Of course not." Ishtaida reassures her. "When 'adventurers' find a hidden horde of treasure is it no different than stealing?" "Well, of course it is." "Isn't it? It belonged to someone one time or another." "That's true. But..." "Hey here." Ishtaida hands Valerie a book. "I bought this for you." "Oh! A Tempus prayerbook! Wonder what kind of stuff is in their Scripture." "Mm-hm. Anyways. We're just keeping it out of that leech's hands cause we're desperately low on equipment. Might just find something that'll turn the tide on the horde, eh?"
Ishtaida fishes underneath the floor board of a delapidated house and pulls out a jar of some liquid or other.
"Hay! Look at this!" "Oh! What is it?" Valerie asks. "Don't know but we should let Draith look at it." "Wow, imagine that! To think we may have found the key item in routing the vast horde here in Targos. Let me right this down. Ooh, oh how exciting! The crafty tiefling and the ever lovely priestess of Oghma work diligently searching through the ruins of an un-manned house to unsurfaced the relic that wrought destruction down on the horde!"
Ishtaida glances at her queer enthusiasm as she continues to comb through the stash.
"Don't know 'bout all that..." she mumbles.
Draith and Constantine walk into the Salty Dog looking for the tribesman for a pitcher of boar's blood spirits. What they saw was Hector wobbling in a drunken stupor at the table with the tribesman spewing his guts out in a barrel. Constantine found it all to be quite unseemly.
"Well this is pleasant." He says. "Hmmgh?" Hector grunts. "Them fightin' wordz!"
Hector stands up with the grace of an one-legged ox. His fists at the ready.
"Oh lord... you task me anew." Constantine mutters.
Ria spots the girls dashing by once again as she was pushes up a cart filled with creates of arrows.
"Hey, wait! A little help here!" She calls out to them.
They didn't respond.
Much more had transpired that day with only glimpses of each other dashing off in the streets. When Ria had finally completed all the chores, the group finally merged together.
"You!" Constantine barks. "I demand answers." "What do YOU want?" Ishtaida snarls. "Where is that pr..."
Constantine was interrupted by the sounds of the palisades war horns bellowing in the distance.
"Ready yourselves men," Ria says drawing her sword. "They come!"
When the band 'Six Swords of the North' made it to the palisades, what remained was a complete travesty. No sooner did they pass through the town's gates did they come upon a heard of goblin raiders and their worg-riding commander. The new recruits that were training in the open fields here were newly slain. It was up to the doing of just a few blades to turn the horde back.
Hector burst into a rage and came charging their ranks, trampling any goblins unfortunate enough to meet his boot. Ria move thusly to keep up with the rampanging barbarian. Valerie wasted no time nor needed instruction to begin chanting a war song she picked up from her new book of Tempus prayers. Constintine muttered under his breath for Helm's guidance. His prayers did not go unanswered for their blades stuck true and their faith held strong. Draith and Ishtaida took to their crossbow and bow respectively and started taking down their archers. It took mere moments before their ranks started to scatter into chaos. With so many benediction magics in the air for their favor, soon too did the worg rider met his fate at the end of their blade.
As soon as the last goblin laid lifeless on the ground before them, a bang rang out from the northeast corner of the palisade. It was the section Anson's crew was stationed at. With no clear positioning of their own, Ria lead them on.
But it would be too late for Anson. Though the Six Swords were able to add their numbers to their defense, Anson fell to the swarm of goblins that his crew was overrun by. His band was no more.
The six fought bravely in their sted, wrestling the short-lived victory from their hands. Seeing how the band swept through their numbers, Valerie could see the might of her crew. Their strength. Their valor. Their would-be-mark in the pages of history. When others fought back with grim determination and fell, Ria, Hector and Constantine demonstrated true heroics and steel. Once again, the goblin raiders laid defeated.
What was left of Targos's guards and hired arms began shifting their ranks to the west and towards the palisade's gates. Ria and the band followed along.
Caballus, their goblin shaman and lead of the orchestrated assault appeared before the gates and blew the gates wide open, flooding in a river of goblins. Black Geoffery and the Iron Collar were there to greet the band as well as Olaf Tamewater, the engineer Ria had to play fetch for.
Before they performed a maneuver of their own, Ishtaida sunk into the shadows and spied their location over the barricades. There was a gathering of gibberling goblins all ready to pounce the first guard they see. Isthaida issued Draith directions on their locations and with the potion Ishtaida and Valerie found earlier, he hurls the bottle into the herd setting the entire force in flames. Many goblins ran about in sheer horror and agony till they withered and died while their elite and shaman emerged worse for wear, mustering whatever strength was left in them. Valerie was in pure glee from the results of their little 'treasure hunt'. Draith used his magics to turn the gaze of their elite against the shaman, who then started exhausting his amply supply of magics on bringing down the mad goblin. Ria, Constantine, Hector, Tamewater and the Iron Collar gathered around the openings of the barricades and charged the area together and overwhelmed the scorched shaman. His concentration would falter at the blows of the raging barbarian. His magics too, yielded no success.
Get to know the characters: Valerie Edition
Valerie comes from a noble family that has garnered its prestige through the arts. Whether they be painting, music or theatrics, every Rosewood to date has demonstrated their natural talents. By tradition, their sorcerous magics have been used to amplify their gifts, bolstering their creativity and insight to bring forth a piece truly miraculous, others had used it simply to dupe their spectators into complacency.
Valerie, though talented, was also considered the 'runt' of the family. Often out done by her older siblings, Valerie made it the habit to blames herself for her short comings and can often be seen with little self-confidence despite how others may praise her. Living in the shadows of her family, she turned to the gods in hope for inspiration, a chance blessing to bring her to par with the expectations of her parents. So she joined the Order of Oghma, the patron god of art, and resided within their monastery til the age of adulthood. Facing the rites of priesthood, she was sent out to gather or to create a work worthy of Oghma, whether an epic depicting a crisis of their times or unearthing a lost bit of lore from the corners of the world. This is what brought her to Targos.
In battle, she shies away from physical confrontation, often resorting to her crossbow as any real means to battle the foe directly. Instead, she prefers to look after the well-being of her fellow comrades, giving them her blessings and song to guide them to victory. She thinks of the party as a whole and not of its individual parts.
Valerie is a bard by heart and though she tithes to the dogma of Oghma, her bardic background is the very core of her being. Her bard levels will increase faster than her cleric levels.
(The palisade battle turned out to be a one-sided victory for my group. I suppose the bard song with blessing had made it particularly easy for my three swordsmen to tear them apart. Even Draith took down a goblin commander with his crossbow. Even more oddly was that Valerie did so too, at least referring to their character sheet. I didn't see her shoot the sod in between the eyes. Wish I was able to save Anson and his crew but you know how well that goes sometimes.)
Hi, friends, I've decided to join the party here, and enter an IWD2 run into the challenge. I'll be doing a theme party based on the Rich Burlew webcomic, Order of the Stick, which is one of my favorite things, ever. My thanks to @Raistlin82 for the character portraits.
Party and screenshots are as follows, in spoiler tags to help save memory space in the thread:
ROY GREENHILT, LAWFUL GOOD HUMAN FIGHTER, PARTY LEADER BELKAR BITTERLEAF, CHAOTIC EVIL HALFLING RANGER/BARBARIAN DURKON THUNDERSHIELD, LAWFUL GOOD DWARF WATCHER OF HELM HALEY STARSHINE, CHAOTIC GOOD HUMAN ROGUE ELAN, CHAOTIC GOOD HUMAN BARD VAARSUVIUS, TRUE NEUTRAL ELF EVOKER
It seems like everyone is starting a new IWD2 playthrough... Except for me, and last time I checked CKT aka CT is still doing his Tutu run.
Also, I couldn't wait, so I started a new IWD Playthrough.
Meet Malakai! Mods:
// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods // The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod // ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version] ~DDRAWFIX/DDRAWFIX.TP2~ #0 #2 // DDrawFix -> Use WineD3D's DDraw Library: v1.0 ~1PP_IWD_FIXES/1PP_IWD_FIXES.TP2~ #0 #0 // 1ppv: Fix character attack animation sounds in TotLM ~1PP_IWD_FIXES/1PP_IWD_FIXES.TP2~ #0 #1 // 1ppv: Fix combat animation bug (enable combat stance animations) ~IWDFIXPACK/SETUP-IWDFIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #0 // Assorted Fixes: v5 ~IWDFIXPACK/SETUP-IWDFIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #100 // Game Text Update: v5 ~1PP_HQ_MUSIC_IWD/1PP_HQ_MUSIC_IWD.TP2~ #0 #0 // 1pp: High quality music for IWD HoW/TotLM ~IU_IWD/SETUP-IU_IWD.TP2~ #0 #0 // Item Upgrade for Icewind Dale: v5 ~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #0 // The Voice of Durdel Anatha: v7 ~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #100 // Malavon's Golems: v7 ~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #200 // Expanded Guello/Beorn Quest: v7 ~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #300 // Marketh's Ring: v7 ~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #400 // Presio's Duel: v7 ~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #500 // Orrick's Rhino Beetle Shield: v7 ~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #600 // The High Baptist's Flock: v7 ~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #1500 // Minor Item Restorations: v7 ~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #2000 // Restored Random Drops: v7 ~IWDNPC/SETUP-IWDNPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // Icewind Dale NPCs: v4 ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #101 // 1ppv4: Core paperdolls ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #103 // 1ppv4: Extended palette entries -> Full install (recommended) ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #105 // 1ppv4: Avatar fixes ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #109 // 1ppv4: Female Dwarves -> Separate Avatars for Female Dwarves - Icewind Dale I HoW ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #110 // 1ppv4: Thieves Galore -> IWD HoW/TotL - Unique Thief Avatars ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #113 // 1ppv4: Smart Avatar & Armour Switching ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #114 // 1ppv4: Softer Spell Effects ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #200 // 1ppv4: Core content patches ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #203 // 1ppv4: Restored flame sword animations ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #204 // 1ppv4: Colourable Quarterstaves ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #205 // 1ppv4: Legacy Shields ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #206 // 1ppv4: Additional Shield Animations (core) ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #207 // 1ppv4: Wizards' Staves (core) ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #209 // 1ppv4: Attachable wings (core) ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #210 // 1ppv4: Increased paperdoll object variety (core) ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #400 // 1ppv4: Core updates and item patches ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #401 // 1ppv4: Improved projectile effects ~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #301 // 1ppv4: Miscellaneous content fixes ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #70 // Force All Dialogue to Pause Game: v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1010 // Add Bags of Holding: v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2020 // Universal Clubs: v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2061 // Wear Multiple Protection Items -> No Restrictions: v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2080 // Multi-Class Grand Mastery (Weimer): v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2090 // BG2 Grand Mastery: v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2100 // Change Magically Created Weapons to Zero Weight: v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2110 // Un-Nerfed THAC0 Table: v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2120 // Alter Mage Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2130 // Alter Bard Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2140 // Alter Priest Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2150 // Druids Use Cleric Level and Spell Progression: v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2160 // Druids Use 3e Alignment Restrictions (NG, LN, TN, CN, NE): v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3031 // Easy Spell Learning -> 100% Learn Spells and No Maximum Cap: v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3040 // Make Bags of Holding Bottomless: v14 ~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3110 // Rest Anywhere (Japheth): v14 ~IWDNPC/SETUP-IWDNPC.TP2~ #0 #8 // Alternate class for Teri -> Teri, multiclass thief/mage: v4 ~GENERALIZED_BIFFING/GENERALIZED_BIFFING.TP2~ #0 #0 // Generalized Biffing: v2.2
Difficulty: Normal
Prologue: The Start of the Journey (@Draith012 - Now you got me doing the chapter stuff, and titles to go with them!)
The journey to Easthaven was a long and cold one for Malakai. It was also a fairly lonely one. At least, until she had reached Easthaven. Once in Easthaven, Malakai went to the pub, well asked around for directions to the pub, and then went there. That is where Malakai met Hrothgar, and the five others that she was to travel with.
Once Hrothgar had left, the introductions began. The female human named Nella started first, stating that she was from Bryn Shander, and her current home is in Kuldahar, she wants to protect the tree. The second person to introduce themselves was an elven man named Korin, he was an elven ranger that lived in Easthaven, and wanted to help its people. The third was a half-elven woman named Teri, she was thief from Amn, sent to Icewind Dale on an exile of sorts. The fourth was a human male named Severn, he was a bard from Baldur's Gate seeking adventure. The fifth person was a human male named Holvir, he was a Paladin of Tyr from Waterdeep, he also strives to help the people of the Dale. Lastly, was Malakai.
"My name is Malakai. I am a Priestess and Ranger of Mielikki." Malakai spoke confidently, as she gently touched her ranger's insigna of a unicorn. "I am from the outskirts of Silverymoon. I intend on investigating the troubles of Icewind Dale."
Malakai had receieved a nod of approval from everyone, some of them were smiling at her as well.
A couple of minutes later the newly formed band of adventurers exited the pub, and then, initiated a snowball fight, or at least Malakai, Teri, and Severn did.
A few more minutes, and Malakai spoke to Hrothgar and agreed to help Kuldahar and the great tree. However, first they were to help the people of Easthaven.
Once they were done with that they searched for a Caravan, and found a cave of orcs, and an ogre. Three people fell to the Ogre, Holvir, Nella, and Teri. The Ogre had almost gotten Severn, but Malakai used her Cure Light Wounds on him. Then, the Ogre struck Korin, making Korin roll forward toward a cave wall. Malakai hit the ogre a couple of times with some bullets from her sling, which was a great investment, and Severn shot some bolts at the ogre, which killed the ogre.
Malakai couldn't heal Korin, who was now bleeding, since she used Light Cure Wounds on Severn. Malakai couldn't help but give Korin her concerned look, while Korin just gave her the 'I'm fine.' look, despite the fact that he was bleeding out.
They looked at the treasure chest, and quickly made their way to the temple of Tempus in Easthaven, and revived Nella, Holvir, and Teri.
After that, they completed the rest of their tasks, and the expedition made their way to Kuldahar. However, something bad happened. An avalanche. It had killed everyone except for Malakai, Holvir, Korin, Nella, Severn, and Teri.
A hermit came, and told the party that Kuldahar was to the east, and now, the party knew where they had to go.
Update: The Order of the Stick, 081613 Roy Greenhilt, party leader:
-The Order cleared goblins out of the docks area and did some fetch-and-carry quests. Elan did nothing but sing "Fight, fight, fight, fight the stupid goblins!" over and over in that annoying, childish voice of his. I don't know *why* I let him into this party. V just stood there with his arms crossed, saying that the chimp-like goblins were not worth his unleashing his vast arcane power. Um, at least, I *think* V is a "he". I guess I'll call "him" a he for convenience's sake. V looks sort of like a male elf, but he has a voice like a woman, and he gets very upset when anybody inquires about his gender. I know better already than to upset V. I'll leave it to "him" to read the party record and "correct" me if need be.
Haley Starshine, acting party leader:
-What a disaster! We were checking houses up in Targos proper, and I was "finding" all kinds of gold and valuable stuff hidden in barrels and crates, when we went into a house to see if the owner knew anything about the goblin attacks. There was a mage there, so we asked him if he knew what a scroll was that V couldn't quite make out. And he attacked us to rob us of the scroll!
Before we knew what was happening, V and the other mage engaged in an arcane battle. V started by trying to interrupt the mage's first spell with a Magic Missile while I shot arrows. Roy, Durkon, and Belkar attacked him with melee weapons. Elan played his lute and sang "Interrupt, interrupt, interrupt, interrupt the deadly mage" or something like that. I couldn't help noticing how his bare biceps flexed as he played his lute, and notice that delightful voice and..... erm, so, I shot arrows.
Unfortunately, the other mage had opened with Sleep, and I blacked out.
Durkon Thundershield, acting party leader:
-Cursed be th' wicked wizard! He put half our party to Sleep, and summoned a small army of goblins t' ward us off. V put most of *them* t' Sleep on the next round, but thar was a big one wearin' chain tha' dinna fall. Then th' wicked wizard shot fire out of his hands, and Roy shouted out and fell, dead! Only Belkar, V, and I were left standin'. Th' Halfling menace and I were able t' stab and bludgeon the wicked wizard t' death, but the thrice-damned goblin boss weren't fallin'. Th' Halfling and I got stabbed and slashed nearly t' death, and were aboot to fall, despite drinkin' all our healin' potions! V ran out of spells, and the Sleepin' goblins started to wake. We 'ad no choice but to grab Roy's body, kick the Sleepers awake, and flee!
Next day, we went back and finished 'em off, then found th' tent tha' passed fer th' town temple, and raised Roy. 'Took most of our gold, too!
The Order of the Stick, 081613, supplemental Roy Greenhilt, party leader
-We have cleared Targos of invading goblins. Barely. The scariest moment was against the enemy goblin archmage. Haley and Belkar fell to Color Spray, Durkon was held by a Chromatic Orb, and then, everyone but V was either Held by Hold Person or thrown into a blind panic by Blind and Horror. V had managed to wake those who had fallen unconscious to the Color Spray by pricking them with his throwing daggers, but they still fell again to the barrage of other spells.
Vaarsuvius, alone in the battle against the goblin archmage, killed him with a desperate Magic Missile at the last possible moment before the archmage simply strolled around and killed us one by one, at his leisure. V says that he has revised his opinion about the threat level of goblinkind up a notch or two.
The Order of the Stick, 081613, supplemental Roy Greenhilt, party leader
-We have been charged with marching south along the Frozen River and to clear the way for reinforcements to Targos from Neverwinter. Our first skirmishes with the orc army were...difficult. We prevailed against their outer perimeter defense, but, of course, Elan died. The fool kept running about, playing his stupid, idiotic lute, and doing his stupid, idiotic singing. "Kill, kill, kill, kill the orcs!" Gaaah! I almost wanted to stick the tip of my greatsword into my ears! We will *not* be wasting our gold on raising the fool!
HALEY: Roy, you stop picking on Elan this instant! He has a beautiful, magical voice, and he's indispensable to this party! You can stay here and fight the orcs by yourself if you want, but the *rest* of us are going back to Targos to help Elan!
DURKON: Aye, Roy, I be no' one who respects the lad's inadequacy in combat, but 'e *did* valiantly try t' fight tha' orc tha' skewered him wit' 'is little rapier pole.
BELKAR: Meh, whatever. I guess I'll stick with the healer and the girl that keeps stealing all that gold. They'll probably give me more chances to kill stuff. Especially since the stupid blonde guy is the only one besides the dwarf that can heal me.
VAARSUVIUS: Well, he *did* help out against those two archmages I had to destroy. Sort of. And I guess, if Haley thinks he's useful, he probably is. I say we go have him raised.
ROY: (Sigh.) Okay, okay. (Reluctantly follows the OotS back to Targos to raise Elan.)
OOC: I discovered the IWD2 Keeper, and tweaked V's hair, and got rid of the hoods on Haley and Elan. Here is a photo of the OotS avatars, having returned to orcish territory after raising Elan:
Reloads:0 Average party level: 3, after raising Roy after the first enemy archmage, and Elan after the first wave of orcs
So u guys all moved on to IWD? I'm considering buying it as part of the GOG D&D sale package. Unfortunately I can't follow your adventures cos I don't wanna spoil myself. But I look forward to being able to create a custom party again like in Avernum.
@Heindrich1988, I just got every D&D game ever created for $20, including the copy of IWD2 I'm playing on . The package includes NWN 1&2, BG 1&2, IWD 1&2, Planescape:Torment, fully updated with all expansions, and three really old somethings I'm not sure if I'll ever play or not, such as Temple of Elemental Evil. I already had BG 1&2, and Planescape:Torment, but the GoG sale is counting your pre-owned purchases toward the maximum 75% discount, so, it said I had saved $60 off the regular price.
I think I made out like a bandit, considering that I no longer need *any* of my discs for these games, or to download and install the patches to fully update them to their final versions, and never will again, no matter how many computers I may have in the future.
Ain't the Cloud wonderful? I've lived through vinyl records with needles, 8-tracks, cassettes, floppy discs at 5", plastic data discs at 3.4", compact discs, and DVD's. None of them impress me as much as the cloud-computing purchases of today. Buy it once, have it forever. We live in the Age of Marvels.
I wish you could read our posts and participate in the challenge, but I understand why you don't want to be spoiled. Maybe you could post written summaries of Jin's progress, with a few choice screenshots? Or not, that's just an idea. Sometimes, it's way easier to post written summaries and/or creatively written narratives and screenshots instead of videos, although I very much enjoy watching *your* videos when I have time.
But, if you don't want to keep making videos after your BG2 run, you might consider joining us here in the written minimal reload challenge thread.
@Belgarathmth - The whole vinyl records and 8-tracks remind me of my dad and I finding those a week or so after the May 20th tornado hit. Sure, its not a huge collection of vinyl records, and 8-tracks, but those are my mom and dad's memories, and music in a box. Also found some CD and cassettes, again, mostly my parents, but I inherit them, and the nice wooden box they're in.
Also, cloud saving/purchasing is an awesome little feature. Even BGEE comes with it, once you buy it, you get it forever even if the servers go down forever.
@Heindrich1988 - I agree with Belgarath, however, I wouldn't mind video playthroughs in the thread since it is a media that is allowed in this thread. Its just, most of us here like to write.
@SappireIce101 and @Heindrich1988, @Heindrich1988 has been making hundreds of Let's Play videos regarding his current BG2 run. @SapphireIce101, can you think of a way for @Heindrich1988 to maybe post some video links to his Let's Play, with maybe a summary of some sort of his game to date and a reloads counter, which might help to promote his LP?
Or, umm, well, that's just an idea, in case you might like to participate here in the challenge while finishing out your LP, @Heindrich1988.
I guess you're probably close to finished with it by now, except for uploading, but you could also post a summary of your run so far, in just a few paragraphs, and then post some links to the most interesting battles as you proceed from wherever you are currently. Although, I know you have a thread of your own, so maybe posting in this one would be an unnecessary duplication of effort.
But please do join us here if you start any other runs that you don't want to make an LP of, or to post something about your current LP run.
@Heindrich1988 - I agree with Belgarath, however, I wouldn't mind video playthroughs in the thread since it is a media that is allowed in this thread. Its just, most of us here like to write.
@SappireIce101 and @Heindrich1988, @Heindrich1988 has been making hundreds of Let's Play videos regarding his current BG2 run. @SapphireIce101, can you think of a way for @Heindrich1988 to maybe post some video links to his Let's Play, with maybe a summary of some sort of his game to date and a reloads counter, which might help to promote his LP?
Or, umm, well, that's just an idea, in case you might like to participate here in the challenge while finishing out your LP, @Heindrich1988.
I guess you're probably close to finished with it by now, except for uploading, but you could also post a summary of your run so far, in just a few paragraphs, and then post some links to the most interesting battles as you proceed from wherever you are currently. Although, I know you have a thread of your own, so maybe posting in this one would be an unnecessary duplication of effort.
But please do join us here if you start any other runs that you don't want to make an LP of, or to post something about your current LP run.
Hmmm... I just read the rules for this challenge. I guess my BG 2 run kinda adheres to it, but not strictly. I have made a note of every death so far (there's been quite a few, including very avoidable ones...) I'm not sure how many is considered 'minimal'... and I am not really trying to minimise my reloads count, as I cannot do that without being tempted into cheesy tactics and breaking my own RP rules (such as limited resting).
Actually LPs are entirely new to me, whereas I have tried writing AARs before, and spent a lot of time/effort writing a fairly detailed one for my Shogun 2 Campaign. I put a huge amount of effort into it (takes a long time to take decent screen-caps of battle footage, write detailed battle reports and background fluff to make the mechanical battles interesting to read) and I just couldn't keep it up (real life got in the way). I felt really bad about abandoning the incomplete project (letting down a number of very supportive followers.) Which is why I swore if I were to start something again, I'd definitely finish it.
I digress a bit... my point is that I don't wanna make a half-arsed effort and then give up just before Spellhold. So I guess I'll have a think about if it is possible to write up my BG 2 run in here. (And SappireIce101 can perhaps tell me if it is even appropriate.)
Incidentally, I only have time to play about an hour or two each day, so I'm still in the Underdark, so I guess about 50% through the game. (I didn't do many sidequests before going for Imoen.)
With BG EE about to get patched, I might try the Black Pits after I eventually finish my BG 2 LP. So even if I don't write this up, I'll quite definitely do it for that run, which will also be a blind first-timer run
@Heindrich1988 - I think most people just come up with their own number when it comes to what is 'minimal'. Personally, if it goes over 50 then it probably isn't minimal anymore, but that's my personal number.
As for Black Pits, I haven't seen anyone do that in this thread, but I think it would be welcomed to say the least. I love Baeloth, I was overjoyed when Baeloth became someone that could join your party, but sad when they said he wouldn't join your party in BG2EE.
Interesting group! (altho I am unfamiliar with the webcomic) - I have a new group as well I will be posting tomorrow sometime most likely but I had a quick question.
I noticed in your narrative you spoke of "kicking the sleepers awake" in Phaens cabin - I have attempted to do this a couple times but have been unable to get any party member to attack another - I switched from a weapon to fists on the "kicker" then clicked on the fist to trigger attack mode then clicked on the "sleeper" to give him a target to slap but the "kicker" just stands there?
Were you able to actually kick them awake somehow or was that just part of the novelization?
@Wanderon, I was taking some poetic license for the narrative. What actually happened was that when my badly wounded party members fled outside the building, the goblin boss struck Haley, badly wounding her but waking her, and then I had her run outside the door. About that time, the Sleep spell wore off on Elan, so I retreated him as well. Luckily, the goblin boss did not follow us outside the building. We went back the next day, and he was fairly easy to defeat without his mage support.
I did have Vaarsuvius wake a Color Sprayed sleeping Belkar during the battle on the palisades by attacking and hitting him with a throwing dagger for two damage. It didn't work when I tried to get him to attack the ally with his bare fists, but it worked when I highlighted his throwing daggers in red and then left-clicked the "friendly" target. Don't forget to wait for the beginning of the new round, and it has to roll to hit.
You really should give that webcomic a try. It's hilarious, and it evolves over time into an epic dramatic story along with all the comedy and parody.
The journey to Kuldahar was a blur for Malakai. She remembered killing goblins, and beetles, as well as telling an ogre to stay where it was at for the safety of the people that may still be living in the Pass. She also saved a boy. Then, her vision was filled with pure darkness.
A couple of hours later, Malakai awoke in a temple in Korin's arms. Everyone looked at Malakai in concern, not because she was blushing, but because from what Holvir and Korin had told her that she took some arrows to the chest, and died.
After Malakai got her equipment back on, Korin told her of why he left Everaska, and that he was formerly a mage. Then, Korin turned his attention to Teri, and they started to talk about Hanali, in a temple of Illmater.
Then, Nella led the group to where Arundel lived. Arundel tasked the party with investigating the Vale of Shadows. Perhaps the evil that threatened Kuldahar dwelled there.
A couple of hours later, they were exploring some of the tombs in the Vale of Shadows.
Notes: Malakai's first death. Also, Malakai is showing romantic interest for Korin, aka I'm planning on romancing Korin. If Holvir starts showing his interest in Malakai I'm going to be...surprised.
The Order of the Stick, 081713 Roy Greenhilt, party leader
-We have freed human hostages from the orcs. As we continued our skirmishes and guerilla attacks on their flanks, we discovered that their chieftain was an orc name Torak. The coward fled again and again as we attempted to engage and kill him. Finally, he ransacked a human village before we could get there, and took the townspeople hostage. He put them into a corral surrounded by barrels filled with oil, and instructed a guard to shoot flame arrows into them and ignite them like bombs, killing the townspeople, as soon as we were sighted. Then, he locked the entire complex, and moved to a perimeter camp from which he could control the switch.
A survivor from the town found us, told us about the remote gate lock, and showed us to a potion of invisibility that might help us sneak past Torak and his forces to unlock the gate. Haley used the potion, snuck in, and threw the gate switch to the hostages. While that simple act dispelled the invisibility, Haley was more than capable of sneaking back out of Torak's perimeter and back to the party, with our access now free to save the hostages without ever alerting Torak.
He did have a large squad of guards just inside the corral area where the hostages were being kept. Vaarsuvius put most of them to Sleep, so that we could dispatch them with some ease, although a few healing potions and spells were needed. Remind me *never* to piss off V!
Saving these people felt very good! Our morale is high. I am even starting to tap my toes and sway my head in time sometimes to Elan's ditties that he insists on singing at all times, even in combat.
V puts the orc guard squadron to Sleep:
The Order of the Stick stands victorious, in control of the main orc encampment, the prisoners freed:
The next day, we proceeded to the perimeter orc camp where Torak was cowering. We dispatched them rather easily, and went on into a cavern with slimes, zombies, and carrion crawlers. Then, we discovered another orc tribe holed up in the cave.
Earlier, while fighting one of Torak's advance squadrons, we had encountered a priestess of Selune who had had her Moonblade stolen by a troll. It turned out that this troll was in the caverns, planning to use the stolen Moonblade to make himself invulnerable, and to raise his own orc tribe to supremacy. We disabused him of the notion that his plan would ever work, by killing him and his orcs. V's Sleep spells again decimated the troll's army.
Remind me *never* to piss off V.
The troll was fighting with the Moonblade, and apparently, it could induce magical Sleep on hit. I blacked out briefly, but was able to rise back up after being hit by an orc blade attempting a coup de grace. It helped a lot that V put their orc shaman to Sleep.
V casts Sleep as orc guards run from behind and flank the party:
I fall unconscious! Image is courtesy of V's magic:
I revive quickly after being hurt, and Elan actually manages to hypnotize the orc archer on the north wall with a Charm Person spell! I guess even a broken clock is right twice per day. Hmmph.
The Order of the Stick stands victorious yet again! I think that my adventuring troupe might actually amount to something, even *with* Elan!
HALEY: Roy, stop picking on Elan! He charmed that orc archer and saved your life!
ROY: Bleeeaaagh.
Reloads: 0 Average Party Level: 3
Supplemental:
Drats! Killing Torak and the Troll Chieftain were not enough to clear the pass from Neverwinter to Targos. We must fight on.
Here, all hell breaks lose against yet another pass guarded by orcs, werebadgers, wererats, and spiders:
And here, we stand victorious yet again, in the desolate pass to gods know what hells that await us:
@Heindrich1988, Roflmao! If you're like me, you'll be hooked. Rich Burlew is still putting out new ones, and every time he posts a new comic (usually on either or both of Wednesday and Sunday nights), he puts up a sticky for discussion in the Giant on the Playground OotS forum, and it goes from one to at least twenty pages of posts full of speculation and commentary, usually within 24 hours of the new comic being posted.
Fans seem to consider it a much envied and sought after prize to get a post in on the first page of commentary after a new strip is posted.
Lord Ulbrec was ecstatic in their role in defending Targos from the goblin assault. Their deed was amply rewarded in gold, at least Ishtaida made sure of it. The praise was brief and the discussion was short. Not only was the goblin assault a simply advance raiding party but the bridge leading south was overrun by their orc counterparts. The Neverwinter forces would not be able to reach Targos without that way cleared. Even if they were to battle their way through, it could add weeks till they reached Targos, which would likely have been destroyed by then.
Once again, it would be up to the band 'Six Swords of the North' to lead the way down the Shaengarne River to clear out the infestation without having to battle the bulk of the horde directly. What remaining sellsword bands survived the assault had already resigned and were determined to travel back south. Victory or not.
"This is absurd," Ishtaida states. "They can't expect the six of us to turn back so many." "I would have to agree," Constantine adds. "It would seem unlikely that we would survive against such large numbers on the open fields of combat. But if the route along the river have been greatly overlooked, than maybe Helm will protect us." "How reassuring," Ishtaida mutters. "But it does sound quite daring," Valerie admits. "Imagine if we could pull this off." "Equal daring and foolhardy," inserts Draith. "It would take a considerable amount of time to navigate the area safely. It would take a very capable scout if we are to take them by surprise."
Draith stares at Ishtaida knowingly.
"Oh no. I can lose the gaze of a crowd but you're asking us to dart through the woods to avoid watchmen and a vast army! That I cannot do. Not indefinitely and not for days at a time." "Can't you make yourself invisible?" asks Valerie. "I'm just a dabbler!" Ishtaida retorts. "Her skills are sufficent," Draith answers. "It would be a waste of a spell to hide that which would already be hidden." "This isn't really Ishtaida's turf," Ria interjects. "She's not quite the woodswoman."
Ria glances around to spot Hector, who has been mostly quiet since he joined them back at the docks.
"Hector," she continues. "Do you know much about Shaengarne River?"
Hector looks about to realize everybody was now looking towards him. He strokes his wiry beard in contimplation and mutters, "Hmmm. That part o the river be cleared by the wood cutters that reap the woods for 'der timber. But 'der be a plenty of brush to hide a war band."
"Let us gather provision for a long track down the river. We'll meet up at the gates of the palisade in two hours." Ria instructs.
When the band struck out to regain the bridge, they moved carefully down the river for close to half a days march. Their efforts, however, go unrewarded when they were accosted by a tribe of orcs tasked in guarding entry through the river.
Their passage was chocked by barricades and a series of orc camps along the river. Oddly enough, the barricades proved to be more disabling than protective as the band resorted to bows and crossbows to take down the defending orc bands. Draith made it a habit to summon creatures on the other side of the barricades to help sow discord among their ranks. Ria directed the band to aim for their archers and shamans formost, in time, the group started doing these things instinctively and without direction.
Ishtaida even dared to lure the bands individually as she ran along the frozen river, disappearing entirely behind the trees and vegetation only to have her allies shot them down from the other side.
The orc leader of the 'Broken Tusk' tribe kept proclaiming their would-be victory only to witness his tribe get cut down, always retreating in the aftermath.
Even in their pursuit, the chased the orc leader back to their camp and were waylaid by various ambushes which proved nearly as ineffective as the last. Valerie even started summoning beasties of her own. Draith stared at her in quiet scrutiny.
"I'm sorry!" Valerie declares. "I didn't mean to steal your spell. It just seemed so useful and I watched you do it so often now..."
Draith didn't answered her and moved on to bolting an orc with his crossbow.
When the group of Six Swords had finally reached the outskirts of the orcs war camp, a woman emerges from their gates and parley with the group.
"Please come no further," she beckons them. "Who are you to speak on behalf of those beasts?" Constantine asks. "I-it's not as it seems," the woman answered wearily. "My village had been enslaved by the orcs and they had threaten to put us to the sword if you do not turn back." "Cowards!" Constantine continues, "they dare not fight us and face the might of Helm reborn!" "So? Let it be," Draith adds. "It is a village of minor consequence." "What? We can't let these people die." Ria argues. "The whole of Targos would be destroyed if we do not retake that bridge. In truth, these villagers life were already determined when they were captured in the first place. They would be slain and raped, if not already, once they have outlived their uses." "Please don't!" Beg the woman. "We already been through enough. Please, you have to help us." "And you will receive our aid," Constantine tells her.
Ria echoed his sentiment.
Draith resigned the argument, "keep in mind that they are to be secondary to our cause here. The faster we unbalance the orcs here, the less likely they will be able to respond and slay their captives." The woman interjects, "We're not inside their war camp. They had separated us up near our mill to work it. That's where Turok sent his guards to follow his orders if something were to go wrong." "Then we need only breach it." Ria declares. "But the gates can only be opened from within the camp!" The woman exclaims.
There was no shortage of discontent with their current predicament.
"What else were we to do if not to sneak in and open it," Valerie admits.
Everybody turns to Ishtaida.
"No. Hell no! What is wrong with you people!" "You're the only one that can do it," Valerie answers.
Ishtaida glares at the group.
"I hate all of you," she declares. "Especially you." She looks towards Constantine. "How quick you are to let someone else to do your oh so -heroic- deeds. Forfeiting their lives for the name of 'Helm'." "Ishtaida," Ria interjects. "What!" "That's enough. If you don't want to do it, than we can't force you to."
Everybody stood their for awhile, looking about each other.
"Let's go," Ria murmurs.
The rest of the band started to head back with Ishtaida remaining. Valerie was hesitating in her steps. When she tried to speak to Ishtaida, Constantine stops her.
"Don't waste your breath. No good can come from a tiefling."
Valerie bowed her head in mix disappointment and grief. When the band was out of sight, the woman began to cry.
"God, I want to hit you -so- badly," Ishtaida mutters at her while raising her fist in idle frustration.
Ishtaida walks off towards the orc war camp.
The rest of the band waited not far from the gates leading to the mill. They kept to the trees and depended on them for cover.
"You don't really expect her to do anything, do you?" Constantine asks Ria.
There was a dishearten sigh in her voice when she answered, "I have faith in her. She'll suprise you if you let her."
Minutes later, the gate begins to creek open, slowly moving from one end to the other. Ria nods to her comrades and leads the band into the assault that freed the villagers. Constantine trailed behind, looking towards the orc war camp. The gates were heavily guarded. How Ishtaida managed to get inside was beyond him. Whether or not she made it back out would be a different story entirely. He wasn't sure what upset him more, that it would be her that would effectively save the villagers or that he would leave her to her fate.
Much like the previous battles with the orcs, the band devistate their resistance and strongarm another victory there. With the villagers no longer at threat, Ria was eager to return to the war camp. She didn't even wait for the villagers to express their gratitude.
On the way back, they run into Ishtaida who was returning to rejoin the group. Ria nods to her as she rushes by and down the path towards the camp. Constantine comes to a halt from bewilderment. He looks at her for amoment, along with Valerie.
"How?" he asks her nearly rhetorically. "What do you care," she answered.
Both Constantine and Valerie returned in following their leader Ria, but not before Valerie could beam Ishtaida a smile to express her gratitude. It made her quite uncomfortable.
Hector was befuddled to Ria's actions. Supposedly, Ishtaida was Ria's closest friend, yet showed no interest in her safety. He couldn't think to have done the same if he were to find his fellow tribesmen alive after the battle at Brenmen's shores.
So he asked her, "Ye did not say a thing to 'er." "She wouldn't forgive me if I did." She answered.
When the band reached the war camp. Turok attempts to speak to them. As he went on to threatening the lives of the villagers, Ria strides up to one orc and cleaves him in twine. The rest of the band burst into action while Ria glared to the orc chieftain.
"You'll die here and now, coward!" Ria declared
Get to know the Characters: Ishtaida Edition
As a youth, Ishtaida had never known her own parents. Her foster stand in wasted no time in telling her that they had abandoned her at birth for being a devil child. At her supposed hometown, Ishtaida faced various forms of abuse and tornment and thus grew to be quite cynical and hateful of others.
When she reached the age of twelve, Ishtaida decided to run away from home to escape the many troubles she endured in that household. She never was seen there again. Ishtaida was pleased with her time away, being able to move on from one place to another where people didn't know her or made the effort of their day to herass her. But the trials were hard and she had to grow up quickly, turning to thievery as her only means to eat.
In the end, she could not hide who she was, her pale white skin made her obvious to the most suspicious of people. One day a crowd had cornered her and accused her of the murder of someone she had neither heard of nor met before. People often turn to someone to blame and Ishtaida had to feel the blunt of their grief. It was here where a young aasimar jumped in on her behalf, demanding that proof must first be yielded before laying a hand on an innocent. Ishtaida tried to rebuke the aasimar. She didn't want anyone's help and certainly wouldn't take it from someone who was born to privileged, but the young girl stood fast against the crowd and to Ishtaida's scolding. In fact, the townspeople weren't sure on what to do. They would not raise a hand against their lovely god-child. The act of them being rebutted by one girl infuriated Ishtaida. How could fate be so undeserving cruel to one person and completely affectionate to another?
Ishtaida was determine to leave that town that day, but the young aasimar, who she found out was named Ria kept pleading with her to stay and visit her home. Ishtaida agreed to do so, only to run off in the middle of the night.
Ishtaida believes that one must be self-sufficient to survived and expect this from those that she travels with. You'll never see her using her array of spells to aid another as she subjectively picks them to help compliment her strengths. For others, they may not have any application to begin with.
Though she would not admit it openly, Ishtaida is physically frail, having been malnourished as a child but she's surprisingly agile and coordinated. She doesn't like bulky armor, often relying on her cat-like reflexes and use of illusion magic to make up the difference. In fact, so rarely it is to strike her that she can easily go toe-to-toe with any warrior. When they finally manage to strike her down, she disappears like a mirage. She has frustrated a many towns guards.
Now that I have a decent internet connection (and am finally off work) I can get to some much needed posting.
@Heindrich1988 for the time being I'm taking a break from BG till I get in the mood again. Fortunately, they're back at working on BG:EE. Wonder if they're going to do the same to ID. Wouldn't mind seeing that as well.
@belgarathmth interesting group you have running there. I like the small portrait icons and the read is enjoyable. Looking forward to the rest of their adventure. You should try the temple of elemental evil. It's actually quite hard when you get in the temple and the game is set to focusing on the lower level campaigns. It's easier to wipe at the moathouse than in the earlier parts of BG or ID in my opinion. It was really frustrating when I first started playing. Think it even has several different endings depending how you play your characters. Oh yeah, thanks for mentioning Icewind Dale Keeper. I too needed to remove the hood from Valerie.
@SapphireIce101 keep up the work Sap. It's been years since I last played the original. Interested in seeing the outcome for your group. Glad you took an interest in novelization.
Despite his avoidence in the innetial conflicts, Toruk yielded no respite to the band of Six Swords and fought to the death. To his downfall, the outcome was just that. While the orcs came flooding out of the war camp to match steel with the band, Valerie and Draith's pair summoning along with Ria, Constantine and Hector charge to the line of scrimmage.
Ria personal took on Toruk while the others busied their swordarms elsewhere. Hector rushed the archers like a charging bull. Constantine brought down the eye of Helm to condemn their orc allies. Their numbers were many and the band received many injuries that conflict but try as they might, the orcs could not stop the wave of unbridled wrath that bared down on them that eve. Once all of their foes laid dead, Ria made use of their camp to rest and regain their strength.
At the break of dawn, the group explored the caves to weed out the vile troll that made its domain there. After battling odd creatures and slimes, they found the insidious troll and his orc minions and put them to the sword. While being flack from both sides, the band of Six charged forward while Draith put to sleep a group of archers and charmed an orc warrior. Everything gravitated to the center of the cavern as Draith and Valerie tried to keep to the outskirts of the fighting. Even Ishtaida took up her blade and joined the melee, paired only with her buckler and minor image spell. Hector broke out in an unbridled rage and wielded death at the tip of his already bloody axe. Once the troll was brought down, the band left him on the floor to finish at their leisure and slayed the remaining orcs. Draith took a moment to douse the troll in flames. For their efforts, Ria dawned the elemental sword known as a moonblade that the troll was greedily keeping in his den.
"I hope the pass never suffers from acts like his ever again," Valerie stated.
"Now that orc tribe vanquished and the troll purged, what is our next move," Constantine asks. "We must take to the mountains and throu' the pass before we reach de bridge," Hector answers.
When attempting Hector's directions, they were surprise to be waylaid by a creature other than an orc. Lycanthropes held them at the narrow passages through the pass, making every yard a contest of arms and magic. They knew not why these beasts joined arms with the orcs and goblins but whether or not that question knocked at the corner of their minds, the group yielded no hesitation to their opposition. Blades clashed as arcane might flew from one side to the other, it was a bloody and costly exchange. After felling the half-man half beast monsters, the group had to rest yet again.
They were a mere half hour from the bridge but their route proved to be as deadly as facing the horde directly. The band was getting weary and hopeful of returning back to Targos soon.
"We must press on," Ria insisted.
Nobody thought to argue otherwise. The next eve they faced the marilites at the damn. Though they were from the wild beast tribes, they too put up a resistance on par to the were-kin in the pass. Trodging through their ranks, the band incured severe wounds. Constantine exhausted all his healer, along with Valerie who had learned to mimic his magics through her sorcerous finesse. Ishtaida had not a spell left to meet the foe head on and Ria and Constantine were on the break of death. Even Hector was finding himself breaking from the line to receiving healing, the man that could take twenty orc axes and still stand. It would be another eve on the cold winter ground before they undertook the great task of liberating the bridge. It was quite satisfying to dismantle the damn the horde had so earnestly put up while residing here.
Valerie was getting to the point of despair. So much blood. So much turmoil and death. Even though she hoped to partake in an epic journey the actuallity weighted heavily on her. The injuries she suffered, even though they were few in comparison to the others, made her dread the oncoming storm that was the bridge.
Draith spent little time skimming his spellbook. There was no more tricks or tactics he could use other than what he has been using the last couple of days. Constantine busied himself with extended prayers and meditation. Only Hector was able to sleep soundly through the night.
Ishtaida approached Ria who stood diligently guarding the campsite.
"You're not sleeping." Ishtaida states to point out her observation. "Not tonight," she answers. "It'll do you no good wearing yourself out like that." "To be honest, I don't think I can sleep even if I tried." "Worried?" "I'm afried, Ish."
The thought frighten her a bit. Never in their days have Ishtaida seen Ria troubled so.
"Come on, you?" "Can't I be allowed to just this once?" Ishtaida frowns, "I didn't mean it like that." "No. I know. I don't want them to seem me like this either. It's just that... it keeps getting harder every day and everything we endured all hinges on tomorrow. I'm starting to doubt myself."
Ishtaida joins her in watching the horizon.
"Hey, whatever happens, we're hear with you till the bitter end." "That's just it, Ishtaida. I don't want to die." "Then don't." "Heh, if only words could make it so." "We made it this far right? Not even the other sellswords could say that. Even Helm can't refute you on our success."
Ria stares at the ground before her.
"I almost died today." "..." "I-I don't even know how to describe it it was so terrible. All I could do was think about the things I still wanted to do. And now - now that we're no longer fighting, I can't stop thinking about losing you. Or anyone for that matter. It just keeps killing me inside." "No one said it was going to be easy. They never tell you these things in the story books." "No," Ria sighs. There was a hint of a tear in her eyes, "No they don't." "You know... when we first met, I really hated you. Not because of... you know - but you never stood down, or gave up. You never would go off and had to hide. It... I just hated that I couldn't be more like you. Instead I always ran away from my problems. And if I know you, and I do. You're still going to go out there tomorrow and fight like the heavens depended on you. You always do."
Ria fought back her tears, but her sniffling and constant turning away didn't go unnoticed to Ishtaida. Regardless, Ishtaida wasn't much good at comforting others and felt helpless there beside her. Ria was always the one that had to be strong and now, Ishtaida didn't know how else to help when she needed her. So they stood there together in quiet night till dawn.
Come morning, the others in the band were awaken by Ria, though she wasn't as prompt or as resolute in her usual manner. After breaking their fast, Constantine performed the usual prayer and benedictions. The group moved up to the bridge.
Words were not uttered when both sides met. The horde have been waiting for their approach for some time now and was prepared to hold the bridge to the very end. Orcs and bugbears greeted them with steel as the band of Six Swords fought their way towards the edge of the bridge. Hector was determine to pierce the ranks and march upon the bridge and push the horde back.
The enemy began attacking them on both fronts. Ria stayed behind and defended the rear as Hector and Constantine pressed on to clear the east side of the bridge. A mage attempted to parley with Hector but he would have none of it in his blind rage. He stormed from archer to archer, hacking them to bits like explosive bags of meat, but he was brought to a halt from a charm spell. Oddly, any commands issued from the mage could not be heard by Hector and he stood their in idle stupor. Constantine met the mage in combat and was far less susceptible to his magics. There was very little that he could do to fend off the Helmite. Constantine's mace crushed the mage's skull like a grapefruit.
Draith watched over both sides as Ishtaida took to her blade once Hector was rendered useless. Valerie held close to Draith, not knowing who needed her voice more. Ria held off the west flank long enough for the group to clear the bridge and march back to her side and together pushed back and defeat the westward front.
The day was won and the bridge was liberated from the horde's grasp. Though battered and bruised, the group celebrated in their glory. The relief swelling in Ria was so overwhelming that she came and hugged whoever was in her wake. Ishtaida found it odd that it was Constantine that she hugged more enthusiastically, but said nothing.
Draith was the only one that did not celebrate. If he did, he did so in quiet contimplation. Ishtaida was more comfortable talking to him than any other in the group, beside Ria who was too distracted with Constantine.
"What's on your mind?" She asks him.
Driath was never one to consider sugar coating his words. Nor did he express his thoughts openly when asked, but he knew it had to be said or at least, he felt it had to be.
"Our battles will be more costly from here on out." He states. "How so?" "With the lost of the bridge and the opportunity of reinforcements, the horde can't sit and starve us out. They'll need to act quickly if they are to take Targos or suffer a severe delay in their campaign." "Is that what you would do if you where them?" "Indeed. They have the advantage of numbers and to waste time on Targos any longer would cripple them." "Hm. So now that you know what they'll do, what should we do?" "Nothing."
Ishtaida was shocked. Draith was always intuitive in taking the next step. Why not this time?
"Nothing?" "Without knowing where their stronghold is, we can't strike them first and offset their campaign further. Short of that, we cannot do a thing but wait."
I set my "random" ID2 group aside and went back to the drawing board and came up with a group I think I'm going to like - so without further ado - here we go....
The common room at The Snort & Gobble in Luskan looked like a three ring circus having an afternoon rehearsal when William Billycan and his Illusionist sidekick Orric Oglethorp III stepped through the doorway after booking passage for 6 to Targos aboard a small freighter named the Wicked Wench leaving in a few hours from Luskan harbor.
Orric, a nimble mid-sized rock gnome with an oversized staff was bemoaning the fact that William had spent the bulk of their gold on said passage and now they had only hours to find and convince four others to join them in their folly.
“Never you fear my gnomish friend,” drawled William; “for as I’ve told you time and time again…"
“Yes yes” Orric chimed in going on with a sing songy sarcastic lilt; “If there’s a thing in this world that can ever be done ye know you can count on William Billycan for if he can’t do it no one can – by the Gods William when are ye gonna get a new line or two for your repertoire…”
William just laughed – “A new line?” says he; “why it took two years to teach ye that one!”
“Well looky what we have here” William whispered nodding his chin to a group of four in the corner. Seated around a large table was a group looking as if they would be much more comfortable around a campfire than a tavern. A bear of a man with some obvious orcish blood in his lineage had was seated next to a Halfling lass with a sign of Talos on her cloak.
Across the table was what William first thought were a human couple until his partner noticed the tiefling tail winding around the feather bedecked ranger looking fellows right leg and Orric also whispered that if the tall lass next to him wasn’t a druid he’s eat his hat – to which William pointed out that Orric didn’t own a hat.
William grabbed a tray of ale and a platter of the featured pickled swine snouts from the bar and the two adventurers wandered over and introduced themselves to the woodsy looking crew and laid out Williams offer to hire the group to join them on a trip to the Ten Towns to fight the goblin hordes for fame and fortune!
Two pitchers of ale and a small keg of wine later the deal was done and the party stumbled down to the Wicked Wench just as Captain Hedron was about to pull in the gangplank and they headed off to Targos.
Billycans Bodacious Brigands
William Billycan – M Human Bard 12/14/12/14/8/16 - Party leader & Spokesman using Song & X-bow
Orric Oglethorp III – Rock gnome Illusionist 8/16/14/18/12/8 – Party wizard, alchemist, Spells & X-bow
Sniktruk – Half-orc - Barbarian/fighter 20/14/14/8/12/6 party tank – axe
Thelma Thunderfist – F Ghostwise Halfling Barbarian X/Stormlord 4-5X – Party cleric back up tank –Hammers & throwing hammers
Duskeagle – M Tiefling – Ranger X/Rogue 3-4X 12/20/12/14/12/8 - Party rogue & scout – bow & TWF
Baela the Badger – F Human Druid 12/14/12/12/18/8 – Party summoner, wilderness guide, Bow, caster, shapeshifter?
The Bodacious band arrived in Targos with almost all their belongings washed overboard in a squall only to find the docks over-run with goblins as they left the ship. They scrounged up enough gear to take the nasty creatures down clearing the docks of danger and reported to Lord Ulrich and signed on for the duration and were last seen in the company of Swift Thomas running errands all over Targos.
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In other news - does anyone know the specifics on the difficulty settings in ID2? IWD increased experience for increased difficulty but a google search on ID2 seems to indicate that only monster difficulty is increased in ID2 higher difficulty settings - no reward for cranking it up (except HOF)????
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UPDATE:
The party held their own when the goblins breached the Palisades and are now gearing up for an excursion down the river. Current levels are:
@Wanderon Billycans -Bodacious- Brigands huh? lol, can't wait. So what happened with the random group? Didn't feel much love for them?
Yeah - the random ones weren't mine and the team was just sort of "meh" and I had some ideas I wanted to use like the ghostwise Halfling barby/Stormlord and the tiefling ranger/rogue scout and I'm a chronic restarter anyway - LOL
So far so good - just finished the moonblade/troll quest - no reloads and only one death so far - I may set a fairly low limit on reloads just to keep it interesting since there doesn't seem to be any rewards (like more experience) for turning up the difficulty except for HOF.
William and his cohorts gathered around the campfire in the wererats camp in the pass basking in their bodaciousness and bragging on their brigandy after destroying the damned dam on the Shaen and mashing the malicious Malarites into mush along the way.
No one was mentioning the fact that they had retreated into the pass after repairing the pathway to the bridge because they were all a little trepidatious about the upcoming battle in spite of the fact that only the gnome could spell the word while 4 of the 6 had never heard it and William was the only one likely to use it in a sentence.
They were debating whether or not to walk back down to the moon lady and have her cast aid upon them just for luck before attacking the main force at the bridge and passing around a bottle of musty cider that the gnome had found under a rock nearby.
The consensus seemed to be that it was a coin toss whether or not the aid spell would even last long enough to be of any use at the bridge and William suggested they go ahead and toss a coin to see whether or not they should go for it or not but by then both the gnome and the Halfling were snoring and they decided to wait until daylight to decide.
Well, I got the Order of the Stick through the Battle at the Shaengard Bridge, so they're currently about where you two are, @Draith012 and @Wanderon. But like Wanderon, I'm a chronic restarter, and I've decided to backburner my Oots run, in favor of using the NPC Project, because I was starting to miss character interaction.
So, I'm starting again with Harmonius the Bard, second son of a distant noble, sent on the expedition to Targos under the watchful eye of his father's right hand man, Sir Nord. Party will be Harmonius the Bard, Sir Nord the Paladin, Hildury the half-orc barbarian, Valeero the Dawnbringer of Lathander, Nikosh the halfling rogue, and Jaemal the sorcerer.
No mods other than the NPC Project. I haven't played IWD2 in so long, I remember nothing past the Bridge, so it's like a new game to me. I say that because I don't want to spoiler myself as I go, so I may not read as carefully and respond to the other posters until or unless I catch up again to about the same place. I will read everything as soon as I do catch up, though, because I really enjoy reading other people's journaling.
@Wanderon, I like your cast of characters. You have a really fun writing style, with good use of alliteration, and a bit of subtle fourth-wall breaking humor (lampshading that most of your party wouldn't know the word you, the writer, used for how they feel).
When morning arrived William flipped his "lucky" coin and decided the group would visit the Moon lady for some aid spells before attacking the bridge - the gnome thinks Billy boy has a crush on her but in the end the aid spells did last through the entire battle at the bridge and perhaps kept at least one of the party alive long enough to suck down a potion to fight some more.
The battle was fierce and the party lost the Halfling early on when the enemy mage either dropped a fireball at his feet or detonated a trap killing himself and Thelma in the process. The brigands bodaciously battled on without her with Sniktruk bellowing "That's for Thelma!" with every swing of his axe and they slowly whittled down the enemy until there was nothing but bloody carcasses left cluttering up the area.
Once the smoke cleared all but Duskeagle had a little "+" sign floating mysteriously above their right shoulder - there was even one floating over Thelmas' dead shoulder and William said it was a sign from the gods that the moon ladys aid spell saved the day which precipitated a bit of snorting and eye rolling from the rest of the Bodacious Brigands and they gathered up the loot and headed back to Targos snickering over snide remarks about William mooning over the moon lady and whether or not he would moon her the next time he found an excuse to look her up - or perhaps down.
In Targos they discovered saving the bridge just moved them from the frying pan to the fire as now Ulrec thought they should take down the entire goblin fortress on their own which of course led to another round of snide remarks as they set about gathering supplies for the new task....
@belgarathmth - oh sure wait until I get a party up to level 5 and THEN mention the ID2 NPC Project! LOL I was unaware this mod had been completed I may have to look into it myself!
Comments
@Wanderon - At least you got someone to survive. In the Heart of Fury mode that I was doing, nobody survived I was very sad.
I have returned to you, at the turn of the tide. :P I had a nice little vacation.
Also, BGEE is back on sale and things are proceeding as normal. Once the new patch comes out, Kythran will most likely be re-done on BGEE.
@Wanderon heh yeah, you needed a healer bad. Interesting group though, quite the lot of earth dwellers you got going. I thought about making a theme party. Like a barbarian party (using the more wild classes) or an outcast party (races like drow, half-orc and tiefling). I don't think I ever have many NPC's alive afterwards. Usually the guy you give the wine to is off in the corner too scared to do anything and maybe one of the iron collar band is still alive. I'll find out today how things go for me. But you're off to the river next I think?
I was going to go with one of my favorite ID2 characters Ghostwise Halfling Barbarian x/Stormlord 3x mostly using the great throwing hammers but the Grey Dwarf was already set up for hammers so I went with an Axeman. The halfling build is really better as a back up cleric anyway.
I played a bunch of theme parties in ID2 back in the day - all little people, all ECL, all rogue, all girls (Copper Corset) etc...
Off to work for now tho might get to play some tomorrow but probably not til Sunday
When the boat, the Wicked Wench, finally pulled into port, many of the remaining sellsword bands were eager to get on land only to be greeted by a gruff and wounded Targos soldier. He demanded everyone to stay on their ship until the current troubles were resolved. Many of the men looked around and complied. They were none too eager to put up arms yet again, for goblins have gone loose in the town. How was still a mystery. It was no surprise to the band that Ria chose to step forward and offer their service fighting off the rampant goblins.
The town guards had mixed feelings at first for they did not know the bands credentials, but their fellow guard was dead another, their lead, was injured. Ria offered yet again, to help better their situation and mend his arm. It took some convincing but the guard inlisted the band to help clear out the little blighters.
Constantine speaks his concerns, "many of us are unarmed and unarmored. I would not like to risk Sister Valerie in such unfavorable conditions."
"Hmm," Ria acknowledges. "Ish, can you..."
"Yeah, yeah." Ishtaida mutters. "I'll take a quick look around and see what I can find."
Ria turns to the rest of the band of six, "For now, we'll stand guard of this foot hold till she returns."
Valerie asks with great concern, "would she be all right on her own?"
"I have faith in her. You will too in time." Ria replies.
"We'll see." Constantine mumbles.
Ishtaida scans the surrounding area, first north than arcs her way around south of the docks, darting from shadow to shadow. There didn't appear to be many goblins out in the open but their gibberish could be discern from within what houses that still had rooftops. A few dead soldiers littered her way which she released them of their protective gear, a few axes, a short blade and a bow and some arrows.
When Ishtaida returns, Ria greets her with absolutely no surprise in the tone of her voice.
"What's the situation," she asks her.
Ishtaida tosses down the clutter of weapons she acquired and answers, "There's a few goblins down south along the docks and a few to the southwest. I found the storehouse and some equipment along the way. Here. Who needs armor?"
Ria and Valerie moved forward, along with Hector. When Ishtaida lift up the leather armor she found and looked to the large barbarian, she notices the gear was cut shaped for an elf.
"Yeah, you know what Hector. I think I found you a sleeve."
She hands it to him as though he was to accept it literally. The large man glares at the leather armor in his hand with a grimace.
"Alright then. To the south." Ria issues.
Ishtaida quickens her pace to stay ahead of the group and disappears in the shadows.
Valerie leans over to Ria, "Does she do this often?"
"Enough to now the swing of things," Ria replies. "Can you do that thing with your voice any time?"
"Uh, um, Yes! Yes. I could also do so with any instrument."
"Ishtaida is going to give us a signal, I'll need you to lend us your voice alright?"
"Certainly!" Valerie answers most dutifully. "Then what?"
"We'll handle the rest," Constantine replies.
"Oh," she murmurs with a somewhat disappointed sigh.
Ria could tell she wanted a larger roll but she said nothing to encourage her to take more action than what was already intrusted to her.
When the group spot Ishtaida's signal, Valerie clears her throat and let emit her enchanting voice. The others could feel her magic entice their hearts and soul and the group felt a confidence swelling within them. Together with Hector and Constantine, Ria charge forth along the docks to the group of goblin raiders. Ishtaida kept to the shadow waiting for something.
As the three warriors came swinging at the goblin combatants, an archer detaches from the group and takes aim.
"I don't think so," Ishtaida murmurs as she pulls back her bow string. Her arrow sinks through its skull and pierces inches through the back of it. The goblin archer falls to the ground with but the sound of it's body hitting the snow.
On all accounts, goblin warriors were no match for human soldiers. This brief battle prove to be no exception. Draith shakes Valerie to redirect her attention and draw her to the rest of the group.
The group executes this maneuver several times more that day, sometimes rescuing or finding stranded civilians along the way. Ishtaida urged the group to searched the houses as that's where she heard most of the ruckus going on. She even encourage them to search the storehouse, though her motives were elsewhere.
The harbor master, Magdog was hidding out within and offered whatever equipment to their disposal provided they searched the place themselves. Ishtaida grins under her hood as she realizes she'll never get legal authorization to loot a place ever again.
"Well, you heard the man," Ishtaida shouts. "Let's get us outfitted right."
Hector manages to find himself armor that actually fits him. There were a few shields as well that Constantine and Ria made use of. A few potions to heal that whelp of a guard Reig. A crossbow for both Valerie and Draith and excess equipment which Ishtaida plans to sell back to the very storekeep that original owns them. She made sure Ria was too distract to notice her pilfering.
When everybody was certain they have found all that they could find a use for, Ria speaks to the group.
"So where should be our next objective?" she asks.
Hector offers his input. "Many of the tracks come from the north along the coast. Ye'd find them goblin den there."
True enough, when they follow the coast line, they are stopped by another guard who had locked a band of goblins inside the warehouse. He demanded for them to seek out the Iron Collar Band and wouldn't take no for an answer. The short of it, they refused to leave their mugs.
When Isthaida popped the lock off the warehouse doors, the three warriors looked to each other, nodded and kicked the doors open. Together they rush the entrapped goblins while Ishtaida hid in the shadows shooting arrows. Valerie continues to sing and Draith - Draith just watches, occasionally shooting a bolt from his crossbow.
Once they cleared the store house, Ria discovers a trapdoor leading into a cellar. The sink of goblins emanated from within. The passageways were dark and dank. A few goblins loitered the tunnels. One by one, they eliminated the stranded goblins. Draith instructed Valerie not to sing for the time being for her voice would travel down the walls and alert the entire cavern. Ishtaida kept to scouting the tunnels. Whenever she found a lone goblin, she had no trouble slitting its throat in a dark corner.
Ishtaida finds the head of the goblin raiders at the end of the cave with what was left of his band.
"That's them. " She mutters.
Draith steps forth and says, "Than lets do this proper."
In seconds, Draith summons up those war dogs from that night of the naval battle. They once again bolt out from the distorted space Draith creates. The dogs maliciously attack the goblins' leader. Draith then fills the cavern with an enchantment, putting several of the goblin peons to sleep.
He turns to the group and says, "The rest is yours."
The band rushes in, sweeping through the remaining goblin forces. Draith nods to Valerie that it was okay to sing once more. In moments, Hector was sending goblin body parts through the air and the goblins were beginning to freak out. Nothing like seeing your closest friend explode into chunks of meat right before your eyes. It was a bloody mess down there when he was through with them.
Character Level Up:
Ria Delglaivor: Level 1/1 Paladin/Fighter, (Feat: Power Attack)
Hector Erskine: Level 2 Barbarian
Constantine Trivon: Level 2 Watch of Helm
Ishtaida Eldravesk: Level 1/1 Rogue/Illusionist, (Feat: Armored Arcana)
Valerie Rosewood: Level 1/1 Bard/Lorekeeper of Oghma
Draith: Level 2 Conjurer
With the goblin raiders vanquished, the Six Swords made their way to the lord's manor. Lord Ulbrec was in a fluster desperately awaiting news of the docks. There was no hesitation in Ria when she explained the events that took place there.
His gratitude was a short reprieve before he laid bare the the various problems that was plaguing his town. Ulbrec even assigned their company under the commander of the guards, Shawford Crale. When the group was given their chores at the palisade, the group decidedly disbanded for the eve.
"Well, I'm leaving this part to you." Ishtaida tells Ria.
"What? But we're on duty."
"Yeah. No. I'm not playing fetch today. I'm taking the priestest with me."
"Huh?" Valerie ques in.
"Laters!"
Ishtaida drags the soon-to-be Lorekeeper with her.
"I probably shouldn't leave her in that girl's care," Constantine mutters under his breath.
"No. No, you shouldn't," Ria admits.
Hector includes his thoughts on the tribesman that was down at the Salty Dog earlier that day. He was eager to find out more information from him.
"Sure. I guess." Ria sighs heavily.
Draith needed only to look at her before Ria waved him off to do his own bidding.
It was a very uneventful eve as far as the war was concerned. With the group off doing various things, no one was certain what all was actually accomplished that day.
Ishtaida and Valerie manages to lose Constantine in the streets of what was left of Targos's town.
"Uh." Ishtaida gripes. "To think I had enough troubles with one of them following me around."
"Miss Ishtaida. Are you up to no good?" Valerie inquirers.
"Of course not." She snorted. "In fact - we're going to deal with that priest of Skull first. Something just doesn't sit right with me about that one."
"Hm... I don't really have any interest in writing the tale on him." Valerie says dishearteningly.
"Never you mind that. There's more important things to be done."
Constantine decided to take a moment with the wounded in the clergy's tent that was erected by followers of Tempus. One of the brothers was distressed and in constant search of something.
"What troubles befell him?" Constantine asks the other priest.
"Our only prayer books has gone missing," the priest replies.
The other one shouts out while searching the cabinets. "I swear it was that tiefling that was here earlier!"
"Yes. Because that's what tieflings do. They still religious literature to sell on the black market," mocks the other priest.
"You don't say..." Constantine grumbles.
Constantine left the tent in earnest to find the deviant before she corrupted the newly faithful.
"Damnit, how could I have let them out of my sight!"
Ria watches as Constantine makes off in one direction only to see the two girls pop out of a different side-street and run off in a completely different direction. Ria chose to ignore the goings-on.
"So the crane is broken?" She asks a fat stubby man.
Constantine bursts in Ulbrec's manor to find Draith conversing with the lord's wife.
"Have you seen them?!" He shouts to Draith.
"Hm?"
"The tiefling. By god I'll have her hide."
"Eh. No. But I need to trouble you about their diviner."
"There's no time."
"Actually. You're going to make time. He's fallen ill by what seems to be foul magics. I might need your help in the curing of it."
Constantine brought his search to a halt when Draith mentioned it. He could recall such a patient back at the clergy's tent.
"Oh, I don't know," Valerie moans. "Isn't this no better than what that grave robber was doing?"
"Of course not." Ishtaida reassures her. "When 'adventurers' find a hidden horde of treasure is it no different than stealing?"
"Well, of course it is."
"Isn't it? It belonged to someone one time or another."
"That's true. But..."
"Hey here." Ishtaida hands Valerie a book. "I bought this for you."
"Oh! A Tempus prayerbook! Wonder what kind of stuff is in their Scripture."
"Mm-hm. Anyways. We're just keeping it out of that leech's hands cause we're desperately low on equipment. Might just find something that'll turn the tide on the horde, eh?"
Ishtaida fishes underneath the floor board of a delapidated house and pulls out a jar of some liquid or other.
"Hay! Look at this!"
"Oh! What is it?" Valerie asks.
"Don't know but we should let Draith look at it."
"Wow, imagine that! To think we may have found the key item in routing the vast horde here in Targos. Let me right this down. Ooh, oh how exciting! The crafty tiefling and the ever lovely priestess of Oghma work diligently searching through the ruins of an un-manned house to unsurfaced the relic that wrought destruction down on the horde!"
Ishtaida glances at her queer enthusiasm as she continues to comb through the stash.
"Don't know 'bout all that..." she mumbles.
Draith and Constantine walk into the Salty Dog looking for the tribesman for a pitcher of boar's blood spirits. What they saw was Hector wobbling in a drunken stupor at the table with the tribesman spewing his guts out in a barrel. Constantine found it all to be quite unseemly.
"Well this is pleasant." He says.
"Hmmgh?" Hector grunts. "Them fightin' wordz!"
Hector stands up with the grace of an one-legged ox. His fists at the ready.
"Oh lord... you task me anew." Constantine mutters.
Ria spots the girls dashing by once again as she was pushes up a cart filled with creates of arrows.
"Hey, wait! A little help here!" She calls out to them.
They didn't respond.
Much more had transpired that day with only glimpses of each other dashing off in the streets. When Ria had finally completed all the chores, the group finally merged together.
"You!" Constantine barks. "I demand answers."
"What do YOU want?" Ishtaida snarls.
"Where is that pr..."
Constantine was interrupted by the sounds of the palisades war horns bellowing in the distance.
"Ready yourselves men," Ria says drawing her sword. "They come!"
When the band 'Six Swords of the North' made it to the palisades, what remained was a complete travesty. No sooner did they pass through the town's gates did they come upon a heard of goblin raiders and their worg-riding commander. The new recruits that were training in the open fields here were newly slain. It was up to the doing of just a few blades to turn the horde back.
Hector burst into a rage and came charging their ranks, trampling any goblins unfortunate enough to meet his boot. Ria move thusly to keep up with the rampanging barbarian. Valerie wasted no time nor needed instruction to begin chanting a war song she picked up from her new book of Tempus prayers. Constintine muttered under his breath for Helm's guidance. His prayers did not go unanswered for their blades stuck true and their faith held strong. Draith and Ishtaida took to their crossbow and bow respectively and started taking down their archers. It took mere moments before their ranks started to scatter into chaos. With so many benediction magics in the air for their favor, soon too did the worg rider met his fate at the end of their blade.
As soon as the last goblin laid lifeless on the ground before them, a bang rang out from the northeast corner of the palisade. It was the section Anson's crew was stationed at. With no clear positioning of their own, Ria lead them on.
But it would be too late for Anson. Though the Six Swords were able to add their numbers to their defense, Anson fell to the swarm of goblins that his crew was overrun by. His band was no more.
The six fought bravely in their sted, wrestling the short-lived victory from their hands. Seeing how the band swept through their numbers, Valerie could see the might of her crew. Their strength. Their valor. Their would-be-mark in the pages of history. When others fought back with grim determination and fell, Ria, Hector and Constantine demonstrated true heroics and steel. Once again, the goblin raiders laid defeated.
What was left of Targos's guards and hired arms began shifting their ranks to the west and towards the palisade's gates. Ria and the band followed along.
Caballus, their goblin shaman and lead of the orchestrated assault appeared before the gates and blew the gates wide open, flooding in a river of goblins. Black Geoffery and the Iron Collar were there to greet the band as well as Olaf Tamewater, the engineer Ria had to play fetch for.
Before they performed a maneuver of their own, Ishtaida sunk into the shadows and spied their location over the barricades. There was a gathering of gibberling goblins all ready to pounce the first guard they see. Isthaida issued Draith directions on their locations and with the potion Ishtaida and Valerie found earlier, he hurls the bottle into the herd setting the entire force in flames. Many goblins ran about in sheer horror and agony till they withered and died while their elite and shaman emerged worse for wear, mustering whatever strength was left in them. Valerie was in pure glee from the results of their little 'treasure hunt'. Draith used his magics to turn the gaze of their elite against the shaman, who then started exhausting his amply supply of magics on bringing down the mad goblin. Ria, Constantine, Hector, Tamewater and the Iron Collar gathered around the openings of the barricades and charged the area together and overwhelmed the scorched shaman. His concentration would falter at the blows of the raging barbarian. His magics too, yielded no success.
Get to know the characters: Valerie Edition
Valerie comes from a noble family that has garnered its prestige through the arts. Whether they be painting, music or theatrics, every Rosewood to date has demonstrated their natural talents. By tradition, their sorcerous magics have been used to amplify their gifts, bolstering their creativity and insight to bring forth a piece truly miraculous, others had used it simply to dupe their spectators into complacency.
Valerie, though talented, was also considered the 'runt' of the family. Often out done by her older siblings, Valerie made it the habit to blames herself for her short comings and can often be seen with little self-confidence despite how others may praise her. Living in the shadows of her family, she turned to the gods in hope for inspiration, a chance blessing to bring her to par with the expectations of her parents. So she joined the Order of Oghma, the patron god of art, and resided within their monastery til the age of adulthood. Facing the rites of priesthood, she was sent out to gather or to create a work worthy of Oghma, whether an epic depicting a crisis of their times or unearthing a lost bit of lore from the corners of the world. This is what brought her to Targos.
In battle, she shies away from physical confrontation, often resorting to her crossbow as any real means to battle the foe directly. Instead, she prefers to look after the well-being of her fellow comrades, giving them her blessings and song to guide them to victory. She thinks of the party as a whole and not of its individual parts.
Valerie is a bard by heart and though she tithes to the dogma of Oghma, her bardic background is the very core of her being. Her bard levels will increase faster than her cleric levels.
Character Level Ups:
Hector Erskine: Level 3 Barbarian (Feat: Dash)
Constantine Trivon: Level 3 Watcher of Helm (Feat: Improve Turning)
Valerie Rosewood: Level 2/1 Bard/Lorekeeper of Oghma (Feat: Armored Arcana: 2)
Draith: Level 3 Conjurer (Feat: Spell Focus: Enchantment: 2)
(The palisade battle turned out to be a one-sided victory for my group. I suppose the bard song with blessing had made it particularly easy for my three swordsmen to tear them apart. Even Draith took down a goblin commander with his crossbow. Even more oddly was that Valerie did so too, at least referring to their character sheet. I didn't see her shoot the sod in between the eyes. Wish I was able to save Anson and his crew but you know how well that goes sometimes.)
Party and screenshots are as follows, in spoiler tags to help save memory space in the thread:
BELKAR BITTERLEAF, CHAOTIC EVIL HALFLING RANGER/BARBARIAN
DURKON THUNDERSHIELD, LAWFUL GOOD DWARF WATCHER OF HELM
HALEY STARSHINE, CHAOTIC GOOD HUMAN ROGUE
ELAN, CHAOTIC GOOD HUMAN BARD
VAARSUVIUS, TRUE NEUTRAL ELF EVOKER
Also, I couldn't wait, so I started a new IWD Playthrough.
Meet Malakai!
Mods:
// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~DDRAWFIX/DDRAWFIX.TP2~ #0 #2 // DDrawFix -> Use WineD3D's DDraw Library: v1.0
~1PP_IWD_FIXES/1PP_IWD_FIXES.TP2~ #0 #0 // 1ppv: Fix character attack animation sounds in TotLM
~1PP_IWD_FIXES/1PP_IWD_FIXES.TP2~ #0 #1 // 1ppv: Fix combat animation bug (enable combat stance animations)
~IWDFIXPACK/SETUP-IWDFIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #0 // Assorted Fixes: v5
~IWDFIXPACK/SETUP-IWDFIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #100 // Game Text Update: v5
~1PP_HQ_MUSIC_IWD/1PP_HQ_MUSIC_IWD.TP2~ #0 #0 // 1pp: High quality music for IWD HoW/TotLM
~IU_IWD/SETUP-IU_IWD.TP2~ #0 #0 // Item Upgrade for Icewind Dale: v5
~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #0 // The Voice of Durdel Anatha: v7
~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #100 // Malavon's Golems: v7
~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #200 // Expanded Guello/Beorn Quest: v7
~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #300 // Marketh's Ring: v7
~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #400 // Presio's Duel: v7
~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #500 // Orrick's Rhino Beetle Shield: v7
~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #600 // The High Baptist's Flock: v7
~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #1500 // Minor Item Restorations: v7
~UB_IWD/SETUP-UB_IWD.TP2~ #0 #2000 // Restored Random Drops: v7
~IWDNPC/SETUP-IWDNPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // Icewind Dale NPCs: v4
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #101 // 1ppv4: Core paperdolls
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #103 // 1ppv4: Extended palette entries -> Full install (recommended)
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #105 // 1ppv4: Avatar fixes
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #109 // 1ppv4: Female Dwarves -> Separate Avatars for Female Dwarves - Icewind Dale I HoW
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #110 // 1ppv4: Thieves Galore -> IWD HoW/TotL - Unique Thief Avatars
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #113 // 1ppv4: Smart Avatar & Armour Switching
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #114 // 1ppv4: Softer Spell Effects
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #200 // 1ppv4: Core content patches
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #203 // 1ppv4: Restored flame sword animations
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #204 // 1ppv4: Colourable Quarterstaves
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #205 // 1ppv4: Legacy Shields
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #206 // 1ppv4: Additional Shield Animations (core)
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #207 // 1ppv4: Wizards' Staves (core)
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #209 // 1ppv4: Attachable wings (core)
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #210 // 1ppv4: Increased paperdoll object variety (core)
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #400 // 1ppv4: Core updates and item patches
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #401 // 1ppv4: Improved projectile effects
~1PP/1PP.TP2~ #0 #301 // 1ppv4: Miscellaneous content fixes
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #70 // Force All Dialogue to Pause Game: v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1010 // Add Bags of Holding: v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2020 // Universal Clubs: v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2061 // Wear Multiple Protection Items -> No Restrictions: v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2080 // Multi-Class Grand Mastery (Weimer): v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2090 // BG2 Grand Mastery: v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2100 // Change Magically Created Weapons to Zero Weight: v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2110 // Un-Nerfed THAC0 Table: v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2120 // Alter Mage Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2130 // Alter Bard Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2140 // Alter Priest Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2150 // Druids Use Cleric Level and Spell Progression: v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2160 // Druids Use 3e Alignment Restrictions (NG, LN, TN, CN, NE): v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3031 // Easy Spell Learning -> 100% Learn Spells and No Maximum Cap: v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3040 // Make Bags of Holding Bottomless: v14
~G3DALETWEAKS/SETUP-G3DALETWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3110 // Rest Anywhere (Japheth): v14
~IWDNPC/SETUP-IWDNPC.TP2~ #0 #8 // Alternate class for Teri -> Teri, multiclass thief/mage: v4
~GENERALIZED_BIFFING/GENERALIZED_BIFFING.TP2~ #0 #0 // Generalized Biffing: v2.2
Difficulty: Normal
Prologue: The Start of the Journey (@Draith012 - Now you got me doing the chapter stuff, and titles to go with them!)
The journey to Easthaven was a long and cold one for Malakai. It was also a fairly lonely one. At least, until she had reached Easthaven. Once in Easthaven, Malakai went to the pub, well asked around for directions to the pub, and then went there. That is where Malakai met Hrothgar, and the five others that she was to travel with.
Once Hrothgar had left, the introductions began. The female human named Nella started first, stating that she was from Bryn Shander, and her current home is in Kuldahar, she wants to protect the tree. The second person to introduce themselves was an elven man named Korin, he was an elven ranger that lived in Easthaven, and wanted to help its people. The third was a half-elven woman named Teri, she was thief from Amn, sent to Icewind Dale on an exile of sorts. The fourth was a human male named Severn, he was a bard from Baldur's Gate seeking adventure. The fifth person was a human male named Holvir, he was a Paladin of Tyr from Waterdeep, he also strives to help the people of the Dale. Lastly, was Malakai.
"My name is Malakai. I am a Priestess and Ranger of Mielikki." Malakai spoke confidently, as she gently touched her ranger's insigna of a unicorn. "I am from the outskirts of Silverymoon. I intend on investigating the troubles of Icewind Dale."
Malakai had receieved a nod of approval from everyone, some of them were smiling at her as well.
A couple of minutes later the newly formed band of adventurers exited the pub, and then, initiated a snowball fight, or at least Malakai, Teri, and Severn did.
A few more minutes, and Malakai spoke to Hrothgar and agreed to help Kuldahar and the great tree. However, first they were to help the people of Easthaven.
Once they were done with that they searched for a Caravan, and found a cave of orcs, and an ogre. Three people fell to the Ogre, Holvir, Nella, and Teri. The Ogre had almost gotten Severn, but Malakai used her Cure Light Wounds on him. Then, the Ogre struck Korin, making Korin roll forward toward a cave wall. Malakai hit the ogre a couple of times with some bullets from her sling, which was a great investment, and Severn shot some bolts at the ogre, which killed the ogre.
Malakai couldn't heal Korin, who was now bleeding, since she used Light Cure Wounds on Severn. Malakai couldn't help but give Korin her concerned look, while Korin just gave her the 'I'm fine.' look, despite the fact that he was bleeding out.
They looked at the treasure chest, and quickly made their way to the temple of Tempus in Easthaven, and revived Nella, Holvir, and Teri.
After that, they completed the rest of their tasks, and the expedition made their way to Kuldahar. However, something bad happened. An avalanche. It had killed everyone except for Malakai, Holvir, Korin, Nella, Severn, and Teri.
A hermit came, and told the party that Kuldahar was to the east, and now, the party knew where they had to go.
Party:
Malakai - Cleric/Ranger - 1/1
Holvir - Paladin - 1
Korin - Ranger - 1
Nella - Fighter - 2
Severn - Bard - 2
Teri - Mage/Thief - 1/1
Reloads: 0
Notes: Hmm, trying something different. Also, I've never played a Cleric/Ranger from start to finish on -anything- maybe this will be the first time.
Edit: Teri's level was wrong, she isn't level 2, shes level 1 in both of her classes. Also, forgot a screenshot.
Roy Greenhilt, party leader:
-The Order cleared goblins out of the docks area and did some fetch-and-carry quests. Elan did nothing but sing "Fight, fight, fight, fight the stupid goblins!" over and over in that annoying, childish voice of his. I don't know *why* I let him into this party. V just stood there with his arms crossed, saying that the chimp-like goblins were not worth his unleashing his vast arcane power. Um, at least, I *think* V is a "he". I guess I'll call "him" a he for convenience's sake. V looks sort of like a male elf, but he has a voice like a woman, and he gets very upset when anybody inquires about his gender. I know better already than to upset V. I'll leave it to "him" to read the party record and "correct" me if need be.
Haley Starshine, acting party leader:
-What a disaster! We were checking houses up in Targos proper, and I was "finding" all kinds of gold and valuable stuff hidden in barrels and crates, when we went into a house to see if the owner knew anything about the goblin attacks. There was a mage there, so we asked him if he knew what a scroll was that V couldn't quite make out. And he attacked us to rob us of the scroll!
Before we knew what was happening, V and the other mage engaged in an arcane battle. V started by trying to interrupt the mage's first spell with a Magic Missile while I shot arrows. Roy, Durkon, and Belkar attacked him with melee weapons. Elan played his lute and sang "Interrupt, interrupt, interrupt, interrupt the deadly mage" or something like that. I couldn't help noticing how his bare biceps flexed as he played his lute, and notice that delightful voice and..... erm, so, I shot arrows.
Unfortunately, the other mage had opened with Sleep, and I blacked out.
Durkon Thundershield, acting party leader:
-Cursed be th' wicked wizard! He put half our party to Sleep, and summoned a small army of goblins t' ward us off. V put most of *them* t' Sleep on the next round, but thar was a big one wearin' chain tha' dinna fall. Then th' wicked wizard shot fire out of his hands, and Roy shouted out and fell, dead! Only Belkar, V, and I were left standin'. Th' Halfling menace and I were able t' stab and bludgeon the wicked wizard t' death, but the thrice-damned goblin boss weren't fallin'. Th' Halfling and I got stabbed and slashed nearly t' death, and were aboot to fall, despite drinkin' all our healin' potions! V ran out of spells, and the Sleepin' goblins started to wake. We 'ad no choice but to grab Roy's body, kick the Sleepers awake, and flee!
Next day, we went back and finished 'em off, then found th' tent tha' passed fer th' town temple, and raised Roy. 'Took most of our gold, too!
The Order of the Stick, 081613, supplemental
Roy Greenhilt, party leader
-We have cleared Targos of invading goblins. Barely. The scariest moment was against the enemy goblin archmage. Haley and Belkar fell to Color Spray, Durkon was held by a Chromatic Orb, and then, everyone but V was either Held by Hold Person or thrown into a blind panic by Blind and Horror. V had managed to wake those who had fallen unconscious to the Color Spray by pricking them with his throwing daggers, but they still fell again to the barrage of other spells.
Vaarsuvius, alone in the battle against the goblin archmage, killed him with a desperate Magic Missile at the last possible moment before the archmage simply strolled around and killed us one by one, at his leisure. V says that he has revised his opinion about the threat level of goblinkind up a notch or two.
The Order of the Stick, 081613, supplemental
Roy Greenhilt, party leader
-We have been charged with marching south along the Frozen River and to clear the way for reinforcements to Targos from Neverwinter. Our first skirmishes with the orc army were...difficult. We prevailed against their outer perimeter defense, but, of course, Elan died. The fool kept running about, playing his stupid, idiotic lute, and doing his stupid, idiotic singing. "Kill, kill, kill, kill the orcs!" Gaaah! I almost wanted to stick the tip of my greatsword into my ears! We will *not* be wasting our gold on raising the fool!
HALEY: Roy, you stop picking on Elan this instant! He has a beautiful, magical voice, and he's indispensable to this party! You can stay here and fight the orcs by yourself if you want, but the *rest* of us are going back to Targos to help Elan!
DURKON: Aye, Roy, I be no' one who respects the lad's inadequacy in combat, but 'e *did* valiantly try t' fight tha' orc tha' skewered him wit' 'is little rapier pole.
BELKAR: Meh, whatever. I guess I'll stick with the healer and the girl that keeps stealing all that gold. They'll probably give me more chances to kill stuff. Especially since the stupid blonde guy is the only one besides the dwarf that can heal me.
VAARSUVIUS: Well, he *did* help out against those two archmages I had to destroy. Sort of. And I guess, if Haley thinks he's useful, he probably is. I say we go have him raised.
ROY: (Sigh.) Okay, okay. (Reluctantly follows the OotS back to Targos to raise Elan.)
OOC: I discovered the IWD2 Keeper, and tweaked V's hair, and got rid of the hoods on Haley and Elan. Here is a photo of the OotS avatars, having returned to orcish territory after raising Elan:
Reloads:0
Average party level: 3, after raising Roy after the first enemy archmage, and Elan after the first wave of orcs
@Draith012
So u guys all moved on to IWD? I'm considering buying it as part of the GOG D&D sale package. Unfortunately I can't follow your adventures cos I don't wanna spoil myself. But I look forward to being able to create a custom party again like in Avernum.
I think I made out like a bandit, considering that I no longer need *any* of my discs for these games, or to download and install the patches to fully update them to their final versions, and never will again, no matter how many computers I may have in the future.
Ain't the Cloud wonderful? I've lived through vinyl records with needles, 8-tracks, cassettes, floppy discs at 5", plastic data discs at 3.4", compact discs, and DVD's. None of them impress me as much as the cloud-computing purchases of today. Buy it once, have it forever. We live in the Age of Marvels.
I wish you could read our posts and participate in the challenge, but I understand why you don't want to be spoiled. Maybe you could post written summaries of Jin's progress, with a few choice screenshots? Or not, that's just an idea. Sometimes, it's way easier to post written summaries and/or creatively written narratives and screenshots instead of videos, although I very much enjoy watching *your* videos when I have time.
But, if you don't want to keep making videos after your BG2 run, you might consider joining us here in the written minimal reload challenge thread.
Also, cloud saving/purchasing is an awesome little feature. Even BGEE comes with it, once you buy it, you get it forever even if the servers go down forever.
@Heindrich1988 - I agree with Belgarath, however, I wouldn't mind video playthroughs in the thread since it is a media that is allowed in this thread. Its just, most of us here like to write.
Or, umm, well, that's just an idea, in case you might like to participate here in the challenge while finishing out your LP, @Heindrich1988.
I guess you're probably close to finished with it by now, except for uploading, but you could also post a summary of your run so far, in just a few paragraphs, and then post some links to the most interesting battles as you proceed from wherever you are currently. Although, I know you have a thread of your own, so maybe posting in this one would be an unnecessary duplication of effort.
But please do join us here if you start any other runs that you don't want to make an LP of, or to post something about your current LP run.
Actually LPs are entirely new to me, whereas I have tried writing AARs before, and spent a lot of time/effort writing a fairly detailed one for my Shogun 2 Campaign. I put a huge amount of effort into it (takes a long time to take decent screen-caps of battle footage, write detailed battle reports and background fluff to make the mechanical battles interesting to read) and I just couldn't keep it up (real life got in the way). I felt really bad about abandoning the incomplete project (letting down a number of very supportive followers.) Which is why I swore if I were to start something again, I'd definitely finish it.
I digress a bit... my point is that I don't wanna make a half-arsed effort and then give up just before Spellhold. So I guess I'll have a think about if it is possible to write up my BG 2 run in here. (And SappireIce101 can perhaps tell me if it is even appropriate.)
Incidentally, I only have time to play about an hour or two each day, so I'm still in the Underdark, so I guess about 50% through the game. (I didn't do many sidequests before going for Imoen.)
With BG EE about to get patched, I might try the Black Pits after I eventually finish my BG 2 LP. So even if I don't write this up, I'll quite definitely do it for that run, which will also be a blind first-timer run
As for Black Pits, I haven't seen anyone do that in this thread, but I think it would be welcomed to say the least. I love Baeloth, I was overjoyed when Baeloth became someone that could join your party, but sad when they said he wouldn't join your party in BG2EE.
Interesting group! (altho I am unfamiliar with the webcomic) - I have a new group as well I will be posting tomorrow sometime most likely but I had a quick question.
I noticed in your narrative you spoke of "kicking the sleepers awake" in Phaens cabin - I have attempted to do this a couple times but have been unable to get any party member to attack another - I switched from a weapon to fists on the "kicker" then clicked on the fist to trigger attack mode then clicked on the "sleeper" to give him a target to slap but the "kicker" just stands there?
Were you able to actually kick them awake somehow or was that just part of the novelization?
I did have Vaarsuvius wake a Color Sprayed sleeping Belkar during the battle on the palisades by attacking and hitting him with a throwing dagger for two damage. It didn't work when I tried to get him to attack the ally with his bare fists, but it worked when I highlighted his throwing daggers in red and then left-clicked the "friendly" target. Don't forget to wait for the beginning of the new round, and it has to roll to hit.
You really should give that webcomic a try. It's hilarious, and it evolves over time into an epic dramatic story along with all the comedy and parody.
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html
The journey to Kuldahar was a blur for Malakai. She remembered killing goblins, and beetles, as well as telling an ogre to stay where it was at for the safety of the people that may still be living in the Pass. She also saved a boy. Then, her vision was filled with pure darkness.
A couple of hours later, Malakai awoke in a temple in Korin's arms. Everyone looked at Malakai in concern, not because she was blushing, but because from what Holvir and Korin had told her that she took some arrows to the chest, and died.
After Malakai got her equipment back on, Korin told her of why he left Everaska, and that he was formerly a mage. Then, Korin turned his attention to Teri, and they started to talk about Hanali, in a temple of Illmater.
Then, Nella led the group to where Arundel lived. Arundel tasked the party with investigating the Vale of Shadows. Perhaps the evil that threatened Kuldahar dwelled there.
A couple of hours later, they were exploring some of the tombs in the Vale of Shadows.
Party:
Malakai - Cleric/Ranger - 2/1
Holvir - Paladin - 2
Korin - Ranger - 2
Nella - Fighter < Druid - 3 < 1
Severn - Bard - 3
Teri - Mage/Thief - 1/2
Reloads: 0
Notes: Malakai's first death. Also, Malakai is showing romantic interest for Korin, aka I'm planning on romancing Korin. If Holvir starts showing his interest in Malakai I'm going to be...surprised.
Roy Greenhilt, party leader
-We have freed human hostages from the orcs. As we continued our skirmishes and guerilla attacks on their flanks, we discovered that their chieftain was an orc name Torak. The coward fled again and again as we attempted to engage and kill him. Finally, he ransacked a human village before we could get there, and took the townspeople hostage. He put them into a corral surrounded by barrels filled with oil, and instructed a guard to shoot flame arrows into them and ignite them like bombs, killing the townspeople, as soon as we were sighted. Then, he locked the entire complex, and moved to a perimeter camp from which he could control the switch.
A survivor from the town found us, told us about the remote gate lock, and showed us to a potion of invisibility that might help us sneak past Torak and his forces to unlock the gate. Haley used the potion, snuck in, and threw the gate switch to the hostages. While that simple act dispelled the invisibility, Haley was more than capable of sneaking back out of Torak's perimeter and back to the party, with our access now free to save the hostages without ever alerting Torak.
He did have a large squad of guards just inside the corral area where the hostages were being kept. Vaarsuvius put most of them to Sleep, so that we could dispatch them with some ease, although a few healing potions and spells were needed. Remind me *never* to piss off V!
Saving these people felt very good! Our morale is high. I am even starting to tap my toes and sway my head in time sometimes to Elan's ditties that he insists on singing at all times, even in combat.
V puts the orc guard squadron to Sleep:
The Order of the Stick stands victorious, in control of the main orc encampment, the prisoners freed:
The next day, we proceeded to the perimeter orc camp where Torak was cowering. We dispatched them rather easily, and went on into a cavern with slimes, zombies, and carrion crawlers. Then, we discovered another orc tribe holed up in the cave.
Earlier, while fighting one of Torak's advance squadrons, we had encountered a priestess of Selune who had had her Moonblade stolen by a troll. It turned out that this troll was in the caverns, planning to use the stolen Moonblade to make himself invulnerable, and to raise his own orc tribe to supremacy. We disabused him of the notion that his plan would ever work, by killing him and his orcs. V's Sleep spells again decimated the troll's army.
Remind me *never* to piss off V.
The troll was fighting with the Moonblade, and apparently, it could induce magical Sleep on hit. I blacked out briefly, but was able to rise back up after being hit by an orc blade attempting a coup de grace. It helped a lot that V put their orc shaman to Sleep.
V casts Sleep as orc guards run from behind and flank the party:
I fall unconscious! Image is courtesy of V's magic:
I revive quickly after being hurt, and Elan actually manages to hypnotize the orc archer on the north wall with a Charm Person spell! I guess even a broken clock is right twice per day. Hmmph.
The Order of the Stick stands victorious yet again! I think that my adventuring troupe might actually amount to something, even *with* Elan!
HALEY: Roy, stop picking on Elan! He charmed that orc archer and saved your life!
ROY: Bleeeaaagh.
Reloads: 0
Average Party Level: 3
Supplemental:
Drats! Killing Torak and the Troll Chieftain were not enough to clear the pass from Neverwinter to Targos. We must fight on.
Here, all hell breaks lose against yet another pass guarded by orcs, werebadgers, wererats, and spiders:
And here, we stand victorious yet again, in the desolate pass to gods know what hells that await us:
Fans seem to consider it a much envied and sought after prize to get a post in on the first page of commentary after a new strip is posted.
Lord Ulbrec was ecstatic in their role in defending Targos from the goblin assault. Their deed was amply rewarded in gold, at least Ishtaida made sure of it. The praise was brief and the discussion was short. Not only was the goblin assault a simply advance raiding party but the bridge leading south was overrun by their orc counterparts. The Neverwinter forces would not be able to reach Targos without that way cleared. Even if they were to battle their way through, it could add weeks till they reached Targos, which would likely have been destroyed by then.
Once again, it would be up to the band 'Six Swords of the North' to lead the way down the Shaengarne River to clear out the infestation without having to battle the bulk of the horde directly. What remaining sellsword bands survived the assault had already resigned and were determined to travel back south. Victory or not.
"This is absurd," Ishtaida states. "They can't expect the six of us to turn back so many."
"I would have to agree," Constantine adds. "It would seem unlikely that we would survive against such large numbers on the open fields of combat. But if the route along the river have been greatly overlooked, than maybe Helm will protect us."
"How reassuring," Ishtaida mutters.
"But it does sound quite daring," Valerie admits. "Imagine if we could pull this off."
"Equal daring and foolhardy," inserts Draith. "It would take a considerable amount of time to navigate the area safely. It would take a very capable scout if we are to take them by surprise."
Draith stares at Ishtaida knowingly.
"Oh no. I can lose the gaze of a crowd but you're asking us to dart through the woods to avoid watchmen and a vast army! That I cannot do. Not indefinitely and not for days at a time."
"Can't you make yourself invisible?" asks Valerie.
"I'm just a dabbler!" Ishtaida retorts.
"Her skills are sufficent," Draith answers. "It would be a waste of a spell to hide that which would already be hidden."
"This isn't really Ishtaida's turf," Ria interjects. "She's not quite the woodswoman."
Ria glances around to spot Hector, who has been mostly quiet since he joined them back at the docks.
"Hector," she continues. "Do you know much about Shaengarne River?"
Hector looks about to realize everybody was now looking towards him. He strokes his wiry beard in contimplation and mutters, "Hmmm. That part o the river be cleared by the wood cutters that reap the woods for 'der timber. But 'der be a plenty of brush to hide a war band."
"Let us gather provision for a long track down the river. We'll meet up at the gates of the palisade in two hours." Ria instructs.
When the band struck out to regain the bridge, they moved carefully down the river for close to half a days march. Their efforts, however, go unrewarded when they were accosted by a tribe of orcs tasked in guarding entry through the river.
Their passage was chocked by barricades and a series of orc camps along the river. Oddly enough, the barricades proved to be more disabling than protective as the band resorted to bows and crossbows to take down the defending orc bands. Draith made it a habit to summon creatures on the other side of the barricades to help sow discord among their ranks. Ria directed the band to aim for their archers and shamans formost, in time, the group started doing these things instinctively and without direction.
Ishtaida even dared to lure the bands individually as she ran along the frozen river, disappearing entirely behind the trees and vegetation only to have her allies shot them down from the other side.
The orc leader of the 'Broken Tusk' tribe kept proclaiming their would-be victory only to witness his tribe get cut down, always retreating in the aftermath.
Even in their pursuit, the chased the orc leader back to their camp and were waylaid by various ambushes which proved nearly as ineffective as the last. Valerie even started summoning beasties of her own. Draith stared at her in quiet scrutiny.
"I'm sorry!" Valerie declares. "I didn't mean to steal your spell. It just seemed so useful and I watched you do it so often now..."
Draith didn't answered her and moved on to bolting an orc with his crossbow.
When the group of Six Swords had finally reached the outskirts of the orcs war camp, a woman emerges from their gates and parley with the group.
"Please come no further," she beckons them.
"Who are you to speak on behalf of those beasts?" Constantine asks.
"I-it's not as it seems," the woman answered wearily. "My village had been enslaved by the orcs and they had threaten to put us to the sword if you do not turn back."
"Cowards!" Constantine continues, "they dare not fight us and face the might of Helm reborn!"
"So? Let it be," Draith adds. "It is a village of minor consequence."
"What? We can't let these people die." Ria argues.
"The whole of Targos would be destroyed if we do not retake that bridge. In truth, these villagers life were already determined when they were captured in the first place. They would be slain and raped, if not already, once they have outlived their uses."
"Please don't!" Beg the woman. "We already been through enough. Please, you have to help us."
"And you will receive our aid," Constantine tells her.
Ria echoed his sentiment.
Draith resigned the argument, "keep in mind that they are to be secondary to our cause here. The faster we unbalance the orcs here, the less likely they will be able to respond and slay their captives."
The woman interjects, "We're not inside their war camp. They had separated us up near our mill to work it. That's where Turok sent his guards to follow his orders if something were to go wrong."
"Then we need only breach it." Ria declares.
"But the gates can only be opened from within the camp!" The woman exclaims.
There was no shortage of discontent with their current predicament.
"What else were we to do if not to sneak in and open it," Valerie admits.
Everybody turns to Ishtaida.
"No. Hell no! What is wrong with you people!"
"You're the only one that can do it," Valerie answers.
Ishtaida glares at the group.
"I hate all of you," she declares.
"Especially you." She looks towards Constantine. "How quick you are to let someone else to do your oh so -heroic- deeds. Forfeiting their lives for the name of 'Helm'."
"Ishtaida," Ria interjects.
"What!"
"That's enough. If you don't want to do it, than we can't force you to."
Everybody stood their for awhile, looking about each other.
"Let's go," Ria murmurs.
The rest of the band started to head back with Ishtaida remaining. Valerie was hesitating in her steps. When she tried to speak to Ishtaida, Constantine stops her.
"Don't waste your breath. No good can come from a tiefling."
Valerie bowed her head in mix disappointment and grief. When the band was out of sight, the woman began to cry.
"God, I want to hit you -so- badly," Ishtaida mutters at her while raising her fist in idle frustration.
Ishtaida walks off towards the orc war camp.
The rest of the band waited not far from the gates leading to the mill. They kept to the trees and depended on them for cover.
"You don't really expect her to do anything, do you?" Constantine asks Ria.
There was a dishearten sigh in her voice when she answered, "I have faith in her. She'll suprise you if you let her."
Minutes later, the gate begins to creek open, slowly moving from one end to the other. Ria nods to her comrades and leads the band into the assault that freed the villagers. Constantine trailed behind, looking towards the orc war camp. The gates were heavily guarded. How Ishtaida managed to get inside was beyond him. Whether or not she made it back out would be a different story entirely. He wasn't sure what upset him more, that it would be her that would effectively save the villagers or that he would leave her to her fate.
Much like the previous battles with the orcs, the band devistate their resistance and strongarm another victory there. With the villagers no longer at threat, Ria was eager to return to the war camp. She didn't even wait for the villagers to express their gratitude.
On the way back, they run into Ishtaida who was returning to rejoin the group. Ria nods to her as she rushes by and down the path towards the camp. Constantine comes to a halt from bewilderment. He looks at her for amoment, along with Valerie.
"How?" he asks her nearly rhetorically.
"What do you care," she answered.
Both Constantine and Valerie returned in following their leader Ria, but not before Valerie could beam Ishtaida a smile to express her gratitude. It made her quite uncomfortable.
Hector was befuddled to Ria's actions. Supposedly, Ishtaida was Ria's closest friend, yet showed no interest in her safety. He couldn't think to have done the same if he were to find his fellow tribesmen alive after the battle at Brenmen's shores.
So he asked her, "Ye did not say a thing to 'er."
"She wouldn't forgive me if I did." She answered.
When the band reached the war camp. Turok attempts to speak to them. As he went on to threatening the lives of the villagers, Ria strides up to one orc and cleaves him in twine. The rest of the band burst into action while Ria glared to the orc chieftain.
"You'll die here and now, coward!" Ria declared
Get to know the Characters: Ishtaida Edition
As a youth, Ishtaida had never known her own parents. Her foster stand in wasted no time in telling her that they had abandoned her at birth for being a devil child. At her supposed hometown, Ishtaida faced various forms of abuse and tornment and thus grew to be quite cynical and hateful of others.
When she reached the age of twelve, Ishtaida decided to run away from home to escape the many troubles she endured in that household. She never was seen there again. Ishtaida was pleased with her time away, being able to move on from one place to another where people didn't know her or made the effort of their day to herass her. But the trials were hard and she had to grow up quickly, turning to thievery as her only means to eat.
In the end, she could not hide who she was, her pale white skin made her obvious to the most suspicious of people. One day a crowd had cornered her and accused her of the murder of someone she had neither heard of nor met before. People often turn to someone to blame and Ishtaida had to feel the blunt of their grief. It was here where a young aasimar jumped in on her behalf, demanding that proof must first be yielded before laying a hand on an innocent. Ishtaida tried to rebuke the aasimar. She didn't want anyone's help and certainly wouldn't take it from someone who was born to privileged, but the young girl stood fast against the crowd and to Ishtaida's scolding. In fact, the townspeople weren't sure on what to do. They would not raise a hand against their lovely god-child. The act of them being rebutted by one girl infuriated Ishtaida. How could fate be so undeserving cruel to one person and completely affectionate to another?
Ishtaida was determine to leave that town that day, but the young aasimar, who she found out was named Ria kept pleading with her to stay and visit her home. Ishtaida agreed to do so, only to run off in the middle of the night.
Ishtaida believes that one must be self-sufficient to survived and expect this from those that she travels with. You'll never see her using her array of spells to aid another as she subjectively picks them to help compliment her strengths. For others, they may not have any application to begin with.
Though she would not admit it openly, Ishtaida is physically frail, having been malnourished as a child but she's surprisingly agile and coordinated. She doesn't like bulky armor, often relying on her cat-like reflexes and use of illusion magic to make up the difference. In fact, so rarely it is to strike her that she can easily go toe-to-toe with any warrior. When they finally manage to strike her down, she disappears like a mirage. She has frustrated a many towns guards.
@Heindrich1988 for the time being I'm taking a break from BG till I get in the mood again. Fortunately, they're back at working on BG:EE. Wonder if they're going to do the same to ID. Wouldn't mind seeing that as well.
@belgarathmth interesting group you have running there. I like the small portrait icons and the read is enjoyable. Looking forward to the rest of their adventure. You should try the temple of elemental evil. It's actually quite hard when you get in the temple and the game is set to focusing on the lower level campaigns. It's easier to wipe at the moathouse than in the earlier parts of BG or ID in my opinion. It was really frustrating when I first started playing. Think it even has several different endings depending how you play your characters. Oh yeah, thanks for mentioning Icewind Dale Keeper. I too needed to remove the hood from Valerie.
@SapphireIce101 keep up the work Sap. It's been years since I last played the original. Interested in seeing the outcome for your group. Glad you took an interest in novelization.
Despite his avoidence in the innetial conflicts, Toruk yielded no respite to the band of Six Swords and fought to the death. To his downfall, the outcome was just that. While the orcs came flooding out of the war camp to match steel with the band, Valerie and Draith's pair summoning along with Ria, Constantine and Hector charge to the line of scrimmage.
Ria personal took on Toruk while the others busied their swordarms elsewhere. Hector rushed the archers like a charging bull. Constantine brought down the eye of Helm to condemn their orc allies. Their numbers were many and the band received many injuries that conflict but try as they might, the orcs could not stop the wave of unbridled wrath that bared down on them that eve. Once all of their foes laid dead, Ria made use of their camp to rest and regain their strength.
At the break of dawn, the group explored the caves to weed out the vile troll that made its domain there. After battling odd creatures and slimes, they found the insidious troll and his orc minions and put them to the sword. While being flack from both sides, the band of Six charged forward while Draith put to sleep a group of archers and charmed an orc warrior. Everything gravitated to the center of the cavern as Draith and Valerie tried to keep to the outskirts of the fighting. Even Ishtaida took up her blade and joined the melee, paired only with her buckler and minor image spell. Hector broke out in an unbridled rage and wielded death at the tip of his already bloody axe. Once the troll was brought down, the band left him on the floor to finish at their leisure and slayed the remaining orcs. Draith took a moment to douse the troll in flames. For their efforts, Ria dawned the elemental sword known as a moonblade that the troll was greedily keeping in his den.
"I hope the pass never suffers from acts like his ever again," Valerie stated.
"Now that orc tribe vanquished and the troll purged, what is our next move," Constantine asks.
"We must take to the mountains and throu' the pass before we reach de bridge," Hector answers.
When attempting Hector's directions, they were surprise to be waylaid by a creature other than an orc. Lycanthropes held them at the narrow passages through the pass, making every yard a contest of arms and magic. They knew not why these beasts joined arms with the orcs and goblins but whether or not that question knocked at the corner of their minds, the group yielded no hesitation to their opposition. Blades clashed as arcane might flew from one side to the other, it was a bloody and costly exchange. After felling the half-man half beast monsters, the group had to rest yet again.
They were a mere half hour from the bridge but their route proved to be as deadly as facing the horde directly. The band was getting weary and hopeful of returning back to Targos soon.
"We must press on," Ria insisted.
Nobody thought to argue otherwise. The next eve they faced the marilites at the damn. Though they were from the wild beast tribes, they too put up a resistance on par to the were-kin in the pass. Trodging through their ranks, the band incured severe wounds. Constantine exhausted all his healer, along with Valerie who had learned to mimic his magics through her sorcerous finesse. Ishtaida had not a spell left to meet the foe head on and Ria and Constantine were on the break of death. Even Hector was finding himself breaking from the line to receiving healing, the man that could take twenty orc axes and still stand. It would be another eve on the cold winter ground before they undertook the great task of liberating the bridge. It was quite satisfying to dismantle the damn the horde had so earnestly put up while residing here.
Valerie was getting to the point of despair. So much blood. So much turmoil and death. Even though she hoped to partake in an epic journey the actuallity weighted heavily on her. The injuries she suffered, even though they were few in comparison to the others, made her dread the oncoming storm that was the bridge.
Draith spent little time skimming his spellbook. There was no more tricks or tactics he could use other than what he has been using the last couple of days. Constantine busied himself with extended prayers and meditation. Only Hector was able to sleep soundly through the night.
Ishtaida approached Ria who stood diligently guarding the campsite.
"You're not sleeping." Ishtaida states to point out her observation.
"Not tonight," she answers.
"It'll do you no good wearing yourself out like that."
"To be honest, I don't think I can sleep even if I tried."
"Worried?"
"I'm afried, Ish."
The thought frighten her a bit. Never in their days have Ishtaida seen Ria troubled so.
"Come on, you?"
"Can't I be allowed to just this once?"
Ishtaida frowns, "I didn't mean it like that."
"No. I know. I don't want them to seem me like this either. It's just that... it keeps getting harder every day and everything we endured all hinges on tomorrow. I'm starting to doubt myself."
Ishtaida joins her in watching the horizon.
"Hey, whatever happens, we're hear with you till the bitter end."
"That's just it, Ishtaida. I don't want to die."
"Then don't."
"Heh, if only words could make it so."
"We made it this far right? Not even the other sellswords could say that. Even Helm can't refute you on our success."
Ria stares at the ground before her.
"I almost died today."
"..."
"I-I don't even know how to describe it it was so terrible. All I could do was think about the things I still wanted to do. And now - now that we're no longer fighting, I can't stop thinking about losing you. Or anyone for that matter. It just keeps killing me inside."
"No one said it was going to be easy. They never tell you these things in the story books."
"No," Ria sighs. There was a hint of a tear in her eyes, "No they don't."
"You know... when we first met, I really hated you. Not because of... you know - but you never stood down, or gave up. You never would go off and had to hide. It... I just hated that I couldn't be more like you. Instead I always ran away from my problems. And if I know you, and I do. You're still going to go out there tomorrow and fight like the heavens depended on you. You always do."
Ria fought back her tears, but her sniffling and constant turning away didn't go unnoticed to Ishtaida. Regardless, Ishtaida wasn't much good at comforting others and felt helpless there beside her. Ria was always the one that had to be strong and now, Ishtaida didn't know how else to help when she needed her. So they stood there together in quiet night till dawn.
Come morning, the others in the band were awaken by Ria, though she wasn't as prompt or as resolute in her usual manner. After breaking their fast, Constantine performed the usual prayer and benedictions. The group moved up to the bridge.
Words were not uttered when both sides met. The horde have been waiting for their approach for some time now and was prepared to hold the bridge to the very end. Orcs and bugbears greeted them with steel as the band of Six Swords fought their way towards the edge of the bridge. Hector was determine to pierce the ranks and march upon the bridge and push the horde back.
The enemy began attacking them on both fronts. Ria stayed behind and defended the rear as Hector and Constantine pressed on to clear the east side of the bridge. A mage attempted to parley with Hector but he would have none of it in his blind rage. He stormed from archer to archer, hacking them to bits like explosive bags of meat, but he was brought to a halt from a charm spell. Oddly, any commands issued from the mage could not be heard by Hector and he stood their in idle stupor. Constantine met the mage in combat and was far less susceptible to his magics. There was very little that he could do to fend off the Helmite. Constantine's mace crushed the mage's skull like a grapefruit.
Draith watched over both sides as Ishtaida took to her blade once Hector was rendered useless. Valerie held close to Draith, not knowing who needed her voice more. Ria held off the west flank long enough for the group to clear the bridge and march back to her side and together pushed back and defeat the westward front.
The day was won and the bridge was liberated from the horde's grasp. Though battered and bruised, the group celebrated in their glory. The relief swelling in Ria was so overwhelming that she came and hugged whoever was in her wake. Ishtaida found it odd that it was Constantine that she hugged more enthusiastically, but said nothing.
Draith was the only one that did not celebrate. If he did, he did so in quiet contimplation. Ishtaida was more comfortable talking to him than any other in the group, beside Ria who was too distracted with Constantine.
"What's on your mind?" She asks him.
Driath was never one to consider sugar coating his words. Nor did he express his thoughts openly when asked, but he knew it had to be said or at least, he felt it had to be.
"Our battles will be more costly from here on out." He states.
"How so?"
"With the lost of the bridge and the opportunity of reinforcements, the horde can't sit and starve us out. They'll need to act quickly if they are to take Targos or suffer a severe delay in their campaign."
"Is that what you would do if you where them?"
"Indeed. They have the advantage of numbers and to waste time on Targos any longer would cripple them."
"Hm. So now that you know what they'll do, what should we do?"
"Nothing."
Ishtaida was shocked. Draith was always intuitive in taking the next step. Why not this time?
"Nothing?"
"Without knowing where their stronghold is, we can't strike them first and offset their campaign further. Short of that, we cannot do a thing but wait."
Character Level Ups:
Ria Delglaivor: Level 2 Paladin of Helm/Level 2 Fighter (Feat: Cleave, Heroic Inspiration)
Hector Erskine: Level 5 Barbarian
Constantine Trivon: Level 5 Watcher of Helm
Ishtaida Eldravesk: Level 3 Rogue/Level 1 Illusionist (Feat: Weapon Finesse)
Valerie Rosewood: Level 3 Bard/Level 2 Lorekeeper of Oghma
Draith: Level 5 Conjurer (Feat: Spell Focus: Necromancy)
The common room at The Snort & Gobble in Luskan looked like a three ring circus having an afternoon rehearsal when William Billycan and his Illusionist sidekick Orric Oglethorp III stepped through the doorway after booking passage for 6 to Targos aboard a small freighter named the Wicked Wench leaving in a few hours from Luskan harbor.
Orric, a nimble mid-sized rock gnome with an oversized staff was bemoaning the fact that William had spent the bulk of their gold on said passage and now they had only hours to find and convince four others to join them in their folly.
“Never you fear my gnomish friend,” drawled William; “for as I’ve told you time and time again…"
“Yes yes” Orric chimed in going on with a sing songy sarcastic lilt; “If there’s a thing in this world that can ever be done ye know you can count on William Billycan for if he can’t do it no one can – by the Gods William when are ye gonna get a new line or two for your repertoire…”
William just laughed – “A new line?” says he; “why it took two years to teach ye that one!”
“Well looky what we have here” William whispered nodding his chin to a group of four in the corner.
Seated around a large table was a group looking as if they would be much more comfortable around a campfire than a tavern. A bear of a man with some obvious orcish blood in his lineage had was seated next to a Halfling lass with a sign of Talos on her cloak.
Across the table was what William first thought were a human couple until his partner noticed the tiefling tail winding around the feather bedecked ranger looking fellows right leg and Orric also whispered that if the tall lass next to him wasn’t a druid he’s eat his hat – to which William pointed out that Orric didn’t own a hat.
William grabbed a tray of ale and a platter of the featured pickled swine snouts from the bar and the two adventurers wandered over and introduced themselves to the woodsy looking crew and laid out Williams offer to hire the group to join them on a trip to the Ten Towns to fight the goblin hordes for fame and fortune!
Two pitchers of ale and a small keg of wine later the deal was done and the party stumbled down to the Wicked Wench just as Captain Hedron was about to pull in the gangplank and they headed off to Targos.
Billycans Bodacious Brigands
William Billycan – M Human Bard 12/14/12/14/8/16
- Party leader & Spokesman using Song & X-bow
Orric Oglethorp III – Rock gnome Illusionist
8/16/14/18/12/8 – Party wizard, alchemist,
Spells & X-bow
Sniktruk – Half-orc - Barbarian/fighter
20/14/14/8/12/6 party tank – axe
Thelma Thunderfist – F Ghostwise Halfling
Barbarian X/Stormlord 4-5X – Party cleric back up tank
–Hammers & throwing hammers
Duskeagle – M Tiefling – Ranger X/Rogue 3-4X
12/20/12/14/12/8 - Party rogue & scout – bow & TWF
Baela the Badger – F Human Druid
12/14/12/12/18/8 – Party summoner, wilderness guide,
Bow, caster, shapeshifter?
The Bodacious band arrived in Targos with almost all their belongings washed overboard in a squall only to find the docks over-run with goblins as they left the ship. They scrounged up enough gear to take the nasty creatures down clearing the docks of danger and reported to Lord Ulrich and signed on for the duration and were last seen in the company of Swift Thomas running errands all over Targos.
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In other news - does anyone know the specifics on the difficulty settings in ID2? IWD increased experience for increased difficulty but a google search on ID2 seems to indicate that only monster difficulty is increased in ID2 higher difficulty settings - no reward for cranking it up (except HOF)????
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UPDATE:
The party held their own when the goblins breached the Palisades and are now gearing up for an excursion down the river. Current levels are:
William - Bard 3
Duskeagle - Ranger 1/rogue 1
Sniktruk - Barbarian 2 / Fighter 1
Thelma - Babarian 1 / Stormlord 2
Baela - Druid 3
Orric - Illusionist 3
So far so good - just finished the moonblade/troll quest - no reloads and only one death so far - I may set a fairly low limit on reloads just to keep it interesting since there doesn't seem to be any rewards (like more experience) for turning up the difficulty except for HOF.
No one was mentioning the fact that they had retreated into the pass after repairing the pathway to the bridge because they were all a little trepidatious about the upcoming battle in spite of the fact that only the gnome could spell the word while 4 of the 6 had never heard it and William was the only one likely to use it in a sentence.
They were debating whether or not to walk back down to the moon lady and have her cast aid upon them just for luck before attacking the main force at the bridge and passing around a bottle of musty cider that the gnome had found under a rock nearby.
The consensus seemed to be that it was a coin toss whether or not the aid spell would even last long enough to be of any use at the bridge and William suggested they go ahead and toss a coin to see whether or not they should go for it or not but by then both the gnome and the Halfling were snoring and they decided to wait until daylight to decide.
Zzzzzzzzzzz Zzzzzzzzzzzz.......
So, I'm starting again with Harmonius the Bard, second son of a distant noble, sent on the expedition to Targos under the watchful eye of his father's right hand man, Sir Nord. Party will be Harmonius the Bard, Sir Nord the Paladin, Hildury the half-orc barbarian, Valeero the Dawnbringer of Lathander, Nikosh the halfling rogue, and Jaemal the sorcerer.
No mods other than the NPC Project. I haven't played IWD2 in so long, I remember nothing past the Bridge, so it's like a new game to me. I say that because I don't want to spoiler myself as I go, so I may not read as carefully and respond to the other posters until or unless I catch up again to about the same place. I will read everything as soon as I do catch up, though, because I really enjoy reading other people's journaling.
@Wanderon, I like your cast of characters. You have a really fun writing style, with good use of alliteration, and a bit of subtle fourth-wall breaking humor (lampshading that most of your party wouldn't know the word you, the writer, used for how they feel).
When morning arrived William flipped his "lucky" coin and decided the group would visit the Moon lady for some aid spells before attacking the bridge - the gnome thinks Billy boy has a crush on her but in the end the aid spells did last through the entire battle at the bridge and perhaps kept at least one of the party alive long enough to suck down a potion to fight some more.
The battle was fierce and the party lost the Halfling early on when the enemy mage either dropped a fireball at his feet or detonated a trap killing himself and Thelma in the process. The brigands bodaciously battled on without her with Sniktruk bellowing "That's for Thelma!" with every swing of his axe and they slowly whittled down the enemy until there was nothing but bloody carcasses left cluttering up the area.
Once the smoke cleared all but Duskeagle had a little "+" sign floating mysteriously above their right shoulder - there was even one floating over Thelmas' dead shoulder and William said it was a sign from the gods that the moon ladys aid spell saved the day which precipitated a bit of snorting and eye rolling from the rest of the Bodacious Brigands and they gathered up the loot and headed back to Targos snickering over snide remarks about William mooning over the moon lady and whether or not he would moon her the next time he found an excuse to look her up - or perhaps down.
In Targos they discovered saving the bridge just moved them from the frying pan to the fire as now Ulrec thought they should take down the entire goblin fortress on their own which of course led to another round of snide remarks as they set about gathering supplies for the new task....
@belgarathmth - oh sure wait until I get a party up to level 5 and THEN mention the ID2 NPC Project! LOL I was unaware this mod had been completed I may have to look into it myself!