Okay, now there is the question of how much tactical skill Eldoth actually possesses. As a Bard he has adventured a bit (he joined a level 3). He's a denizen of a major metropolis. I picture him as street-smart versus book-smart. But he has probably listened with keen interest to many stories of how adventurers and thieves have solved various problems to plunder treasure.
So I figured I'd assign him a letter grade for tactical skill knowledge. Using standard letter grades I rolled a 1d100 and took the first roll above 60 (which would be a D-). The very first roll was 86. So he his tactical skill level is a solid B.
The second question is how Eldoth can demonstrate his use of Color Spray instead of Sleep. I'm sort of committed now to using this as Eldoth's example of his self-proclaimed tactical superiority. I figure he's got one shot to succeed with this, if he has any real hope of assuming leadership.
Eldoth himself has only two level 1 spell slots and one level 2 spell slot. That's not a lot to work with. Therefore he must have Oracos learn the spell as well, and then have both Neera and Oracos use it along side him (Neera already has it scribed, but has yes to try casting it).
So this will be interesting to try because, while riskier for the casters than Sleep, three arcane casters all spraying color fans should knock out entire low level mobs. The question is how to keep Oracos, Neera, and Eldoth relatively safe when they step up unleash the spell.
I think the best way to do this is probably using summoned monsters. Some of them will get knocked out by the spray. But as they'll still be the closest targets until killed.
Oracos and Neera can also use Blur and Mirror Image, and Eldoth can don the Cloak of Displacement. (The Boots of Avoidance, and Girdle of Piercing left with Khalid and Jaheira.)
Now I just need to think of a number of encounters where three casters using Color Spray appears to succeed brilliantly. And then roll for whether Eldoth has heard about them/knows where to find them.
Hmm... There are quite a few hobgoblins lounging around the Friendly Arm Inn if you haven't killed them yet. And, Joia (sp?) is looking for her missing ring so that's a quest connection. It's not the usual thing Eldoth would probably undertake since she won't be offering a reward (only reputation), but being close to the Inn and nearby guards if anything goes truly wrong, it might be a safe bet for trial run with the color sprays. Maybe too safe for his purposes though?
I'm leaning towards the Arkion/Nemphre/Ordulinian quest in BG city. There's good treasure from it. And if a corpse for Arkion is sought from a SW city section sewer entrance, the Sewer King fight (you have to get past the Sewer King and his lackeys to get a corpse for Arkion) is a good one for Color Spray. There's some opportunity for Eldoth to use his pickpocketing skills in this one as well (for both Arkion and Nemphre).
From a roleplaying vantage, this would assume that Eldoth has some knowledge of the past affair between Arkion and Nemphre, and Nempre's relationship to Ordulinian, however limited.
I'm not quite sure how the roleplay for this would really play out as to finer points.
I'm trying to walk a fine line here between metagame knowledge and roleplay. But in the case of an evil street-smart urban bard who wants to take leadership of the party, wouldn't he have some roguish inside knowledge of what's going on in the Gate?
Ironically, here the roleplay is around Eldoth selectively showcasing his tactical battle skills. So that kind of requires some meta-gaming, I think.
Also, I think it reasonable to assume that as an evil rogue, Eldoth is fairly well acquainted with the sewers.
Ordulinian is a fixture at Sorcerous Sundries. It seems likely that a bard who lives in BG city would chat with him, and in so doing learn a bit about him. So I wanted to give this slightly better than a 50% chance re: whether Eldoth knows of the love triangle Ordulinian's interest in Arkion and Nemphre. Thus, using the WotC die roller I rolled a 1d3 such that 1 = Eldoth knows nothing of Arkion and Nemphre, and 2 or 3 = he does. I rolled a 2. As to whether Eldoth knows that a corpse is available via the SW city sewer entrance, I followed the same method and rolled a 3.
So I will commence with this quest.
I don't think I've ever even done this quest... If Arkion and Nemphre go hostile, I hope that Color Spray works against them should Eldoth direct the party to use it against either mage. Other spells will be available as well, of course. I really don't know if Eldoth would regard Color Spray as a "go-to" spell for mage encounters versus mobs. But he does receive a solid B grade for tactical knowledge...
Edit: Interesting that in all these years I've never done this one! Because it isn't clear at all to me from walkthroughs how to link Arkion's, Nemphre's, and Ordulinian's quests together into a coherent storyline I admit that I took a look at it from another saved game. And I'm glad that found this thread:
which addresses some EE bugs to the Arkion/Nemphre/Ordulinian combination of quests. Because I decided to sample this in the other game and found that Nemphre does not have a pickpocketable onyx ring, nor does she drop one if killed. So I will have to RP that it is pickpockted and CLUA it. The item code for her ring is OHRING12.
Arkion does has a quest item amulet that can be pickpocketed, on the other hand.
It looks like Ordulinian should initiate the quest. Then one gets quests from both Arkion and Nemphre.
I'm not really sure how Eldoth makes a convincing case to agree to Arkion's quest (the meta-game reason for which is to demonstrate the effectiveness of Color Spray versus Sleep)...
Once at the Elfsong Tavern we got a room in which we could watch over Eldoth. He first mentally rearranged his spellbook and then wincingly placed the ring on his finger. Upon so doing his jaw went slack, the gleam of intelligence left his eyes. He literally drooled.
We took turns watching him, three of us at a time. It turned out not to be necessary to tie him up, however. He had no real comprehension of anything, but he remained docile. Praises be to the gods that the he still evidently grasped the concept of a chamber pot.
After a full day had passed I used the scroll to remove the cursed ring from Eldoth’s finger. His countenance then returned to normal. Eldoth drew a deep breath and shook his head, as if shaking out cobwebs from a deep slumber. Thankfully for him, he noted, he had no recollection of the effects of the Discipliner.
[Note this takes place in-game at Day 53, 19 hours.]
“Naturally, I’m going to hold you to your end of our wager, Oracos,” Eldoth stated acerbically.
I attempted to mask my true feeling by appearing to take this development in stride. But I expect that my consternation at this shone through nevertheless.
“Yes,” I responded calmly. “I am a man of my word. You shall be at the helm for the next nine days—one having already passed…
“But bear in mind, the members of this band are ever free to do as they wish. They are neither your slaves nor subordinates. We have all joined together willingly, and are held together by the bonds formed from shared adventure. I would venture to say that not a single soul among us would follow you simply because you declare yourself to be ‘in charge’.”
“Is your little speech finished?” Eldoth asked with feigned politeness.
“Yes,” I answered quietly.
“Of course everything you say is true. I grant you every word of it. My point is that the party suffers from poor leadership in crucial areas that I am better equipped to provide. It is painfully evident, for example, that you know nothing of battle tactics. It is truly a wonder that you have survived this long. So I will select some challenges for us that will demonstrate my superior skills in that area.
“And while I do agree that we might as well investigate the Seven Suns trading coster and collect two-thousand gold from Scar for the job, we must aim higher and think bigger. We should seek out other much more lucrative enterprises. This party is not to be trifled with. And there is much treasure to be acquired. Under my stewardship I shall grow our wealth tenfold… More, actually. Far more.”
“Spoken like a true politician, Eldoth,” quipped Faldorn. “No doubt we’ll see you one day seated among the grand dukes.”
Eldoth gazed back at her unfazed, and with nonchalance simply stated, “That is entirely possible. I’m grateful for the confidence you have expressed in me. Truly I am,” he said.
“I will demonstrate my skills as field general in due time,” Eldoth boasted. “But my first command for the group will be to do a good deed. My friend Ordulinian—who is also a good friend of Halabazer Drin; he’s that red-headed elf with the war hammer you’ve seen him milling about the shop—has told me of a rather strange matter regarding two local mages. Their names are Arkion and Nemphre. Each desires a piece of jewelry that the other possesses.
“Now, Ordulinian maintains that there is nothing unusual about these items. But this of course cannot be true. They must have enchantments upon them; and in addition they probably also serve as components for a spell recipe as well. Why do I suspect this? Because Ordulinian wants them!
“Arkion is a necromancer who performs foul experiments with corpses. From what I have been able to gather from Ordulinian, Arkion requires a corpse in order to active the magic for the special piece of jewelry that he has, the one that Ordulinian wants. Nemphre I do not know much about, but she is said to be a master of the blackest magic, and most sinister in her uses of it. If we are to acquire the jewelry items that Ordulinian seeks, he has promised a handsome reward.”
“So what is the good deed that we will be doing?” Faldorn asked.
“I’m getting to that,” said Eldoth dryly. “These two wizards are evil. We will probably have to take their lives in order to get the items that Ordulinian seeks. But surely the fair city of Baldur’s Gate will be better off from their departure from this plane.
“And what of Ordulinian’s character?” asked Faldorn. “What if he is even worse than the two wizards?”
“A fair question,” Eldoth responded. “But you are certainly free to go to Sorcerous Sundries to try to determine that for yourself. I shall wait here, if you wish to do so, however.”
Faldorn then stated that she would indeed go next door to Sorcerous Sundries for this purpose, and Imoen and I joined her as Eldoth, Neera, and Coran relaxed a bit longer at the inn.
The elf wished not to speak with us, beyond simply wishing us peace and stating he was quite busy. We mentioned Eldoth, and Ordulinian redirected us to then to speak with the bard himself. He wasn’t hostile or nasty about it. But he ignored us after that. Faldorn cast a spell to know his heart which did not succeed. But she then cast a spell by which to see evil in others. It revealed none for Ordulinian.
We returned to the others at the Elfsong. During the short walk Faldorn made her intentions known.
“Oracos, I will accompany you for this one scheme of Eldoth’s. I do so because frankly I do not expect Eldoth’s bid for leadership to succeed. As you know, I am not following anyone. My mission is to learn everything I can about the Iron Throne, defilers of my beloved Cloakwood. I am not an adventurer in search treasure, fame, or fortune. I am the faithful protector of a sacred wood.
“During the time that we embark on this quest that Eldoth claims is for Ordulinian, I ask you to think about whether you shall assert yourself and expel Eldoth, or continue with me. And it is well that you have Imoen with you as I say this, since I’m sure that she will remain at your side.”
I could see the consternation in Imoen’s face at this. Yet as we looked at each other in response, it seemed clear that we both respected Faldorn’s wisdom and character immeasurably more than Eldoth’s. It was just saddening that it had come down to such a choice. Imoen and I both agreed that it was a fair condition for Faldorn to impose.
It would break our hearts to see an end to the collaboration that we had enjoyed since coming together in the Cloakwood. We would see how Eldoth fared as party leader during this quest. If he performs poorly then that should make it easier to advise the others that Eldoth must leave. If Eldoth performs well, however, then it could end up that Coran and Neera may wish to continue with Eldoth rather than us. Or they may simply wish to continue with him because of his winning personality, swagger, and roguish schemes. But again, that would make us very sad. We both had grown very fond of Coran and Neera. (We laughed also that we even had to admit that we liked Eldoth! Although in the balance, for me, it will be a relief to see him leave if he persists in challenging me for leadership.)
I asked Imoen to keep this amongst the three of us, and she solemnly agreed.
We returned to the Elfsong and had a seat with our companions.
“Satisfied?” asked Eldoth.
“I could find no obvious reason to confirm my doubts,” said Faldorn.
“Shall I lead on then?” Eldoth asked politely.
“By all means,” I stated. “Which mage shall we visit first?”
“Why don’t you cast your runes, Oracos?” Neera offered.
I stated that I would gladly do so.
[Red card = Nemphre, black card = Arkion. Result: black card. The party will visit Arkion first.]
I cast the runes and the answer was clear that we should visit the necromancer Arkion first. I advised the others of the result.
Eldoth said that before we leave he wanted us to rearrange our spell books and rest to memorize them as such. For me, he directed that I memorize remove two memorizations of the Slumber spell and replace them with Fan of Colors. For Neera he told her to remove the spells which attempted to shape wild magic and concentrate on Cone of Color and Fear.
Neera appeared to pout a bit at this, and didn’t seem to like being told what to do. We dutifully complied however. Eldoth did even bother attempting to tell Faldorn what he wished for her to memorize. Rather than face a challenge to his authority he ignored her.
And so after resting to reorder our spell books as such we walked to Arkion’s home, which it turned out was only a block away. The necromancer sure enough was in need of a crew to fetch him a corpse by any means. He certainly seemed an evil man, as he said he cared not at all how the corpses came, implying that if we were simply go and murder someone for a corpse then so be it.
We then traveled a ways through the city; for Eldoth said that someone would need extraordinary Strength, and we might be able to help ourselves such a potion when the owner of a potion shop in the southwestern section of the city wasn’t looking. We found the potion shop, but it turned out not to have any strength-enhancing potions in stock. Eldoth then announced that he had nevertheless prepared a casting of the Strongman spell. So all was well, he smiled.
Along the way Neera asked Imoen ‘why the long face’. Imoen mumbled something inaudible and then in a more upbeat mood changed the subject, seeming to rally.
We walked a short distance, and stopped to stand before a sewer grate in front of the Seven Suns trading coster (the one which Scar had hired us to investigate). Eldoth then proceeded to tell us that the sewer below is very dangerous, since all manner of monsters crawl it and make their home there. He stated that if we come upon enemies he would call out what to do.
Eldoth directed that one standard tactic we were to use, however, was that if Eldoth yelled the word “spray” then he, Neera, and I would all three of use stand side-by-side and emit the Color Fan spell from our fingertips. Eldoth cautioned that Coran, Faldorn, and Imoen however must quickly get themselves behind us before we cast the spell—else they will get knocked unconscious by it along with the enemy. Eldoth continued that if the spell appeared to be working for some of the enemy but not all fell, then we would use it again.
Beyond that he provided us one word signals that he wished for us to use for other spells, and our wands and scrolls, which he would direct during battle. Coran and Imoen would use their bows, unless directed otherwise.
He did not even address what Faldorn should do. When Imoen asked Eldoth about that, he said that she should simply ‘not get in the way’. However Eldoth thought for a moment after saying this and added that if at any time she were to summon a dread wolf ‘that would be fine’.
Eldoth said that he has spotted a corpse recently a short distance from where we were entering. He asked if we were all prepared, and we all nodded.
“Keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you, then. As always, Coran will scout ahead,” Eldoth said. I have to admit that we all felt a strange mix of foreboding and excitement as we removed the grate and descended down into the sewer.
Immediately after we had all made our way down the iron hand and foot rungs we were beset by a band of hideous shambling undead creatures of all manner of race. Their leader was a huge acidic puddle of slime that spoke with me mentally, knew my name, and knew that I was from Candlekeep! He referred to me as “a child of books” and “a child of fate” —apparently knowing that I am a Diviner who casts runes and uses the stars to divine omens. He seemed to know that others have been trying to kill us. He mentioned that long ago he had a human form as a mage and had been to Candlekeep, but had since transcended the human form to what he was now. He then beckoned me to approach him in order that he may feed upon me!
Eldoth gave the “spray” command. But by the time we had lined up, one of their number managed to just slip past in front of the Color Fans we shot forth. To my amazement all the others in the enemy’s band however collapsed in a heap, unconscious.
The jelly however was impervious to the spell. The creature first spat acid at Neera, who after being seriously injured by it retreated behind Coran. However from there Neera cast the spell to make an enemy believe that she was a terrible threat, which did seem to work. Eldoth also ordered her to use her Terror wand over the unconscious creatures and the ooze. I also cast the spell over them as well as added insurance.
Faldorn summoned a wolf to hold the ooze at bay.
Then we focused on the undead halfling that hadn’t succumbed to the Spray of Colors. Coran drew his long sword and Faldorn swung her club, and we battled the undead creature who had managed to close in on us. Neera used the spell to make the creature physically weary of limb. Eldoth shot his poisoned arrows at it, but it was unclear if the creature was immune to poison. In any event we finally killed it.
Imoen ran to Neera to give her a healing potion, since she was obviously sickened by the acid from the ooze, and complaining of feeling very weak. I took some acid from the slime as well, although my injury was less severe than Neera’s.
As Eldoth directed, we trained our missiles upon the unconscious enemies and, one by one, we killed them all—except now for the ooze and one of the creatures to the rear of the ooze that had been rendered unconscious awoke but Horrified. I Blinded him for good measure and we pumped him full of missiles as well until he was slain.
This left only the jelly, which seemed utterly unfazed by our weapons and spells. Eldoth then called for Coran to toss him the potion of fire breath. He bravely walked up to the creature (who was preoccupied with the wolf still) and used it to breathe a jet of flame that did indeed seem to injure the slime quite badly. Eldoth then called for us to retreat and asked Coran to toss him potions of explosion. He lobbed one (Faldorn ordered her summoned wolf to flee when she saw Eldoth do this) and we were hopeful that the flame would finish the creature off. But the explosion seemed not to damage the ooze at all.
Eldoth then commanded us to climb back up out of the sewer, as the wolf continued to keep the creature occupied.
First Eldoth sent Coran to the potion shop because his boots could get him there the fastest. He told Coran explicitly: see if the shop has a potion of fire breath. Coran returned moments later and reported that they did not. However, they did have two oils of fiery burning which cost over 700 gold each.
Eldoth puzzled over the fact that the second explosive potion failed to have an effect. Or at least seemed to… He then quickly ordered that we return back down and try tossing the other one. Once we made our way back down, Faldorn ordered her wolf to move away. But the wolf could only ignore its instincts for a few moments before again attacking the ooze—and in so doing it took damage from the explosion. However this time the slime seemed definitely to be afflicted by the fire. Perhaps near death, or so we hoped.
Eldoth then ordered us back up to the street so that we could purchase more explosive potions. He told Coran to give him his boots and for me to give him the scroll of Friendly Influence. Eldoth sped off and returned in only moments. “Down we go!” he ordered. As we descended he told that he purchased only one of the two fiery oil potions because that should be enough.
Once again Faldorn ordered her wolf ally far away as Eldoth hurled the potion. But once again the wolf was harmed by the explosion. The ooze was again damaged by the fire, but apparently still hanging on to life by a thread.
Eldoth sighed, and lowered his head. “Okay, once again then,” he said flatly but with a slight hint of real exasperation.
This time when we exited to the surface Faldorn and I carried the wolf and we healed it as Eldoth ran to buy the last available potion of fiery oil at the shop around the corner. He was of course back in a flash. And down we went for what we hoped was the final assault. This time Eldoth commanded us all to retreat since the ooze was very slow moving. And Faldorn kept the wolf by her side.
Eldoth offered a hurried prayer that I could not quite make out and hurled the potion. When the smoke cleared we could see that the slime was finally dead!
The treasure from the creatures was minor, a bit of gold.
Eldoth did indeed find the foul corpse which he had believed would still be there, and cast the Strengthening spell upon himself. He steeled himself to grab the thing, and slung the bloated corpse over his shoulder. It was a good thing that he was still wearing Coran’s boots, because we had him stay well ahead of us due to the corpse’s stench.
We reached Arkion’s home, and provided him the corpse, for which he paid 250 gold. Just outside the door as we left Eldoth advised that we should rest while Arkion presumably uses the corpse to activate the necklace that Ordulinian had described was in his possession, which would be made of bloodstones.
And so we did just that. In the morning we returned to pay a visit to Arkion, with Eldoth asking him whether he needed any more corpses. He said he didn’t, but prior to our entering I spied Eldoth draining a potion to heighten his cutpurse skills. Eldoth got close and told him how much he admired the tailoring of his robes, adjusting the shoulders for him. Arkion seemed visibly uncomfortable at this momentarily. But Eldoth then whispered something in his ear, and the necromancer relaxed and went to the next room and started pouring over his scrolls. Eldoth then quietly told Coran to sneak upstairs, taking caution to avoid being seen lest anyone is up there, and scout for belongings. Eldoth winked at us. Perhaps seeing a look of concern about being in the dark as to what was happening, he queried “What’s your worry?” Then he calmly bade me to relax. Everything was well under control, he said. “Arkion and I have worked out an arrangement,” Eldoth said.
Coran soon returned. Eldoth asked Imoen to check the chest downstairs for traps, and we discovered it wasn’t even locked. Inside it was an enchanted shield and some gold. Eldoth then asked the rest of us to step outside as he and Arkion concluded business.
Eldoth stepped out in a few moments whistling a jaunty tune. “Business completed,” he said in a sing-song voice.
[Inside Eldoth used the nymph cloak to charm Arkion. Then after the party had stepped outside he ordered Arkion to cast Lightning on himself. When Arkion turned hostile Eldoth used the cloak on him again. And this time he had Arkion finish himself off with Magic Missile. Eldoth gathered up his belongings and left.]
“Now let us visit Nemphre,” Eldoth said as continued whistling his tune. Nemphre lived right next door it turned out! Eldoth entered and introduced himself politely, placing us at Nemphre’s service. She responded that word had evidently gotten out that she sought an item in the possession of Arkion, a necklace of bloodstones. And she flirted with Eldoth as she made the offer. Eldoth leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear, and she giggled softly. Eldoth then asked to please step outside while he negotiated with her.
Again we did as the bard asked. Several moments later Eldoth asked by Imoen and Coran to please step inside. In but a few moments all three of them exited and Eldoth seemed in excellent spirits.
[Here again Eldoth used the nymph cloak to charm Nemphre. He didn’t even bother pickpocketing her first—he just killed her in the same manner. Eldoth brought in Imoen and Coran for traps and locks, but it turned out neither was needed. Before doing this he shoved Nemphre’s body in the wardrobe that held the Cloak of Protection +1, after removing her valuables.]
“Ah, how I love the art of the deal,” he said, inhaling vigorously. “And on such a beautiful sunny morn as this!” Eldoth seemed to be on top of the world. “I have big plans for us, my friends. Big plans.” Then he smiled at me and waived me forward in a gesture of civility. “Come let us go speak with Ordulinian to receive our reward.
On the walk to Sorcerous Sundries Imoen pulled up alongside me and whispered in a rush, “Oracos, I definitely smelt burnt flesh in there! An’ I saw charred marks on the walls. He said we didn’t have to bother looking in the wardrobe!”
Odd, I reflected, since Eldoth had sold his lightning wand…
When we arrived at Sorcerous Sundries Eldoth bade a hearty welcome to Ordulinian, who seemed pleased to see him. “I have your items, my friend,” Eldoth said with a broad smile and a pat on his shoulder. They completed their transaction and Ordulinian handed him a gray cloak.
“Very nice, Ordulinian. I thank you so much,” Eldoth said in return.
[I had to use EEKeeper for this item and the 3500 XP for the party, since Ordulinian’s quest completion dialogue didn’t fire in-game.]
And then Eldoth handed me a cloak that he was unable to identify and asked me to do the honors. I cast the spell to find that it offered protection from all types of attacks. It was a valuable cloak to be sure.
I asked Eldoth if he had procured anything further and he thought for a moment. Then he responded that in fact he had traded for two robes, one which shields against lighting and the other against cold magics.
“I’m just curious. What did you offer in exchange?” I asked Eldoth.
Eldoth thought for a moment, pursing his lips. “The promise of infinitely deeper knowledge into their art,” he answered. “In fact I offered them an opportunity to invest in the most profound experience of a lifetime. With respect to their greatest passion it was the most meaningful thing I feel I could have offered. But you needn’t worry yourselves about it,” Eldoth smiled.
Eldoth said proudly that the cloak I had identified, alone, was worth 2500 gold. With the other cloak he was given as a reward by Ordulinian, the shield, and the two mage robes, plus some gold, he said the total was probably around… 4100 gold or so.
“Not bad for a day’s work, eh?” Eldoth grinned happily.
“Well, let’s not forget that we spent about 1100 on the two fiery oil potions,” I reminded Eldoth. “So the total is actually something closer to 3000. But I grant you that is still impressive.”
“Hmm. Very well. But yes, it is impressive,” Eldoth agreed, but with a tone of annoyance. “I shall keep the cloak that Ordulinian gave me. But we may as well sell off the other things now.”
“Should we see if anyone wants to use the protective cloak I just identified? Neera could use it for example. Particularly since you have her casting spells on the front line now,” I reminded Eldoth.
“Oh, how rude of me! But of course. Quite right,” Eldoth said. “Yes my dear, you should have the cloak,”” Eldoth said nonchalantly.
Neera seemed positively giddy at her ‘gift’. “Eldoth, thank you! I love it!” she exclaimed excitedly.
“Think nothing of it, dear one. There will be plenty more like it,” Eldoth responded blithely. Then Eldoth seemed buoyed by a particular thought.
“Did I not prove my point about the Color Spray spell, Oracos? And did I not acquit myself admirably as our field general?” Edloth asked me—apparently sincerely.
“Aye, you did prove that the spell can be very effective. I must admit that I was impressed. But as you well know I am but a Diviner, not a field general. Still, I do grant you that you were effective in that role, Eldoth,” I responded.
“You are a bigger man than I expected to say so, Oracos,” said Eldoth, with a slap to my back. “And I have much more in store for us over the next tenday,” Eldoth continued. “I believe that we can amass a great deal of wealth. Our plan for tomorrow—“
But here I cut Eldoth off. “—I’ve been meaning to speak to you about that Eldoth,” I interrupted. “There has been a change in our plans.”
Eldoth blinked. If this placed him momentarily off balance he instantly recovered. He smiled and asked slowly, “A change in plan, you say?” And then his face grew a bit darker. “You are reneging on our wager?”
“The wager no longer has any meaning. The party you were to lead is no more,” I responded.
Neera looked quite anxious at this statement. I could see from Coran’s initial frown that he was at first unhappy with this turn of events. But he seemed to make peace with an inward decision of his own after a moment, and relaxed.
In the meantime, Eldoth’s eyes widened in mock surprise. “Really? How so, Oracos? Do tell us.”
“I, Imoen, and Faldorn are going our own way. Coran, Neera, you are invited to join us if you wish. We would be honored to have you continue to journey with us,” I said with a look of sadness and deeply felt respect toward both of them.
Neera was visibly disturbed by this development. She looked mournfully at Imoen, clearly communicating a wish not to leave her best friend and confidante. Yet it seemed just as clear that she was deeply captivated by Eldoth’s charms.
Coran, on the other hand, grabbed my hand in a forearm elven handshake and laughed heartily. He then looked at me like I have always imagined brothers in arms on the battle field must. “Oracos, I know Tymora will bless you on your journey. But you know I crave the excitement borne of the pursuit of treasure. I wish you well my brother.” I hugged Coran in response, as did Imoen, who was now close to crying. “You as well little sister,” he said to Imoen, giving her a kiss on the forehead. He also sincerely thanked Faldorn for her poise, wits, and valor in adventuring alongside her; to which she nodded in appreciation and with a look in kind in her eyes.
Neera said nothing. But she then moved to hug Imoen as if for dear life. Perhaps she sensed that given the dangers she knew we faced, it may be the last time that the two of them might ever see one another.
“As to the treasure purse, Diviner… I think that since you are electing to leave that it should be ours to keep. Coran’s, Neera’s, and mine that is.”
I laughed at this, albeit a bit nervously. “We will split it down the middle,” I replied calmly. “But you may certainly keep the spoils of the adventure that you just led, as our gift to you.”
Eldoth seemed to struggle for a moment, with his cloaked head turned down. But then he slowly looked up at me with a most evil and malicious grin.
[Does Eldoth use the nymph cloak on Oracos? Black card = no.]
At this moment, Coran put his hand gently but firmly on Eldoth’s arm to get his attention, and gave him a look that signaled ‘don’t you dare’. Picking up on the tension that a fight may be about to erupt, Neera sidled up to Eldoth and cooed “Let them have their half, love. Like you said there’s plenty more coming our way, right? We’re only talking about… what is it… about 1500 gold? It’s nothing.”
Eldoth then seemed visibly to relax. It looked as though he appeared satisfied at having captured the prize chess pieces that he actually wanted. I could only imagine what might be going through his twisted mind. But perhaps he weighed out that attacking me would instantly lose the support he had just managed to secure from his two new party members.
We then divided up our two shares of the gold. There was but one garnet gem in Imoen’s jewel bag, which Eldoth scoffed about as trivial (the bag which incidentally was originally Neera’s; but she said nothing about it to Eldoth, apparently wanting Imoen to have it).
Everyone’s individual possessions of course remained their own.
With one last round of hugs between Coran, Neera, Imoen, and I, we then said our farewells. And then Imoen, Faldorn, and I walked out of the Elfsong Tavern with half the party that we entered with likely never to be seen by us again.
With some slight regret, I resorted to reloading an outcome in the interest of writing what seemed to me a better (and simpler) version of the tale.
When Eldoth sent (charmed) Arkion into the next room it was to the kitchen area on the left, and he had Arkion face into the corner. The Lightning spell was neatly contained as such. However with Nemphre, Eldoth sent her instead into the larger living room to the right. Eldoth followed the same routine spell-wise, but this time the lightning ricochet bounced around and... yes... killed Eldoth, lol.
I was just about to write Eldoth out of the party anyway, since it was obvious that the internal dynamics clearly could not withstand having Eldoth in charge for another eight days.
So with this development, the party either 1) would not have raised him; because Oracos, Faldorn, and Imoen would vote against it; or, more likely 2) would have raised Eldoth, but before doing so held a vote to kick him out of the party.
Of course Coran and Neera would then have to decide who they would side with, between Oracos and Eldoth. And I felt pretty strongly from the roleplayed perspective that the two of them would side with Eldoth. Eldoth has 18 Cha with the cloak, remember. For Coran, Eldoth offers more thrill from bold adventures that promise treasure. And Neera is infatuated with Eldoth.
So since Eldoth was leaving the party anyway, I felt it was just more aesthetically pleasing, and more elegantly simple, for the story to instead have him succeed with his caper and steal two party members in the more streamlined way that it was presented.
Summary point: If I had accepted Eldoth's death to the lightning ricochet it would be the same outcome but with even more writing!
Filling out the party with three new members is going to be a challenge in the aspect of avoiding meta-gaming.
But Yeslick is a shoe-in, which is a boon to me strategically as a player.
And I think the party has learned it's lesson about adding anyone of evil disposition. Even if Yeslick knows of Tiax (that's a card flip) he would not recommend him.
Dorn was presumed to be a mercenary for hire although they elected not to approach him (card flip) because Oracos got a bad vibe from him... They might still approach him now. But after Faldorn casts Know Alignment or Detect Evil, I'm sure he will be a no-go.
Coran and Eldoth never told the party about Alora. And they would in fact now go pick her up and add her to Eldoth's new party, anyway. So she will no longer be there in the the Lady's House.
The party has previously encountered Rasaad and Minsc (though they did not speak with Minsc, as they presumed him to be a mentally unstable sell-sword).
Ajantis died.
They didn't notice Quayle (per card flip). There will be another opportunity for that, though, when they head south in search of new party members. Here they will be actively looking for a party member to recruit. But will they see Quayle as someone they'd want to add? His Cha is 6 and his social skills are abysmal! Somehow, with the new heightened appreciation of the impact of the character/personality that a destructive party member can have, I anticipate them passing on Quayle, even if they do speak with him.
Beyond that, the party hasn't ventured into the areas where they would encounter the other NPCs.
So I think after picking up Yeslick it's going to come down to a return visit to Nashkel. At that point Quayle might be in the party... which would leave one slot. If they pass on Quayle then there's two more slots.
From a strategic viewpoint as a player, the strongest party I can now assemble would be to add Yeslick, Minsc, and Dynaheir. But I'm just going to have to let this play out via roleplay and 'the Fates'.
That was unexpected, but deftly handled! I hope that Neera and Coran don't regret their decision. Since they show up in BG 2 I guess they will at least survive, though. My hope is that one of Neera's spells turns Eldoth into a squirrel, or drops a cow on his head perhaps.
Lemernis! Excellent role-playing again. It seems your Barbarian->Transmuter has created a fondness in you for Color Spray no? I found it sad to see the fellowship break, Eldoth had really been putting his stamp on teh whole advanture, am curious to see what direction your party will evolve in now.
@Blackraven Yeah, the experience of relying so strongly on Color Spray in the other game definitely opened my eyes to what an excellent spell it is. For a brief moment there in the Sewer King fight it was actually pretty darn fun to have three arcane casters using it side-by-side (in such a case where enemies are low enough level for it to work, anyway). But ultimately that particular tactic just provided a fun and creative way for Eldoth to assert himself and seek to take over the party. And again, maybe it has just been lousy dice: but Sleep really hasn't proved very effective in this game (by comparison). So it seemed legitimate roleplay as well.
I really felt that Eldoth would not continue to be a passive follower in a party like this. Maybe in an evil party with much stronger personalities he could settle with a supporting role, but that's not what we had. Eldoth would see Oracos as weak. And as such, the opportunity to exploit a situation that had presented itself: the promise of acquiring great treasure using the skills of the party.
Another big factor was that the nymph cloak actually makes its wearer insanely powerful. I can't tell you how relieved I was as a player when I turned a black suit card for whether Eldoth would use the cloak on Oracos in that final interaction between them. There's no way that, eventually, Eldoth would have not used the cloak to make Oracos leave the party, even if he did not kill Oracos off as he had just done with Arkion and Nemphre. (Killing Oracos would have risked alienating Coran and Neera. So, tactically, Eldoth would've probably instead just have made Oracos hand over his belongings, make him depart, and then run after him and away from the others slip the Discipliner onto his finger. ) Faldorn of course would not remain with Eldoth at the helm, and Eldoth surely realized this. But he might have used the cloak to kill her off just for evil satisfaction, though. Not sure what he would have done with Imoen, but perhaps he would have made her get caught pickpocketing and be thrown in jail just so that she would be unable to help Oracos (who would be wandering the streets in a stupor, unable to function).
Anyway, the more I ran with what Eldoth would be about in challenging Oracos for leadership, and the fact that Eldoth is truly evil... plus Faldorn's imperative to complete her own mission for the Shadow Druids... there was no way that that equation could ever balance out.
Mind you, Oracos isn't interested being a hero, or wandering around doing good deeds for humanity. He's just trying to survive. But given that Eldoth and Faldorn forced a choice, it is a clear one for him not to allow Eldoth to usurp his (egalitarian-style) leadership of the party.
I really felt that Eldoth would not continue to be a passive follower in a party like this. Maybe in an evil party with much stronger personalities he could settle with a supporting role. But anyway, Eldoth would see Oracos as weak.
Anyway, the more I ran with what Eldoth would be about in challenging Oracos for leadership, and the fact that Eldoth is truly evil... plus Faldorn's imperative to complete her own mission for the Shadow Druids... there was no way that that equation could ever balance out.
This is interesting. To me Eldoth had already pretty much become the de facto leader of the pack in Baldur's Gate, with even intelligent but timid Oracos taken in by the charlatan. Either way it'll probably be a nice change of pace for you to see dominant Eldoth and some of his adherents leave, and to work with a couple of new faces in the party. It will surely create a different group dynamic.
[As the party says their final goodbyes, does Coran slip the rogue stone he stole at the High Hall of Wonders into Imoen’s gem bag as a parting gift? Red card = yes.]
As we stepped outside the Elfsong Tavern a thunderstorm began to gently rain upon us, although it was so muggy that it felt a bit of a relief.
“A cleansing and nurturing rain,” said Faldorn with a gentle smile. “A good omen, I should think.”
I noted that, strangely, I had to agree. I was even a little surprised at how much better I felt. The thunder clapped loudly and the rain then began falling harder. So we sought shelter momentarily under the roofed stable area adjacent to the Elfsong.
We had just a little over 1600 gold. I reported to the others my inventory of personal resources, which included my wand of Paralysis (which still held six charges) and six scrolls: one for protection against evil foes, one to prevent the target from being turned to stone, a scroll to make the user’s skin as tough as stone, and three single-use protection scrolls for magic, poison, and fire, respectively. I had a potion to boost intelligence when scribing spells. My Traveler’s Robe, a staff, and some darts. Oh, and the Ring of Evermemory, of course. That was it.
Imoen continued to look downcast about the disbanding of our party as I shared my report. She went next. “I got the bow we got from Rodgok. And a short sword that’s better-made than most. I got the stealthy-boots. My studded leather’s in good shape—and I got an amulet that makes it a bit tougher. I got one healing potion. Other than that, I got regular arrows and our gem bag… which has a garnet...”
She fished her hand down into the bag to produce it. And suddenly her face brightened into a smile.
“...Aaaaanndd… this!” she exclaimed, pulling a perfectly smooth, beautifully multicolored hen’s egg sized rogue stone from the bag.
We all laughed at this delightful surprise.
“Did you pickpocket it from them, Imoen?” I asked incredulously, marveling at the gem’s exquisite luster and hue.
“No! I’m no good at that cut-purse stuff. You know that,” she said with a good-natured sigh. “But we emptied the bag before we divided up the gold. So either Neera or Coran musta slipped it in there before we left…” Imoen speculated.
“I suppose we’ll never know which of them did it. But it certainly helps, doesn’t it?” I laughed.
This buoyed our spirits tremendously, though the sadness we felt at separation from Coran and Neera would surely linger for a long time to come. The gift of the rogue stone made it all the more bittersweet.
Faldorn shared that she had little by way of material resources herself. She had her enchanted club that strikes harder at night, and the enchanted buckler that improves her stamina. Her studded leather was of excellent quality. She had one healing potion and her darts. “And most importantly, the blessings of the Oak Father,” she smiled. “He will show us his favor. You shall see,” she said.
“Well, my friends… Mind you, I feel a little wary about this after what we just experienced… But shall we attempt to increase our number again?”
“Yes, I think it would be wise to,” Faldorn said confidently. “It is clear that we shall have to choose carefully, however,” she added.
“I wholeheartedly agree,” I smiled. “Please have you spells to determine the character of the person ready,” I reminded her. She stated that she already did.
“I would recommend that we seek out the dwarf that we rescued from the Cloakwood mine,” Faldorn said. “He and I shall have a talk about mining and the sanctity of forests. But I wish to learn what he knows about the Iron Throne. And I sense that his simple and humble character may be exactly what this party now needs to restore the Balance for our group. We should at last explore the possibility. He is at Jopalin’s Tavern, if I recall correctly?”
I answered that that was indeed where we found him. We looked to Imoen, who seemed pleased with the idea. “He seemed friendly. I liked him,” she said.
And so it was agreed that we would seek out the dwarf at Jopalin’s taven, whose name none of us could recall at the moment. But who could become the fourth member of our new band if it seemed well enough, and Providence smiled upon us.
A Cleric of Clangeddin
The rain let up a bit as we strolled to Jopalin’s. By the time we arrived it had nigh but stopped.
Fortunately we found the dwarf we believed to be the same one we had met at the Cloakwood mine tucked away in the far corner of the pub, nursing an ale by the fire and rubbing his thigh. It was the same dwarf, and his name was Yeslick. He was an alaghar, a cleric of Clangeddin.
We chatted with him for a while. Yeslick explained that while healing a dockhand he was accidentally hit by a crate swinging from a crane, and had a badly bruised leg.
Yeslick’s faith provided something our adventuring band was missing. Clangeddin is the dwarven god of battle. The god inspires dwarves to acts of tremendous bravery in battle, and Yeslick was clearly one who likes to fight hand-to-hand. Not since Khalid had been among us did we have a fighter who truly belongs on the front line.
The cleric reported that Jopalin had been allowing him to sleep in a storeroom in exchange for healing occasional kitchen injuries to his staff. And similarly, on the docks Yeslick was healing sailing crews as needed upon their return from sea voyages, for which some captains were rewarding him with food (mostly fish that Jopalin let him cook in his kitchen) and an extra small keg now and then. This was a temporary situation, however. Yeslick was looking to rebuild his life. He said he was merely waiting patiently to be guided by Moradin to the next step.
Faldorn cast her priestly spell upon Yeslick to know his moral character, and she smiled in response to what she saw. She nodded to me that Yeslick had easily passed that test.
It turned out that Yeslick had considerable information to share about the Iron Throne. Yeslick related that his clan, the Orothiars, had operated the mine prosperously until a century ago, when an underground river next to the mine flooded it. The priest was nearly moved to tears as he recounted that all but a handful of his clan were drowned on that terrible day. And of course the mine was lost.
Yeslick then moved to Sembia to ply his smithing skills in that land. And it was there that he met a high ranking member of the Iron Throne, Rieltar, who hired him as his personal blacksmith. Rieltar treated Yeslick as a friend as well, and garnered Yeslick’s confidence. Rieltar however duplicitously used the information he acquired from Yeslick for the Iron Throne drain and repair the mine, and resume its operations. Rieltar lured Yeslick to the mine and held him captive there, torturing out of him the mine’s structural design secrets in order to erect a magically enhanced door to prevent keep the underground river at bay. The rest we already knew.
Yeslick emphasized that he felt he had disgraced and dishonored his clan’s memory by being duped, and unwittingly aiding the Iron Throne to wreak such havoc on the Sword Coast. Yeslick was now a sworn enemy of the Iron Throne, and Rieltar in particular. Nothing would please him more than to right the wrongs he was deceived and tortured into participating in. He profusely thanked us again for what we had done to thwart the Iron Throne, and for saving the miners.
I excused us so that Imoen, Faldorn, and I could take a moment to confer amongst ourselves. As we did so, I expressed to the others that I felt the dwarven priest would be a strong addition to our party.
Faldorn noted that while it seems that the dwarf’s moral center is good, it seems obvious that he is gullible—and he appears to be not terribly bright. “He is freely sharing information with us that would have been wiser to withhold until he knew more about us, for example,” Faldorn noted. Although she added that on the basis of our deeds at the mine, we must seem clearly to be enemies of his enemy. So she could understand his lack of wariness in this particular case.
Faldorn added that, in the interest of completing her mission for her order, she would not let fact that Yeslick and his clan had so grievously wounded Mother Earth in her sacred forest interfere. She and Yeslick would undoubtedly have some discussions about the subject, she said. But she said she felt that the two of them could work together in sharing a common enemy, the Iron Throne.
We returned to the dwarf and Faldorn asked Yeslick, “You are right under the nose of the Iron Throne every day here on the docks. None of their spies have tried to kill you?”
Yeslick responded this was true, and something that he had not considered. He posited that the Iron Throne must be unconcerned about him if they knew of him.
“Or you are minnow to them that they hope to catch larger fish with,” Faldorn quipped. And I knew that Faldorn referred to us.
“The Iron Throne must surely know that we are here as well, though…” I observed.
“True,” Faldorn acknowledged. Faldorn closed her eyes and perhaps to tune into her powers of intuition, or was praying for guidance, or both.
After a long moment opened her eyes and she calmly advised that she was satisfied that it was alright for the dwarf to join us.
Imoen also gave a strong endorsement. She added that having an older person along with us helped her not miss Puffgutts and Gorion so much. “He looks like someone we can trust,” she said in conclusion.
And so it was agreed. We approached Yeslick and asked him if he would consider joining us in our quest to gather more information about the Iron Throne.
Yeslick was extremely pleased at the offer, and enthusiastically agreed. He stated that he would need to heal his leg first, so we should rest before embarking.
It turned out that Yeslick had no belongings other the clothes on his back. So after resting we would have to buy some equipment for him.
Before resting, I told Yeslick that we had made the Flaming Fist aware of the role of the Iron Throne in the iron shortage, and they said they would investigate. However their second highest ranking leader, Scar, had currently given us another mission to investigate: odd behavior on the part of the Seven Suns trading coster. I also advised Yeslick that we were seeking two more members to join our band before continuing with those two missions, however. Did he know of anyone who might be interested and suitable?
[Has Yeslick encountered or heard of Tiax? Red card = yes.]
[Has Yeslick encountered or heard of Quayle? Red card = yes.]
“There be two gnomes in the Gate that’ve been tryin’ to join up with anyone who’ll take ‘em,” Yeslick began. “But from what I heared nobody wants ‘em! I seen ‘em both but talked with neither. Sailors jokes about ‘em now and again. One be named Tiax, and he’s usually found standing outside the Flaming Fist building. T’ether be named Quayle. He’ll usually be found just outside the city gate at Wyrm’s Crossing.” Yeslick added that he had heard of no one else either hiring out or looking for a party to join. And Yeslick had been in the city for close to two tendays now, he said.
“I suppose we shall pay both gnomes a visit then,” I replied. “Though it does not seem to bode well that no one has taken them on…”
And so we rested and Yeslick healed his leg. It was late evening by the time we were ready to set forth.
We Interview a Pair of Gnomes
First we headed to the weapons shop in the southwest section of the city, the same one where “Tiax” could usually be found.
As we walked past the Iron Throne’s monumental stone building Yeslick grumbled something softly under his breath which elicited a slight smile from Faldorn, though the dwarf saw it not. Perhaps a dwarven curse?
Unfortunately, there was nothing suitable for Yeslick at the weapons shop. It featured only a small assortment of weapons and armor that were of finer construction than most; but again, none that were right for our dwarven cleric. Yeslick advised that his Sonnlinor order wears only chainmail. So we would need to get him mail versus plate. We would have to keep looking for chainmail. And we were in search also of and a hammer and sling for him, for the latter were the weapons he was trained to use.
We next visited the gnome named Tiax, who had become a fixture outside the Flaming Fist castle.
The gnome was a brash little fellow, who immediately stated that the profoundly evil deity Cyric (!) had directed him to join us… and that we must accept the condition that “when the time is right” we in some way assist him in “ascending to power,” whatever that meant to him.
Without hesitation I responded that, no, we had no need of his services. The gnome then erupted into a verbal tirade of which little made sense, but the gist seemed to be that that he believed himself to possess extraordinary powers and we were unworthy to adventure with him anyway.
On to the next candidate, then!
We decided to take a quick look at the other weapons and armor store in the district. There we purchased only a sling and bullets for Yeslick. They had no suitable armor nor a helmet or shield for him. We also stocked up on more arrows and darts for the rest of us.
We decided next to try our luck with the other gnome named Quayle. It was decided that we would look in no further weapons shops on the way. If Quayle was to join us and could recommend a shop, then we might look further here in Baldur’s Gate. But otherwise we would need to head south in search of at least one more companion then—or two more if we passed on this Quayle. We might as well then go to High Hedge where Imoen recalled that we had sold enchanted chain mail to Thalantyr.
We found the white bearded gnome known as “Quayle” standing outside the city gate. Had we not known that he was seeking to adventure, we would have otherwise assumed him to be a beggar, to be honest.
The introductions did not go well. He began by insulting us with the suggestion that we lacked intelligence for wandering about the Sword Coast. “You know, he has a point though!” Imoen whispered, and that actually made us laugh. This Quyale asked us what direction we were traveling. I answered that we were head south for a time, though for but a relatively short time. He then stated that he was heading the same direction as us; and that we should therefore join forces, for the four of us would provide the brawn and he the brains as we adventured together.
This I did not feel was a good indication of judgment or basic temperament. I asked Faldorn to please cast her spell upon him. She cast twice and whispered to us that his heart was not black, but he was mainly driven by self-interest.
I advised Quayle the party needed to discuss his offer. We moved a short distance away and held a brief counsel.
I expressed my reservations that this fellow had no sooner than opened his mouth before expressing a conviction that he should act as the party’s leader!—and we had just had a most sour experience with Eldoth, who had also seemed driven to be in control of the group. Is that really what we wanted?
My question was of course rhetorical, but I noticed that Yeslick seemed to be genuinely pondering it. Ah well.
I reminded the others that we had encountered three others on the road that we might approach also. There was the proselytizing Sun Soul monk in Nashkel who had offered to join us at the start of our adventure. And I shared that I had noticed in Nashkel an apparent very large sell-sword in front of the soldiers’ barracks but since he had turned his back when I thought of approaching him, I took it as an omen then not to. Imoen stated that she too recalled the man I was referring to.
[Did Imoen then see Minsc speaking with Boo? Red card = yes.]
Imoen added that she had actually seen him holding a rodent as a pet, talking affectionately to it. “I thought it was kinda sweet, actually. He didn’t look mean.” Imoen reminded me that the fellow had a purple circular tattoo on his bald pate.
“And who was the third, Oracos?” Faldorn asked. I advised her that at the Friendly Arm Inn we had seen an apparent mercenary who obviously had orcish blood. But I had not had a good feeling about him at all. Imoen shared that she had noticed him as well, and concurred with my gut feeling.
Yeslick then stated that he could not abide the company of anyone with orc blood. He would have to leave our group now if we were going to do that. I told Yeslick not to worry about it then, as I wasn’t particularly keen on the idea to begin with. Similarly, neither Imoen nor Faldorn had objections to passing on the half-orc.
After reflecting a bit more on what we had just been through with Eldoth, Faldorn and Imoen both agreed that it seemed most prudent not to add Quayle to our party.
An alternative then occurred to me, however: I mentioned that we might have Quayle join temporarily on a trial basis, and simply tell him that he would absolutely not be the leader and he would have to accept that. We could tell him also that there was a significant chance that we may wish him to leave us as we sought other companions.
But he more we talked this over, it was clear that the gnome’s abrasiveness had made a very strong impression already. He had hardly endeared himself to any of us. In his first few words, he had referred to us as “louts,” for example. It probably speaks volumes that Quayle had been passed over consistently by presumably many, many bands of travelers passing in and out of the Gate. No one seemed to have a good feeling about adding him even temporarily. And furthermore, it didn’t even seem the right thing for us to do to him either, Imoen noted.
I politely advised Quayle that we had no need of his services at this time. In response he sputtered insults that I was a “moron,” and that it was likely that my mother had mated with a member of a monster species.
I gently rolled my eyes at this and smiled at the others. We bid the gnome a good eve.
South we would now travel, with a quick stop at the Friendly Arm to purchase a helmet, hammer, and shield for Yeslick. And then on we would travel to High Hedge to procure chainmail for him. Next, on we would journey to Nashkel to speak with both the monk and the mercenary. We could only hope that either of them was still there!
You know, I'm rethinking the very distinct possibility that Neera could show up at FAI again. If either Neera or Coran later decide to leave Eldoth's party for whatever reason, I think Coran would just abscond and head off to the next adventure that Tymora puts on his path--and he would most likely depart on his own, I would think (rather than taking Neera with him). But Neera I think would miss the supportive, kinder treatment she got from Oracos and Imoen. So if she does leave Eldoth (who is by disposition exploitative and abusive) it's even conceivable that she would long to rejoin Oracos' party again. However, the odds of that succeeding seem virtually nil. So it's more likely then that she'd just go to FAI and... I dunno what... wait tables until she can find another group to join, I guess...
But anyway, therefore I added the word "likely" to the line I had written when the party divided: "And then Imoen, Faldorn, and I walked out of the Elfsong Tavern with half the party that we entered with never to be seen by us again" now reads "likely never to be seen by us again."
As an out-of-game game engine thing, upon entering FAI I added Neera to the party temporarily (as we know, when removed from the party she is scripted to go there) just so that I could relocate her to the adjacent room, then removed her from the party again. So if I later decide that she is to become available again, she'll be available. Whether this even happens will be based on a gut feeling by me. Then there'll be a card flip for whether Neera left Eldoth. Then, if the party does visit FAI again (and at best there's probably going to be only one more time for that to happen, at this stage of the game) there will be yet another card flip as to whether Neera spots them or they her. So all this is just providing a window of possibility, though it seems the odds are stacked against it actually happening.
At least for now, Neera isn't actually there at FAI--she's with Eldoth. But mechanically it is now possible to maybe have her rejoin at some point, however slim the odds.
You might consider adding Kivan to the list of possible companions since you might be stopping by High Hedge. And, given his quest for revenge against Tazok it's actually rather likely he might seek you out now that news of your bandit slaying exploits have spread around a bit. He would probably want to know the details. Once you reveal the connection to the Iron Throne you would have another person motivated to help you take them down. Just a thought!
Either Rasaad or Minsc could be fun companions. I really enjoy how you've fleshed out the personalities of the NPCs. I don't think I'll ever think of Eldoth or Faldorn the same way, so it will be fun to see where you go with some of the other personalities.
It was way earlier in the adventure, but Kivan was on board for a time. He left the party along with Khalid and Jaheira in pursuit of Tazok after the boss battle at the bandit camp. At that point in the roleplay Oracos was not inclined to chase after anyone. Kivan was of course burning to avenge his murdered love, so there was no way he wasn't going with J & K to follow the clues obtained at the bandit camp. There was every reason to believe strong reason to hope that Tazok would might be found there.
We Journey South to Nashkel in Search of New Companions
When we arrived at the Friendly Arm we found the towering and scowling half-orc to still be there. Faldorn unobtrusively cast her spell to discern evil in those about her, and not surprisingly she saw that the half-orc was so.
When we inspected Bentley’s wares we found no helmet, nor a war hammer. Bentley’s shields were also unremarkable. We therefore elected to wait until we inspected the inventories Taerom, Thalantyr, and the merchant the Nashkel store to see what else would be available for our new companion.
It was late in the evening by the time we arrived in Beregost. We took a room at the Burning Wizard. The next morning we asked the bartender if he had heard of any adventuring types in town that were seeking to join up with a party.
[The bartender knows that Kagain across the street runs a caravan protection service. However that is different than what Oracos has asked. Does the bartender think to mention that Kagain runs a caravan guard service? Black card = no.]
[Has the bartender heard any stories about Shar-Teel? Red card = yes.]
The bartender mentioned that he had heard a strange tale from one traveler about a fierce and statuesque warrior woman who, somewhere in the wilds to the east of the Song of the Morning, had challenged him to an odd duel. The fight was to measure skill rather than to the death—and if the man bested her, then she would agree to accompany him and provide protection on the road. The man stated that he agreed—but did so only because he severely underestimated the challenge, and thought he should put her in her place. The woman was in fact a much better fighter than most men he had ever seen. Her strength and agility were astounding, he said. Only a few parries into the contest, before the man knew what hit him the warrioress had flipped him on his back like he was no more than a sack of potatoes, with the point of a dagger pressing beneath his chin. She relished the victory, and ridiculed the fellow afterward. That was two days ago, he said.
We thanked the bartender for the story, and stepped out into the town square.
“The warrior he described certainly sounds impressive,” I said.
“You are not put off by her being said to be a superior fighter to most men?” Faldorn asked in an uncharacteristic display of mild surprise.
“Not really,” I responded. “Most men are stronger fighters than me. So I’m not prideful about martial combat to begin with. Whether it be man or woman matters not to me.”
But then another though that occurred to me, which I shared. “I would imagine that many men will probably underestimate her. And I think that gives her an advantage,” I said. And I was rather proud of my reasoning there, actually.
Faldorn smiled at this, and nodded. “You are smart and wise, both, Oracos. It heartens me that we have you back at the head of the pack.”
“But what are the chances she would still even be there days later? Let us first see what we find when we revisit Nashkel,” I said. “If we are still in need of a warrior to join us, then I will cast runes to see if we should try to find her.” The group agreed that was sensible.
We then took a stroll to the Thunderhammer smithy. Taerom had some enchanted shields but they were too expensive for us to consider. We purchased for Yeslick a helmet, a standard large shield (that size his preference), and a standard war hammer. We held off on purchasing chainmail for him before checking to see whether Thalantyr might have enchanted chainmail.
When we arrived at High Hedge, we were however disappointed not to find any enchanted chainmail. So we sold the garnet and purchased three healing potions.
In recounting the tale to Thalantyr of what had transpired with Eldoth since we last spoke, Thalantyr nodded his head affirmatively and said that he wasn’t terribly surprised. Thalantyr said he suspected that Eldoth possessed a powerful item of some sort, because he (Thalantyr) found himself liking Eldoth far more than it seemed he should have. That is, Eldoth’s powerful aura of likeability felt enchanted to Thalantyr. Thalantyr said that based on that hunch, he was hopeful the bard might therefore consider bartering or selling whatever item was. The Conjurer was fascinated to hear that it was a cloak specially tailored at Drin’s shop, embroidered with the flaxen hair of a nymph.
We took our leave of Thalantyr and made the trip back to Beregost in order to buy standard chainmail for Yeslick then. Should we get lucky in Nashkel and find enchanted mail there, then we could sell the regular chainmail at a relatively insignificant loss.
The long hike to back to Beregost brought us there after the Thunderhammer smithy had closed. We again lodged at the Burning Wizard for the evening. In the morn we visited Taerom and purchased standard chainmail for Yeslick.
Our journey south along the Coast Way continued without incident.
It was very late in the evening by the time we arrived in Nashkel. So we retired for the night at inn. Our plan was to first thing tomorrow check the store next door for enchanted chainmail. Then we would speak with both the monk and the sell-sword with the purple tattoo on his head, if the latter fellow was still around.
After a good night’s rest we made a quick stop at the shop, and unfortunately found no enchanted chainmail.
So next we spoke with the monk. His told us his name is Rasaad. I had noted when I first saw him that he was eager to tell passersby of the blessings of Selûne as he demonstrated series of kicks and punches for onlookers. And when we were attacked by the second assassin in Nashkel upon our return from the mines, although the monk had aided us in the fight afterward he could scarcely speak of anything else—even though two of our comrades had just been slain. This Rasaad still was then, not surprisingly, powerfully intent upon educating us about the Moonmaiden and his order of the Sun Soul.
I did find intriguing, however, a bit of the order’s history that he shared: that the Sun Soul order was founded in ancient Netheril. It was then called the Brotherhood of the Sun, and its monks followed the ancient Sun god Amaunator, Rasaad told us. After the wondrous civilization of Netheril collapsed and the god disappeared it was divined that the lion’s share of Amaunator’s power went to Lathander; but much of it also went to Selûne, goddess of the moon. The Sun Soul reveres the moon because, through her bright light, Selûne represents the fight against darkness, or evil, both in the world around us and within each of us personally. Rasaad emphasized that just as the light of the moon balances the darkness of night, so the monks of the Sun Soul respond to evil with goodness, or inner light—literally to the point of countering hatred or malice with compassion, love, and kindness. The monk hastened to add, however, that these virtues typically remained internal within the monk; they were shared mostly through living example, since if no physical fight was enjoined to combat evil, then darkness would envelop all.
I thanked Rasaad for telling us about his faith, and his own spiritual mission. I advised him that we must take our leave, but asked if him we may return and speak with him again. Rasaad replied warmly that he would be delighted to talk more whenever we wished.
Faldorn cast her spell to see evil in others just to rule out that Rasaad was engaged in some sort of subterfuge. As we walked away she commented that Rasaad’s inner nature was true to what he professed.
We would now go see if the mercenary with the circular tattoo on his bald dome was still around, and ask him to tell us his story as well. The party would discuss them both before making any decision.
Yeslick was unable to suppress an involuntary laugh when Rasaad spoke of countering evil with loving compassion. As we walked toward the military barracks I could not resist asking the priest what he found amusing in the discussion that just took place.
“The beliefs of this Sun Soul order be a far cry from my own. The only ‘love’ evil needs be the love of battle to kill it dead and done. Clangeddin blesses us with the fury to destroy an evil foe,” Yeslick replied.
Fortunately (?), we also found the hulking sell-sword with the purple bulls-eye tattoo adorning his crown. It turned out the fellow was friendly—and loquacious. He told us his name was Minsc, and that he hailed from the far-off eastern land of Rasheman. Minsc was in the process of completing his “dejemma,” a ritual through which he would become a full-fledged warrior in the eyes of his community. Minsc had come to the Sword Coast accompanying a Rashemi witch named Dynaheir, as her faithful protector.
Minsc recounted that to his dishonor, he and Dynaheir were overtaken by a swarm of gnolls far due east and not far from the coastline. They captured Dynaheir and left Minsc for dead. Minsc could not be sure if Dynaheir either still lived or was held by the gnolls. But before Minsc lost consciousness he heard the gnoll leader state a plan to sell the wycharlan to pirate slavers, due to her fairness in human eyes.
Minsc shared that he is himself a ranger of the wilderness. After this assault he was discovered unconscious and clinging to life by another wandering ranger who carried him to Nashkel; and here in this village he was restored to health at the temple of Helm. His benefactor departed before Minsc could thank him.
I felt compelled to ask Minsc to explain the fact that when we came upon him he was speaking so earnestly to a large rodent that was evidently his pet. Minsc responded that this animal companion of his, a hamster that he has named “Boo,” is actually a magically shrunken member of his species that are the size of bears on another world beyond Toril altogether, somewhere up in the celestial sphere! Upon hearing this, the problem occurred to me whether this apparent flight into fantasy… for never have I heard of such a creature in my years of study at Candlekeep … may either be harmless or could make the ranger unsafe to adventure with.
In any event, Minsc now required the aid of a stalwart band of adventurers to attempt the rescue at a fortress to the east where he believed Dynaheir most likely to be held. He asked if we would aid him in his quest.
[Here the game engine does not provide an opportunity to politely decline, such that the party might then confer amongst themselves whether to help Minsc. The two dialogue options available to refuse his quest are both callous, and one is even belittling; which I reckon is supposed to somewhat justify Minsc’s resulting flipout… Anyway, I decided to regard this as a game engine limitation to the roleplaying approach that I’m using. I feel there really should be an option something like ‘Minsc, we may very well help you, but we have to discuss it first and then we’ll get back to you’. That is, to give a response that is not a definite no (or no with a f*** you). However, if the party returns after that to speak with Minsc and refuses to help him: okay, fine, he can then go hostile. (And we must assume that is the first time he would have done so, else the Nashkel militia would have killed him long ago.) Anyway, because of the dialogue script’s limitations I simply pretended that this conversation took place. In other words, roleplay-wise, I don’t think Minsc would auto-attack if the party simply says they need to talk over whether they can/will help him (and may yet).]
With a respectful tone, I asked Minsc if my friends and I might consult amongst ourselves as to whether we will help him—but we would return with an answer very soon. Minsc looked at us warily (not comforting, that) and said that he would not wait long, for his charge was in peril and we must act quickly.
Faldorn quietly cast her spell upon Minsc to know his inner character, but somehow he resisted the spell.
And so we strolled a bit and discussed these two potential additions to our party. Faldorn observed that the hamster to which Minsc was so attached was nothing more than an ordinary one, best she could tell. And her assessment as a druid in that regard was helpful to know.
I shared my thoughts about Rasaad. I offered that in light of the astrological tome I had acquired, some aspects of Rassad’s appearance on our path were fairly striking to me. The tome we had gotten from Ragefast that is so powerful in the arts of divination by means of the stars was ancient Netherese—and this was the land also in which Rasaad’s Sun Soul order was formed. Rasaads’ faith blended the powers of two celestial bodies: the Sun and the Moon. And, indeed, since we had acquired the precious tome both the sun and moon have entered two new constellations, whereas the other four wandering bodies had remained in the same signs. I added that as one who seeks omens, those parallels shouted to me. I felt we should bring him aboard.
Faldorn noted that moreover, even if perhaps the monk was overly aggressive in promoting his faith, Rasaad seemed a person of excellent moral character that we could trust. She said she felt it would be healing to add him after what we had just been through. And the druidess added a bit more whimsically that she felt Rasaad’s faith would presumably balance Yeslick’s within our party. So she was for adding him.
To that Yeslick commented that “as long as the monk fights bravely,” it mattered not to him what Rasaad’s faith is. “But if’n jammerin’about Selûne starts givin’ us all a headache, I’ll have to tell him to rest his tongue,” Yeslick added. “I teach my dwarven kin to use their rage in battle. So he and I doesn’t see eye to eye ‘bout battle.”
Imoen said she was fine with adding them both. She added that she found it endearing that Minsc, a large and physically imposing warrior, had such a tender relationship with a hamster. I shared that, alternatively, I actually found that concerning. Faldorn said that it did not help that she could not see his inner character. But it in the balance it was favorable to her that he was a ranger, she added. Perhaps we were meant to help him for the sake of the Balance, and as such should simply look within ourselves for the answer, she said.
I then asked Yeslick who had not yet weighed in on Minsc, and he answered that the ranger looked to be a true warrior in body, heart, mind, and soul. Yeslick liked the fact that Minsc carried a great sword and yearned for battle. On that basis he would be pleased to fight at his side. Yeslick found it noble of Minsc that his personal code of honor about rescuing Dynaheir was overpowering. He detected genuine desperation in Minsc’s plea for aid.
“Shall we have them both join?” I asked. But before the others could answer I interjected the following: “Remember that we know not what Minsc’s companion, Dynaheir, will wish to do should we even find her alive… and even then, that is presuming that we are able to rescue her,” I added. “If we help Minsc, we are taking the chance of assuming a risk that we may end up simply doing a good deed in aiding him. He and the Rashemi witch may go their own way afteward if she even still can be found. And we know not what Minsc will do if we discover that the witch has been slain or sold into slavery.”
“When we return to speak with him we should ask him what the witch’s intentions are, and why they traveled to this land,” Faldorn advised.
“Is it agreed that we will definitely add Rasaad?” I asked. All agreed that we should.
During the stroll we had returned near to Rasaad’s location, so we approached him again. We asked him to join us, and he said he was very happy to, since he had been struggling to make ends meet offering protection to travelers. We told Rasaad of our plans in very bold strokes. Mainly that our central mission was to investigate the Iron Throne in Baldur’s Gate. Rasaad said that posed no problem for him. I then told Rasaad that we would first ask a few more questions of Minsc and perhaps agree to help him rescue someone who may be held captive by gnolls.
“On that subject, I’m curious, monk… Since you are offering your fighting skills to help the vulnerable, why haven’t you aided Minsc?” Faldorn asked Rasaad.
Rasaad acknowledged that he was aware of the ranger’s plea for assistance. “I’m afraid that the word about the village is that the fellow appears to be mad,” Rasaad explained. “That rumor seemed borne out to me when I spoke to him once, and he nearly exploded in anger when I advised him that we should assemble a greater number in order to succeed against a whole tribe of gnolls. For a moment I thought he would attack me. I felt it best to leave the poor man be. In time, perhaps, the priest of Helm at the temple might see about trying to heal his derangement should Minsc agree. But it seems doubtful to me that he will.”
Faldorn asked Rasaad if the ranger had mentioned anything about why he had journeyed so far from home to this land. Rasaad answered that he had no idea what had brought Minsc and his witch here.
In all events we returned to Minsc and I asked him what had brought him and Dynaheir to this land. Minsc stated that Dynaheir had never told him, and in his culture it wasn’t his to question why. He need only concern himself with protecting her.
And at this point Minsc burst into sobs. “I failed her… We must rescue her! Boo says there may be little time left.” Imoen moved to console the enormous man whose body shuddered in grief, gently stroking his great back with her hand. Imoen looked to me then with tears of her own.
What else were we to do?
“Of course we shall help you, friend,” I said, lest I become tearful myself. And then I caught myself and quickly asked the group, “I’m sorry for the presumption! Are we all agreed?”
Both Yeslick and Faldorn smiled and nodded in agreement. Rasaad nodded respectfully as well.
I then told Minsc that beyond helping him rescue Dynaheir we were not in the position to guarantee anything further by way of continued support. We would have to assess our relationship again at that point.
Minsc had by then slightly recovered his composure. “Make way evil!” Minsc beamed in response. “I'm armed to the teeth and packing a hamster!” His jest gave us all a hearty laugh. (If a jest it was…) He stated he was grateful for our assistance and urged us to depart post-haste.
I asked Minsc if there was any gear that he might need from the store before we left. He mentioned that while he could sneak and hide well in the leathers that he was wearing, if we put him in plate mail he actually preferred cleaving evil creatures (such as gnolls) with his great sword by simply charging the enemy directly in a frenzy.
“Ye and I shall get on famously, then!” said Yeslick warmly.
I told the ranger that we could buy him plate mail—at least half plate, that is—and then we would be off. We made a stop at the store to purchase the armor. It wasn’t cheap, but Minsc looked so intimidating in it that it seemed a worthwhile investment.
Yeslick, whose clerical training included battle strategy, asked our two new companions what other martial skills each had. Rasaad responded that he had been trained in the use of the scimitar and two smaller exotic swords from the east that were available at the store. However, his fists and feet we his preferred weapons hand-to-hand. He was also trained in use of the sling. Minsc answered that his favored weapon was a two-handed broad sword. However he was also skilled with the bow, and could swings maces very effectively with both hands. So we purchased also for Minsc a pair of maces, a composite longbow, and arrows. For Rasaad we purchased a sling and sling stones in case he needed to use a ranged weapon.
This left us only about 150 gold. But we still had the rogue stone. So in order to purchase healing options for our new companions we sold the expensive gem for 2500 gold. Thus we were able to provide two healing potions each to Yeslick, Minsc, Rasaad, and Faldorn. That left one each for Imoen and me. And we gave one poison antidote each as well to Minsc, Rasaad, and Yeslick. This was in case the enemy used poison arrows and for some reason I, Faldorn, or Yeslick was unable to reach them. (Both Faldorn and I could stop poison; and Yeslick could memorize it as well, if needed, after he next rested.) After all these expenditures we had just shy of 1700 gold.
And so we departed Nashkel to travel west to the foreboding stonghold of the gnolls, where we hoped (against hope) that Dynaheir may still be found alive.
I don't often post, but I just wanted to say that I really do enjoy this playthrough and all the trials and tribulations of it. I'm actually a bit sad... I think you mentioned before that you weren't planning on playing this character through BG2, but I'd really like to see that journey. (And Rasaad! I adore poor awkward Rasaad, as odd as he can be at times.)
You've actually given me an idea for a playthrough of a sorceress who uses tarot card readings to make her way around the sword coast. I'd feel like I was copying you too much if I recorded that, but it might be a fun playthrough anyway.
@Twani, I would love to see how someone else approaches this basic concept and develops it in their own individual way. If you do record it, I would enjoy following it.
There are some intriguing possibilities for divination methods including Tarot cards as you mentioned, and also the I Ching, viking rune stones, and so forth. I wouldn't be surprised if they might not all be available for free online.
Trust me, your adventure will be totally unique.
I think the biggest surprise for me in this experiment has been that I really don't know what is going to happen between characters once I give them an independent life of their own via imagination. Thus far in this adventure some of the surprises for me have been:
Xzar and Montaron robbed the party, absconding with all the gear that the party wasn't wearing when they slept.
Jaheira, Kivan, and Kivan splintered off to form a new party of their own in order to follow the clues into Cloakwood when Oracos instead just wanted to lay low for a while and eventually find a way to leave the Sword Coast entirely.
Eldoth progressively sought control of the party for his own narcissistic/sociopathic ends, and succeeded in stealing away two valuable party members.
Faldorn as mission-focused to spy on the Iron Throne; also acting as a sort of "Dog Whisperer" for the party's (pack's) "balance"; she is subtly guiding the party as such
and from the next journal entry:
Dynaheir feeling compelled for her and Minsc to head off on their own to battle Edwin by themselves (a key element of the dejemma).
Minsc as a fundamentally dangerous addition to the party, who is compromised due to his head injury (if eventually added to the party he will routinely use his special berserking ability).
Yeslick as a priest of Clangeddin should practice his faith; and coupled with the fact that he isn't very bright this creates tensions with Oracos, who has nearly three times Yeslick's IQ.
So none of these are things that I anticipated when I started. They all came about organically.
I agree, that with this divination method gets much enjoyment in the playthrough. I plan to use it, just don't know how to use it in my current game. But i'm thinking.
After a journey of about two hours we were beset by a party of four marauding gnolls. I used the Slumber spell to drop all four of them where they stood, and we destroyed them. Yeslick complained that he felt a little cheated from the opportunity for a good battle by use of the spell. Minsc too missed the chance to enjoy a good fight with this most hated foe of his. I advised them both that magic would be used liberally to defeat our enemies, and quipped “get used to it.” Both shrugged slightly but nodded in assent. Each was accustomed to taking orders, it seemed. Yeslick conceded that he used his divine magic quite often. But his preference was by far to swing his hammer.
We came to a large cliff that was adjoined by an expansive grassy pasture with little cover to offer. It would be difficult for Imoen (or Minsc in his leather, which we kept for him should it be needed) to scout here. So we put Yeslick and Minsc (still in his half plate) in the lead, and hoped for the best.
As we traveled next to the cliffs a couple of wolves attacked us. We were easily able to protect ourselves against them. Not long thereafter we were stumbled upon a huge white breed of bear more commonly found high in the mountain snows, but we were able to avoid the creature without a fight.
After another eight hours or so, very late into the night and not far from sunrise we arrived at a large river that blocked our path. Here both with the cover of night and with trees and bush present, we felt it prudent for Imoen to scout ahead.
It was well that we did for just ahead was both a somewhat agitated bear, and band of six hobgoblins. Faldorn approach the bear and attempted to ally it to our side, but the creature was evidently too upset by the hobgoblins presence only a stone’s throw away. I asked Faldorn if she might try again to get the creature to follow her bidding, and she said it would not be easy but she would try.
The druidess returned moments later with the creature at her side. I admit that it made the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stand up. The bear was massive, and the raw savage power of the beast must be terrible to behold. Minsc was very pleased at this development, responding with a big grin. I whispered that the martial attack would be coordinated by Yeslick, but I would again attempt to put the enemy into a slumber when they attacked. Yeslick said he, Minsc, Rasaad, and would simply rush them—with the bear alongside them, of course.
It occurred to me to suggest that the bear be sent in first alone to thoroughly disorient them, but I held my piece. A detail like that would hopefully not matter anyway.
The melee that followed was easier than expected since none of the hobgoblins used bows (especially with poisoned arrows, as we had often seen them do). They all drew swords and were easily killed—especially after my spell put half of them to sleep. A couple of wild dogs that must have been working with them also attacked, and Faldorn got bitten by one, requiring her to heal herself.
Among the spoils from this brief battle was a spell scroll to defend against evil creatures (curious), and some gold and a piece of minor jewelry. We also insisted to Minsc that he take and wear one of their helmets, to which he eventually agreed after Imoen first rinsed it well in the river.
Shortly thereafter Faldorn’s charm upon the bear wore off and he threatened to attack. She had run out of her ability to control wild creatures. But Minsc then surprised us a bit by using his. The bear then fell under his control.
Not far ahead we arrived at a wooden bridge where a frightened merchant ran toward use gasping that a bear was hot on his heels, having chased him across the bridge. Imoen scouted and found no such creature there. Minsc then sent the bear off into the wilderness. We told the man that the way we had just come was probably still clear. We wished him Shaundakul’s blessings on his journey to Nashkel.
We then journeyed south toward the gnoll fortress. However along the way Imoen’s stealth revealed a lone ogrillon hiding (not well enough) in wait to ambush unwary travelers. Yeslick devised a plan for Imoen to sneak up behind and launch an attack, and just then he and Minsc would rush the creature. I offered that I could try to rob the creature’s sight with a spell, which would be safer. But Yeslick responded that he wanted to see how well Imoen performed at that skill.
Imoen approached the creature stealthily and made a thrust but somehow the orgillon moved just then to stretch, and she missed! Amazingly, this failed attack went undetected. Imoen stealthily returned to us and, grinning sheepishly, said she would try again.
And so she did. Imoen this time delivered a devastating stab to the creature’s spleen. However, it failed to kill the creature outright. The badly wounded ogrillon chased Imoen then, and managed to club her with its enormous fist, seriously injuring her. In the meantime we all attacked. I hit it with a dart which did minor damage at best. But Imoen was able to notch an arrow and finish the brute off with an arrow in the gullet before Yeslick, Minsc, or Rasaad got within striking distance with their own weapons.
“Well, that was a ‘lil embarrassin’!” Imoen gasped, panting in pain. “I can do better!” she wheezed to Imoen our new companions as Faldorn healed her.
No one doubted that she could, I’m sure. Yeslick noted that things often don’t go to plan; but Imoen had more than amply demonstrated the courage he was looking for by killing the dangerous creature before any of us could, even though she was severely wounded.
During the hike through the wilderness Rasaad engaged me in some conversation, first observing that he sensed that I felt troubled. Instead of answering him I asked him how he came to Nashkel. Rasaad then proceeded to tell me the tale. He and his brother Gamaz, both Sun Soul monks, were originally from Calimport. His order had sent them among a band of monks to Athkatla to investigate their sect there, since it wasn’t responding to messages. They found that the Athkatla Sun Soul monks had mysteriously disappeared. Eventually, however, after months of further investigation they finally determined that a rival sect devoted to Shar had assassinated all their members in the city. The only other clue they were able to uncover was that someone named “Alorgoth” was responsible; although to this day Rasaad has been unable to find out anything further about the person.
This did not explain how Rasaad had arrived in Nashkel, of course. But the full story would have to remain left unfinished until later. For by then we had arrived at our destination. We had come to the foot of a mountainous area. There a plank-and-rope bridge spanned a swift river. And beyond the bridge lay the gnoll fortress, built on the side of the mountain.
Just as we reached the other side, two ogrillons stepped out from behind the rocks and tried to intimidate us into handing over a bridge toll of 200 gold (which they promptly lowered to 100 when we refused). Yeslick’s eyes lit up at the prospect of smashing their knee caps with his hammer.
The ogrillons attacked, and Yeslick commanded one of them to lie on the ground as if he had fainted dead away. The cleric then turned to assist Minsc with the creature the ranger was fighting. Yeslick yelled for Rasaad to attack the one who was down to cripple or kill him before he awoke. Imoen and Faldorn used arrows and darts, respectively. I cast the Horrify spell but to my disappointment it failed against both creatures. The ogrillon that was standing turned toward Yeslick—whose hammer broke at that very moment. During Yeslick’s surprise at this unexpected development the orgrillon pounded him hard, injuring him.
Minsc then rallied us all by, with a mighty swing that perfectly channeled all of his body’s physical force, completely shattering the head of the ogrillon that had just battered Yeslick.
Just then the other orgillon leapt up and attacked Yeslick and Rasaad. I then cast a spell to Blind it. But one of Imoen’s arrows ended the thing’s miserable life before my spell could even take effect.
Now the treasure from this pair of bandits included a special prize. They had some potions, gold, and gems. But the real find was a pair of gauntlets that I identified that improved deftness of hand and foot to truly heroic proportions. We had Yeslick test them with Minsc and Rasaad, and he suddenly became very hard to hit. And since among our three melee fighters it was Yeslick who would benefit the most overall from wearing them, we gifted them to him.
A footpath continued from the bridge that followed alongside a cliff. At the top of that cliff we could see the edge of the fortress far above.
Imoen scouted ahead using the rocks along the cliff face for cover. She returned to tell us that ahead was a band of halberd wielding gnolls guarding the entrance. A small enough number to defeat; but there was no telling how many more may lay behind them.
Yeslick said that we should just wade in. But I asked him to please indulge me a small favor just this once. I recommended that we rest first, for we had traveled hard. And after the rest let us see how Minsc does using a technique we had seen former companions use to pick off enemies one at a time. With the ranger’s enormous strength, and the mighty bow we had purchased for him, he might be able to fell them in quick succession before it registered what was happening. He would have to use his leather for that. But would it not be wise for us test that skill of his?
I hastened to add to Yeslick that the final decision I would leave to him. But there were presumably an untold number of gnolls yet to face as we made our way up the mountain, and I wanted to have all my spells. So we should at least rest for that reason. We would go back to the other side of the bridge to rest.
Faldorn also reminded Yeslick that his hammer head had cracked and then shattered.
Yeslick then sighed in recognition of that. He acknowledged that he too must rest to reorganize his spells. He advised that after a rest period thrice he could cast a spell that summoned a very formidable magical hammer; but the spiritual weapon would disappear in but a brief time. He could however also summon a somewhat less powerful magical cudgel four times. Otherwise he would fight with just his fists or hurl sling bullets.
We did have a strength potion just taken from one of the bridge bandits that Yeslick could use. So it was actually conceivable that he might actually knock some gnolls out with only his fists. But in order to kill any he would probably have to use his sling.
Yeslick grudgingly agreed to my suggestion. I felt bad for making it. But it is unfortunately evident that the dwarf isn’t very smart. It may have been a mistake for me to put him entirely in charge of all combat tactics without really knowing his abilities.
Before resting I asked the spellcasters among us what spells each was memorizing. I shared that I after resting I would be able to cast Sightlessness spell twice, the Color Fan spell thrice, and the Slumber spell thrice as well. In addition I would be able to cast Terror twice. I would also have one casting prepared of a new spell ready that creates a noxious fog that makes the enemy pass out. We would have to take great care not to enter the fog ourselves, however—for it would do the same to us. But if at risk to be overwhelmed by their numbers this could slow them down enough to save use. And I could heal twice and stop poison twice as well.
Yeslick advised that, as he had said, he would memorize four castings of the magical shillelagh and three of the spiritual hammer, respectively. He added that once per rest cycle he could cast a spell that could dispelled other magic, though the results typically vary in terms of how many effects are erased.
Faldorn stated that she would have three castings by which to try to charm the enemy, one to stop poison, one to Entangle with magical vines, and three with which to heal. And as we knew, she could summon a dread wolf once per rest period.
Rasaad said that he possessed a divine power to emit a flash of brilliant illumination from his hands that, in effect, burns. It however has the potential to harms friends as well as foes.
I mentioned to Rasaad then that if we were to stand side-by-side and he uses his “sun soulray” (as he called it) and I the Cone of Colors, this might be very effective, provided that none of the party was out ahead of us.
Yeslick asked if that meant that I would launch such an attack. I said that I was willing to try, if the circumstances seemed propitious to do so. My bravery in suggesting such a plan clearly pleased the dwarf. But immediately after making the suggestion I questioned what on Toril I was doing by leading the charge (with a spell recommended by Eldoth, no less!).
Yeslick said he would use the potion that would make him as powerful as a hill giant.
We were blessed by the gods to enjoy an uneventful rest period.
Before advancing, we tried having Minsc switch his half plate for studded leather and try a stealth-and-sniper approach. Minsc slipped away and was gone for what seemed an uncomfortably long time. However before long he returned to report that the gnolls Imoen had spotted earlier had left. The ranger said he found another bunch of them lolling about lazily on the steps ahead, some snoozing. One of them was separated enough from the other that Minsc was able to wound it with an arrow and it followed alone, fortunately. He led us carefully to the spot where he eventually killed it. The fatal arrow had almost passed completely through the massive creature’s chest. It was clear by now that Minsc’s strength was immense.
When I asked Minsc if the other seemed aware that their comrade had precipitously run off he stated it was likely, yes. Yeslick therefore told Minsc to put his plate back on and take up his greatsword, like a proper warrior. Minsc was happy to receive that instruction.
Minsc noted that the bunch of gnolls that he saw were alone on the steps, with many more above and no more gnolls in sight. Yeslick favored a straightforward frontal attack. I remarked that I just hoped that a small army of them would not eventually come pouring down the steps.
“Have ye put me in charge of the combat or not?” asked Yeslick with some irritation. “If not, then I will follow yer orders. But if so, ye must let me lead.”
I quickly apologized to him—and sincerely so. “Lead on, Yeslick,” I said in earnest.
“I’ll meet ye half way,” Yeslick responded. And then he ordered Imoen to scout ahead as best she could.
Imoen was able to spot three of them on the steps ahead. They looked relaxed, apparently unaware of what had happened to their fellow. Minsc and Rasaad rushed them. And this time Yeslick used his sling so as not to waste a casting of one of his spells. The three of them were easily killed.
Again Imoen did her best to scout the steps head. She soon returned to report four of them lay just ahead. Four it seemed could be easily defeated by us with just our weapons. There seemed no need to resort to spells just yet.
Yeslick then instructed Minsc to wear his agility bracers until Yeslick began summoning magic weapons and consumed his strength potion. If the worst that we were going to encounter was small clusters like this, then Yeslick felt using his sling instead of a “real” weapon mattered little. Minsc dutifully complied.
Minsc and Rasaad attacked the next group of gnolls and the rest of us used ranged weapons. Two of them however broke from the other and one attacked me. That gnoll sliced my arm with his halberd, but he was killed that instant afterward by Minsc.
I healed myself and we continued.
Imoen snuck ahead and reported that ahead lay a pit that was guarded by for small humanoid creatures with blue skin and large forheads.
“Sounds like xvarts,” I said, and Yeslick agreed.
“They’ll be easy to kill,” said Yeslick. “Let’s do it.”
As before, Minsc and Rasaad launched their attack, with the rest of us using our various missiles. We killed them without any real trouble; although to our surprise one of them managed to slightly injure Minsc with its short sword. The treasure on them included another scroll to protect against attacks by evil creatures. (We now had two such scrolls.)
We peered down into the pit and found it empty.
Imoen then very carefully scaled a narrow and steep set of steps to another level and, remaining hidden from view, cautiously peered above onto the next level. She quickly returned down the stairs to report that there was a much larger group of gnolls up there. These looked to be elite warriors, again with the customary halberds. Yeslick advised that these were sure to be better fighters than the ones we had encountered thus far. Yeslick said it was now time for him to use the potion and begin using his spiritual weapon spells. Yeslick was of the opinion that he, Minsc and Rasaad should be able to launch the battle and drive them back, so that the rest of us could enter behind them. Then Faldorn could summon her wolf, I would cast spells, and Imoen would fire her arrows. If Faldorn could gain control of some of the enemy to make them fight amongst themselves, then so much the better.
It seemed as good a plan as any. Yeslick said a prayer to Clangeddin. Then he, Minsc, and Rasaad led the way climbing the stairs with me, Imoen, and Faldorn right behind them. Minsc gave Yeslick back the gauntlets the dwarf had loaned him. Yeslick consumed the potion and summoned a magical hammer.
The first wave of the assault went as well as could be hoped. I cast my spell to put over half of them into a slumber, and Misnc, Yeslick, and Rasaad took not a single injury. Imoen, Faldorn, and I used our darts and arrows well.
We remained crouched and spoke in hushed tones, certain that more gnolls must lay ahead. Imoen then stole ahead and slunk back in a crouch to report that a very large number of them lay ahead. Yeslick was intent to assault them in the same manner. I dearly wanted to suggest that we use the Noisome Haze spell here, but I suppressed the impulse.
Imoen then made a suggestion. She noted that there was a choke point of attack. The path separating us and them was only a few feet wide—a narrow space only a about four feet wide between an open pit and the castle wall. She would draw sneak up and draw them to our side of that choke point by firing upon them with her bow. Yeslick, Minsc, and Rasaad would then move in to clock their path, forcing them to fight one or two at a time. I could then of course use my spells. And Faldorn could summon a wolf on the other side.
Yeslick seemed to appreciate the simple elegance and cleverness of this plan. I had to admit that I liked it a great deal myself (and wished I had thought of it). I noted that the only flaw in it that I could see is that Yeslick must remain relatively out of the fray in order to cast his next hammer spell. So perhaps it would smarter to give the enchanted gauntlets to Minsc again, place Minsc on point, and have Yeslick alongside him but able to drop back and summon another hammer as needed.
Yeslick said this would do well. Minsc would take point. Yeslick would be on his left flank and Rasaad on his right flank. When Yelslick needed again he could do so then in safety; for Minsc and Rasaad would shift and Yeslick would drop back to do so. In the meantime Faldorn and I would be right behind the three of them to provide healing as needed.
It did seem like a solid plan. We would now put it into action!
The battle almost went as planned, except that neither Yeslick nor Rasaad could melee attack in the very close quarters of the narrow path. So Rasaad switched to the sling and poor Yeslick simply had to wait until Minsc could slowly wade forward in battle to the other side. I cast the Sleep spell twice and it made a tremendous difference, however.
Minsc took some damage, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Faldorn healed him.
We searched all of the pits and to Minsc’s great joy and relief Dynaheir was indeed alive. He literally wept at her sight and picked her up off her feet when he hugged her. The gnolls had given Dynaheir a slight beating, but otherwise she was alright. But she explained that in order to be able to sell her to a slaver the gnolls felt they could not damage her too much. (I learned later from Imoen that Dynaheir told her that the gnolls didn’t defile her either for the same reason.) Faldorn healed her bruises and contusions.
Dynaheir immediately intrigued me. I could sense that she had strong use of the Weave.
She explained that both she and Minsc were on a joint dejemma. She too was proving her capabilities, but in her case to the elder witches; whereas Minsc sought to be accepted into the Ice Dragon berserker lodge.
Dynaheir asked if we had had any problems with Minsc. I said we had not, and she appeared relieved.
The witch then pulled me aside and explained that Minsc sometimes loses control in his battle rage, and has the capacity to harm anyone that is unfortunate to be in his bloody path when it happens. Dynaheir said has been training him to control it, lest she herself be killed by him when it goes beyond his control. Minsc has recently been doing well in this regard, she said. But she never really knows when he will succumb to the battle fury. He hasn’t had such an episode in a rather long time. (The implication being that he was overdue.) Dynaheir also told me that Minsc had taken many severe blows to the head, and really believes that his hamster is a miniaturized giant one from another world. She said that his madness seemed confined to that delusion. In any event, Minsc, although a powerful warrior who truly possessed a heart of gold, was in fact subject to erupting into uncontrollable and truly dangerous rages.
I privately thanked Dynaheir for her candor, and we then opened our conversation back up to the group. I asked her why she and Minsc had journeyed to the Sword Coast. She answered cryptically that these are momentous times for the region. Those that sent her believed that the Wycharlan should have a role to play in what might soon unfold. But she also indicated that there were others, or at least one, who means her ill with whom she must contend—and she and Minsc must take care of that by themselves as part of their dejemma. But after they have finished that business, perhaps she and Minsc could join us that we may adventure together.
I responded that I would like that, but we would have to see. For I was a Diviner and when we returned to Nashkel I would consult the oracle about our party shall do next. To this the witch smiled approvingly and added a nod of understanding. “I cannot fault thee for that” she said.
So with this happy outcome of a successful rescue we departed the gnoll stronghold, and began our journey back to Nashkel. Before leaving we gathered up bit of treasure on the slain gnolls. The only thing of significance was a scroll with which to identify an unknown item, and a scroll to divine the character of another.
[For game engine reasons I had to remove Rasaad who travels back to Nashkel alone. But here I pretend that that all make the trip together.]
Thankfully, our trip back to Nashkel saw no further assaults by anyone. Once we got to town, we escorted Minsc and Dynaheir to the small tavern at the southern end of the village at Dynaheir’s request. Here we could enjoy a good meal first, and then we could rest at the inn. As we sat for our meal and ordered drinks, Dynaheir again advised that she and Minsc had some business to attend to hopefully that would not take too long. The after resting tonight at the inn she and Minsc would leave us in the morning. But in several days they could be found here at the tavern again if we would have them join.
I at least had a peaceful night’s sleep that evening. And the following morning we said what we hoped were but temporary goodbyes, and that we may travel again together. Our two new Rashemis friends bowed and took their leave, walking south.
[in-game, mechanically, I parked Minsc and Dynaheir at the tavern. And of course I re-added Rasaad. At this point Dynaheir and Minsc are going off to try to find and kill Edwin, as Dyna knows he has been following then and suspects that Edwin was behind the gnoll kidnapping. Little do Minsc and Dyna realize that Edwin lies just around the bend waiting for them. I will later have an out-of-game battle session between Edwin versus Minsc and Dynaheir from this save. Just for this session I’ll drop all the current NPCs and have Edwin, Minsc, and Dyna join Oracos. Then I’ll have Minsc plus Dyna fight Edwin and see what happens.]
Then I, Imoen, Faldorn, Yeslick, and Rasaad went to the store in order that we may purchase the dwarf a war hammer (we bought two this time!).
And then we had ourselves a discussion at the inn. I said that although I like the Rashemi pair a great deal, Dynaheir had given me pause about Minsc. She said he was unpredictable in battle—to the point that he would at times indiscriminately slay anything his sword can touch, including any of us. Yeslick frowned at this news, for he had already grown tremendously fond of Minsc who he identified as “a great warrior.” He noted that sadly, he had seen such things in battle among his dwarven kin, and it was always heart wrenching when it occurred. Clangeddin taught control of the rage. But sometimes berserker warriors were overtaken by the heat of battle, lost all their senses, and failed to remember anything they had done—to then find they had slain comrades as well as foes.
I recommended that I consult the stars as to whether we should try to find the warrioress that the bartender at the Burning Wizard told us about. Before retiring for the night I studied my tome and scried the following portents:
The duke of a wilderness barony is forced to choose alliances with untrustworthy local lords, one of whose arm is permanently crippled from battle.
A powerful hero hiking a mountain pass wrestles with a great, teetering boulder to prevent it from suddenly rolling down a rocky slope toward a village.
In a dark and sinister castle, a ruthless and cunning warrior-thief approaches a sentry unseen from behind, and from a crouch swiftly sweep-kicks him down a set of stairs.
A sage attempts to help a community plan their recovery from a river flood and handle their personal losses.
A vineyard and flower garden flourishes from the attentive hand of its gardener—who also happens to be the owner of the villa.
An ancient law allows a king to wage war, hoard tremendous wealth, and torture his enemies.
I did not share all the portents with the party. The one portent that I felt spoke most strongly about whether to try to find the warrioress was the vision I received of the amazing agility of the warrior-thief killing the hapless guard in the dark castle. This rather strongly reminded me of the bartender’s tale of the female fighter encountered east of Beregost. Interestingly, in my vision I could not tell if the attacker was male or female. This was for the warrior star itself, mind you. And finally, because the Moon is but one waning day from full in the sign of the Swordsman, this very clearly indicates a female warrior. In addition, I also could see no obvious warning that we should not seek to find this mysterious female warrior.
Thus I shared the portents that seemed relevant, and briefly explained them. The party was attentive and seemed to respect what I shared.
“It seems clear to me that the stars point toward us trying to find her,” I said.
They all looked at one another with nods in agreement. No one voiced any concerns or challenges to the plan. We wouldn’t know what Dynaheir’s and Minsc’s plans were for several days anyway.
“Is it agreed that we shall we travel now to just east of the Song of the Morning to see if we can find her?” I asked.
Everyone raised their glass in a toast to this next small adventure.
And so off we went back up the Coast Way to Beregost to see if we could find this warrior-woman who is said to challenge travelers to duels, and offers to protect the opponent if she were to lose.
@Lemernis, if you wouldn't mind it, then I believe I will try a tarot card playthrough myself, although only after BG1 Romantic Encounters is released (what can I say? I'm a sucker for romance... or, er, random sex, as the case may be). I don't want to copy you, but if you'd be interested in my playthrough, I'd be glad to record it.
So far, enjoying yours. And hoping poor Rasaad stays around for a bit, at least long enough to provide him with some closure revolving his brother.
I think Rasaad will stay. Due to game engine limitations I'm in an awkward position now with Dynaheir and Minsc. I have a party of five, so D & M can't join without me booting someone to accommodate them. Which roleplaying-wise is not something the party would do.
Now if either Minsc or Dynaheir dies in the out-of-game battle they will soon have with Edwin, then there will be one more slot for one of them. But the party is also headed now to interview Shar-Teel.
I think the party I'd most enjoy finishing out the game with would be: Imoen, Faldorn, Yeslick, Rasaad, and Shar-Teel. But I'm intrigued at the idea of playing Minsc as actually regularly having his berserker rages.
So second best for me would be Minsc as such instead of Shar-Teel. Third best is Dynaheir takes the last slot. And fourth best is Neera returns to take the sixth slot.
@Lemernis, if you wouldn't mind it, then I believe I will try a tarot card playthrough myself, although only after BG1 Romantic Encounters is released (what can I say? I'm a sucker for romance... or, er, random sex, as the case may be). I don't want to copy you, but if you'd be interested in my playthrough, I'd be glad to record it.
I look forward to it and will be very intrigued to see how someone else works with the basic concept. You will undoubtedly put your own unique stamp on how you go about it.
I have journaled very extensively in order to demonstrate the concept, including resource management so that others can vividly see that with such a roleplaying approach the party makes do with much less (i.e., there's no powergame/meta-game assembling of the best equipment).
But I have to say that I have found that the journaling is for me the primary vehicle through which the characters truly come to life independently, and in ways that surprise me. It is through that creative writing process that that happens for me. I'm pretty sure that (for me) it would not happen as clearly if it all just remained thoughts in my head (versus being recorded). Through writing it out, the character development and story takes twists and turns that I simply don't anticipate.
So the main point is that when I write, it is for me to better enjoy the game. I do it so that I can have the pleasure of that element of surprise and to get to know the characters in imagination more fully. I enjoy sharing the process, and I'm glad that others appreciate the adventure. But the main reason I do it is that the writing energizes the creative process.
Now all that said, I will be truly fascinated to see how it all comes to life in someone else's creative imagination.
Our journey along the Coast Way to Beregost was peaceful. It was late at night by the time we arrived, so we turned in for the night at the Burning Wizard.
[The party’s exploits are now well known, and they have established a relationship with the bartender of the Burning Wizard. I think it is all but certain that the bartender would know that Firebeard Elvenhair has spoken to townsfolk of his past relationship with Oracos and Imoen, and we may assume that the sage would be interested in visiting with them again. According to the Baldur’s Gate wiki Firebeard is one of Candlekeep’s book buyers. So he would be traveling a lot in search of books, and at Candlekeep much of the time as well. Anyway, I will begin flipping cards for whether Firebeard is there and the bartender remembers to mention that he had heard that Firebeard would love to see them again.
Is Firebeard at his home in Beregost and the bartender remembers to mention that he has heard that Firebeard has said he would enjoy a visit from Oracos and Imoen? Black card = no.]
As we traveled east of the Song of the Morning we were attacked by a large pack of wild dogs. Yeslick and Imoen were on point, but I yelled for everyone to stand back so that I may advance to the lead and cast the Color Cone spell that had (much as I hate to admit it) impressed me so greatly in the Baldur’s Gate sewer. The spell incapacitated all but one of the wild curs. Yeslick dutifully restrained himself from charging at the dogs, for he understood the use of spells to be under my command. I was impressed with the results, but by the same token the Slumber spell had just worked quite well for us against the gnolls; and by comparison Sleep was certainly safer to use.
By dusk we came to the area that the bartender had heard the traveler’s encounter with the dueling warrior-woman took place. Imoen scouted ahead, as was our common practice. Imoen almost immediately reported that just to our north lay a ghoul and four gnolls. We could kill them or avoid them. But we also were at a loss as to where to search in this area more broadly. The plan I suggested was to first kill these creatures just to our north so that I could cast my runes for where to begin looking for the warrioress in peace.
Our plan was simple. Imoen would creep close enough the spot the ghoul with me just behind her, and from there I would aim the Slumber spell just past the ghoul in the hope that it would knock out the four gnolls positioned behind it. The ghoul, I knew, would not succumb to the spell. But I would next attempt to blind the ghoul after attempting to put the gnolls to sleep. I advised Yeslick and Rasaad to avoid attacking the undead creature until I could blind it, since its gaze could easily paralyze them. Thus, after trying to put as many gnolls to sleep as I could, we would then try to kill the ghoul next. If my spell failed to work against some of the gnolls, we should actually drop back rather than charge, in order to provide as long an opportunity as possible for me to rob the ghoul of its sight.
Yeslick offered no objection, and acknowledged that that plan made sense.
Unfortunately the ghoul was positioned too far ahead of the gnolls for my first casting to affect them. I quickly consulted with Imoen in a whisper, and we agreed that we would simply have to be spotted by the ghoul, but hopefully we could keep enough distance from it to avoid its gaze and I could make the gnolls behind it unconscious. I felt that I could cast Sleepiness first, and then be able to Blind the creature. For if I simply Blinded the ghoul first, he might call out to the gnolls that they were under attack.
As I approached to ghoul to cast he shambled forward, scissoring his arms at a low height as if to signal ‘hold your attack’, and pleading softly for mercy. It seemed that it was trying to communicate inconspicuously enough to avoid detection by the gnolls nearby. While this obviously could have been a deception, never had we seen such behavior from such a beast. It made me wonder if it was indeed a poor victim who meant no harm and who had been evilly transformed by some fell magic. I followed a deeper instinct than fear—one of curiosity, and through it the possibility of the gods providing an unexpected advantage.
Even as the creature slowly approached it gurgled in a gravelly voice that that it was “friend,” and that it wanted to help us. Korax was its name, it said. The ghoul’s mind was a shadow of its former human form. But my surmise was that the unfortunate creature must be struggling to hold on to whatever was left of its former human existence, before it was infected and turned into its present hideous form. The fact that it could even name itself made me hopeful that it might provide some helpful information about the area.
I asked Korax first why it was helping us. The creature responded that it hated the gnolls, although it was unable to articulate why. (Evidently the ghoul was not allied with them…) I then asked it if it had seen a lone human female warrior in the area, a superior fighter who challenged travelers.
Korax responded that yes, there was such a person close by to the north. Korax said he liked her since the gnolls feared her; they avoided her because she had easily killed so many of them. Even the gnome let her be, Korax said.
“The gnome?” I asked
“Gnome use his pets to make people into statues,” Korax wheezed. “But not warrior lady.” Then he added, “She not know it, but me protect her. Me tell gnome’s pets not to look at her. She hates gnolls too.”
I asked Korax to tell us the locations of the gnome and his pets, and the woman we sought, and he provided a fair idea (we had to ask several questions to narrow it down, and madehim point). They were to both to the north; but she further north due north from us, and the gnome a bit closer to our location and to the east.
I then sent Imoen back to the others to tell them what was happening. In a moment they joined us, with Yeslick gazing warily at Korax as the cleric approach. In comparison Faldorn and Rasaad instead just seemed rather amazed.
“We have a new friend!” I smiled.
“So I see,” grumbled Yeslick. As a cleric he was accustomed to vanquishing undead, thus ending their tortured nightmare of an existence if he could.
I then explained the situation to the others. Faldorn observed that from the description of the gnome’s pets that were likely basilisks. When she suggested that, I remembered from my studies at Candlekeep that such reptiles are sometimes used to guard treasure. Basilisks are large lizards that will turn living creatures to stone with their gaze. As an undead creature Korax was immune to their petrifying eyes. In any event, it sounded as though we were in a highly dangerous area.
I advised that we should all switch to ranged weapons. Yeslick seemed to accept the need to use his sling for now, even though he obviously preferred charging with his hammer.
Korax was eager to kill the gnolls ahead. We desperately wanted to do that. Then he would take us to the warrioress, he said.
We advanced at the gnolls and I cast my Slumber spell which put three of them on the ground. The one who did not pass out we easily killed. And of course we destroyed the three sleeping ones.
We continued due north, but very warily. Imoen of course scouted, with Korax just behind her.
Just ahead we came upon the woman’s camp. She was tall and large framed for a woman, but pleasingly proportioned and had the look of one well trained in combat. The warrior woman wielded a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. She immediately challenged us to the contest that the bartender had told of. The fight would not be to the death, she advised. But when it was clear that death was close and would come soonest to either of them, both would stop. She only fought men, she said. Assuming that she was the winner we would hand her 20 gold for being bested by her. If by some miracle she could not prevail, she said, she would pledge her sword to us for three days. She added that if any of us were to help the chosen fighter she would kill whoever interfered.
Yeslick immediately strode forward and assumed a fighter’s stance. And the two of them squared off.
It was a long and harrowing battle for us to watch, initially with many skillful feints, thrusts, and parries but no blows landed. Both at times landed blows, but it was rare. The warrioress was very agile and avoided more of dwarf’s blows than he hers. At one point Yeslick clearly became quite frustrated Fearing that he was going to lose, I suspect, he Commanded his opponent to lie down, instilling the temporary belief in her mind that she had died. The spell worked and the cleric continued to strike her as she lay in the helpless prone position in order to wound her badly enough that she may not continue the battle. But it was not enough to stop her! For she rose from the ground and resumed combat.
Yeslick then summoned a great infusion of strength and courage from his god—but this too was not enough to defeat her! The warrioress continued to battle him, and in fact wounded him very badly. Yeslick drank a healing potion and continued fighting. (She consumed no potions at all throughout the fight.)
The woman seriously wounded him again, and he tried to cast a spell to Hold her. But the spell failed. Several times more she injured him badly. Yeslick used his other healing potion and twice cast healing spells upon himself. But eventually it was clear that she had defeated him. She demanded the 20 gold, which I tossed.
The warrior woman encouraged both Rasaad and I to take our turns and see if we could win.
[At this point the dialogue for that didn’t fire but I had Rasaad step in and fight her anyway.]
Rasaad fought her bravely. In addition to his hand strikes and kicks we got to see his Sun Soulray. it looked impressive, but Shar-Teel didn’t drop a stitch. The monk too took a beating from her. He used up both of his healing potions during their much shorter fight.
Rasaad was soon clearly badly wounded and gave his surrender.
I then decided that I could defeat her with magic where brute force had failed. I called out that I was next and Rasaad retreated for Faldorn to heal.
Shar-Teel perhaps expected me to wade in with my staff, but instead I Blinded her. Then I promptly knocker her unconscious with the Fan of Colors spell. At first I used then used my staff to try to get her to admit defeat. But I realized that I would probably gain her respect more with my use of darts. So I stepped back and loosed a barrage of the missiles at her.
Finally, growling from the ground, she acceded that I was the victor. She would give us her sword arm for at least the next three days, she said.
[Here the dialogue in which Shar-Teel says she’s willing to fight another party member finally fired. But before I could respond, another dialogue then fired that she had admitted defeat and provided the option for her to join. So I accepted into the party.]
The warrior woman was still blinded. And she was severely wounded after battling three of us without the aid of a single healing potion. Faldorn and I therefore healed her, although after Faldorn had healed Rasaad she did not quite have enough spells to fully restore the woman to vigor.
Her name was Shar-Teel, she said. The warrioress said that it was highly unusual for her to lose. In the rare instances that she did, she was often compensated handsomely for her fighting skills anyway when she helped travelers. For they would often ask to hire her further a fee. She acknowledged grudgingly that when she did lose it was most often to magic users. Very few without magic were her equal in combat, she declared. We could see how this may easily be no exaggeration.
Yeslick remained very quiet about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely humbled, and a bit disquieted. Rasaad complemented Shar-Teel on her impressive display of skills.
“You used moves I have never seen,” he said smiling (though Shar-Teel could not see his grin, of course). Rasaad asked if he may inquire where she had trained.
Shar-Teel scoffed and spit out a mouthful of blood. “On the streets of Baldur’s Gate, and other cities I have roamed to the east,” she said disdainfully.
Faldorn then cast two spells and frowned slightly, whispering to me “We’ll talk later.”
I informed Shar-Teel that we were headed to Beregost. I said I felt we should travel now just a bit to the west to get well clear of the dangers of this area, and then wait for her sight to return. When we arrived in Beregost we would discuss a proposal for possibly more than three days of her services. She was at honor bound to accompany us back to the town and hear our offer, I reminded her.
Shar-Teel gave a sort of grunting laugh at this. She seemed about to say something in response, but instead held her tongue. “Let us move west then. The gnolls would take advantage of my current blindness if they saw me this way.”
We released the ghoul Korax from his promise to aid us, and asked him to scout for us a far distance away but avoid being seen or fighting anyone until we join up with him. The ghoul then lumbered off into the night to the northeast.
[Incidentally, when I did this in-game I found that I could have picked up some free XP this way. Because Korax will kill the basilisks he encounters when pointed in their direction. Yeslick even leveled up from it. But it felt like cheating somehow. So I only pretended it happened.
Perhaps because I had Shar-Teel fight three different opponents without new ‘challenge’ dialogues for the latter two, there was a little weirdness here with Shar-Teel’s scripts. She was added to the party but I could not get her to respond. I tried removing her. After initiating a couple more conversations with her she did eventually rejoin with no problems, and the party was able to leave the area.]
And so we surrounded the warrioress, keeping her to our center, and journeyed a good distance from where we stood in order to wait for her sight to return. When Shar-Teel’s blindness ended she looked at us more closely, and studied us all for a moment. She shook her head at the sight of me upon closer inspection. But then she gave a small sigh and said among the men in our group, only I was to address her.
Yeslick actually seemed visibly taken aback at this, and then mildly perturbed. Rasaad was of course unfazed. He simply smiled at her with loving acceptance.
During the journey back to Beregost we were forced to fight three wolves that attacked us. Fortunately they injured none of us before we destroyed them.
We pushed our march for the whole night and arrived again in Beregost on a gorgeous sunny morning. Again we took a room at the Burning Wizard, in order to rest up and then discuss whether Shar-Teel might be a suitable new companion, if indeed she would consider joining us.
[When they get the room does the bartender mention that he heard Firebeard would like to see them? Black card = no.]
Oracos proved himself a capable person in the fight, and he bested the two fighter. Cheers for him! And i wonder what will the party do with Shar-Teel.
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Okay, now there is the question of how much tactical skill Eldoth actually possesses. As a Bard he has adventured a bit (he joined a level 3). He's a denizen of a major metropolis. I picture him as street-smart versus book-smart. But he has probably listened with keen interest to many stories of how adventurers and thieves have solved various problems to plunder treasure.
So I figured I'd assign him a letter grade for tactical skill knowledge. Using standard letter grades I rolled a 1d100 and took the first roll above 60 (which would be a D-). The very first roll was 86. So he his tactical skill level is a solid B.
The second question is how Eldoth can demonstrate his use of Color Spray instead of Sleep. I'm sort of committed now to using this as Eldoth's example of his self-proclaimed tactical superiority. I figure he's got one shot to succeed with this, if he has any real hope of assuming leadership.
Eldoth himself has only two level 1 spell slots and one level 2 spell slot. That's not a lot to work with. Therefore he must have Oracos learn the spell as well, and then have both Neera and Oracos use it along side him (Neera already has it scribed, but has yes to try casting it).
So this will be interesting to try because, while riskier for the casters than Sleep, three arcane casters all spraying color fans should knock out entire low level mobs. The question is how to keep Oracos, Neera, and Eldoth relatively safe when they step up unleash the spell.
I think the best way to do this is probably using summoned monsters. Some of them will get knocked out by the spray. But as they'll still be the closest targets until killed.
Oracos and Neera can also use Blur and Mirror Image, and Eldoth can don the Cloak of Displacement. (The Boots of Avoidance, and Girdle of Piercing left with Khalid and Jaheira.)
Now I just need to think of a number of encounters where three casters using Color Spray appears to succeed brilliantly. And then roll for whether Eldoth has heard about them/knows where to find them.
From a roleplaying vantage, this would assume that Eldoth has some knowledge of the past affair between Arkion and Nemphre, and Nempre's relationship to Ordulinian, however limited.
I'm not quite sure how the roleplay for this would really play out as to finer points.
I'm trying to walk a fine line here between metagame knowledge and roleplay. But in the case of an evil street-smart urban bard who wants to take leadership of the party, wouldn't he have some roguish inside knowledge of what's going on in the Gate?
Also, I think it reasonable to assume that as an evil rogue, Eldoth is fairly well acquainted with the sewers.
Ordulinian is a fixture at Sorcerous Sundries. It seems likely that a bard who lives in BG city would chat with him, and in so doing learn a bit about him. So I wanted to give this slightly better than a 50% chance re: whether Eldoth knows of the love triangle Ordulinian's interest in Arkion and Nemphre. Thus, using the WotC die roller I rolled a 1d3 such that 1 = Eldoth knows nothing of Arkion and Nemphre, and 2 or 3 = he does. I rolled a 2. As to whether Eldoth knows that a corpse is available via the SW city sewer entrance, I followed the same method and rolled a 3.
So I will commence with this quest.
I don't think I've ever even done this quest... If Arkion and Nemphre go hostile, I hope that Color Spray works against them should Eldoth direct the party to use it against either mage. Other spells will be available as well, of course. I really don't know if Eldoth would regard Color Spray as a "go-to" spell for mage encounters versus mobs. But he does receive a solid B grade for tactical knowledge...
Edit: Interesting that in all these years I've never done this one! Because it isn't clear at all to me from walkthroughs how to link Arkion's, Nemphre's, and Ordulinian's quests together into a coherent storyline I admit that I took a look at it from another saved game. And I'm glad that found this thread:
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/1904/bg1-bug-easytutu-cleanup-aka-nemphre-ordulian-and-petrine-s-cat-angel
which addresses some EE bugs to the Arkion/Nemphre/Ordulinian combination of quests. Because I decided to sample this in the other game and found that Nemphre does not have a pickpocketable onyx ring, nor does she drop one if killed. So I will have to RP that it is pickpockted and CLUA it. The item code for her ring is OHRING12.
Arkion does has a quest item amulet that can be pickpocketed, on the other hand.
It looks like Ordulinian should initiate the quest. Then one gets quests from both Arkion and Nemphre.
I'm not really sure how Eldoth makes a convincing case to agree to Arkion's quest (the meta-game reason for which is to demonstrate the effectiveness of Color Spray versus Sleep)...
Once at the Elfsong Tavern we got a room in which we could watch over Eldoth. He first mentally rearranged his spellbook and then wincingly placed the ring on his finger. Upon so doing his jaw went slack, the gleam of intelligence left his eyes. He literally drooled.
We took turns watching him, three of us at a time. It turned out not to be necessary to tie him up, however. He had no real comprehension of anything, but he remained docile. Praises be to the gods that the he still evidently grasped the concept of a chamber pot.
After a full day had passed I used the scroll to remove the cursed ring from Eldoth’s finger. His countenance then returned to normal. Eldoth drew a deep breath and shook his head, as if shaking out cobwebs from a deep slumber. Thankfully for him, he noted, he had no recollection of the effects of the Discipliner.
[Note this takes place in-game at Day 53, 19 hours.]
“Naturally, I’m going to hold you to your end of our wager, Oracos,” Eldoth stated acerbically.
I attempted to mask my true feeling by appearing to take this development in stride. But I expect that my consternation at this shone through nevertheless.
“Yes,” I responded calmly. “I am a man of my word. You shall be at the helm for the next nine days—one having already passed…
“But bear in mind, the members of this band are ever free to do as they wish. They are neither your slaves nor subordinates. We have all joined together willingly, and are held together by the bonds formed from shared adventure. I would venture to say that not a single soul among us would follow you simply because you declare yourself to be ‘in charge’.”
“Is your little speech finished?” Eldoth asked with feigned politeness.
“Yes,” I answered quietly.
“Of course everything you say is true. I grant you every word of it. My point is that the party suffers from poor leadership in crucial areas that I am better equipped to provide. It is painfully evident, for example, that you know nothing of battle tactics. It is truly a wonder that you have survived this long. So I will select some challenges for us that will demonstrate my superior skills in that area.
“And while I do agree that we might as well investigate the Seven Suns trading coster and collect two-thousand gold from Scar for the job, we must aim higher and think bigger. We should seek out other much more lucrative enterprises. This party is not to be trifled with. And there is much treasure to be acquired. Under my stewardship I shall grow our wealth tenfold… More, actually. Far more.”
“Spoken like a true politician, Eldoth,” quipped Faldorn. “No doubt we’ll see you one day seated among the grand dukes.”
Eldoth gazed back at her unfazed, and with nonchalance simply stated, “That is entirely possible. I’m grateful for the confidence you have expressed in me. Truly I am,” he said.
“I will demonstrate my skills as field general in due time,” Eldoth boasted. “But my first command for the group will be to do a good deed. My friend Ordulinian—who is also a good friend of Halabazer Drin; he’s that red-headed elf with the war hammer you’ve seen him milling about the shop—has told me of a rather strange matter regarding two local mages. Their names are Arkion and Nemphre. Each desires a piece of jewelry that the other possesses.
“Now, Ordulinian maintains that there is nothing unusual about these items. But this of course cannot be true. They must have enchantments upon them; and in addition they probably also serve as components for a spell recipe as well. Why do I suspect this? Because Ordulinian wants them!
“Arkion is a necromancer who performs foul experiments with corpses. From what I have been able to gather from Ordulinian, Arkion requires a corpse in order to active the magic for the special piece of jewelry that he has, the one that Ordulinian wants. Nemphre I do not know much about, but she is said to be a master of the blackest magic, and most sinister in her uses of it. If we are to acquire the jewelry items that Ordulinian seeks, he has promised a handsome reward.”
“So what is the good deed that we will be doing?” Faldorn asked.
“I’m getting to that,” said Eldoth dryly. “These two wizards are evil. We will probably have to take their lives in order to get the items that Ordulinian seeks. But surely the fair city of Baldur’s Gate will be better off from their departure from this plane.
“And what of Ordulinian’s character?” asked Faldorn. “What if he is even worse than the two wizards?”
“A fair question,” Eldoth responded. “But you are certainly free to go to Sorcerous Sundries to try to determine that for yourself. I shall wait here, if you wish to do so, however.”
Faldorn then stated that she would indeed go next door to Sorcerous Sundries for this purpose, and Imoen and I joined her as Eldoth, Neera, and Coran relaxed a bit longer at the inn.
The elf wished not to speak with us, beyond simply wishing us peace and stating he was quite busy. We mentioned Eldoth, and Ordulinian redirected us to then to speak with the bard himself. He wasn’t hostile or nasty about it. But he ignored us after that. Faldorn cast a spell to know his heart which did not succeed. But she then cast a spell by which to see evil in others. It revealed none for Ordulinian.
We returned to the others at the Elfsong. During the short walk Faldorn made her intentions known.
“Oracos, I will accompany you for this one scheme of Eldoth’s. I do so because frankly I do not expect Eldoth’s bid for leadership to succeed. As you know, I am not following anyone. My mission is to learn everything I can about the Iron Throne, defilers of my beloved Cloakwood. I am not an adventurer in search treasure, fame, or fortune. I am the faithful protector of a sacred wood.
“During the time that we embark on this quest that Eldoth claims is for Ordulinian, I ask you to think about whether you shall assert yourself and expel Eldoth, or continue with me. And it is well that you have Imoen with you as I say this, since I’m sure that she will remain at your side.”
I could see the consternation in Imoen’s face at this. Yet as we looked at each other in response, it seemed clear that we both respected Faldorn’s wisdom and character immeasurably more than Eldoth’s. It was just saddening that it had come down to such a choice. Imoen and I both agreed that it was a fair condition for Faldorn to impose.
It would break our hearts to see an end to the collaboration that we had enjoyed since coming together in the Cloakwood. We would see how Eldoth fared as party leader during this quest. If he performs poorly then that should make it easier to advise the others that Eldoth must leave. If Eldoth performs well, however, then it could end up that Coran and Neera may wish to continue with Eldoth rather than us. Or they may simply wish to continue with him because of his winning personality, swagger, and roguish schemes. But again, that would make us very sad. We both had grown very fond of Coran and Neera. (We laughed also that we even had to admit that we liked Eldoth! Although in the balance, for me, it will be a relief to see him leave if he persists in challenging me for leadership.)
I asked Imoen to keep this amongst the three of us, and she solemnly agreed.
We returned to the Elfsong and had a seat with our companions.
“Satisfied?” asked Eldoth.
“I could find no obvious reason to confirm my doubts,” said Faldorn.
“Shall I lead on then?” Eldoth asked politely.
“By all means,” I stated. “Which mage shall we visit first?”
“Why don’t you cast your runes, Oracos?” Neera offered.
I stated that I would gladly do so.
[Red card = Nemphre, black card = Arkion. Result: black card. The party will visit Arkion first.]
I cast the runes and the answer was clear that we should visit the necromancer Arkion first. I advised the others of the result.
Eldoth said that before we leave he wanted us to rearrange our spell books and rest to memorize them as such. For me, he directed that I memorize remove two memorizations of the Slumber spell and replace them with Fan of Colors. For Neera he told her to remove the spells which attempted to shape wild magic and concentrate on Cone of Color and Fear.
Neera appeared to pout a bit at this, and didn’t seem to like being told what to do. We dutifully complied however. Eldoth did even bother attempting to tell Faldorn what he wished for her to memorize. Rather than face a challenge to his authority he ignored her.
And so after resting to reorder our spell books as such we walked to Arkion’s home, which it turned out was only a block away. The necromancer sure enough was in need of a crew to fetch him a corpse by any means. He certainly seemed an evil man, as he said he cared not at all how the corpses came, implying that if we were simply go and murder someone for a corpse then so be it.
We then traveled a ways through the city; for Eldoth said that someone would need extraordinary Strength, and we might be able to help ourselves such a potion when the owner of a potion shop in the southwestern section of the city wasn’t looking. We found the potion shop, but it turned out not to have any strength-enhancing potions in stock. Eldoth then announced that he had nevertheless prepared a casting of the Strongman spell. So all was well, he smiled.
Along the way Neera asked Imoen ‘why the long face’. Imoen mumbled something inaudible and then in a more upbeat mood changed the subject, seeming to rally.
We walked a short distance, and stopped to stand before a sewer grate in front of the Seven Suns trading coster (the one which Scar had hired us to investigate). Eldoth then proceeded to tell us that the sewer below is very dangerous, since all manner of monsters crawl it and make their home there. He stated that if we come upon enemies he would call out what to do.
Eldoth directed that one standard tactic we were to use, however, was that if Eldoth yelled the word “spray” then he, Neera, and I would all three of use stand side-by-side and emit the Color Fan spell from our fingertips. Eldoth cautioned that Coran, Faldorn, and Imoen however must quickly get themselves behind us before we cast the spell—else they will get knocked unconscious by it along with the enemy. Eldoth continued that if the spell appeared to be working for some of the enemy but not all fell, then we would use it again.
Beyond that he provided us one word signals that he wished for us to use for other spells, and our wands and scrolls, which he would direct during battle. Coran and Imoen would use their bows, unless directed otherwise.
He did not even address what Faldorn should do. When Imoen asked Eldoth about that, he said that she should simply ‘not get in the way’. However Eldoth thought for a moment after saying this and added that if at any time she were to summon a dread wolf ‘that would be fine’.
Eldoth said that he has spotted a corpse recently a short distance from where we were entering. He asked if we were all prepared, and we all nodded.
“Keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you, then. As always, Coran will scout ahead,” Eldoth said. I have to admit that we all felt a strange mix of foreboding and excitement as we removed the grate and descended down into the sewer.
Immediately after we had all made our way down the iron hand and foot rungs we were beset by a band of hideous shambling undead creatures of all manner of race. Their leader was a huge acidic puddle of slime that spoke with me mentally, knew my name, and knew that I was from Candlekeep! He referred to me as “a child of books” and “a child of fate” —apparently knowing that I am a Diviner who casts runes and uses the stars to divine omens. He seemed to know that others have been trying to kill us. He mentioned that long ago he had a human form as a mage and had been to Candlekeep, but had since transcended the human form to what he was now. He then beckoned me to approach him in order that he may feed upon me!
Eldoth gave the “spray” command. But by the time we had lined up, one of their number managed to just slip past in front of the Color Fans we shot forth. To my amazement all the others in the enemy’s band however collapsed in a heap, unconscious.
The jelly however was impervious to the spell. The creature first spat acid at Neera, who after being seriously injured by it retreated behind Coran. However from there Neera cast the spell to make an enemy believe that she was a terrible threat, which did seem to work. Eldoth also ordered her to use her Terror wand over the unconscious creatures and the ooze. I also cast the spell over them as well as added insurance.
Faldorn summoned a wolf to hold the ooze at bay.
Then we focused on the undead halfling that hadn’t succumbed to the Spray of Colors. Coran drew his long sword and Faldorn swung her club, and we battled the undead creature who had managed to close in on us. Neera used the spell to make the creature physically weary of limb. Eldoth shot his poisoned arrows at it, but it was unclear if the creature was immune to poison. In any event we finally killed it.
Imoen ran to Neera to give her a healing potion, since she was obviously sickened by the acid from the ooze, and complaining of feeling very weak. I took some acid from the slime as well, although my injury was less severe than Neera’s.
As Eldoth directed, we trained our missiles upon the unconscious enemies and, one by one, we killed them all—except now for the ooze and one of the creatures to the rear of the ooze that had been rendered unconscious awoke but Horrified. I Blinded him for good measure and we pumped him full of missiles as well until he was slain.
This left only the jelly, which seemed utterly unfazed by our weapons and spells. Eldoth then called for Coran to toss him the potion of fire breath. He bravely walked up to the creature (who was preoccupied with the wolf still) and used it to breathe a jet of flame that did indeed seem to injure the slime quite badly. Eldoth then called for us to retreat and asked Coran to toss him potions of explosion. He lobbed one (Faldorn ordered her summoned wolf to flee when she saw Eldoth do this) and we were hopeful that the flame would finish the creature off. But the explosion seemed not to damage the ooze at all.
Eldoth then commanded us to climb back up out of the sewer, as the wolf continued to keep the creature occupied.
First Eldoth sent Coran to the potion shop because his boots could get him there the fastest. He told Coran explicitly: see if the shop has a potion of fire breath. Coran returned moments later and reported that they did not. However, they did have two oils of fiery burning which cost over 700 gold each.
Eldoth puzzled over the fact that the second explosive potion failed to have an effect. Or at least seemed to… He then quickly ordered that we return back down and try tossing the other one. Once we made our way back down, Faldorn ordered her wolf to move away. But the wolf could only ignore its instincts for a few moments before again attacking the ooze—and in so doing it took damage from the explosion. However this time the slime seemed definitely to be afflicted by the fire. Perhaps near death, or so we hoped.
Eldoth then ordered us back up to the street so that we could purchase more explosive potions. He told Coran to give him his boots and for me to give him the scroll of Friendly Influence. Eldoth sped off and returned in only moments. “Down we go!” he ordered. As we descended he told that he purchased only one of the two fiery oil potions because that should be enough.
Once again Faldorn ordered her wolf ally far away as Eldoth hurled the potion. But once again the wolf was harmed by the explosion. The ooze was again damaged by the fire, but apparently still hanging on to life by a thread.
Eldoth sighed, and lowered his head. “Okay, once again then,” he said flatly but with a slight hint of real exasperation.
This time when we exited to the surface Faldorn and I carried the wolf and we healed it as Eldoth ran to buy the last available potion of fiery oil at the shop around the corner. He was of course back in a flash. And down we went for what we hoped was the final assault. This time Eldoth commanded us all to retreat since the ooze was very slow moving. And Faldorn kept the wolf by her side.
Eldoth offered a hurried prayer that I could not quite make out and hurled the potion. When the smoke cleared we could see that the slime was finally dead!
The treasure from the creatures was minor, a bit of gold.
Eldoth did indeed find the foul corpse which he had believed would still be there, and cast the Strengthening spell upon himself. He steeled himself to grab the thing, and slung the bloated corpse over his shoulder. It was a good thing that he was still wearing Coran’s boots, because we had him stay well ahead of us due to the corpse’s stench.
We reached Arkion’s home, and provided him the corpse, for which he paid 250 gold. Just outside the door as we left Eldoth advised that we should rest while Arkion presumably uses the corpse to activate the necklace that Ordulinian had described was in his possession, which would be made of bloodstones.
And so we did just that. In the morning we returned to pay a visit to Arkion, with Eldoth asking him whether he needed any more corpses. He said he didn’t, but prior to our entering I spied Eldoth draining a potion to heighten his cutpurse skills. Eldoth got close and told him how much he admired the tailoring of his robes, adjusting the shoulders for him. Arkion seemed visibly uncomfortable at this momentarily. But Eldoth then whispered something in his ear, and the necromancer relaxed and went to the next room and started pouring over his scrolls. Eldoth then quietly told Coran to sneak upstairs, taking caution to avoid being seen lest anyone is up there, and scout for belongings. Eldoth winked at us. Perhaps seeing a look of concern about being in the dark as to what was happening, he queried “What’s your worry?” Then he calmly bade me to relax. Everything was well under control, he said. “Arkion and I have worked out an arrangement,” Eldoth said.
Coran soon returned. Eldoth asked Imoen to check the chest downstairs for traps, and we discovered it wasn’t even locked. Inside it was an enchanted shield and some gold. Eldoth then asked the rest of us to step outside as he and Arkion concluded business.
Eldoth stepped out in a few moments whistling a jaunty tune. “Business completed,” he said in a sing-song voice.
[Inside Eldoth used the nymph cloak to charm Arkion. Then after the party had stepped outside he ordered Arkion to cast Lightning on himself. When Arkion turned hostile Eldoth used the cloak on him again. And this time he had Arkion finish himself off with Magic Missile. Eldoth gathered up his belongings and left.]
“Now let us visit Nemphre,” Eldoth said as continued whistling his tune. Nemphre lived right next door it turned out! Eldoth entered and introduced himself politely, placing us at Nemphre’s service. She responded that word had evidently gotten out that she sought an item in the possession of Arkion, a necklace of bloodstones. And she flirted with Eldoth as she made the offer. Eldoth leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear, and she giggled softly. Eldoth then asked to please step outside while he negotiated with her.
Again we did as the bard asked. Several moments later Eldoth asked by Imoen and Coran to please step inside. In but a few moments all three of them exited and Eldoth seemed in excellent spirits.
[Here again Eldoth used the nymph cloak to charm Nemphre. He didn’t even bother pickpocketing her first—he just killed her in the same manner. Eldoth brought in Imoen and Coran for traps and locks, but it turned out neither was needed. Before doing this he shoved Nemphre’s body in the wardrobe that held the Cloak of Protection +1, after removing her valuables.]
“Ah, how I love the art of the deal,” he said, inhaling vigorously. “And on such a beautiful sunny morn as this!” Eldoth seemed to be on top of the world. “I have big plans for us, my friends. Big plans.” Then he smiled at me and waived me forward in a gesture of civility. “Come let us go speak with Ordulinian to receive our reward.
On the walk to Sorcerous Sundries Imoen pulled up alongside me and whispered in a rush, “Oracos, I definitely smelt burnt flesh in there! An’ I saw charred marks on the walls. He said we didn’t have to bother looking in the wardrobe!”
Odd, I reflected, since Eldoth had sold his lightning wand…
When we arrived at Sorcerous Sundries Eldoth bade a hearty welcome to Ordulinian, who seemed pleased to see him. “I have your items, my friend,” Eldoth said with a broad smile and a pat on his shoulder. They completed their transaction and Ordulinian handed him a gray cloak.
“Very nice, Ordulinian. I thank you so much,” Eldoth said in return.
[I had to use EEKeeper for this item and the 3500 XP for the party, since Ordulinian’s quest completion dialogue didn’t fire in-game.]
And then Eldoth handed me a cloak that he was unable to identify and asked me to do the honors. I cast the spell to find that it offered protection from all types of attacks. It was a valuable cloak to be sure.
I asked Eldoth if he had procured anything further and he thought for a moment. Then he responded that in fact he had traded for two robes, one which shields against lighting and the other against cold magics.
“I’m just curious. What did you offer in exchange?” I asked Eldoth.
Eldoth thought for a moment, pursing his lips. “The promise of infinitely deeper knowledge into their art,” he answered. “In fact I offered them an opportunity to invest in the most profound experience of a lifetime. With respect to their greatest passion it was the most meaningful thing I feel I could have offered. But you needn’t worry yourselves about it,” Eldoth smiled.
Eldoth said proudly that the cloak I had identified, alone, was worth 2500 gold. With the other cloak he was given as a reward by Ordulinian, the shield, and the two mage robes, plus some gold, he said the total was probably around… 4100 gold or so.
“Not bad for a day’s work, eh?” Eldoth grinned happily.
“Well, let’s not forget that we spent about 1100 on the two fiery oil potions,” I reminded Eldoth. “So the total is actually something closer to 3000. But I grant you that is still impressive.”
“Hmm. Very well. But yes, it is impressive,” Eldoth agreed, but with a tone of annoyance. “I shall keep the cloak that Ordulinian gave me. But we may as well sell off the other things now.”
“Should we see if anyone wants to use the protective cloak I just identified? Neera could use it for example. Particularly since you have her casting spells on the front line now,” I reminded Eldoth.
“Oh, how rude of me! But of course. Quite right,” Eldoth said. “Yes my dear, you should have the cloak,”” Eldoth said nonchalantly.
Neera seemed positively giddy at her ‘gift’. “Eldoth, thank you! I love it!” she exclaimed excitedly.
“Think nothing of it, dear one. There will be plenty more like it,” Eldoth responded blithely. Then Eldoth seemed buoyed by a particular thought.
“Did I not prove my point about the Color Spray spell, Oracos? And did I not acquit myself admirably as our field general?” Edloth asked me—apparently sincerely.
“Aye, you did prove that the spell can be very effective. I must admit that I was impressed. But as you well know I am but a Diviner, not a field general. Still, I do grant you that you were effective in that role, Eldoth,” I responded.
“You are a bigger man than I expected to say so, Oracos,” said Eldoth, with a slap to my back. “And I have much more in store for us over the next tenday,” Eldoth continued. “I believe that we can amass a great deal of wealth. Our plan for tomorrow—“
But here I cut Eldoth off. “—I’ve been meaning to speak to you about that Eldoth,” I interrupted. “There has been a change in our plans.”
Eldoth blinked. If this placed him momentarily off balance he instantly recovered. He smiled and asked slowly, “A change in plan, you say?” And then his face grew a bit darker. “You are reneging on our wager?”
“The wager no longer has any meaning. The party you were to lead is no more,” I responded.
Neera looked quite anxious at this statement. I could see from Coran’s initial frown that he was at first unhappy with this turn of events. But he seemed to make peace with an inward decision of his own after a moment, and relaxed.
In the meantime, Eldoth’s eyes widened in mock surprise. “Really? How so, Oracos? Do tell us.”
“I, Imoen, and Faldorn are going our own way. Coran, Neera, you are invited to join us if you wish. We would be honored to have you continue to journey with us,” I said with a look of sadness and deeply felt respect toward both of them.
Neera was visibly disturbed by this development. She looked mournfully at Imoen, clearly communicating a wish not to leave her best friend and confidante. Yet it seemed just as clear that she was deeply captivated by Eldoth’s charms.
Coran, on the other hand, grabbed my hand in a forearm elven handshake and laughed heartily. He then looked at me like I have always imagined brothers in arms on the battle field must. “Oracos, I know Tymora will bless you on your journey. But you know I crave the excitement borne of the pursuit of treasure. I wish you well my brother.” I hugged Coran in response, as did Imoen, who was now close to crying. “You as well little sister,” he said to Imoen, giving her a kiss on the forehead. He also sincerely thanked Faldorn for her poise, wits, and valor in adventuring alongside her; to which she nodded in appreciation and with a look in kind in her eyes.
Neera said nothing. But she then moved to hug Imoen as if for dear life. Perhaps she sensed that given the dangers she knew we faced, it may be the last time that the two of them might ever see one another.
“As to the treasure purse, Diviner… I think that since you are electing to leave that it should be ours to keep. Coran’s, Neera’s, and mine that is.”
I laughed at this, albeit a bit nervously. “We will split it down the middle,” I replied calmly. “But you may certainly keep the spoils of the adventure that you just led, as our gift to you.”
Eldoth seemed to struggle for a moment, with his cloaked head turned down. But then he slowly looked up at me with a most evil and malicious grin.
[Does Eldoth use the nymph cloak on Oracos? Black card = no.]
At this moment, Coran put his hand gently but firmly on Eldoth’s arm to get his attention, and gave him a look that signaled ‘don’t you dare’. Picking up on the tension that a fight may be about to erupt, Neera sidled up to Eldoth and cooed “Let them have their half, love. Like you said there’s plenty more coming our way, right? We’re only talking about… what is it… about 1500 gold? It’s nothing.”
Eldoth then seemed visibly to relax. It looked as though he appeared satisfied at having captured the prize chess pieces that he actually wanted. I could only imagine what might be going through his twisted mind. But perhaps he weighed out that attacking me would instantly lose the support he had just managed to secure from his two new party members.
We then divided up our two shares of the gold. There was but one garnet gem in Imoen’s jewel bag, which Eldoth scoffed about as trivial (the bag which incidentally was originally Neera’s; but she said nothing about it to Eldoth, apparently wanting Imoen to have it).
Everyone’s individual possessions of course remained their own.
With one last round of hugs between Coran, Neera, Imoen, and I, we then said our farewells. And then Imoen, Faldorn, and I walked out of the Elfsong Tavern with half the party that we entered with likely never to be seen by us again.
When Eldoth sent (charmed) Arkion into the next room it was to the kitchen area on the left, and he had Arkion face into the corner. The Lightning spell was neatly contained as such. However with Nemphre, Eldoth sent her instead into the larger living room to the right. Eldoth followed the same routine spell-wise, but this time the lightning ricochet bounced around and... yes... killed Eldoth, lol.
I was just about to write Eldoth out of the party anyway, since it was obvious that the internal dynamics clearly could not withstand having Eldoth in charge for another eight days.
So with this development, the party either 1) would not have raised him; because Oracos, Faldorn, and Imoen would vote against it; or, more likely 2) would have raised Eldoth, but before doing so held a vote to kick him out of the party.
Of course Coran and Neera would then have to decide who they would side with, between Oracos and Eldoth. And I felt pretty strongly from the roleplayed perspective that the two of them would side with Eldoth. Eldoth has 18 Cha with the cloak, remember. For Coran, Eldoth offers more thrill from bold adventures that promise treasure. And Neera is infatuated with Eldoth.
So since Eldoth was leaving the party anyway, I felt it was just more aesthetically pleasing, and more elegantly simple, for the story to instead have him succeed with his caper and steal two party members in the more streamlined way that it was presented.
Summary point: If I had accepted Eldoth's death to the lightning ricochet it would be the same outcome but with even more writing!
But Yeslick is a shoe-in, which is a boon to me strategically as a player.
And I think the party has learned it's lesson about adding anyone of evil disposition. Even if Yeslick knows of Tiax (that's a card flip) he would not recommend him.
Dorn was presumed to be a mercenary for hire although they elected not to approach him (card flip) because Oracos got a bad vibe from him... They might still approach him now. But after Faldorn casts Know Alignment or Detect Evil, I'm sure he will be a no-go.
Coran and Eldoth never told the party about Alora. And they would in fact now go pick her up and add her to Eldoth's new party, anyway. So she will no longer be there in the the Lady's House.
The party has previously encountered Rasaad and Minsc (though they did not speak with Minsc, as they presumed him to be a mentally unstable sell-sword).
Ajantis died.
They didn't notice Quayle (per card flip). There will be another opportunity for that, though, when they head south in search of new party members. Here they will be actively looking for a party member to recruit. But will they see Quayle as someone they'd want to add? His Cha is 6 and his social skills are abysmal! Somehow, with the new heightened appreciation of the impact of the character/personality that a destructive party member can have, I anticipate them passing on Quayle, even if they do speak with him.
Beyond that, the party hasn't ventured into the areas where they would encounter the other NPCs.
So I think after picking up Yeslick it's going to come down to a return visit to Nashkel. At that point Quayle might be in the party... which would leave one slot. If they pass on Quayle then there's two more slots.
From a strategic viewpoint as a player, the strongest party I can now assemble would be to add Yeslick, Minsc, and Dynaheir. But I'm just going to have to let this play out via roleplay and 'the Fates'.
I really felt that Eldoth would not continue to be a passive follower in a party like this. Maybe in an evil party with much stronger personalities he could settle with a supporting role, but that's not what we had. Eldoth would see Oracos as weak. And as such, the opportunity to exploit a situation that had presented itself: the promise of acquiring great treasure using the skills of the party.
Another big factor was that the nymph cloak actually makes its wearer insanely powerful. I can't tell you how relieved I was as a player when I turned a black suit card for whether Eldoth would use the cloak on Oracos in that final interaction between them. There's no way that, eventually, Eldoth would have not used the cloak to make Oracos leave the party, even if he did not kill Oracos off as he had just done with Arkion and Nemphre. (Killing Oracos would have risked alienating Coran and Neera. So, tactically, Eldoth would've probably instead just have made Oracos hand over his belongings, make him depart, and then run after him and away from the others slip the Discipliner onto his finger. ) Faldorn of course would not remain with Eldoth at the helm, and Eldoth surely realized this. But he might have used the cloak to kill her off just for evil satisfaction, though. Not sure what he would have done with Imoen, but perhaps he would have made her get caught pickpocketing and be thrown in jail just so that she would be unable to help Oracos (who would be wandering the streets in a stupor, unable to function).
Anyway, the more I ran with what Eldoth would be about in challenging Oracos for leadership, and the fact that Eldoth is truly evil... plus Faldorn's imperative to complete her own mission for the Shadow Druids... there was no way that that equation could ever balance out.
Mind you, Oracos isn't interested being a hero, or wandering around doing good deeds for humanity. He's just trying to survive. But given that Eldoth and Faldorn forced a choice, it is a clear one for him not to allow Eldoth to usurp his (egalitarian-style) leadership of the party.
Either way it'll probably be a nice change of pace for you to see dominant Eldoth and some of his adherents leave, and to work with a couple of new faces in the party. It will surely create a different group dynamic.
[As the party says their final goodbyes, does Coran slip the rogue stone he stole at the High Hall of Wonders into Imoen’s gem bag as a parting gift? Red card = yes.]
As we stepped outside the Elfsong Tavern a thunderstorm began to gently rain upon us, although it was so muggy that it felt a bit of a relief.
“A cleansing and nurturing rain,” said Faldorn with a gentle smile. “A good omen, I should think.”
I noted that, strangely, I had to agree. I was even a little surprised at how much better I felt. The thunder clapped loudly and the rain then began falling harder. So we sought shelter momentarily under the roofed stable area adjacent to the Elfsong.
We had just a little over 1600 gold. I reported to the others my inventory of personal resources, which included my wand of Paralysis (which still held six charges) and six scrolls: one for protection against evil foes, one to prevent the target from being turned to stone, a scroll to make the user’s skin as tough as stone, and three single-use protection scrolls for magic, poison, and fire, respectively. I had a potion to boost intelligence when scribing spells. My Traveler’s Robe, a staff, and some darts. Oh, and the Ring of Evermemory, of course. That was it.
Imoen continued to look downcast about the disbanding of our party as I shared my report. She went next. “I got the bow we got from Rodgok. And a short sword that’s better-made than most. I got the stealthy-boots. My studded leather’s in good shape—and I got an amulet that makes it a bit tougher. I got one healing potion. Other than that, I got regular arrows and our gem bag… which has a garnet...”
She fished her hand down into the bag to produce it. And suddenly her face brightened into a smile.
“...Aaaaanndd… this!” she exclaimed, pulling a perfectly smooth, beautifully multicolored hen’s egg sized rogue stone from the bag.
We all laughed at this delightful surprise.
“Did you pickpocket it from them, Imoen?” I asked incredulously, marveling at the gem’s exquisite luster and hue.
“No! I’m no good at that cut-purse stuff. You know that,” she said with a good-natured sigh. “But we emptied the bag before we divided up the gold. So either Neera or Coran musta slipped it in there before we left…” Imoen speculated.
“I suppose we’ll never know which of them did it. But it certainly helps, doesn’t it?” I laughed.
This buoyed our spirits tremendously, though the sadness we felt at separation from Coran and Neera would surely linger for a long time to come. The gift of the rogue stone made it all the more bittersweet.
Faldorn shared that she had little by way of material resources herself. She had her enchanted club that strikes harder at night, and the enchanted buckler that improves her stamina. Her studded leather was of excellent quality. She had one healing potion and her darts. “And most importantly, the blessings of the Oak Father,” she smiled. “He will show us his favor. You shall see,” she said.
“Well, my friends… Mind you, I feel a little wary about this after what we just experienced… But shall we attempt to increase our number again?”
“Yes, I think it would be wise to,” Faldorn said confidently. “It is clear that we shall have to choose carefully, however,” she added.
“I wholeheartedly agree,” I smiled. “Please have you spells to determine the character of the person ready,” I reminded her. She stated that she already did.
“I would recommend that we seek out the dwarf that we rescued from the Cloakwood mine,” Faldorn said. “He and I shall have a talk about mining and the sanctity of forests. But I wish to learn what he knows about the Iron Throne. And I sense that his simple and humble character may be exactly what this party now needs to restore the Balance for our group. We should at last explore the possibility. He is at Jopalin’s Tavern, if I recall correctly?”
I answered that that was indeed where we found him. We looked to Imoen, who seemed pleased with the idea. “He seemed friendly. I liked him,” she said.
And so it was agreed that we would seek out the dwarf at Jopalin’s taven, whose name none of us could recall at the moment. But who could become the fourth member of our new band if it seemed well enough, and Providence smiled upon us.
A Cleric of Clangeddin
The rain let up a bit as we strolled to Jopalin’s. By the time we arrived it had nigh but stopped.
Fortunately we found the dwarf we believed to be the same one we had met at the Cloakwood mine tucked away in the far corner of the pub, nursing an ale by the fire and rubbing his thigh. It was the same dwarf, and his name was Yeslick. He was an alaghar, a cleric of Clangeddin.
We chatted with him for a while. Yeslick explained that while healing a dockhand he was accidentally hit by a crate swinging from a crane, and had a badly bruised leg.
Yeslick’s faith provided something our adventuring band was missing. Clangeddin is the dwarven god of battle. The god inspires dwarves to acts of tremendous bravery in battle, and Yeslick was clearly one who likes to fight hand-to-hand. Not since Khalid had been among us did we have a fighter who truly belongs on the front line.
The cleric reported that Jopalin had been allowing him to sleep in a storeroom in exchange for healing occasional kitchen injuries to his staff. And similarly, on the docks Yeslick was healing sailing crews as needed upon their return from sea voyages, for which some captains were rewarding him with food (mostly fish that Jopalin let him cook in his kitchen) and an extra small keg now and then. This was a temporary situation, however. Yeslick was looking to rebuild his life. He said he was merely waiting patiently to be guided by Moradin to the next step.
Faldorn cast her priestly spell upon Yeslick to know his moral character, and she smiled in response to what she saw. She nodded to me that Yeslick had easily passed that test.
It turned out that Yeslick had considerable information to share about the Iron Throne. Yeslick related that his clan, the Orothiars, had operated the mine prosperously until a century ago, when an underground river next to the mine flooded it. The priest was nearly moved to tears as he recounted that all but a handful of his clan were drowned on that terrible day. And of course the mine was lost.
Yeslick then moved to Sembia to ply his smithing skills in that land. And it was there that he met a high ranking member of the Iron Throne, Rieltar, who hired him as his personal blacksmith. Rieltar treated Yeslick as a friend as well, and garnered Yeslick’s confidence. Rieltar however duplicitously used the information he acquired from Yeslick for the Iron Throne drain and repair the mine, and resume its operations. Rieltar lured Yeslick to the mine and held him captive there, torturing out of him the mine’s structural design secrets in order to erect a magically enhanced door to prevent keep the underground river at bay. The rest we already knew.
Yeslick emphasized that he felt he had disgraced and dishonored his clan’s memory by being duped, and unwittingly aiding the Iron Throne to wreak such havoc on the Sword Coast. Yeslick was now a sworn enemy of the Iron Throne, and Rieltar in particular. Nothing would please him more than to right the wrongs he was deceived and tortured into participating in. He profusely thanked us again for what we had done to thwart the Iron Throne, and for saving the miners.
I excused us so that Imoen, Faldorn, and I could take a moment to confer amongst ourselves. As we did so, I expressed to the others that I felt the dwarven priest would be a strong addition to our party.
Faldorn noted that while it seems that the dwarf’s moral center is good, it seems obvious that he is gullible—and he appears to be not terribly bright. “He is freely sharing information with us that would have been wiser to withhold until he knew more about us, for example,” Faldorn noted. Although she added that on the basis of our deeds at the mine, we must seem clearly to be enemies of his enemy. So she could understand his lack of wariness in this particular case.
Faldorn added that, in the interest of completing her mission for her order, she would not let fact that Yeslick and his clan had so grievously wounded Mother Earth in her sacred forest interfere. She and Yeslick would undoubtedly have some discussions about the subject, she said. But she said she felt that the two of them could work together in sharing a common enemy, the Iron Throne.
We returned to the dwarf and Faldorn asked Yeslick, “You are right under the nose of the Iron Throne every day here on the docks. None of their spies have tried to kill you?”
Yeslick responded this was true, and something that he had not considered. He posited that the Iron Throne must be unconcerned about him if they knew of him.
“Or you are minnow to them that they hope to catch larger fish with,” Faldorn quipped. And I knew that Faldorn referred to us.
“The Iron Throne must surely know that we are here as well, though…” I observed.
“True,” Faldorn acknowledged. Faldorn closed her eyes and perhaps to tune into her powers of intuition, or was praying for guidance, or both.
After a long moment opened her eyes and she calmly advised that she was satisfied that it was alright for the dwarf to join us.
Imoen also gave a strong endorsement. She added that having an older person along with us helped her not miss Puffgutts and Gorion so much. “He looks like someone we can trust,” she said in conclusion.
And so it was agreed. We approached Yeslick and asked him if he would consider joining us in our quest to gather more information about the Iron Throne.
Yeslick was extremely pleased at the offer, and enthusiastically agreed. He stated that he would need to heal his leg first, so we should rest before embarking.
It turned out that Yeslick had no belongings other the clothes on his back. So after resting we would have to buy some equipment for him.
Before resting, I told Yeslick that we had made the Flaming Fist aware of the role of the Iron Throne in the iron shortage, and they said they would investigate. However their second highest ranking leader, Scar, had currently given us another mission to investigate: odd behavior on the part of the Seven Suns trading coster. I also advised Yeslick that we were seeking two more members to join our band before continuing with those two missions, however. Did he know of anyone who might be interested and suitable?
[Has Yeslick encountered or heard of Tiax? Red card = yes.]
[Has Yeslick encountered or heard of Quayle? Red card = yes.]
“There be two gnomes in the Gate that’ve been tryin’ to join up with anyone who’ll take ‘em,” Yeslick began. “But from what I heared nobody wants ‘em! I seen ‘em both but talked with neither. Sailors jokes about ‘em now and again. One be named Tiax, and he’s usually found standing outside the Flaming Fist building. T’ether be named Quayle. He’ll usually be found just outside the city gate at Wyrm’s Crossing.” Yeslick added that he had heard of no one else either hiring out or looking for a party to join. And Yeslick had been in the city for close to two tendays now, he said.
“I suppose we shall pay both gnomes a visit then,” I replied. “Though it does not seem to bode well that no one has taken them on…”
And so we rested and Yeslick healed his leg. It was late evening by the time we were ready to set forth.
We Interview a Pair of Gnomes
First we headed to the weapons shop in the southwest section of the city, the same one where “Tiax” could usually be found.
As we walked past the Iron Throne’s monumental stone building Yeslick grumbled something softly under his breath which elicited a slight smile from Faldorn, though the dwarf saw it not. Perhaps a dwarven curse?
Unfortunately, there was nothing suitable for Yeslick at the weapons shop. It featured only a small assortment of weapons and armor that were of finer construction than most; but again, none that were right for our dwarven cleric. Yeslick advised that his Sonnlinor order wears only chainmail. So we would need to get him mail versus plate. We would have to keep looking for chainmail. And we were in search also of and a hammer and sling for him, for the latter were the weapons he was trained to use.
We next visited the gnome named Tiax, who had become a fixture outside the Flaming Fist castle.
The gnome was a brash little fellow, who immediately stated that the profoundly evil deity Cyric (!) had directed him to join us… and that we must accept the condition that “when the time is right” we in some way assist him in “ascending to power,” whatever that meant to him.
Without hesitation I responded that, no, we had no need of his services. The gnome then erupted into a verbal tirade of which little made sense, but the gist seemed to be that that he believed himself to possess extraordinary powers and we were unworthy to adventure with him anyway.
On to the next candidate, then!
We decided to take a quick look at the other weapons and armor store in the district. There we purchased only a sling and bullets for Yeslick. They had no suitable armor nor a helmet or shield for him. We also stocked up on more arrows and darts for the rest of us.
We decided next to try our luck with the other gnome named Quayle. It was decided that we would look in no further weapons shops on the way. If Quayle was to join us and could recommend a shop, then we might look further here in Baldur’s Gate. But otherwise we would need to head south in search of at least one more companion then—or two more if we passed on this Quayle. We might as well then go to High Hedge where Imoen recalled that we had sold enchanted chain mail to Thalantyr.
We found the white bearded gnome known as “Quayle” standing outside the city gate. Had we not known that he was seeking to adventure, we would have otherwise assumed him to be a beggar, to be honest.
The introductions did not go well. He began by insulting us with the suggestion that we lacked intelligence for wandering about the Sword Coast. “You know, he has a point though!” Imoen whispered, and that actually made us laugh. This Quyale asked us what direction we were traveling. I answered that we were head south for a time, though for but a relatively short time. He then stated that he was heading the same direction as us; and that we should therefore join forces, for the four of us would provide the brawn and he the brains as we adventured together.
This I did not feel was a good indication of judgment or basic temperament. I asked Faldorn to please cast her spell upon him. She cast twice and whispered to us that his heart was not black, but he was mainly driven by self-interest.
I advised Quayle the party needed to discuss his offer. We moved a short distance away and held a brief counsel.
I expressed my reservations that this fellow had no sooner than opened his mouth before expressing a conviction that he should act as the party’s leader!—and we had just had a most sour experience with Eldoth, who had also seemed driven to be in control of the group. Is that really what we wanted?
My question was of course rhetorical, but I noticed that Yeslick seemed to be genuinely pondering it. Ah well.
I reminded the others that we had encountered three others on the road that we might approach also. There was the proselytizing Sun Soul monk in Nashkel who had offered to join us at the start of our adventure. And I shared that I had noticed in Nashkel an apparent very large sell-sword in front of the soldiers’ barracks but since he had turned his back when I thought of approaching him, I took it as an omen then not to. Imoen stated that she too recalled the man I was referring to.
[Did Imoen then see Minsc speaking with Boo? Red card = yes.]
Imoen added that she had actually seen him holding a rodent as a pet, talking affectionately to it. “I thought it was kinda sweet, actually. He didn’t look mean.” Imoen reminded me that the fellow had a purple circular tattoo on his bald pate.
“And who was the third, Oracos?” Faldorn asked. I advised her that at the Friendly Arm Inn we had seen an apparent mercenary who obviously had orcish blood. But I had not had a good feeling about him at all. Imoen shared that she had noticed him as well, and concurred with my gut feeling.
Yeslick then stated that he could not abide the company of anyone with orc blood. He would have to leave our group now if we were going to do that. I told Yeslick not to worry about it then, as I wasn’t particularly keen on the idea to begin with. Similarly, neither Imoen nor Faldorn had objections to passing on the half-orc.
After reflecting a bit more on what we had just been through with Eldoth, Faldorn and Imoen both agreed that it seemed most prudent not to add Quayle to our party.
An alternative then occurred to me, however: I mentioned that we might have Quayle join temporarily on a trial basis, and simply tell him that he would absolutely not be the leader and he would have to accept that. We could tell him also that there was a significant chance that we may wish him to leave us as we sought other companions.
But he more we talked this over, it was clear that the gnome’s abrasiveness had made a very strong impression already. He had hardly endeared himself to any of us. In his first few words, he had referred to us as “louts,” for example. It probably speaks volumes that Quayle had been passed over consistently by presumably many, many bands of travelers passing in and out of the Gate. No one seemed to have a good feeling about adding him even temporarily. And furthermore, it didn’t even seem the right thing for us to do to him either, Imoen noted.
I politely advised Quayle that we had no need of his services at this time. In response he sputtered insults that I was a “moron,” and that it was likely that my mother had mated with a member of a monster species.
I gently rolled my eyes at this and smiled at the others. We bid the gnome a good eve.
South we would now travel, with a quick stop at the Friendly Arm to purchase a helmet, hammer, and shield for Yeslick. And then on we would travel to High Hedge to procure chainmail for him. Next, on we would journey to Nashkel to speak with both the monk and the mercenary. We could only hope that either of them was still there!
But anyway, therefore I added the word "likely" to the line I had written when the party divided: "And then Imoen, Faldorn, and I walked out of the Elfsong Tavern with half the party that we entered with never to be seen by us again" now reads "likely never to be seen by us again."
As an out-of-game game engine thing, upon entering FAI I added Neera to the party temporarily (as we know, when removed from the party she is scripted to go there) just so that I could relocate her to the adjacent room, then removed her from the party again. So if I later decide that she is to become available again, she'll be available. Whether this even happens will be based on a gut feeling by me. Then there'll be a card flip for whether Neera left Eldoth. Then, if the party does visit FAI again (and at best there's probably going to be only one more time for that to happen, at this stage of the game) there will be yet another card flip as to whether Neera spots them or they her. So all this is just providing a window of possibility, though it seems the odds are stacked against it actually happening.
At least for now, Neera isn't actually there at FAI--she's with Eldoth. But mechanically it is now possible to maybe have her rejoin at some point, however slim the odds.
Either Rasaad or Minsc could be fun companions. I really enjoy how you've fleshed out the personalities of the NPCs. I don't think I'll ever think of Eldoth or Faldorn the same way, so it will be fun to see where you go with some of the other personalities.
When we arrived at the Friendly Arm we found the towering and scowling half-orc to still be there. Faldorn unobtrusively cast her spell to discern evil in those about her, and not surprisingly she saw that the half-orc was so.
When we inspected Bentley’s wares we found no helmet, nor a war hammer. Bentley’s shields were also unremarkable. We therefore elected to wait until we inspected the inventories Taerom, Thalantyr, and the merchant the Nashkel store to see what else would be available for our new companion.
It was late in the evening by the time we arrived in Beregost. We took a room at the Burning Wizard. The next morning we asked the bartender if he had heard of any adventuring types in town that were seeking to join up with a party.
[The bartender knows that Kagain across the street runs a caravan protection service. However that is different than what Oracos has asked. Does the bartender think to mention that Kagain runs a caravan guard service? Black card = no.]
[Has the bartender heard any stories about Shar-Teel? Red card = yes.]
The bartender mentioned that he had heard a strange tale from one traveler about a fierce and statuesque warrior woman who, somewhere in the wilds to the east of the Song of the Morning, had challenged him to an odd duel. The fight was to measure skill rather than to the death—and if the man bested her, then she would agree to accompany him and provide protection on the road. The man stated that he agreed—but did so only because he severely underestimated the challenge, and thought he should put her in her place. The woman was in fact a much better fighter than most men he had ever seen. Her strength and agility were astounding, he said. Only a few parries into the contest, before the man knew what hit him the warrioress had flipped him on his back like he was no more than a sack of potatoes, with the point of a dagger pressing beneath his chin. She relished the victory, and ridiculed the fellow afterward. That was two days ago, he said.
We thanked the bartender for the story, and stepped out into the town square.
“The warrior he described certainly sounds impressive,” I said.
“You are not put off by her being said to be a superior fighter to most men?” Faldorn asked in an uncharacteristic display of mild surprise.
“Not really,” I responded. “Most men are stronger fighters than me. So I’m not prideful about martial combat to begin with. Whether it be man or woman matters not to me.”
But then another though that occurred to me, which I shared. “I would imagine that many men will probably underestimate her. And I think that gives her an advantage,” I said. And I was rather proud of my reasoning there, actually.
Faldorn smiled at this, and nodded. “You are smart and wise, both, Oracos. It heartens me that we have you back at the head of the pack.”
“But what are the chances she would still even be there days later? Let us first see what we find when we revisit Nashkel,” I said. “If we are still in need of a warrior to join us, then I will cast runes to see if we should try to find her.” The group agreed that was sensible.
We then took a stroll to the Thunderhammer smithy. Taerom had some enchanted shields but they were too expensive for us to consider. We purchased for Yeslick a helmet, a standard large shield (that size his preference), and a standard war hammer. We held off on purchasing chainmail for him before checking to see whether Thalantyr might have enchanted chainmail.
When we arrived at High Hedge, we were however disappointed not to find any enchanted chainmail. So we sold the garnet and purchased three healing potions.
In recounting the tale to Thalantyr of what had transpired with Eldoth since we last spoke, Thalantyr nodded his head affirmatively and said that he wasn’t terribly surprised. Thalantyr said he suspected that Eldoth possessed a powerful item of some sort, because he (Thalantyr) found himself liking Eldoth far more than it seemed he should have. That is, Eldoth’s powerful aura of likeability felt enchanted to Thalantyr. Thalantyr said that based on that hunch, he was hopeful the bard might therefore consider bartering or selling whatever item was. The Conjurer was fascinated to hear that it was a cloak specially tailored at Drin’s shop, embroidered with the flaxen hair of a nymph.
We took our leave of Thalantyr and made the trip back to Beregost in order to buy standard chainmail for Yeslick then. Should we get lucky in Nashkel and find enchanted mail there, then we could sell the regular chainmail at a relatively insignificant loss.
The long hike to back to Beregost brought us there after the Thunderhammer smithy had closed. We again lodged at the Burning Wizard for the evening. In the morn we visited Taerom and purchased standard chainmail for Yeslick.
Our journey south along the Coast Way continued without incident.
It was very late in the evening by the time we arrived in Nashkel. So we retired for the night at inn. Our plan was to first thing tomorrow check the store next door for enchanted chainmail. Then we would speak with both the monk and the sell-sword with the purple tattoo on his head, if the latter fellow was still around.
After a good night’s rest we made a quick stop at the shop, and unfortunately found no enchanted chainmail.
So next we spoke with the monk. His told us his name is Rasaad. I had noted when I first saw him that he was eager to tell passersby of the blessings of Selûne as he demonstrated series of kicks and punches for onlookers. And when we were attacked by the second assassin in Nashkel upon our return from the mines, although the monk had aided us in the fight afterward he could scarcely speak of anything else—even though two of our comrades had just been slain. This Rasaad still was then, not surprisingly, powerfully intent upon educating us about the Moonmaiden and his order of the Sun Soul.
I did find intriguing, however, a bit of the order’s history that he shared: that the Sun Soul order was founded in ancient Netheril. It was then called the Brotherhood of the Sun, and its monks followed the ancient Sun god Amaunator, Rasaad told us. After the wondrous civilization of Netheril collapsed and the god disappeared it was divined that the lion’s share of Amaunator’s power went to Lathander; but much of it also went to Selûne, goddess of the moon. The Sun Soul reveres the moon because, through her bright light, Selûne represents the fight against darkness, or evil, both in the world around us and within each of us personally. Rasaad emphasized that just as the light of the moon balances the darkness of night, so the monks of the Sun Soul respond to evil with goodness, or inner light—literally to the point of countering hatred or malice with compassion, love, and kindness. The monk hastened to add, however, that these virtues typically remained internal within the monk; they were shared mostly through living example, since if no physical fight was enjoined to combat evil, then darkness would envelop all.
I thanked Rasaad for telling us about his faith, and his own spiritual mission. I advised him that we must take our leave, but asked if him we may return and speak with him again. Rasaad replied warmly that he would be delighted to talk more whenever we wished.
Faldorn cast her spell to see evil in others just to rule out that Rasaad was engaged in some sort of subterfuge. As we walked away she commented that Rasaad’s inner nature was true to what he professed.
We would now go see if the mercenary with the circular tattoo on his bald dome was still around, and ask him to tell us his story as well. The party would discuss them both before making any decision.
Yeslick was unable to suppress an involuntary laugh when Rasaad spoke of countering evil with loving compassion. As we walked toward the military barracks I could not resist asking the priest what he found amusing in the discussion that just took place.
“The beliefs of this Sun Soul order be a far cry from my own. The only ‘love’ evil needs be the love of battle to kill it dead and done. Clangeddin blesses us with the fury to destroy an evil foe,” Yeslick replied.
Fortunately (?), we also found the hulking sell-sword with the purple bulls-eye tattoo adorning his crown. It turned out the fellow was friendly—and loquacious. He told us his name was Minsc, and that he hailed from the far-off eastern land of Rasheman. Minsc was in the process of completing his “dejemma,” a ritual through which he would become a full-fledged warrior in the eyes of his community. Minsc had come to the Sword Coast accompanying a Rashemi witch named Dynaheir, as her faithful protector.
Minsc recounted that to his dishonor, he and Dynaheir were overtaken by a swarm of gnolls far due east and not far from the coastline. They captured Dynaheir and left Minsc for dead. Minsc could not be sure if Dynaheir either still lived or was held by the gnolls. But before Minsc lost consciousness he heard the gnoll leader state a plan to sell the wycharlan to pirate slavers, due to her fairness in human eyes.
Minsc shared that he is himself a ranger of the wilderness. After this assault he was discovered unconscious and clinging to life by another wandering ranger who carried him to Nashkel; and here in this village he was restored to health at the temple of Helm. His benefactor departed before Minsc could thank him.
I felt compelled to ask Minsc to explain the fact that when we came upon him he was speaking so earnestly to a large rodent that was evidently his pet. Minsc responded that this animal companion of his, a hamster that he has named “Boo,” is actually a magically shrunken member of his species that are the size of bears on another world beyond Toril altogether, somewhere up in the celestial sphere! Upon hearing this, the problem occurred to me whether this apparent flight into fantasy… for never have I heard of such a creature in my years of study at Candlekeep … may either be harmless or could make the ranger unsafe to adventure with.
In any event, Minsc now required the aid of a stalwart band of adventurers to attempt the rescue at a fortress to the east where he believed Dynaheir most likely to be held. He asked if we would aid him in his quest.
[Here the game engine does not provide an opportunity to politely decline, such that the party might then confer amongst themselves whether to help Minsc. The two dialogue options available to refuse his quest are both callous, and one is even belittling; which I reckon is supposed to somewhat justify Minsc’s resulting flipout… Anyway, I decided to regard this as a game engine limitation to the roleplaying approach that I’m using. I feel there really should be an option something like ‘Minsc, we may very well help you, but we have to discuss it first and then we’ll get back to you’. That is, to give a response that is not a definite no (or no with a f*** you). However, if the party returns after that to speak with Minsc and refuses to help him: okay, fine, he can then go hostile. (And we must assume that is the first time he would have done so, else the Nashkel militia would have killed him long ago.) Anyway, because of the dialogue script’s limitations I simply pretended that this conversation took place. In other words, roleplay-wise, I don’t think Minsc would auto-attack if the party simply says they need to talk over whether they can/will help him (and may yet).]
With a respectful tone, I asked Minsc if my friends and I might consult amongst ourselves as to whether we will help him—but we would return with an answer very soon. Minsc looked at us warily (not comforting, that) and said that he would not wait long, for his charge was in peril and we must act quickly.
Faldorn quietly cast her spell upon Minsc to know his inner character, but somehow he resisted the spell.
And so we strolled a bit and discussed these two potential additions to our party. Faldorn observed that the hamster to which Minsc was so attached was nothing more than an ordinary one, best she could tell. And her assessment as a druid in that regard was helpful to know.
I shared my thoughts about Rasaad. I offered that in light of the astrological tome I had acquired, some aspects of Rassad’s appearance on our path were fairly striking to me. The tome we had gotten from Ragefast that is so powerful in the arts of divination by means of the stars was ancient Netherese—and this was the land also in which Rasaad’s Sun Soul order was formed. Rasaads’ faith blended the powers of two celestial bodies: the Sun and the Moon. And, indeed, since we had acquired the precious tome both the sun and moon have entered two new constellations, whereas the other four wandering bodies had remained in the same signs. I added that as one who seeks omens, those parallels shouted to me. I felt we should bring him aboard.
Faldorn noted that moreover, even if perhaps the monk was overly aggressive in promoting his faith, Rasaad seemed a person of excellent moral character that we could trust. She said she felt it would be healing to add him after what we had just been through. And the druidess added a bit more whimsically that she felt Rasaad’s faith would presumably balance Yeslick’s within our party. So she was for adding him.
To that Yeslick commented that “as long as the monk fights bravely,” it mattered not to him what Rasaad’s faith is. “But if’n jammerin’about Selûne starts givin’ us all a headache, I’ll have to tell him to rest his tongue,” Yeslick added. “I teach my dwarven kin to use their rage in battle. So he and I doesn’t see eye to eye ‘bout battle.”
Imoen said she was fine with adding them both. She added that she found it endearing that Minsc, a large and physically imposing warrior, had such a tender relationship with a hamster. I shared that, alternatively, I actually found that concerning. Faldorn said that it did not help that she could not see his inner character. But it in the balance it was favorable to her that he was a ranger, she added. Perhaps we were meant to help him for the sake of the Balance, and as such should simply look within ourselves for the answer, she said.
I then asked Yeslick who had not yet weighed in on Minsc, and he answered that the ranger looked to be a true warrior in body, heart, mind, and soul. Yeslick liked the fact that Minsc carried a great sword and yearned for battle. On that basis he would be pleased to fight at his side. Yeslick found it noble of Minsc that his personal code of honor about rescuing Dynaheir was overpowering. He detected genuine desperation in Minsc’s plea for aid.
“Shall we have them both join?” I asked. But before the others could answer I interjected the following: “Remember that we know not what Minsc’s companion, Dynaheir, will wish to do should we even find her alive… and even then, that is presuming that we are able to rescue her,” I added. “If we help Minsc, we are taking the chance of assuming a risk that we may end up simply doing a good deed in aiding him. He and the Rashemi witch may go their own way afteward if she even still can be found. And we know not what Minsc will do if we discover that the witch has been slain or sold into slavery.”
“When we return to speak with him we should ask him what the witch’s intentions are, and why they traveled to this land,” Faldorn advised.
“Is it agreed that we will definitely add Rasaad?” I asked. All agreed that we should.
During the stroll we had returned near to Rasaad’s location, so we approached him again. We asked him to join us, and he said he was very happy to, since he had been struggling to make ends meet offering protection to travelers. We told Rasaad of our plans in very bold strokes. Mainly that our central mission was to investigate the Iron Throne in Baldur’s Gate. Rasaad said that posed no problem for him. I then told Rasaad that we would first ask a few more questions of Minsc and perhaps agree to help him rescue someone who may be held captive by gnolls.
“On that subject, I’m curious, monk… Since you are offering your fighting skills to help the vulnerable, why haven’t you aided Minsc?” Faldorn asked Rasaad.
Rasaad acknowledged that he was aware of the ranger’s plea for assistance. “I’m afraid that the word about the village is that the fellow appears to be mad,” Rasaad explained. “That rumor seemed borne out to me when I spoke to him once, and he nearly exploded in anger when I advised him that we should assemble a greater number in order to succeed against a whole tribe of gnolls. For a moment I thought he would attack me. I felt it best to leave the poor man be. In time, perhaps, the priest of Helm at the temple might see about trying to heal his derangement should Minsc agree. But it seems doubtful to me that he will.”
Faldorn asked Rasaad if the ranger had mentioned anything about why he had journeyed so far from home to this land. Rasaad answered that he had no idea what had brought Minsc and his witch here.
In all events we returned to Minsc and I asked him what had brought him and Dynaheir to this land. Minsc stated that Dynaheir had never told him, and in his culture it wasn’t his to question why. He need only concern himself with protecting her.
And at this point Minsc burst into sobs. “I failed her… We must rescue her! Boo says there may be little time left.” Imoen moved to console the enormous man whose body shuddered in grief, gently stroking his great back with her hand. Imoen looked to me then with tears of her own.
What else were we to do?
“Of course we shall help you, friend,” I said, lest I become tearful myself. And then I caught myself and quickly asked the group, “I’m sorry for the presumption! Are we all agreed?”
Both Yeslick and Faldorn smiled and nodded in agreement. Rasaad nodded respectfully as well.
I then told Minsc that beyond helping him rescue Dynaheir we were not in the position to guarantee anything further by way of continued support. We would have to assess our relationship again at that point.
Minsc had by then slightly recovered his composure. “Make way evil!” Minsc beamed in response. “I'm armed to the teeth and packing a hamster!” His jest gave us all a hearty laugh. (If a jest it was…) He stated he was grateful for our assistance and urged us to depart post-haste.
I asked Minsc if there was any gear that he might need from the store before we left. He mentioned that while he could sneak and hide well in the leathers that he was wearing, if we put him in plate mail he actually preferred cleaving evil creatures (such as gnolls) with his great sword by simply charging the enemy directly in a frenzy.
“Ye and I shall get on famously, then!” said Yeslick warmly.
I told the ranger that we could buy him plate mail—at least half plate, that is—and then we would be off. We made a stop at the store to purchase the armor. It wasn’t cheap, but Minsc looked so intimidating in it that it seemed a worthwhile investment.
Yeslick, whose clerical training included battle strategy, asked our two new companions what other martial skills each had. Rasaad responded that he had been trained in the use of the scimitar and two smaller exotic swords from the east that were available at the store. However, his fists and feet we his preferred weapons hand-to-hand. He was also trained in use of the sling. Minsc answered that his favored weapon was a two-handed broad sword. However he was also skilled with the bow, and could swings maces very effectively with both hands. So we purchased also for Minsc a pair of maces, a composite longbow, and arrows. For Rasaad we purchased a sling and sling stones in case he needed to use a ranged weapon.
This left us only about 150 gold. But we still had the rogue stone. So in order to purchase healing options for our new companions we sold the expensive gem for 2500 gold. Thus we were able to provide two healing potions each to Yeslick, Minsc, Rasaad, and Faldorn. That left one each for Imoen and me. And we gave one poison antidote each as well to Minsc, Rasaad, and Yeslick. This was in case the enemy used poison arrows and for some reason I, Faldorn, or Yeslick was unable to reach them. (Both Faldorn and I could stop poison; and Yeslick could memorize it as well, if needed, after he next rested.) After all these expenditures we had just shy of 1700 gold.
And so we departed Nashkel to travel west to the foreboding stonghold of the gnolls, where we hoped (against hope) that Dynaheir may still be found alive.
You've actually given me an idea for a playthrough of a sorceress who uses tarot card readings to make her way around the sword coast. I'd feel like I was copying you too much if I recorded that, but it might be a fun playthrough anyway.
There are some intriguing possibilities for divination methods including Tarot cards as you mentioned, and also the I Ching, viking rune stones, and so forth. I wouldn't be surprised if they might not all be available for free online.
Trust me, your adventure will be totally unique.
I think the biggest surprise for me in this experiment has been that I really don't know what is going to happen between characters once I give them an independent life of their own via imagination. Thus far in this adventure some of the surprises for me have been:
- Xzar and Montaron robbed the party, absconding with all the gear that the party wasn't wearing when they slept.
- Jaheira, Kivan, and Kivan splintered off to form a new party of their own in order to follow the clues into Cloakwood when Oracos instead just wanted to lay low for a while and eventually find a way to leave the Sword Coast entirely.
- Eldoth progressively sought control of the party for his own narcissistic/sociopathic ends, and succeeded in stealing away two valuable party members.
- Faldorn as mission-focused to spy on the Iron Throne; also acting as a sort of "Dog Whisperer" for the party's (pack's) "balance"; she is subtly guiding the party as such
and from the next journal entry:
- Dynaheir feeling compelled for her and Minsc to head off on their own to battle Edwin by themselves (a key element of the dejemma).
- Minsc as a fundamentally dangerous addition to the party, who is compromised due to his head injury (if eventually added to the party he will routinely use his special berserking ability).
- Yeslick as a priest of Clangeddin should practice his faith; and coupled with the fact that he isn't very bright this creates tensions with Oracos, who has nearly three times Yeslick's IQ.
So none of these are things that I anticipated when I started. They all came about organically.After a journey of about two hours we were beset by a party of four marauding gnolls. I used the Slumber spell to drop all four of them where they stood, and we destroyed them. Yeslick complained that he felt a little cheated from the opportunity for a good battle by use of the spell. Minsc too missed the chance to enjoy a good fight with this most hated foe of his. I advised them both that magic would be used liberally to defeat our enemies, and quipped “get used to it.” Both shrugged slightly but nodded in assent. Each was accustomed to taking orders, it seemed. Yeslick conceded that he used his divine magic quite often. But his preference was by far to swing his hammer.
We came to a large cliff that was adjoined by an expansive grassy pasture with little cover to offer. It would be difficult for Imoen (or Minsc in his leather, which we kept for him should it be needed) to scout here. So we put Yeslick and Minsc (still in his half plate) in the lead, and hoped for the best.
As we traveled next to the cliffs a couple of wolves attacked us. We were easily able to protect ourselves against them. Not long thereafter we were stumbled upon a huge white breed of bear more commonly found high in the mountain snows, but we were able to avoid the creature without a fight.
After another eight hours or so, very late into the night and not far from sunrise we arrived at a large river that blocked our path. Here both with the cover of night and with trees and bush present, we felt it prudent for Imoen to scout ahead.
It was well that we did for just ahead was both a somewhat agitated bear, and band of six hobgoblins. Faldorn approach the bear and attempted to ally it to our side, but the creature was evidently too upset by the hobgoblins presence only a stone’s throw away. I asked Faldorn if she might try again to get the creature to follow her bidding, and she said it would not be easy but she would try.
The druidess returned moments later with the creature at her side. I admit that it made the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stand up. The bear was massive, and the raw savage power of the beast must be terrible to behold. Minsc was very pleased at this development, responding with a big grin. I whispered that the martial attack would be coordinated by Yeslick, but I would again attempt to put the enemy into a slumber when they attacked. Yeslick said he, Minsc, Rasaad, and would simply rush them—with the bear alongside them, of course.
It occurred to me to suggest that the bear be sent in first alone to thoroughly disorient them, but I held my piece. A detail like that would hopefully not matter anyway.
The melee that followed was easier than expected since none of the hobgoblins used bows (especially with poisoned arrows, as we had often seen them do). They all drew swords and were easily killed—especially after my spell put half of them to sleep. A couple of wild dogs that must have been working with them also attacked, and Faldorn got bitten by one, requiring her to heal herself.
Among the spoils from this brief battle was a spell scroll to defend against evil creatures (curious), and some gold and a piece of minor jewelry. We also insisted to Minsc that he take and wear one of their helmets, to which he eventually agreed after Imoen first rinsed it well in the river.
Shortly thereafter Faldorn’s charm upon the bear wore off and he threatened to attack. She had run out of her ability to control wild creatures. But Minsc then surprised us a bit by using his. The bear then fell under his control.
Not far ahead we arrived at a wooden bridge where a frightened merchant ran toward use gasping that a bear was hot on his heels, having chased him across the bridge. Imoen scouted and found no such creature there. Minsc then sent the bear off into the wilderness. We told the man that the way we had just come was probably still clear. We wished him Shaundakul’s blessings on his journey to Nashkel.
We then journeyed south toward the gnoll fortress. However along the way Imoen’s stealth revealed a lone ogrillon hiding (not well enough) in wait to ambush unwary travelers. Yeslick devised a plan for Imoen to sneak up behind and launch an attack, and just then he and Minsc would rush the creature. I offered that I could try to rob the creature’s sight with a spell, which would be safer. But Yeslick responded that he wanted to see how well Imoen performed at that skill.
Imoen approached the creature stealthily and made a thrust but somehow the orgillon moved just then to stretch, and she missed! Amazingly, this failed attack went undetected. Imoen stealthily returned to us and, grinning sheepishly, said she would try again.
And so she did. Imoen this time delivered a devastating stab to the creature’s spleen. However, it failed to kill the creature outright. The badly wounded ogrillon chased Imoen then, and managed to club her with its enormous fist, seriously injuring her. In the meantime we all attacked. I hit it with a dart which did minor damage at best. But Imoen was able to notch an arrow and finish the brute off with an arrow in the gullet before Yeslick, Minsc, or Rasaad got within striking distance with their own weapons.
“Well, that was a ‘lil embarrassin’!” Imoen gasped, panting in pain. “I can do better!” she wheezed to Imoen our new companions as Faldorn healed her.
No one doubted that she could, I’m sure. Yeslick noted that things often don’t go to plan; but Imoen had more than amply demonstrated the courage he was looking for by killing the dangerous creature before any of us could, even though she was severely wounded.
During the hike through the wilderness Rasaad engaged me in some conversation, first observing that he sensed that I felt troubled. Instead of answering him I asked him how he came to Nashkel. Rasaad then proceeded to tell me the tale. He and his brother Gamaz, both Sun Soul monks, were originally from Calimport. His order had sent them among a band of monks to Athkatla to investigate their sect there, since it wasn’t responding to messages. They found that the Athkatla Sun Soul monks had mysteriously disappeared. Eventually, however, after months of further investigation they finally determined that a rival sect devoted to Shar had assassinated all their members in the city. The only other clue they were able to uncover was that someone named “Alorgoth” was responsible; although to this day Rasaad has been unable to find out anything further about the person.
This did not explain how Rasaad had arrived in Nashkel, of course. But the full story would have to remain left unfinished until later. For by then we had arrived at our destination. We had come to the foot of a mountainous area. There a plank-and-rope bridge spanned a swift river. And beyond the bridge lay the gnoll fortress, built on the side of the mountain.
Just as we reached the other side, two ogrillons stepped out from behind the rocks and tried to intimidate us into handing over a bridge toll of 200 gold (which they promptly lowered to 100 when we refused). Yeslick’s eyes lit up at the prospect of smashing their knee caps with his hammer.
The ogrillons attacked, and Yeslick commanded one of them to lie on the ground as if he had fainted dead away. The cleric then turned to assist Minsc with the creature the ranger was fighting. Yeslick yelled for Rasaad to attack the one who was down to cripple or kill him before he awoke. Imoen and Faldorn used arrows and darts, respectively. I cast the Horrify spell but to my disappointment it failed against both creatures. The ogrillon that was standing turned toward Yeslick—whose hammer broke at that very moment. During Yeslick’s surprise at this unexpected development the orgrillon pounded him hard, injuring him.
Minsc then rallied us all by, with a mighty swing that perfectly channeled all of his body’s physical force, completely shattering the head of the ogrillon that had just battered Yeslick.
Just then the other orgillon leapt up and attacked Yeslick and Rasaad. I then cast a spell to Blind it. But one of Imoen’s arrows ended the thing’s miserable life before my spell could even take effect.
Now the treasure from this pair of bandits included a special prize. They had some potions, gold, and gems. But the real find was a pair of gauntlets that I identified that improved deftness of hand and foot to truly heroic proportions. We had Yeslick test them with Minsc and Rasaad, and he suddenly became very hard to hit. And since among our three melee fighters it was Yeslick who would benefit the most overall from wearing them, we gifted them to him.
A footpath continued from the bridge that followed alongside a cliff. At the top of that cliff we could see the edge of the fortress far above.
Imoen scouted ahead using the rocks along the cliff face for cover. She returned to tell us that ahead was a band of halberd wielding gnolls guarding the entrance. A small enough number to defeat; but there was no telling how many more may lay behind them.
Yeslick said that we should just wade in. But I asked him to please indulge me a small favor just this once. I recommended that we rest first, for we had traveled hard. And after the rest let us see how Minsc does using a technique we had seen former companions use to pick off enemies one at a time. With the ranger’s enormous strength, and the mighty bow we had purchased for him, he might be able to fell them in quick succession before it registered what was happening. He would have to use his leather for that. But would it not be wise for us test that skill of his?
I hastened to add to Yeslick that the final decision I would leave to him. But there were presumably an untold number of gnolls yet to face as we made our way up the mountain, and I wanted to have all my spells. So we should at least rest for that reason. We would go back to the other side of the bridge to rest.
Faldorn also reminded Yeslick that his hammer head had cracked and then shattered.
Yeslick then sighed in recognition of that. He acknowledged that he too must rest to reorganize his spells. He advised that after a rest period thrice he could cast a spell that summoned a very formidable magical hammer; but the spiritual weapon would disappear in but a brief time. He could however also summon a somewhat less powerful magical cudgel four times. Otherwise he would fight with just his fists or hurl sling bullets.
We did have a strength potion just taken from one of the bridge bandits that Yeslick could use. So it was actually conceivable that he might actually knock some gnolls out with only his fists. But in order to kill any he would probably have to use his sling.
Yeslick grudgingly agreed to my suggestion. I felt bad for making it. But it is unfortunately evident that the dwarf isn’t very smart. It may have been a mistake for me to put him entirely in charge of all combat tactics without really knowing his abilities.
Before resting I asked the spellcasters among us what spells each was memorizing. I shared that I after resting I would be able to cast Sightlessness spell twice, the Color Fan spell thrice, and the Slumber spell thrice as well. In addition I would be able to cast Terror twice. I would also have one casting prepared of a new spell ready that creates a noxious fog that makes the enemy pass out. We would have to take great care not to enter the fog ourselves, however—for it would do the same to us. But if at risk to be overwhelmed by their numbers this could slow them down enough to save use. And I could heal twice and stop poison twice as well.
Yeslick advised that, as he had said, he would memorize four castings of the magical shillelagh and three of the spiritual hammer, respectively. He added that once per rest cycle he could cast a spell that could dispelled other magic, though the results typically vary in terms of how many effects are erased.
Faldorn stated that she would have three castings by which to try to charm the enemy, one to stop poison, one to Entangle with magical vines, and three with which to heal. And as we knew, she could summon a dread wolf once per rest period.
Rasaad said that he possessed a divine power to emit a flash of brilliant illumination from his hands that, in effect, burns. It however has the potential to harms friends as well as foes.
I mentioned to Rasaad then that if we were to stand side-by-side and he uses his “sun soulray” (as he called it) and I the Cone of Colors, this might be very effective, provided that none of the party was out ahead of us.
Yeslick asked if that meant that I would launch such an attack. I said that I was willing to try, if the circumstances seemed propitious to do so. My bravery in suggesting such a plan clearly pleased the dwarf. But immediately after making the suggestion I questioned what on Toril I was doing by leading the charge (with a spell recommended by Eldoth, no less!).
Yeslick said he would use the potion that would make him as powerful as a hill giant.
We were blessed by the gods to enjoy an uneventful rest period.
Before advancing, we tried having Minsc switch his half plate for studded leather and try a stealth-and-sniper approach. Minsc slipped away and was gone for what seemed an uncomfortably long time. However before long he returned to report that the gnolls Imoen had spotted earlier had left. The ranger said he found another bunch of them lolling about lazily on the steps ahead, some snoozing. One of them was separated enough from the other that Minsc was able to wound it with an arrow and it followed alone, fortunately. He led us carefully to the spot where he eventually killed it. The fatal arrow had almost passed completely through the massive creature’s chest. It was clear by now that Minsc’s strength was immense.
When I asked Minsc if the other seemed aware that their comrade had precipitously run off he stated it was likely, yes. Yeslick therefore told Minsc to put his plate back on and take up his greatsword, like a proper warrior. Minsc was happy to receive that instruction.
Minsc noted that the bunch of gnolls that he saw were alone on the steps, with many more above and no more gnolls in sight. Yeslick favored a straightforward frontal attack. I remarked that I just hoped that a small army of them would not eventually come pouring down the steps.
“Have ye put me in charge of the combat or not?” asked Yeslick with some irritation. “If not, then I will follow yer orders. But if so, ye must let me lead.”
I quickly apologized to him—and sincerely so. “Lead on, Yeslick,” I said in earnest.
“I’ll meet ye half way,” Yeslick responded. And then he ordered Imoen to scout ahead as best she could.
Imoen was able to spot three of them on the steps ahead. They looked relaxed, apparently unaware of what had happened to their fellow. Minsc and Rasaad rushed them. And this time Yeslick used his sling so as not to waste a casting of one of his spells. The three of them were easily killed.
Again Imoen did her best to scout the steps head. She soon returned to report four of them lay just ahead. Four it seemed could be easily defeated by us with just our weapons. There seemed no need to resort to spells just yet.
Yeslick then instructed Minsc to wear his agility bracers until Yeslick began summoning magic weapons and consumed his strength potion. If the worst that we were going to encounter was small clusters like this, then Yeslick felt using his sling instead of a “real” weapon mattered little. Minsc dutifully complied.
Minsc and Rasaad attacked the next group of gnolls and the rest of us used ranged weapons. Two of them however broke from the other and one attacked me. That gnoll sliced my arm with his halberd, but he was killed that instant afterward by Minsc.
I healed myself and we continued.
Imoen snuck ahead and reported that ahead lay a pit that was guarded by for small humanoid creatures with blue skin and large forheads.
“Sounds like xvarts,” I said, and Yeslick agreed.
“They’ll be easy to kill,” said Yeslick. “Let’s do it.”
As before, Minsc and Rasaad launched their attack, with the rest of us using our various missiles. We killed them without any real trouble; although to our surprise one of them managed to slightly injure Minsc with its short sword. The treasure on them included another scroll to protect against attacks by evil creatures. (We now had two such scrolls.)
We peered down into the pit and found it empty.
Imoen then very carefully scaled a narrow and steep set of steps to another level and, remaining hidden from view, cautiously peered above onto the next level. She quickly returned down the stairs to report that there was a much larger group of gnolls up there. These looked to be elite warriors, again with the customary halberds. Yeslick advised that these were sure to be better fighters than the ones we had encountered thus far. Yeslick said it was now time for him to use the potion and begin using his spiritual weapon spells. Yeslick was of the opinion that he, Minsc and Rasaad should be able to launch the battle and drive them back, so that the rest of us could enter behind them. Then Faldorn could summon her wolf, I would cast spells, and Imoen would fire her arrows. If Faldorn could gain control of some of the enemy to make them fight amongst themselves, then so much the better.
It seemed as good a plan as any. Yeslick said a prayer to Clangeddin. Then he, Minsc, and Rasaad led the way climbing the stairs with me, Imoen, and Faldorn right behind them. Minsc gave Yeslick back the gauntlets the dwarf had loaned him. Yeslick consumed the potion and summoned a magical hammer.
The first wave of the assault went as well as could be hoped. I cast my spell to put over half of them into a slumber, and Misnc, Yeslick, and Rasaad took not a single injury. Imoen, Faldorn, and I used our darts and arrows well.
We remained crouched and spoke in hushed tones, certain that more gnolls must lay ahead. Imoen then stole ahead and slunk back in a crouch to report that a very large number of them lay ahead. Yeslick was intent to assault them in the same manner. I dearly wanted to suggest that we use the Noisome Haze spell here, but I suppressed the impulse.
Imoen then made a suggestion. She noted that there was a choke point of attack. The path separating us and them was only a few feet wide—a narrow space only a about four feet wide between an open pit and the castle wall. She would draw sneak up and draw them to our side of that choke point by firing upon them with her bow. Yeslick, Minsc, and Rasaad would then move in to clock their path, forcing them to fight one or two at a time. I could then of course use my spells. And Faldorn could summon a wolf on the other side.
Yeslick seemed to appreciate the simple elegance and cleverness of this plan. I had to admit that I liked it a great deal myself (and wished I had thought of it). I noted that the only flaw in it that I could see is that Yeslick must remain relatively out of the fray in order to cast his next hammer spell. So perhaps it would smarter to give the enchanted gauntlets to Minsc again, place Minsc on point, and have Yeslick alongside him but able to drop back and summon another hammer as needed.
Yeslick said this would do well. Minsc would take point. Yeslick would be on his left flank and Rasaad on his right flank. When Yelslick needed again he could do so then in safety; for Minsc and Rasaad would shift and Yeslick would drop back to do so. In the meantime Faldorn and I would be right behind the three of them to provide healing as needed.
It did seem like a solid plan. We would now put it into action!
The battle almost went as planned, except that neither Yeslick nor Rasaad could melee attack in the very close quarters of the narrow path. So Rasaad switched to the sling and poor Yeslick simply had to wait until Minsc could slowly wade forward in battle to the other side. I cast the Sleep spell twice and it made a tremendous difference, however.
Minsc took some damage, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Faldorn healed him.
We searched all of the pits and to Minsc’s great joy and relief Dynaheir was indeed alive. He literally wept at her sight and picked her up off her feet when he hugged her. The gnolls had given Dynaheir a slight beating, but otherwise she was alright. But she explained that in order to be able to sell her to a slaver the gnolls felt they could not damage her too much. (I learned later from Imoen that Dynaheir told her that the gnolls didn’t defile her either for the same reason.) Faldorn healed her bruises and contusions.
Dynaheir immediately intrigued me. I could sense that she had strong use of the Weave.
She explained that both she and Minsc were on a joint dejemma. She too was proving her capabilities, but in her case to the elder witches; whereas Minsc sought to be accepted into the Ice Dragon berserker lodge.
Dynaheir asked if we had had any problems with Minsc. I said we had not, and she appeared relieved.
The witch then pulled me aside and explained that Minsc sometimes loses control in his battle rage, and has the capacity to harm anyone that is unfortunate to be in his bloody path when it happens. Dynaheir said has been training him to control it, lest she herself be killed by him when it goes beyond his control. Minsc has recently been doing well in this regard, she said. But she never really knows when he will succumb to the battle fury. He hasn’t had such an episode in a rather long time. (The implication being that he was overdue.) Dynaheir also told me that Minsc had taken many severe blows to the head, and really believes that his hamster is a miniaturized giant one from another world. She said that his madness seemed confined to that delusion. In any event, Minsc, although a powerful warrior who truly possessed a heart of gold, was in fact subject to erupting into uncontrollable and truly dangerous rages.
I privately thanked Dynaheir for her candor, and we then opened our conversation back up to the group. I asked her why she and Minsc had journeyed to the Sword Coast. She answered cryptically that these are momentous times for the region. Those that sent her believed that the Wycharlan should have a role to play in what might soon unfold. But she also indicated that there were others, or at least one, who means her ill with whom she must contend—and she and Minsc must take care of that by themselves as part of their dejemma. But after they have finished that business, perhaps she and Minsc could join us that we may adventure together.
I responded that I would like that, but we would have to see. For I was a Diviner and when we returned to Nashkel I would consult the oracle about our party shall do next. To this the witch smiled approvingly and added a nod of understanding. “I cannot fault thee for that” she said.
So with this happy outcome of a successful rescue we departed the gnoll stronghold, and began our journey back to Nashkel. Before leaving we gathered up bit of treasure on the slain gnolls. The only thing of significance was a scroll with which to identify an unknown item, and a scroll to divine the character of another.
[For game engine reasons I had to remove Rasaad who travels back to Nashkel alone. But here I pretend that that all make the trip together.]
Thankfully, our trip back to Nashkel saw no further assaults by anyone. Once we got to town, we escorted Minsc and Dynaheir to the small tavern at the southern end of the village at Dynaheir’s request. Here we could enjoy a good meal first, and then we could rest at the inn. As we sat for our meal and ordered drinks, Dynaheir again advised that she and Minsc had some business to attend to hopefully that would not take too long. The after resting tonight at the inn she and Minsc would leave us in the morning. But in several days they could be found here at the tavern again if we would have them join.
I at least had a peaceful night’s sleep that evening. And the following morning we said what we hoped were but temporary goodbyes, and that we may travel again together. Our two new Rashemis friends bowed and took their leave, walking south.
[in-game, mechanically, I parked Minsc and Dynaheir at the tavern. And of course I re-added Rasaad. At this point Dynaheir and Minsc are going off to try to find and kill Edwin, as Dyna knows he has been following then and suspects that Edwin was behind the gnoll kidnapping. Little do Minsc and Dyna realize that Edwin lies just around the bend waiting for them. I will later have an out-of-game battle session between Edwin versus Minsc and Dynaheir from this save. Just for this session I’ll drop all the current NPCs and have Edwin, Minsc, and Dyna join Oracos. Then I’ll have Minsc plus Dyna fight Edwin and see what happens.]
Then I, Imoen, Faldorn, Yeslick, and Rasaad went to the store in order that we may purchase the dwarf a war hammer (we bought two this time!).
And then we had ourselves a discussion at the inn. I said that although I like the Rashemi pair a great deal, Dynaheir had given me pause about Minsc. She said he was unpredictable in battle—to the point that he would at times indiscriminately slay anything his sword can touch, including any of us. Yeslick frowned at this news, for he had already grown tremendously fond of Minsc who he identified as “a great warrior.” He noted that sadly, he had seen such things in battle among his dwarven kin, and it was always heart wrenching when it occurred. Clangeddin taught control of the rage. But sometimes berserker warriors were overtaken by the heat of battle, lost all their senses, and failed to remember anything they had done—to then find they had slain comrades as well as foes.
I recommended that I consult the stars as to whether we should try to find the warrioress that the bartender at the Burning Wizard told us about. Before retiring for the night I studied my tome and scried the following portents: I did not share all the portents with the party. The one portent that I felt spoke most strongly about whether to try to find the warrioress was the vision I received of the amazing agility of the warrior-thief killing the hapless guard in the dark castle. This rather strongly reminded me of the bartender’s tale of the female fighter encountered east of Beregost. Interestingly, in my vision I could not tell if the attacker was male or female. This was for the warrior star itself, mind you. And finally, because the Moon is but one waning day from full in the sign of the Swordsman, this very clearly indicates a female warrior. In addition, I also could see no obvious warning that we should not seek to find this mysterious female warrior.
Thus I shared the portents that seemed relevant, and briefly explained them. The party was attentive and seemed to respect what I shared.
“It seems clear to me that the stars point toward us trying to find her,” I said.
They all looked at one another with nods in agreement. No one voiced any concerns or challenges to the plan. We wouldn’t know what Dynaheir’s and Minsc’s plans were for several days anyway.
“Is it agreed that we shall we travel now to just east of the Song of the Morning to see if we can find her?” I asked.
Everyone raised their glass in a toast to this next small adventure.
And so off we went back up the Coast Way to Beregost to see if we could find this warrior-woman who is said to challenge travelers to duels, and offers to protect the opponent if she were to lose.
So far, enjoying yours. And hoping poor Rasaad stays around for a bit, at least long enough to provide him with some closure revolving his brother.
Now if either Minsc or Dynaheir dies in the out-of-game battle they will soon have with Edwin, then there will be one more slot for one of them. But the party is also headed now to interview Shar-Teel.
I think the party I'd most enjoy finishing out the game with would be: Imoen, Faldorn, Yeslick, Rasaad, and Shar-Teel. But I'm intrigued at the idea of playing Minsc as actually regularly having his berserker rages.
So second best for me would be Minsc as such instead of Shar-Teel. Third best is Dynaheir takes the last slot. And fourth best is Neera returns to take the sixth slot.
But we'll have to see how it goes.
I have journaled very extensively in order to demonstrate the concept, including resource management so that others can vividly see that with such a roleplaying approach the party makes do with much less (i.e., there's no powergame/meta-game assembling of the best equipment).
But I have to say that I have found that the journaling is for me the primary vehicle through which the characters truly come to life independently, and in ways that surprise me. It is through that creative writing process that that happens for me. I'm pretty sure that (for me) it would not happen as clearly if it all just remained thoughts in my head (versus being recorded). Through writing it out, the character development and story takes twists and turns that I simply don't anticipate.
So the main point is that when I write, it is for me to better enjoy the game. I do it so that I can have the pleasure of that element of surprise and to get to know the characters in imagination more fully. I enjoy sharing the process, and I'm glad that others appreciate the adventure. But the main reason I do it is that the writing energizes the creative process.
Now all that said, I will be truly fascinated to see how it all comes to life in someone else's creative imagination.
Our journey along the Coast Way to Beregost was peaceful. It was late at night by the time we arrived, so we turned in for the night at the Burning Wizard.
[The party’s exploits are now well known, and they have established a relationship with the bartender of the Burning Wizard. I think it is all but certain that the bartender would know that Firebeard Elvenhair has spoken to townsfolk of his past relationship with Oracos and Imoen, and we may assume that the sage would be interested in visiting with them again. According to the Baldur’s Gate wiki Firebeard is one of Candlekeep’s book buyers. So he would be traveling a lot in search of books, and at Candlekeep much of the time as well. Anyway, I will begin flipping cards for whether Firebeard is there and the bartender remembers to mention that he had heard that Firebeard would love to see them again.
Is Firebeard at his home in Beregost and the bartender remembers to mention that he has heard that Firebeard has said he would enjoy a visit from Oracos and Imoen? Black card = no.]
As we traveled east of the Song of the Morning we were attacked by a large pack of wild dogs. Yeslick and Imoen were on point, but I yelled for everyone to stand back so that I may advance to the lead and cast the Color Cone spell that had (much as I hate to admit it) impressed me so greatly in the Baldur’s Gate sewer. The spell incapacitated all but one of the wild curs. Yeslick dutifully restrained himself from charging at the dogs, for he understood the use of spells to be under my command. I was impressed with the results, but by the same token the Slumber spell had just worked quite well for us against the gnolls; and by comparison Sleep was certainly safer to use.
By dusk we came to the area that the bartender had heard the traveler’s encounter with the dueling warrior-woman took place. Imoen scouted ahead, as was our common practice. Imoen almost immediately reported that just to our north lay a ghoul and four gnolls. We could kill them or avoid them. But we also were at a loss as to where to search in this area more broadly. The plan I suggested was to first kill these creatures just to our north so that I could cast my runes for where to begin looking for the warrioress in peace.
Our plan was simple. Imoen would creep close enough the spot the ghoul with me just behind her, and from there I would aim the Slumber spell just past the ghoul in the hope that it would knock out the four gnolls positioned behind it. The ghoul, I knew, would not succumb to the spell. But I would next attempt to blind the ghoul after attempting to put the gnolls to sleep. I advised Yeslick and Rasaad to avoid attacking the undead creature until I could blind it, since its gaze could easily paralyze them. Thus, after trying to put as many gnolls to sleep as I could, we would then try to kill the ghoul next. If my spell failed to work against some of the gnolls, we should actually drop back rather than charge, in order to provide as long an opportunity as possible for me to rob the ghoul of its sight.
Yeslick offered no objection, and acknowledged that that plan made sense.
Unfortunately the ghoul was positioned too far ahead of the gnolls for my first casting to affect them. I quickly consulted with Imoen in a whisper, and we agreed that we would simply have to be spotted by the ghoul, but hopefully we could keep enough distance from it to avoid its gaze and I could make the gnolls behind it unconscious. I felt that I could cast Sleepiness first, and then be able to Blind the creature. For if I simply Blinded the ghoul first, he might call out to the gnolls that they were under attack.
As I approached to ghoul to cast he shambled forward, scissoring his arms at a low height as if to signal ‘hold your attack’, and pleading softly for mercy. It seemed that it was trying to communicate inconspicuously enough to avoid detection by the gnolls nearby. While this obviously could have been a deception, never had we seen such behavior from such a beast. It made me wonder if it was indeed a poor victim who meant no harm and who had been evilly transformed by some fell magic. I followed a deeper instinct than fear—one of curiosity, and through it the possibility of the gods providing an unexpected advantage.
Even as the creature slowly approached it gurgled in a gravelly voice that that it was “friend,” and that it wanted to help us. Korax was its name, it said. The ghoul’s mind was a shadow of its former human form. But my surmise was that the unfortunate creature must be struggling to hold on to whatever was left of its former human existence, before it was infected and turned into its present hideous form. The fact that it could even name itself made me hopeful that it might provide some helpful information about the area.
I asked Korax first why it was helping us. The creature responded that it hated the gnolls, although it was unable to articulate why. (Evidently the ghoul was not allied with them…) I then asked it if it had seen a lone human female warrior in the area, a superior fighter who challenged travelers.
Korax responded that yes, there was such a person close by to the north. Korax said he liked her since the gnolls feared her; they avoided her because she had easily killed so many of them. Even the gnome let her be, Korax said.
“The gnome?” I asked
“Gnome use his pets to make people into statues,” Korax wheezed. “But not warrior lady.” Then he added, “She not know it, but me protect her. Me tell gnome’s pets not to look at her. She hates gnolls too.”
I asked Korax to tell us the locations of the gnome and his pets, and the woman we sought, and he provided a fair idea (we had to ask several questions to narrow it down, and madehim point). They were to both to the north; but she further north due north from us, and the gnome a bit closer to our location and to the east.
I then sent Imoen back to the others to tell them what was happening. In a moment they joined us, with Yeslick gazing warily at Korax as the cleric approach. In comparison Faldorn and Rasaad instead just seemed rather amazed.
“We have a new friend!” I smiled.
“So I see,” grumbled Yeslick. As a cleric he was accustomed to vanquishing undead, thus ending their tortured nightmare of an existence if he could.
I then explained the situation to the others. Faldorn observed that from the description of the gnome’s pets that were likely basilisks. When she suggested that, I remembered from my studies at Candlekeep that such reptiles are sometimes used to guard treasure. Basilisks are large lizards that will turn living creatures to stone with their gaze. As an undead creature Korax was immune to their petrifying eyes. In any event, it sounded as though we were in a highly dangerous area.
I advised that we should all switch to ranged weapons. Yeslick seemed to accept the need to use his sling for now, even though he obviously preferred charging with his hammer.
Korax was eager to kill the gnolls ahead. We desperately wanted to do that. Then he would take us to the warrioress, he said.
We advanced at the gnolls and I cast my Slumber spell which put three of them on the ground. The one who did not pass out we easily killed. And of course we destroyed the three sleeping ones.
We continued due north, but very warily. Imoen of course scouted, with Korax just behind her.
Just ahead we came upon the woman’s camp. She was tall and large framed for a woman, but pleasingly proportioned and had the look of one well trained in combat. The warrior woman wielded a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. She immediately challenged us to the contest that the bartender had told of. The fight would not be to the death, she advised. But when it was clear that death was close and would come soonest to either of them, both would stop. She only fought men, she said. Assuming that she was the winner we would hand her 20 gold for being bested by her. If by some miracle she could not prevail, she said, she would pledge her sword to us for three days. She added that if any of us were to help the chosen fighter she would kill whoever interfered.
Yeslick immediately strode forward and assumed a fighter’s stance. And the two of them squared off.
It was a long and harrowing battle for us to watch, initially with many skillful feints, thrusts, and parries but no blows landed. Both at times landed blows, but it was rare. The warrioress was very agile and avoided more of dwarf’s blows than he hers. At one point Yeslick clearly became quite frustrated Fearing that he was going to lose, I suspect, he Commanded his opponent to lie down, instilling the temporary belief in her mind that she had died. The spell worked and the cleric continued to strike her as she lay in the helpless prone position in order to wound her badly enough that she may not continue the battle. But it was not enough to stop her! For she rose from the ground and resumed combat.
Yeslick then summoned a great infusion of strength and courage from his god—but this too was not enough to defeat her! The warrioress continued to battle him, and in fact wounded him very badly. Yeslick drank a healing potion and continued fighting. (She consumed no potions at all throughout the fight.)
The woman seriously wounded him again, and he tried to cast a spell to Hold her. But the spell failed. Several times more she injured him badly. Yeslick used his other healing potion and twice cast healing spells upon himself. But eventually it was clear that she had defeated him. She demanded the 20 gold, which I tossed.
The warrior woman encouraged both Rasaad and I to take our turns and see if we could win.
[At this point the dialogue for that didn’t fire but I had Rasaad step in and fight her anyway.]
Rasaad fought her bravely. In addition to his hand strikes and kicks we got to see his Sun Soulray. it looked impressive, but Shar-Teel didn’t drop a stitch. The monk too took a beating from her. He used up both of his healing potions during their much shorter fight.
Rasaad was soon clearly badly wounded and gave his surrender.
I then decided that I could defeat her with magic where brute force had failed. I called out that I was next and Rasaad retreated for Faldorn to heal.
Shar-Teel perhaps expected me to wade in with my staff, but instead I Blinded her. Then I promptly knocker her unconscious with the Fan of Colors spell. At first I used then used my staff to try to get her to admit defeat. But I realized that I would probably gain her respect more with my use of darts. So I stepped back and loosed a barrage of the missiles at her.
Finally, growling from the ground, she acceded that I was the victor. She would give us her sword arm for at least the next three days, she said.
[Here the dialogue in which Shar-Teel says she’s willing to fight another party member finally fired. But before I could respond, another dialogue then fired that she had admitted defeat and provided the option for her to join. So I accepted into the party.]
The warrior woman was still blinded. And she was severely wounded after battling three of us without the aid of a single healing potion. Faldorn and I therefore healed her, although after Faldorn had healed Rasaad she did not quite have enough spells to fully restore the woman to vigor.
Her name was Shar-Teel, she said. The warrioress said that it was highly unusual for her to lose. In the rare instances that she did, she was often compensated handsomely for her fighting skills anyway when she helped travelers. For they would often ask to hire her further a fee. She acknowledged grudgingly that when she did lose it was most often to magic users. Very few without magic were her equal in combat, she declared. We could see how this may easily be no exaggeration.
Yeslick remained very quiet about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely humbled, and a bit disquieted. Rasaad complemented Shar-Teel on her impressive display of skills.
“You used moves I have never seen,” he said smiling (though Shar-Teel could not see his grin, of course). Rasaad asked if he may inquire where she had trained.
Shar-Teel scoffed and spit out a mouthful of blood. “On the streets of Baldur’s Gate, and other cities I have roamed to the east,” she said disdainfully.
Faldorn then cast two spells and frowned slightly, whispering to me “We’ll talk later.”
I informed Shar-Teel that we were headed to Beregost. I said I felt we should travel now just a bit to the west to get well clear of the dangers of this area, and then wait for her sight to return. When we arrived in Beregost we would discuss a proposal for possibly more than three days of her services. She was at honor bound to accompany us back to the town and hear our offer, I reminded her.
Shar-Teel gave a sort of grunting laugh at this. She seemed about to say something in response, but instead held her tongue. “Let us move west then. The gnolls would take advantage of my current blindness if they saw me this way.”
We released the ghoul Korax from his promise to aid us, and asked him to scout for us a far distance away but avoid being seen or fighting anyone until we join up with him. The ghoul then lumbered off into the night to the northeast.
[Incidentally, when I did this in-game I found that I could have picked up some free XP this way. Because Korax will kill the basilisks he encounters when pointed in their direction. Yeslick even leveled up from it. But it felt like cheating somehow. So I only pretended it happened.
Perhaps because I had Shar-Teel fight three different opponents without new ‘challenge’ dialogues for the latter two, there was a little weirdness here with Shar-Teel’s scripts. She was added to the party but I could not get her to respond. I tried removing her. After initiating a couple more conversations with her she did eventually rejoin with no problems, and the party was able to leave the area.]
And so we surrounded the warrioress, keeping her to our center, and journeyed a good distance from where we stood in order to wait for her sight to return. When Shar-Teel’s blindness ended she looked at us more closely, and studied us all for a moment. She shook her head at the sight of me upon closer inspection. But then she gave a small sigh and said among the men in our group, only I was to address her.
Yeslick actually seemed visibly taken aback at this, and then mildly perturbed. Rasaad was of course unfazed. He simply smiled at her with loving acceptance.
During the journey back to Beregost we were forced to fight three wolves that attacked us. Fortunately they injured none of us before we destroyed them.
We pushed our march for the whole night and arrived again in Beregost on a gorgeous sunny morning. Again we took a room at the Burning Wizard, in order to rest up and then discuss whether Shar-Teel might be a suitable new companion, if indeed she would consider joining us.
[When they get the room does the bartender mention that he heard Firebeard would like to see them? Black card = no.]