@bengoshi, @Elrandir, @lolien, and other 'likers', thanks all of you Like you guys I can't get enough of reading people's playthroughs and learn and laugh and immerse. I'm glad there are people that I can give the same kind of contentment/entertainment.
BTW I'm going to continue with the Snow Storm Bow (that automoatically fires ice/electricity arrows). It's powerful, but I just calculated something: having the bow made cost me 5000 GP plus my wands of frost (10-12k GP?), lightning (12k GP) and magic missiles (10k GP). This means losing about 35-40k GP. With that amount of gold I could have bought a nice collection of enchanted arrows, the dagger of venom, and an ioun stone for Dynaheir, so all in all I don't feel like a cheat using the bow. Thanks for your feedback @bengoshi.
Surrendering Body and Soul to a Man, a New Expedition into the Cloakwood
We ventured deeper into the immense forest, got waylaid by Wyverns and Giant Spiders but passed by unnoticed thanks to Invisibility 15’ Radius. [I think I’ve never used that spell so often as during this playthrough.] When we reached the area where Coran and I had spotted a Druid community before, Jaheira warned me that these Druids were Shadow Druids, merciless defenders of nature. I didn’t necessarily see the Shadow Druids’ philosophy as flawed. I’m not saying I share their philosophy but I also don’t oppose it. The Realms are probably a better place thanks to these protectors of nature. I befriended a Cave Bear that had initially seemed to want to attack us. With the bear near us, we rested at a safe distance from the Druids, still invisible. Or I should say my party, except Coran and yours truly, rested. I gave myself to Coran that night. My friend, boyfriend and now lover started caressing me and kissing me all over my body. I couldn’t resist. It was a delightful experience. Coran was very patient and sweet with me. I slept in his arms after we had merged our bodies, and I was still a bit sleepy when the next morning a Shadow Druid by the name of Laskal saluted us. He asked us what business we had in the forest. In my honesty I replied that we were enemies of the Iron Throne. Laskal appreciated that, since the Shadow Druids opposed the Iron Throne as well, but Jaheira and Dynaheir were less satisfied with my openness.
After Laskal’s welcome I deemed it wise to approach the Shadow Druids in order to learn what they knew of the Iron Throne, and perhaps find a way in which we could join our forces against our common enemy. This didn’t work out. The Shadow Druids recognized Jaheira as a member of a different Druid order with a different philosophy, and attacked us wherever we went. First there was Izefia with two henchmen, Shapeshifters all three of them. Unprepared as we were for any hostilities, they overwhelmed us with a swarm of insects that interrupted and panicked all of us, and attacking us in their lightning fast Werewolf forms. Dynaheir tried to web our foes but they were quick to move toward us, before they could get caught. Jaheira got severely injured when Izefia opened the heavens to let a lightning strike electrocute her. When the insect swarm finally left us, we proceeded to attack, and bested the Druids with overwhelming physical force.
A second encounter with a Druid named Takiyah and two companions of his, was equally violent, but much less problematic for us than the previous battle. This time Dynaheir’s web did catch and hold our foes, after which they were easily dealt with by Khalid, using Spiders’ Bane, and the others’ ranged attacks.
We hoped for a more sensible reception by the Archdruid, Amarande, in his tree house, but he too enraged at the sight of Jaheira. Two of his lackeys were horrored by Dynaheir and Amarande himself stood no chance against an onslaught of missile attacks (Coran’s and my arrows, Jaheira’s returning throwing dagger +1, and Dynaheir’s Magic Missiles). When he fell, he dropped a nice club, the Root of the Problem, which is now my melee weapon of choice.
Back outside we ran into one more Shadow Druid who seemed more prudent than her colleagues, a girl by the name of Faldorn. She proposed to join our forces, and I accepted despite Jaheira’s protestations. Faldorn displayed her keen senses right after she joined, when she referred to Coran and me, and to last night. I was flabbergasted, and urged her to be discreet.
Faldorn’s indications regarding the location of the Iron Throne base helped us reach our destination within little more than a day’s travel. The base was located on a small island and could only be accessed via a wooden bridge. I first scouted the area and bonded with a small pack of wolves that might aid us in case of hostilities. Across the aforementioned bridge four hired killers awaited us: two warriors and two mages. Dynaheir, as always, tried to web our foes so that Khalid could attack with Spiders’ Bane. As often, things didn’t really work out as she must have hoped. While the web did hold Genthore, one of the warriors, the other Fighter, their leader Drasus, remained free while the mages came with instantly cast Minor Globes of Invulnerability that protected them against the Web. One of the latter cast a Chaos in our direction just when Khalid had retreated from the webbed area and was in the process of activating his sword’s berserk ability. As in the Bandit Tent, he wasn’t fast enough. The Chaos spell struck both him and Coran. Confused Khalid got killed by the mages’ Melf’s Minute Meteors while fighting Drasus. Coran, still confused, was standing in a corner between a wooden fence that demarcated the premises and the outer wall of a barn that housed two horses. The mages for some reason started attacking and killing the horses, very sad and completely unnecessary, and Drasus noticed Coran and approached to attack. Fortunately my sweetheart slew the warrior with an arrow at melee range [for 4 dmg, thanks Khalid for softening up Drasus]. Coran’s confusion wore off soon after, allowing him to sneak toward the party that had positioned itself on the other side of the bridge.
Somehow, the mages sensed Coran’s movemennt and came after him. Kysus spotted Dynaheir (the only one of the party who was visible because she had cast Web), and almost killed her with a Lightning Bolt. She put on the Boots of Speed and fled to the south where she went invisible and healed herself a bit with her only potion. Rezdan followed her that way, but Dynaheir shook him off (fearful of a possible Detect Invisibility). Coran, Faldorn, Jaheira and I went in a northerly direction, invisible/hidden, and saw Kysus lose track. When we noticed that he was merely Stoneskinned, we reckoned it was a good moment to strike. Faldorn first summoned her Dread Wolf, and she called Woodland Beings (two dryads that charmed a number of hostile Tasloi).
The wizard stood no chance against our small army. He eventually fell to one of my arrows, without having cast anymore spells (apart from a triggered Invisibility or Shadow Door).
With Faldorn’s Dread Wolf I took on Genthore, the second Fighter.
East of the compound Dynaheir found the last of our foes, Rezdan the Mage. He was webbed and assaulted with arrows, Faldorn’s Chromatic Orbs, and Dynaheir’s Magic Missiles. He managed to Spook his melee opponent Jaheira, but that wouldn’t save him from death.
We traveled all the way back to Beregost to get Khalid raised at the Temple of Lathander, and to get a Mage Robe of Practical Protection for Dynaheir from Thalantyr after selling him an enchanted morning star and crossbow we had found on Drasus. Another interesting piece of treasure had been a Tome of Charisma by the way.
At the Cloakwood Mines we found little resistance on the first level, and spoke with a couple of enslaved miners to plan their escape and to get an idea of the goings-on. We were told that the operation was led by a wizard named Davaeorn, possibly the same man the Surgeon had told us about on the Coast. The second level was heavily guarded. Immediately upon entering we met I estimate about twenty guards, plus a mage, Hareishan. We retreated, and for some reason only one guard and Hareishan followed us upstairs. There, the mage confused Coran, who went bat hunting, and Spooked, Blinded (Glitterdust), and Slowed me. Khalid however, with a Potion of Invunerability saved against the latter two spells. He did get Enfeebled but even in that state he had sufficient power to slay the mage in melee combat. [I found this interesting because he had 5 STR, while his Sword requires 14 STR!] She dropped the Elves’ Bane girdle.
We proceeded to cleanse the second level of all its guards and released two prisoners. On the third level we had to fight two wizards. The first one was a heavily buffed Ogre Mage that fell to our party’s joint melee assault.
The second fight, against Nastasha, a female Human Mage was much harder. She killed three of my party members before we slew her. Interestingly I feel like all the dying is starting to lose its impact on me, not in the least because apparently I can always raise my companions. I can only hope they’ll do the same with me if I fall someday. Unlike Hareishan, Natasha didn’t use her magic to debilitate us, although she Horrored me at point. Hareishan’s powerful magic was mostly aimed at dealing massive damage. First, a Lightning Bolt instantly killed Jaheira.
After that a Sunfire severely injured Coran and nearly killed Khalid who, fortunately enough didn’t lose morale, so that he could heal himself with potions. Dynaheir got poisoned twice in a row by two Hobgoblin Elite archers and fell soon after due to a Fireball by Natasha.
I was lucky to remain relatively unscathed because in my Horror I had entered the room where Natasha was displaying her destructive magics. (Faldorn had tried to dispel the Horror, but due to my Boots of Speed I didn’t stay long enough in the Dispel Magic’s area of effect.) Coran had distanced himself from the scene in order to quaff a couple of healing potions, but Natasha must have smelled blood: she finished him off with a Magic Missile.
When Natasha’s Horror had worn off I started to attack her with my bow, while severely injured Khalid was fighting her in close combat. When her Stoneskin wore off, she buffed herself again, with: Shield, Mirror Image, Ghost Armor, Improved Invisibility and Minor Globe of Invulnerability. My arrows and finally, a devastating hit by Khalid felled the formidable spellcaster.
With only three of us left, we contemplated a return to the Friendly Arm Inn in order to raise our fallen comrades, but we also considered that the time to strike was now. Selûne knows how many reinforcements the base would have if we had returned in a week’s time after the destruction we had just caused. Thus we boldly (and perhaps stupidly) continued our exploration of the Mine. We descended to fourth and lowest level. There we were greeted by Davaeorn’s right hand, asking us for our business. We said we wanted to speak with his superior. He would not let us pass and attacked us instead. He fell, after which I cast a green scroll of Protection from Magic on myself. I thought caution was in place after our devastating encounter with Natasha, who wasn’t even supposed to be the powerful wizard that ran the mine. I proceeded hidden in shadows, and triggered a Magic Missile trap and two Skull Traps. The traps didn’t affect me thanks to being protected from magic.
Daveorn spoke to me, sensing my presence in spite of my stealth, and activated some kind of Gas–Web trap, which again didn’t affect me. He approached with two menacing-looking Battle Horrors, provoking me and my companions to retreat to the third level. Both Davaeorn and his lackeys followed, so we ran to the fourth level again. Davaeorn was on our heels, but the Battle Horrors stayed behind. Khalid enraged (timely this occasion) so that both he and I were relatively safe from Daveorn’s magic. He must have noticed, because he only used damage spells, such as a Lightning Bolt (which caused Khalid to suffer moderate damage), and Cones of Cold that weren’t very upsetting. Khalid and I had to pierce two Stoneskins, before we could hurt our opponent, although before that a hit by Khalid with his Sword of Rage would horror Davaeorn and my frost/electricity arrows dealt some damage and complicated the wizard’s spellcasting. Faldorn's Chromatic Orbs, my ranged attacks and Khalid’s slashing attacks were too much for Davaeorn.
On his body and in his chambers we found some interesting items. I had to quaff a potion of Fie Giant Strength to open the locks on a number of chests. [I failed to open only one the chests.] Our treasure consisted mainly of scrolls, a suit of Full Plate mail, a Manual of Quickness of Action, and an Ioun Stone that protects against cold damage, a good item for Dynaheir.
We’re currently in Baldur’s Gate where the Priest of Gond has just raised my fallen comrades. It’s now time to rest and recover.
This is the epitome of great story telling. I've found myself logging in specifically to read the latest installments. I hope the playing has been as enjoyable for you, as reading has been for some of us.
@EnialusMeliame, thanks so much! It's really nice to get feedback because my intention is not to turn these journals in a Blackraven show or in a personal archive but in enjoyable reads that offer a reasaonable degree of immersion and insight for fellow forumites. I often think an installment may be too long, too boring, too superificial etc. Your comment is very encouraging! Thanks once more
Horses, poor horses! I guess Serene used her special ability to charm animals but I have never thought that horses can become allies: wolves yes, bears yes, but not these honourable horses.
There's a link to the PnP Fey creatures mod component in one of the spoilers, it's interesting to read. I wonder if it's an Easter Egg planned by you for us, readers, to find, or just an oversight;)
This particular part has been quite insightful in teems of how to deal with SCS mages in BG1 - it's better to be cautious as much as you can. A few close calls (panicking charname is not what you want in front of an SCS mage during a no reload run) but also is well that ends well.
I've always wondered if I'm the one who finds the SCS Natasha dangerous. Now I see she's really powerful, not just to me.
You're right @bengoshi, all animals on the map are charmed: I've had enemies go after bats in caves/mines or after squirrels in the forest areas. Funny and sometimes helpful, but I often felt sorry if yet another squirrel got killed by a skeleton near the High Hedge.... I linked to PnP Fey Creatures, not really as an Easter Egg, but mainly to make clear that the Druid spell 'Call Woodland Being' works quite differently with said component of the aTweaks mod. In vanilla BG the Nymphs are very useful thanks to their spell arsenal. They modded Woodland Beings have much less spellpower, and are slightly less useful, but their Charm ability is quite strong.
You're right about being cautious. I think that having a party of six makes me want to "test" more opponents, like Natasha. She's indeed very strong. She gave me a lot more trouble than with Davaeorn. And after this experience I believe she's better skipped on no-reload runs. Speaking of no-reload runs, have you had any time recently to make some progress with Yahiko or your Dwarven Wizard Slayer mr Blackrock? (Or maybe a new endeavour?)
It's nice of you to remeber Yahiko and Blackrock;)
I'm very eager to finish my druid run but when I've found something I hasn't known about the SCS - in which particular manner the spirit trolls are enhanced - I've decided that I have to learn better before continuing the no-reload run. Now I'm on a general run to test the SCS components. And to tell the truth, this decision is right. I'm sure that in order to survive in BG2 with the SCS I should know what to expect.
For example, I didn't know the final boss in the Planar Prison uses Time Stop and then chunks you with a sword. I didn't know that during the final fight in the Temple Ruins your levels are being drained every single round. I didn't know the Unseeing Eye summons three Eye Tyrants. And so on. If I have encountered any of these fights with Yahiko his run would end.
I am yet to find a difficult fight with Charr'Neim. I guess the Nashkell mines will be the first trial. All the random bandit/bountihunters are quite easy. But the mines look tough!
This is so damn good ! Every time I read one of your story I feel like this is always better than the previous one, but this time you definitely went beyond a plateau ! And your setup as always looks really more difficult and yet more realistic which makes it all the sweeter to read.
Congrats to you mate ! I hope to be able to continue reading your playthroughs for a long time.
@bengoshi, you've taken a wise course. I don't remember enough of SCS BG2 either to be honest. I recall that the Shadelord is superdifficult (though Yahiko's Insect Plague is likely to panic and interrupt the Shadelord!) What you said about the Planar Prison is new to me. I remember lots of PW: Stuns. Anyway it's good that you mention this. If Serene makes it to BG2, I think I'll take a break like you and do a test-playtrough as well. Thanks! @MacHurto, I think you're wise as well, in postponing the Mines for a bit. There are a number of difficult encounters there, and the same goes for other plot quests. Aaah, I see you posted recently about your progress. Why did I miss that. Am going to read right away @Gotural Merci mon copain!! Thanks for telling me this. Means a lot to me, and makes me feel the relatively extensive journalling is worth the investment of my time. Thank you.
With the bear near us, we rested at a safe distance from the Druids, still invisible. Or I should say my party, except Coran and yours truly, rested. I gave myself to Coran that night. My friend, boyfriend and now lover started caressing me and kissing me all over my body. I couldn’t resist. It was a delightful experience. Coran was very patient and sweet with me.
But did she wait for the moon? Now that is the true question.
(Don't forget to visit Coran's old lover once you get to the Gate and take care of the wizard for her.)
I haven't tried a no-reload in forever, and honestly, I don't think I'm likely to ever do it again. I get too attached to my characters- minimal reload where I only reload if CHARNAME dies, sure, but no scrapping a character totally. I just can't do it anymore.
But it's fun to read about. I hope you manage to get through the full game.
@Twani: lots of romance issues with Coran. I'm feeling quite sorry for Serene, and my views on Coran have changed a bit. It must have been the absence of the full moon I think. Will post an update probably tomorrow or Friday.
Re: no-reload I also get attached, but usually not to all party members. I think I would have liked a self-imposed restriction as to the number of NPC resurrections, forcing myself to be more careful with them and to be flexible/creative with my party composition.
@Blackraven I told you. With Coran, always wait till the moon. I fear you didn't even leave things to chance, just got yourself on the bad path right away. But I guess I'll see in the upcoming posts! (Poor Serene.)
I'm tempted to do a minimal reload playthrough, but... no no-reloads for me. I'm too careless with my fool CHARNAMES. They tend to do things like cast color spray when surrounded by bandits.
They tend to do things like cast color spray when surrounded by bandits.
Use Sleep instead of Spray Colors, I know that in terms of role-playing is the lamest spell in the whole game (after the Plot-Holer™ aka Raise Dead/Resurrection casted over Imoen), but in powergaming terms is the most useful spell in BG1, unless you installed some weird shit like me that makes non-joinable NPCs of a higher level.
My life is a mess, there’s no denying it. I honestly don’t know what I’d be doing right now if I didn’t have my faith, and my companions I now consider friends to motivate me to keep on serving the Realms, against all odds. Probably I'd be out somewhere alone in the wilds, not bad a prospect at all come to think of it. It all started in the city of Baldur’s Gate. We ran into a woman near the Splurging Surgeon Inn. She presented herself as Brielbara and took Coran by surprise, telling us that she had mothered a child, his child, and that her husband Yago, a human male, hadn’t been amused when confronted with the baby’s pointy ears. He had placed a fatal curse on the child and he had tormented Brielbara with the fact that he had the means but not the intention to remove the curse and save the child’s life. Brielbara urged us to seek Yago out at the Low Lantern and save her baby. Though the woman wasn’t entirely without fault, the baby surely was. We agreed to the task. On our way I asked Coran why he had never told me anything about Brielbara, and whether he wanted to stay with her and with their child. He simply said it was something of the past and that it didn’t matter now. I decided to let the matter rest for the time being, as the news might have been quite upsetting for Coran at that moment.
In the Low Lantern we faced two aggressive women who wanted us to experience the “pleasure of entropy”. None of us really understood what they were on about, until they tried to communicate with us in another language: that of battle. Dynaheir was very uncomfortably positioned right before Desreta, a fighter. She managed to get away though, and let Khalid, Jaheira and me take Desreta on. The woman stood no chance against our physical force.
The other woman, a mage, caused us more difficulty. She opened with a damaging Sunfire and she attacked Coran with Melf’s Minute Meteors. Coran did what he seemed to be best at, or maybe second best (after flirting): dying. My elemental arrows and Khalid’s and Jaheira’s sword attacks helped us prevail. (At one point a Hamadryad, summoned by Fadorn, had even managed to charm the woman, but that effect would be nullified by the party's physical attacks.)
The same strategy (me pelting with my elemental arrows to avoid spellcasting; Khalid and Jaheira attacking from up close) worked against Yago after he was unwilling to hand us his Book of Curses.
We visited the Splurging Surgeon where I raised Coran with a scroll. His first words were about us: our relationship had begun to bore him, which stung like a knife, but I suppressed my emotions and asked him why, and whether there was someone else, Brielbara maybe. He said that there was indeed someone else, her name: Freedom. That’s where I lost it. All those months he’d been courting me, stealing kisses, declaring me he loved me, and now this! I told him I had thought he loved me as a man would, and urged him to go do what he’s good at: hunting giggling wenches. I also added that I loved him no more. Coran remained silent for a while and proposed we all went to sleep and speak the next day. It was probably for the best because I could have slain him there and then. The next morning I expected him to be gone, but he was still loitering about, hoping to continue traveling with us. (I suspect that the news regarding Brielbara and his child had him eager to be on the road with us.) We spoke with Brielbara who was thankful for our help, and almost as furious at Coran as I had been the night before. Dynaheir, Jaheira and Faldorn took me apart and told me that they would understand me and back me should I decide to throw Coran out of our party. They also urged me to think well before taking that course though. Coran had skills that none of us had, and that we would sorely miss if he weren’t around. My companions could keep the two of us separated for me. I saw their point and reluctantly agreed to having Coran stick around, though I didn’t understand his desire to do so.
That same day, we met a wizard called Ramazith who asked us to free a Nymph that was being held captive by another Mage, Ragefast, and to bring her to him. Freeing a Nymph sounded like a good idea, but we weren’t sure whether we should entrust her to this Ramazith. Ragefast turned out to be hopelessly in love with the Nymph, but somehow he was susceptible to reason. We convinced him that his muse wasn’t well and wouldn’t last in the confines of his home. Annoyingly, Coran found it necessary to dally with the released Nymph, right in front of me.
We went to see Ramazith to explain to him that the Nymph had been ill and that we had had to let her go. He was not amused and he would have probably hurt us if it weren’t for Coran’s poisoned arrows (credit where credit is due).
When we left, Coran started to openly flirt with Dynaheir. Whether it was to hurt me or to please Dynaheir I don’t know. Thankfully Dynaheir put him in his rightful place, though if I hadn’t known her any better I might have taken her words as a covert or offhand criticism of my intelligence:
Just east of Ramazith’s tower we met Marek and Lothander, two rogues who had somehow managed to poison us without us knowing it. We had to retrieve the antidotes within ten days or die. We opted for the former. I’m not going to recount the entire process of us getting the antidotes. Suffice it to say that Lathander was pretty helpful, and that Marek was quite the opposite. He forced us into a fight before surrendering his antidotes. He was a well buffed spellcaster (Mirror Image, Ghost Armor, Stoneskin), with damaging spells such as Magic Missile, Melf’s Acid Arrow and Lightning Bolt. Again, my elemental damage arrows, and Khalid’s and Jaheira’s brute physical force saved the day.
The quality of Coran’s and my relationship reached an all-time low when we were warned of a Basilisk in a storehouse in the Docks district. His (misplaced) words were now aimed at hurting me. He made a reference to the Basilisk and my supposed heart of stone, but if there was one with a heart of stone, it was my wicked, abusive and treacherous elven companion.
I told him to get out of my sight or I’d flay him alive. He took the wiser course and left. Morale in the party couldn’t be lower, but still my remaining companions stuck with me and were considerate with me. I thought I wouldn’t see Coran ever again, but the next day he showed up with a couple of presents he had “acquired” for me: the beautiful Cloak and Helm of Balduran, and a Tome of Understanding. I asked him how he had obtained these items as he could have never afforded them in any store supposing they had even been for sale, but all he would tell me was that the adventuring profession can be quite profitable at times, and that no one would be missing any of the items. I accepted the Cloak and the Helm, the protections they give were too good to pass up on. If someone would indeed come to me to claim any of these items as the rightful owner, I could always give them back. I asked Coran whether he wanted to tell me something by giving me a Tome of Understanding, but he just smiled and said that there was no hidden meaning behind it and that he could have given me any other interesting tome just as well. At least my former lover seemed to be showing me in his way that he was sorry about his actions. I proposed to my companions, including Coran, to leave the city together, to see if the great outdoors would be able to raise our spirits again. Faldorn and Jaheira, very uncomfortable in the city just like me, immediately agreed, and Khalid said he was much more at ease in the forest as well. Dynaheir just smiled at our consensus and said ‘Let’s go then!’
We decided to explore the Firewine Plains and the Ruins we had been told about before in Beregost. Many Ogres roamed the plains but our party, aided by a pack of strong Worgs I had bonded with, cleansed the area of its Ogre presence. We also slew hordes of Skeletons and Kobolds. Nature’s majesty and the satisfaction of making the Sword Coast a safer place brought back the smiles on our faces. However, near the entry to the Ruins Coran fell back in his old behavior of flirting with anything that looks remotely feminine. This time his target was Amelia, who would turn out to be a demoness that had charmed a human male we met inside the Ruins so that he would pilfer them for her. We slew the creature with some difficulty, as she kept on charming members of our party and she had more Charms than Faldorn Dispels.
Inside the Firewine Ruins we ran into two evil wizards that had been using Kobolds as their minions, apparently in an attempt to raid nearby the nearby Halfling village of Gullykin as we would learn later. The first Mage, Lendarn, wasted some of his destructive magics on Khalid and Jaheira , got webbed by Dynaheir for a while (during which many of his spell protections expired), and was subsequently slain by an arrow in the skull.
A second wizard, an Ogre Mage, managed to panic Khalid but was otherwise harmless thanks to Coran’s arrows and mine, and to Jaheira’s melee attacks with her Scimitar.
We left through a secret corridor that led us to a Gullykin home. A Halfling named Jenkal, who had obviously been working with the Wizard in the dungeon, was very surprised to see us instead of his wizard and Kobold friends. He attacked, but when we hit him, he somehow eluded us. The other Halflings were very enthusiastic when they met us, and thankful to us for (unknowingly) saving their village from a probable raid. Gandolar Luckyfoot, their spokesman, gave me his Lucky Ring and a young lass by the name of Alora proposed to join us. She told me she was a Cat Burglar with great skill in Picking Locks, and Detecting Traps and Illusions. She was quite good at sneaking too, so she would make a great scout for our party, she held. I welcomed her into the party, and I told Coran that this was a good moment for us to go separate paths. This was more painful for me than any arrow or blade that had wounded me thus far, not because I wanted him around me but because the goodbye felt almost unbearably final. Either way I knew I had to do this for my own wellbeing and for that of the party.
With Alora in our midst we traveled to Beregost and the High Hedge to conclude some business. At Feldepost’s we bought the Masterbelt for Alora. It increases her lock picking and traps disarming and setting skills [by 10% each]. At Feldepost’s I bought the Dagger of Venom and an Amulet of Protection +1. At the High Hedge we sold almost all our loot. Thalantyr enchanted the Dagger of Venom, making it an even deadlier weapon [+3, and 1 extra APR]. It is now Alora’s main weapon. He also merged the Amulet of protection +1 and a Shield Amulet we had found I think on Davaeron, into an Improved Shield Amulet for Faldorn [which sets AC to 4 and gives +1 to saves]. And on top of that he combined a pair of Gauntlets of Weapon Skill, Bracers of AC7 (we had found on Ramazith) and my Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise into a pair of Gauntlets of Grandmastery [+2 Thac0, +2 Damage, +1 AC]. This left us with only a few thousand gold, insufficient to buy Alora an Ioun Stone or to buy the Weary Cudgel club for me as an offhand weapon.
We returned to the city of Baldur’s Gate in good spirits. Alora was very cheerful and talkative, and she did a great job at creating a new group energy and at helping me forget Coran. The merriness wouldn’t last though. It’s as if that city is cursed. At the Sorcerous Sundries we met a kindly priest by the name of Ordulinian who asked us to intervene in a feud between two quarreling lovers, Arkion and Nemphre, wizards both, to prevent things from escalating into violence. In brief, our mission was to rid Arkion of an amulet and Nemphre of a ring, without bloodshed. Alora offered to pickpocket the items if she could have two potions of master thievery. We agreed to the plan. It worked perfectly with Arkion, but Nemphre caught Alora red-handed. The wizard immediately triggered a string of magical protections, including Shield, Mirror Image, Stoneskin and Minor Globe of Invulnerability, and started casting another spell, no doubt to hurt or debilitate us. We saw no other option than to run outside, but Nemphre followed us.
Outside, she started casting Confusion, so I urged everyone to rush back inside. Unfortunately I was the only one who made it inside, and even I got confused by Nemphre.
I missed most of the fight, but I understand the others, excluding Dynaheir and Khalid (who has activated his sword’s Enrage ability), all got confused as well, and that Nemphre managed to cast many more debilitating spells, including Enfeeblement and Blindness on Khalid and a Slow that affected a few of my other comrades. After the Confusion had worn off a Dispel Magic by Faldorn and the physical attacks of the party’s warriors (including myself) sufficed to take Nemphre down, without any notable physical injuries on our side. But the real damage we suffered was of a different kind. In the chaos Alora had started to attack innocents, which had resulted in the deaths of three bystanders.
Alora and two of her victims:
More than three years ago Selûne, you sent your nameless disciple to me. It was a full Moon. I had snuck out of Candlekeep, over the wall. Your disciple scared me. I had never faced a Wolf before, not from up close, but I didn’t run. And I didn’t even run when the Wolf became a Man. “You’re a Child of the Moon, Serene. Know that Selûne is with you. Soon you will hunt with Bears. You will speak with Birds. And you will run with Wolves.” Those were his very words. I haven’t forgotten them. And they were all true, I’ve done all these things your disciple mentioned, and you’ve been with me, ever since that day, until now. You’ve punished me and for good reason. I vowed to protect the innocent, all the innocent. Animals, Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, all races. And I know that I've failed. As a Ranger I cannot hide behind someone else’s magic to exculpate myself. I should have never gotten into a situation where I or those I have in my care are exposed to such corruptive magic, and least of all places in the bustle of a big city as Baldur’s Gate. Your punishment is just. I should not have commanded my party to step outside that house, endangering the innocent people of Baldur’s Gate. I only ask you, Moonmaiden, for a chance to redeem myself. I shall not deviate from the path you’ve shown me. I shall continue to do good, to protect, and to act out of love and compassion, never out of fear or selfishness. You’ve taken many of my powers, I intend to show myself worthy of getting them back.
[Alora’s slaying of three innocents caused the party’s reputation to drop to 4, and had Serene fall as a Ranger, which means no more Stealth, no more Animal Empathy, no more Favored Enemy, and no Priest Spells, the first of which Serene was to receive at level 8.]
After the battle was done, I had to be strong. Sweet young Alora, who had just joined me a few days before and who had been so eager to prove herself, was inconsolable. She had been the one to propose the pickpocketing of Arkion’s and Nempre’s items and the one who had ended up killing three innocent people, she kept saying. I tried to convince her that it was not her fault, that we had all agreed to her plan, and that under the effect of Confusion she never acted out of her own will. But Jaheira and Faldorn and I had also been confused, and we hadn’t started killing any innocents, she insisted. I embraced her and whispered in her ear that she had to stop torturing herself. The only way was that of redemption. I told her that maybe there was some good we could still do in the city of Baldur’s Gate.
We rested at Silence’s shop in east Baldur’s Gate, and descended into the sewers the next day, to investigate a number of disappearances for Scar. We ended up slaying at least twenty Carrion Crawlers, Jenkal the Halfling who had found a new Ogre Mage to associate with, and said Ogre Mage. The Carrion Crawlers were no problem thanks to Khalid’s Free Action (Spiders’ Bane). And Jenkal was no match for our party of six plus Faldorn’s Dread Wolf.
The Ogre Mage was of a different caliber. He was well-buffed and had a few nasty tricks up his sleeve, most prominently an Emotion: Hopelessness he cast in my direction. I ran to keep my comrades from being exposed to the spell as well, and then fell to the ground. Faldorn’s Dispel Magic stripped our foe of all magical protections, after which he was easy pickings for Khalid, Jaheira and Faldorn’s Dread Wolf.
Having Khalid as your party's (single) frontliner is often hilarious!
With the mystery of the missing people unraveled, we reported back to Scar, who thanked us generously and asked us to undertake a second mission for him, one we had a particular interest in: investing the Iron Throne. The massive building was quiet with only a few seemingly innocent or at least ignorant workers on the first four floors. On the fifth floor I spotted a group of important-looking people, in the midst of a meeting. I entered alone, to appear less intimidating, hoping they would be open to reason. This was not the case. Their spokesman, an archer by the name of Cloudwulfe, ordered his men to attack. I fired one arrow, and fled downstairs, to the third floor where my comrades were waiting for me. I told them to descend to the second level because many aggressive Iron Throne leaders were coming. We were conferring on how to proceed when all of a sudden an Iron Throne wizard appeared in front of us. Dynaheir cast Invisibility 15’ Radius on the party just in time to prevent us from being hurt by the wizard.
When we had retreated to a quiet corner, we discovered that Khalid was missing. Alora offered to scout the building for him, hidden in shadows and protected by Non-Detection. She found him on the third floor, praising a wizard (Alai) who was standing in front of him. Khalid had been charmed.
Meanwhile on the second floor, Diyab’s Minor Globe of Invulnerability would expire, causing Dynaheir to tentatively cast a Web, just out of the wizard’s line of sight. When Jaheira and I found our foe caught in the web, we quaffed a potion of freedom each and finished him off.
Upstairs, Khalid’s charm wore off, allowing him to attack his foe. Both combatants suffered a number of blows, but the odds would be in Khalid’s favor after Alora appeared, much to his surprise he recounted later, with a poisonous backstab. Khalid slew the Fighter/Mage, and descended to the second floor with Alora and with an enchanted ring that Dynaheir identified as a Ring of Free Action.
When the six of us had regrouped and healed (in Khalid’s and Dynaheir’s case), we let Alora scout the building she warned us of Naaman’s appearance on the same floor we were on. We had to act quickly. Dynaheir webbed him, Alora (equipped with the Ring of Free Action) stabbed him in the back, and I pelted him with my magical arrows until he fell.
Alora then snuck upstairs to scout for any remaining foes. She took quite a long time to get back, which made me anxious. I feared that in her desire to prove her worth she might have taken undue risk. My relief, and that of my comrades, was great when we saw her return. She surprised us with the news that she had singlehandedly vanquished the four(!) remaining foes: two warriors (Cloudwulfe and Gardush), a Priest (Aasim) and a Doppelganger.
Happy happy joy joy… Happy HAPPY joy joy:
I scolded her for having done this all by herself, it was far too dangerous. Her eyes got watery so I hugged her tight and I told her that I cared for her, that she had performed oustandingly well, and that I understood how she must have felt after the incident in the streets but that she didn’t have to prove herself to me or any other of our companions. We proceeded to speak with a peaceful (or maybe just cowardly) Iron Throne member who told us that the people we had just dealt with had been important executives but not the true leaders of the Baldur’s Gate Iron Throne. Those leaders were to be found in Candlekeep. We reported this to Duke Eltan, (apparently a prominent figure In the politics of Baldur's Gate). He gave us a tome with which we would be allowed entrance to the citadel, my home less than six months ago…
Just outside the gate we saw two Ogre Mages, but thanks to Silver’s Inivisibility 15’ Radius , they didn’t see us.
I’m sat on a stool in Winthrop’s Inn while writing this. We shall rest first. Tomorrow I’ll face my old acquaintances, tell them my story they’ll no doubt want to hear, and look for the Iron Throne leaders.
@bengoshi hahaha, that was funny Thanks so much! This one took me a long time! Going to sleep now, it's 1:30 AM here. Hope you your pillow is comfortable, your coffee tasty, and the read enjoyable!
Dear little Serene. My heart breaks for her. To be so ill used the first time she gives her heart. The Cad! Perhaps it was the distraction of her broken heart that led her to make the decisions leading to her fall. (My PC is in a currently, “successful” romance with Coran, but after reading this I just want to go in and punch him. )
@CrevsDaak Sleep probably would be smarter, at least for my magelings. I play sorcerers a lot though, and they refuse sleep or color spray. Chromatic Orb, on the other hand...
@Blackraven I told you to wait for the moon! I did!
(More seriously, with Coran: keep denying him sex until he offers to get you anything you desire, and you tell him you desire the moon. He'll then come back with it. After that, the path splits in to three: the path where he takes responsibility for his child and stays in love with you as a CG soul (although his primary concern becomes his daughter), the path where he gets bored of you (which is the path you always get if you don't wait), and, if you're lucky, the path where he abandons his child forever to stay with you, seeing you as a goddess of sorts... but sort of goes CN in the chaos.)
I feel bad for Serene... redemption sadly won't come until the Umer Hills (unless you make her unfallen using one of the Keepers) in BG2, a long way to go. And poor Alora. Knowing that you killed innocents while under a confusion effect must be horrible for a good character. I imagine that's going to haunt that poor halfling for a long time.
It's like they say, don't start a romantic relationship with a friend as you might end up losing them in the end.
Don't start a romantic relationship with one of the best archers in the game that also happens to be a decent thief, because you might lose him in the end! *teases*
@bengoshi thank Selûne no nightmares about Coran Glad you liked the read! @Elrandir: I know you're not a backstabber, but to me it's one the most gratifying ways to hurt or kill a foe. Alora's low STR isn't really of importance for her backstab damage (STR bonus doesn't get multplied). I did fear she she would miss the Thac0 bonus of high STR, but she only missed one backstab so far. @Ravenslight and @Twani, I also feel sorry for Serene. It made me think of the real world where many good girls are taken in by guys like Coran. And Twani, yes, Alora won't sleep well for a while I fear. @SionIV, true all that, but some people have to learn the hard way... The good thing is that thanks to Alora's backstabs Serene doesn't really miss Coran's combat skills.
I'm kind of thrielled by the whole Fallen Ranger thing. It adds to the drama and the challenge: no Stealth hurts. In case Serene makes it to the final battle I think she will only step in with her bow if Alora doesn't manage on her own with backstabs. Alora might well become the most important character in the final part of the game. I'm also looking forward to BG2. Probably will be something like Circus Tent -> Slaver Quest -> Umar Hills, to get her Ranger skills back asap.
It does get multiplied in BG2, but not in the EEs, can't talk for BG1 as I never played it enough to understand what a backstab is. Edit: anyway you can be a great backstabber without the STR bonus.
It does get multiplied in BG2, but not in the EEs, can't talk for BG1 as I never played it enough to understand what a backstab is. Edit: anyway you can be a great backstabber without the STR bonus.
Strength didn't get multiplied in the original BG2 either, at least not in my installations. It was quite useful for the Thac0 bonus though, which made it easier to land your backstab.
@CrevsDaak and @SionIV, I can't speak for the original version, just my modded version. In it, STR damage gets added after the backstab multiplication. I agree that the Thac0 bonus is quite welcome, especially on a single class Thief as opposed to Fighter/Thief. Edit: In that respect, Alora has performed remarkably well so far. I should add though. that as a Burglar she's allowed two pips in Daggers, and that the Dagger of Venom as improved by Thalantyr, with its +3 Thac0 bonus, more or less compensate for her class and low STR.
It does get multiplied in BG2, but not in the EEs, can't talk for BG1 as I never played it enough to understand what a backstab is. Edit: anyway you can be a great backstabber without the STR bonus.
Strength didn't get multiplied in the original BG2 either, at least not in my installations. It was quite useful for the Thac0 bonus though, which made it easier to land your backstab.
Look at this, I've dealt Sarevok 77 points of damage, with a Thief that has a damage multiplier of x7 (an Assassin, so there's a +1 to dog & THAC0), 19 STR and is wielding a plain dagger (1d4)... So... She rolled a 3 for the damage, so that's 11, 7 form STR and 4 from the dagger... 11x7=77 edit: ninja'd and forgot to mention that I'm using vanilla BG2 and that I got (3+1+7)x7=11, because I forgot to mention the +1 before.
Comments
BTW I'm going to continue with the Snow Storm Bow (that automoatically fires ice/electricity arrows). It's powerful, but I just calculated something: having the bow made cost me 5000 GP plus my wands of frost (10-12k GP?), lightning (12k GP) and magic missiles (10k GP). This means losing about 35-40k GP. With that amount of gold I could have bought a nice collection of enchanted arrows, the dagger of venom, and an ioun stone for Dynaheir, so all in all I don't feel like a cheat using the bow. Thanks for your feedback @bengoshi.
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Surrendering Body and Soul to a Man, a New Expedition into the Cloakwood
We ventured deeper into the immense forest, got waylaid by Wyverns and Giant Spiders but passed by unnoticed thanks to Invisibility 15’ Radius. [I think I’ve never used that spell so often as during this playthrough.] When we reached the area where Coran and I had spotted a Druid community before, Jaheira warned me that these Druids were Shadow Druids, merciless defenders of nature. I didn’t necessarily see the Shadow Druids’ philosophy as flawed. I’m not saying I share their philosophy but I also don’t oppose it. The Realms are probably a better place thanks to these protectors of nature. I befriended a Cave Bear that had initially seemed to want to attack us. With the bear near us, we rested at a safe distance from the Druids, still invisible. Or I should say my party, except Coran and yours truly, rested. I gave myself to Coran that night. My friend, boyfriend and now lover started caressing me and kissing me all over my body. I couldn’t resist. It was a delightful experience. Coran was very patient and sweet with me. I slept in his arms after we had merged our bodies, and I was still a bit sleepy when the next morning a Shadow Druid by the name of Laskal saluted us. He asked us what business we had in the forest. In my honesty I replied that we were enemies of the Iron Throne. Laskal appreciated that, since the Shadow Druids opposed the Iron Throne as well, but Jaheira and Dynaheir were less satisfied with my openness.
After Laskal’s welcome I deemed it wise to approach the Shadow Druids in order to learn what they knew of the Iron Throne, and perhaps find a way in which we could join our forces against our common enemy. This didn’t work out. The Shadow Druids recognized Jaheira as a member of a different Druid order with a different philosophy, and attacked us wherever we went. First there was Izefia with two henchmen, Shapeshifters all three of them. Unprepared as we were for any hostilities, they overwhelmed us with a swarm of insects that interrupted and panicked all of us, and attacking us in their lightning fast Werewolf forms. Dynaheir tried to web our foes but they were quick to move toward us, before they could get caught. Jaheira got severely injured when Izefia opened the heavens to let a lightning strike electrocute her. When the insect swarm finally left us, we proceeded to attack, and bested the Druids with overwhelming physical force.
A second encounter with a Druid named Takiyah and two companions of his, was equally violent, but much less problematic for us than the previous battle. This time Dynaheir’s web did catch and hold our foes, after which they were easily dealt with by Khalid, using Spiders’ Bane, and the others’ ranged attacks.
We hoped for a more sensible reception by the Archdruid, Amarande, in his tree house, but he too enraged at the sight of Jaheira. Two of his lackeys were horrored by Dynaheir and Amarande himself stood no chance against an onslaught of missile attacks (Coran’s and my arrows, Jaheira’s returning throwing dagger +1, and Dynaheir’s Magic Missiles). When he fell, he dropped a nice club, the Root of the Problem, which is now my melee weapon of choice.
Back outside we ran into one more Shadow Druid who seemed more prudent than her colleagues, a girl by the name of Faldorn. She proposed to join our forces, and I accepted despite Jaheira’s protestations. Faldorn displayed her keen senses right after she joined, when she referred to Coran and me, and to last night. I was flabbergasted, and urged her to be discreet.
Faldorn’s indications regarding the location of the Iron Throne base helped us reach our destination within little more than a day’s travel. The base was located on a small island and could only be accessed via a wooden bridge. I first scouted the area and bonded with a small pack of wolves that might aid us in case of hostilities. Across the aforementioned bridge four hired killers awaited us: two warriors and two mages. Dynaheir, as always, tried to web our foes so that Khalid could attack with Spiders’ Bane. As often, things didn’t really work out as she must have hoped. While the web did hold Genthore, one of the warriors, the other Fighter, their leader Drasus, remained free while the mages came with instantly cast Minor Globes of Invulnerability that protected them against the Web. One of the latter cast a Chaos in our direction just when Khalid had retreated from the webbed area and was in the process of activating his sword’s berserk ability. As in the Bandit Tent, he wasn’t fast enough. The Chaos spell struck both him and Coran. Confused Khalid got killed by the mages’ Melf’s Minute Meteors while fighting Drasus. Coran, still confused, was standing in a corner between a wooden fence that demarcated the premises and the outer wall of a barn that housed two horses. The mages for some reason started attacking and killing the horses, very sad and completely unnecessary, and Drasus noticed Coran and approached to attack. Fortunately my sweetheart slew the warrior with an arrow at melee range [for 4 dmg, thanks Khalid for softening up Drasus]. Coran’s confusion wore off soon after, allowing him to sneak toward the party that had positioned itself on the other side of the bridge.
Somehow, the mages sensed Coran’s movemennt and came after him. Kysus spotted Dynaheir (the only one of the party who was visible because she had cast Web), and almost killed her with a Lightning Bolt. She put on the Boots of Speed and fled to the south where she went invisible and healed herself a bit with her only potion. Rezdan followed her that way, but Dynaheir shook him off (fearful of a possible Detect Invisibility). Coran, Faldorn, Jaheira and I went in a northerly direction, invisible/hidden, and saw Kysus lose track. When we noticed that he was merely Stoneskinned, we reckoned it was a good moment to strike. Faldorn first summoned her Dread Wolf, and she called Woodland Beings (two dryads that charmed a number of hostile Tasloi).
http://readme.spellholdstudios.net/rr_fey.html
The wizard stood no chance against our small army. He eventually fell to one of my arrows, without having cast anymore spells (apart from a triggered Invisibility or Shadow Door).
With Faldorn’s Dread Wolf I took on Genthore, the second Fighter.
East of the compound Dynaheir found the last of our foes, Rezdan the Mage. He was webbed and assaulted with arrows, Faldorn’s Chromatic Orbs, and Dynaheir’s Magic Missiles. He managed to Spook his melee opponent Jaheira, but that wouldn’t save him from death.
We traveled all the way back to Beregost to get Khalid raised at the Temple of Lathander, and to get a Mage Robe of Practical Protection for Dynaheir from Thalantyr after selling him an enchanted morning star and crossbow we had found on Drasus. Another interesting piece of treasure had been a Tome of Charisma by the way.
At the Cloakwood Mines we found little resistance on the first level, and spoke with a couple of enslaved miners to plan their escape and to get an idea of the goings-on. We were told that the operation was led by a wizard named Davaeorn, possibly the same man the Surgeon had told us about on the Coast. The second level was heavily guarded. Immediately upon entering we met I estimate about twenty guards, plus a mage, Hareishan. We retreated, and for some reason only one guard and Hareishan followed us upstairs. There, the mage confused Coran, who went bat hunting, and Spooked, Blinded (Glitterdust), and Slowed me. Khalid however, with a Potion of Invunerability saved against the latter two spells. He did get Enfeebled but even in that state he had sufficient power to slay the mage in melee combat. [I found this interesting because he had 5 STR, while his Sword requires 14 STR!] She dropped the Elves’ Bane girdle.
We proceeded to cleanse the second level of all its guards and released two prisoners. On the third level we had to fight two wizards. The first one was a heavily buffed Ogre Mage that fell to our party’s joint melee assault.
The second fight, against Nastasha, a female Human Mage was much harder. She killed three of my party members before we slew her. Interestingly I feel like all the dying is starting to lose its impact on me, not in the least because apparently I can always raise my companions. I can only hope they’ll do the same with me if I fall someday. Unlike Hareishan, Natasha didn’t use her magic to debilitate us, although she Horrored me at point. Hareishan’s powerful magic was mostly aimed at dealing massive damage. First, a Lightning Bolt instantly killed Jaheira.
After that a Sunfire severely injured Coran and nearly killed Khalid who, fortunately enough didn’t lose morale, so that he could heal himself with potions. Dynaheir got poisoned twice in a row by two Hobgoblin Elite archers and fell soon after due to a Fireball by Natasha.
I was lucky to remain relatively unscathed because in my Horror I had entered the room where Natasha was displaying her destructive magics. (Faldorn had tried to dispel the Horror, but due to my Boots of Speed I didn’t stay long enough in the Dispel Magic’s area of effect.) Coran had distanced himself from the scene in order to quaff a couple of healing potions, but Natasha must have smelled blood: she finished him off with a Magic Missile.
When Natasha’s Horror had worn off I started to attack her with my bow, while severely injured Khalid was fighting her in close combat. When her Stoneskin wore off, she buffed herself again, with: Shield, Mirror Image, Ghost Armor, Improved Invisibility and Minor Globe of Invulnerability. My arrows and finally, a devastating hit by Khalid felled the formidable spellcaster.
With only three of us left, we contemplated a return to the Friendly Arm Inn in order to raise our fallen comrades, but we also considered that the time to strike was now. Selûne knows how many reinforcements the base would have if we had returned in a week’s time after the destruction we had just caused. Thus we boldly (and perhaps stupidly) continued our exploration of the Mine. We descended to fourth and lowest level. There we were greeted by Davaeorn’s right hand, asking us for our business. We said we wanted to speak with his superior. He would not let us pass and attacked us instead. He fell, after which I cast a green scroll of Protection from Magic on myself. I thought caution was in place after our devastating encounter with Natasha, who wasn’t even supposed to be the powerful wizard that ran the mine. I proceeded hidden in shadows, and triggered a Magic Missile trap and two Skull Traps. The traps didn’t affect me thanks to being protected from magic.
Daveorn spoke to me, sensing my presence in spite of my stealth, and activated some kind of Gas–Web trap, which again didn’t affect me. He approached with two menacing-looking Battle Horrors, provoking me and my companions to retreat to the third level. Both Davaeorn and his lackeys followed, so we ran to the fourth level again. Davaeorn was on our heels, but the Battle Horrors stayed behind. Khalid enraged (timely this occasion) so that both he and I were relatively safe from Daveorn’s magic. He must have noticed, because he only used damage spells, such as a Lightning Bolt (which caused Khalid to suffer moderate damage), and Cones of Cold that weren’t very upsetting. Khalid and I had to pierce two Stoneskins, before we could hurt our opponent, although before that a hit by Khalid with his Sword of Rage would horror Davaeorn and my frost/electricity arrows dealt some damage and complicated the wizard’s spellcasting. Faldorn's Chromatic Orbs, my ranged attacks and Khalid’s slashing attacks were too much for Davaeorn.
On his body and in his chambers we found some interesting items. I had to quaff a potion of Fie Giant Strength to open the locks on a number of chests. [I failed to open only one the chests.] Our treasure consisted mainly of scrolls, a suit of Full Plate mail, a Manual of Quickness of Action, and an Ioun Stone that protects against cold damage, a good item for Dynaheir.
We’re currently in Baldur’s Gate where the Priest of Gond has just raised my fallen comrades. It’s now time to rest and recover.
There's a link to the PnP Fey creatures mod component in one of the spoilers, it's interesting to read. I wonder if it's an Easter Egg planned by you for us, readers, to find, or just an oversight;)
This particular part has been quite insightful in teems of how to deal with SCS mages in BG1 - it's better to be cautious as much as you can. A few close calls (panicking charname is not what you want in front of an SCS mage during a no reload run) but also is well that ends well.
I've always wondered if I'm the one who finds the SCS Natasha dangerous. Now I see she's really powerful, not just to me.
It's a solid progress, congratulations.
I linked to PnP Fey Creatures, not really as an Easter Egg, but mainly to make clear that the Druid spell 'Call Woodland Being' works quite differently with said component of the aTweaks mod. In vanilla BG the Nymphs are very useful thanks to their spell arsenal. They modded Woodland Beings have much less spellpower, and are slightly less useful, but their Charm ability is quite strong.
You're right about being cautious. I think that having a party of six makes me want to "test" more opponents, like Natasha. She's indeed very strong. She gave me a lot more trouble than with Davaeorn. And after this experience I believe she's better skipped on no-reload runs. Speaking of no-reload runs, have you had any time recently to make some progress with Yahiko or your Dwarven Wizard Slayer mr Blackrock? (Or maybe a new endeavour?)
I'm very eager to finish my druid run but when I've found something I hasn't known about the SCS - in which particular manner the spirit trolls are enhanced - I've decided that I have to learn better before continuing the no-reload run. Now I'm on a general run to test the SCS components. And to tell the truth, this decision is right. I'm sure that in order to survive in BG2 with the SCS I should know what to expect.
For example, I didn't know the final boss in the Planar Prison uses Time Stop and then chunks you with a sword. I didn't know that during the final fight in the Temple Ruins your levels are being drained every single round. I didn't know the Unseeing Eye summons three Eye Tyrants. And so on. If I have encountered any of these fights with Yahiko his run would end.
Congrats to you mate ! I hope to be able to continue reading your playthroughs for a long time.
@MacHurto, I think you're wise as well, in postponing the Mines for a bit. There are a number of difficult encounters there, and the same goes for other plot quests. Aaah, I see you posted recently about your progress. Why did I miss that. Am going to read right away
@Gotural
(Don't forget to visit Coran's old lover once you get to the Gate and take care of the wizard for her.)
I haven't tried a no-reload in forever, and honestly, I don't think I'm likely to ever do it again. I get too attached to my characters- minimal reload where I only reload if CHARNAME dies, sure, but no scrapping a character totally. I just can't do it anymore.
But it's fun to read about. I hope you manage to get through the full game.
Re: no-reload I also get attached, but usually not to all party members. I think I would have liked a self-imposed restriction as to the number of NPC resurrections, forcing myself to be more careful with them and to be flexible/creative with my party composition.
Your Khalid looks very much like he might turn out to be a first-cousin of Serene Winterbloom.
I'm tempted to do a minimal reload playthrough, but... no no-reloads for me. I'm too careless with my fool CHARNAMES. They tend to do things like cast color spray when surrounded by bandits.
My life is a mess, there’s no denying it. I honestly don’t know what I’d be doing right now if I didn’t have my faith, and my companions I now consider friends to motivate me to keep on serving the Realms, against all odds. Probably I'd be out somewhere alone in the wilds, not bad a prospect at all come to think of it.
It all started in the city of Baldur’s Gate. We ran into a woman near the Splurging Surgeon Inn. She presented herself as Brielbara and took Coran by surprise, telling us that she had mothered a child, his child, and that her husband Yago, a human male, hadn’t been amused when confronted with the baby’s pointy ears. He had placed a fatal curse on the child and he had tormented Brielbara with the fact that he had the means but not the intention to remove the curse and save the child’s life. Brielbara urged us to seek Yago out at the Low Lantern and save her baby. Though the woman wasn’t entirely without fault, the baby surely was. We agreed to the task. On our way I asked Coran why he had never told me anything about Brielbara, and whether he wanted to stay with her and with their child. He simply said it was something of the past and that it didn’t matter now. I decided to let the matter rest for the time being, as the news might have been quite upsetting for Coran at that moment.
In the Low Lantern we faced two aggressive women who wanted us to experience the “pleasure of entropy”. None of us really understood what they were on about, until they tried to communicate with us in another language: that of battle. Dynaheir was very uncomfortably positioned right before Desreta, a fighter. She managed to get away though, and let Khalid, Jaheira and me take Desreta on. The woman stood no chance against our physical force.
The other woman, a mage, caused us more difficulty. She opened with a damaging Sunfire and she attacked Coran with Melf’s Minute Meteors. Coran did what he seemed to be best at, or maybe second best (after flirting): dying. My elemental arrows and Khalid’s and Jaheira’s sword attacks helped us prevail. (At one point a Hamadryad, summoned by Fadorn, had even managed to charm the woman, but that effect would be nullified by the party's physical attacks.)
The same strategy (me pelting with my elemental arrows to avoid spellcasting; Khalid and Jaheira attacking from up close) worked against Yago after he was unwilling to hand us his Book of Curses.
We visited the Splurging Surgeon where I raised Coran with a scroll. His first words were about us: our relationship had begun to bore him, which stung like a knife, but I suppressed my emotions and asked him why, and whether there was someone else, Brielbara maybe. He said that there was indeed someone else, her name: Freedom. That’s where I lost it. All those months he’d been courting me, stealing kisses, declaring me he loved me, and now this! I told him I had thought he loved me as a man would, and urged him to go do what he’s good at: hunting giggling wenches. I also added that I loved him no more. Coran remained silent for a while and proposed we all went to sleep and speak the next day. It was probably for the best because I could have slain him there and then. The next morning I expected him to be gone, but he was still loitering about, hoping to continue traveling with us. (I suspect that the news regarding Brielbara and his child had him eager to be on the road with us.) We spoke with Brielbara who was thankful for our help, and almost as furious at Coran as I had been the night before. Dynaheir, Jaheira and Faldorn took me apart and told me that they would understand me and back me should I decide to throw Coran out of our party. They also urged me to think well before taking that course though. Coran had skills that none of us had, and that we would sorely miss if he weren’t around. My companions could keep the two of us separated for me. I saw their point and reluctantly agreed to having Coran stick around, though I didn’t understand his desire to do so.
That same day, we met a wizard called Ramazith who asked us to free a Nymph that was being held captive by another Mage, Ragefast, and to bring her to him. Freeing a Nymph sounded like a good idea, but we weren’t sure whether we should entrust her to this Ramazith. Ragefast turned out to be hopelessly in love with the Nymph, but somehow he was susceptible to reason. We convinced him that his muse wasn’t well and wouldn’t last in the confines of his home. Annoyingly, Coran found it necessary to dally with the released Nymph, right in front of me.
We went to see Ramazith to explain to him that the Nymph had been ill and that we had had to let her go. He was not amused and he would have probably hurt us if it weren’t for Coran’s poisoned arrows (credit where credit is due).
When we left, Coran started to openly flirt with Dynaheir. Whether it was to hurt me or to please Dynaheir I don’t know. Thankfully Dynaheir put him in his rightful place, though if I hadn’t known her any better I might have taken her words as a covert or offhand criticism of my intelligence:
Just east of Ramazith’s tower we met Marek and Lothander, two rogues who had somehow managed to poison us without us knowing it. We had to retrieve the antidotes within ten days or die. We opted for the former. I’m not going to recount the entire process of us getting the antidotes. Suffice it to say that Lathander was pretty helpful, and that Marek was quite the opposite. He forced us into a fight before surrendering his antidotes. He was a well buffed spellcaster (Mirror Image, Ghost Armor, Stoneskin), with damaging spells such as Magic Missile, Melf’s Acid Arrow and Lightning Bolt. Again, my elemental damage arrows, and Khalid’s and Jaheira’s brute physical force saved the day.
The quality of Coran’s and my relationship reached an all-time low when we were warned of a Basilisk in a storehouse in the Docks district. His (misplaced) words were now aimed at hurting me. He made a reference to the Basilisk and my supposed heart of stone, but if there was one with a heart of stone, it was my wicked, abusive and treacherous elven companion.
I told him to get out of my sight or I’d flay him alive. He took the wiser course and left. Morale in the party couldn’t be lower, but still my remaining companions stuck with me and were considerate with me. I thought I wouldn’t see Coran ever again, but the next day he showed up with a couple of presents he had “acquired” for me: the beautiful Cloak and Helm of Balduran, and a Tome of Understanding. I asked him how he had obtained these items as he could have never afforded them in any store supposing they had even been for sale, but all he would tell me was that the adventuring profession can be quite profitable at times, and that no one would be missing any of the items. I accepted the Cloak and the Helm, the protections they give were too good to pass up on. If someone would indeed come to me to claim any of these items as the rightful owner, I could always give them back. I asked Coran whether he wanted to tell me something by giving me a Tome of Understanding, but he just smiled and said that there was no hidden meaning behind it and that he could have given me any other interesting tome just as well. At least my former lover seemed to be showing me in his way that he was sorry about his actions.
I proposed to my companions, including Coran, to leave the city together, to see if the great outdoors would be able to raise our spirits again. Faldorn and Jaheira, very uncomfortable in the city just like me, immediately agreed, and Khalid said he was much more at ease in the forest as well. Dynaheir just smiled at our consensus and said ‘Let’s go then!’
We decided to explore the Firewine Plains and the Ruins we had been told about before in Beregost. Many Ogres roamed the plains but our party, aided by a pack of strong Worgs I had bonded with, cleansed the area of its Ogre presence. We also slew hordes of Skeletons and Kobolds. Nature’s majesty and the satisfaction of making the Sword Coast a safer place brought back the smiles on our faces. However, near the entry to the Ruins Coran fell back in his old behavior of flirting with anything that looks remotely feminine. This time his target was Amelia, who would turn out to be a demoness that had charmed a human male we met inside the Ruins so that he would pilfer them for her. We slew the creature with some difficulty, as she kept on charming members of our party and she had more Charms than Faldorn Dispels.
Inside the Firewine Ruins we ran into two evil wizards that had been using Kobolds as their minions, apparently in an attempt to raid nearby the nearby Halfling village of Gullykin as we would learn later. The first Mage, Lendarn, wasted some of his destructive magics on Khalid and Jaheira , got webbed by Dynaheir for a while (during which many of his spell protections expired), and was subsequently slain by an arrow in the skull.
A second wizard, an Ogre Mage, managed to panic Khalid but was otherwise harmless thanks to Coran’s arrows and mine, and to Jaheira’s melee attacks with her Scimitar.
We left through a secret corridor that led us to a Gullykin home. A Halfling named Jenkal, who had obviously been working with the Wizard in the dungeon, was very surprised to see us instead of his wizard and Kobold friends. He attacked, but when we hit him, he somehow eluded us. The other Halflings were very enthusiastic when they met us, and thankful to us for (unknowingly) saving their village from a probable raid. Gandolar Luckyfoot, their spokesman, gave me his Lucky Ring and a young lass by the name of Alora proposed to join us. She told me she was a Cat Burglar with great skill in Picking Locks, and Detecting Traps and Illusions. She was quite good at sneaking too, so she would make a great scout for our party, she held. I welcomed her into the party, and I told Coran that this was a good moment for us to go separate paths. This was more painful for me than any arrow or blade that had wounded me thus far, not because I wanted him around me but because the goodbye felt almost unbearably final. Either way I knew I had to do this for my own wellbeing and for that of the party.
With Alora in our midst we traveled to Beregost and the High Hedge to conclude some business. At Feldepost’s we bought the Masterbelt for Alora. It increases her lock picking and traps disarming and setting skills [by 10% each]. At Feldepost’s I bought the Dagger of Venom and an Amulet of Protection +1. At the High Hedge we sold almost all our loot. Thalantyr enchanted the Dagger of Venom, making it an even deadlier weapon [+3, and 1 extra APR]. It is now Alora’s main weapon. He also merged the Amulet of protection +1 and a Shield Amulet we had found I think on Davaeron, into an Improved Shield Amulet for Faldorn [which sets AC to 4 and gives +1 to saves]. And on top of that he combined a pair of Gauntlets of Weapon Skill, Bracers of AC7 (we had found on Ramazith) and my Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise into a pair of Gauntlets of Grandmastery [+2 Thac0, +2 Damage, +1 AC]. This left us with only a few thousand gold, insufficient to buy Alora an Ioun Stone or to buy the Weary Cudgel club for me as an offhand weapon.
We returned to the city of Baldur’s Gate in good spirits. Alora was very cheerful and talkative, and she did a great job at creating a new group energy and at helping me forget Coran. The merriness wouldn’t last though. It’s as if that city is cursed. At the Sorcerous Sundries we met a kindly priest by the name of Ordulinian who asked us to intervene in a feud between two quarreling lovers, Arkion and Nemphre, wizards both, to prevent things from escalating into violence. In brief, our mission was to rid Arkion of an amulet and Nemphre of a ring, without bloodshed. Alora offered to pickpocket the items if she could have two potions of master thievery. We agreed to the plan. It worked perfectly with Arkion, but Nemphre caught Alora red-handed. The wizard immediately triggered a string of magical protections, including Shield, Mirror Image, Stoneskin and Minor Globe of Invulnerability, and started casting another spell, no doubt to hurt or debilitate us. We saw no other option than to run outside, but Nemphre followed us.
Outside, she started casting Confusion, so I urged everyone to rush back inside. Unfortunately I was the only one who made it inside, and even I got confused by Nemphre.
I missed most of the fight, but I understand the others, excluding Dynaheir and Khalid (who has activated his sword’s Enrage ability), all got confused as well, and that Nemphre managed to cast many more debilitating spells, including Enfeeblement and Blindness on Khalid and a Slow that affected a few of my other comrades. After the Confusion had worn off a Dispel Magic by Faldorn and the physical attacks of the party’s warriors (including myself) sufficed to take Nemphre down, without any notable physical injuries on our side. But the real damage we suffered was of a different kind. In the chaos Alora had started to attack innocents, which had resulted in the deaths of three bystanders.
Alora and two of her victims:
More than three years ago Selûne, you sent your nameless disciple to me. It was a full Moon. I had snuck out of Candlekeep, over the wall. Your disciple scared me. I had never faced a Wolf before, not from up close, but I didn’t run. And I didn’t even run when the Wolf became a Man. “You’re a Child of the Moon, Serene. Know that Selûne is with you. Soon you will hunt with Bears. You will speak with Birds. And you will run with Wolves.” Those were his very words. I haven’t forgotten them. And they were all true, I’ve done all these things your disciple mentioned, and you’ve been with me, ever since that day, until now. You’ve punished me and for good reason. I vowed to protect the innocent, all the innocent. Animals, Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, all races. And I know that I've failed. As a Ranger I cannot hide behind someone else’s magic to exculpate myself. I should have never gotten into a situation where I or those I have in my care are exposed to such corruptive magic, and least of all places in the bustle of a big city as Baldur’s Gate. Your punishment is just. I should not have commanded my party to step outside that house, endangering the innocent people of Baldur’s Gate. I only ask you, Moonmaiden, for a chance to redeem myself. I shall not deviate from the path you’ve shown me. I shall continue to do good, to protect, and to act out of love and compassion, never out of fear or selfishness. You’ve taken many of my powers, I intend to show myself worthy of getting them back.
[Alora’s slaying of three innocents caused the party’s reputation to drop to 4, and had Serene fall as a Ranger, which means no more Stealth, no more Animal Empathy, no more Favored Enemy, and no Priest Spells, the first of which Serene was to receive at level 8.]
After the battle was done, I had to be strong. Sweet young Alora, who had just joined me a few days before and who had been so eager to prove herself, was inconsolable. She had been the one to propose the pickpocketing of Arkion’s and Nempre’s items and the one who had ended up killing three innocent people, she kept saying. I tried to convince her that it was not her fault, that we had all agreed to her plan, and that under the effect of Confusion she never acted out of her own will. But Jaheira and Faldorn and I had also been confused, and we hadn’t started killing any innocents, she insisted. I embraced her and whispered in her ear that she had to stop torturing herself. The only way was that of redemption. I told her that maybe there was some good we could still do in the city of Baldur’s Gate.
We rested at Silence’s shop in east Baldur’s Gate, and descended into the sewers the next day, to investigate a number of disappearances for Scar. We ended up slaying at least twenty Carrion Crawlers, Jenkal the Halfling who had found a new Ogre Mage to associate with, and said Ogre Mage. The Carrion Crawlers were no problem thanks to Khalid’s Free Action (Spiders’ Bane). And Jenkal was no match for our party of six plus Faldorn’s Dread Wolf.
The Ogre Mage was of a different caliber. He was well-buffed and had a few nasty tricks up his sleeve, most prominently an Emotion: Hopelessness he cast in my direction. I ran to keep my comrades from being exposed to the spell as well, and then fell to the ground. Faldorn’s Dispel Magic stripped our foe of all magical protections, after which he was easy pickings for Khalid, Jaheira and Faldorn’s Dread Wolf.
Having Khalid as your party's (single) frontliner is often hilarious!
With the mystery of the missing people unraveled, we reported back to Scar, who thanked us generously and asked us to undertake a second mission for him, one we had a particular interest in: investing the Iron Throne. The massive building was quiet with only a few seemingly innocent or at least ignorant workers on the first four floors. On the fifth floor I spotted a group of important-looking people, in the midst of a meeting. I entered alone, to appear less intimidating, hoping they would be open to reason. This was not the case. Their spokesman, an archer by the name of Cloudwulfe, ordered his men to attack. I fired one arrow, and fled downstairs, to the third floor where my comrades were waiting for me. I told them to descend to the second level because many aggressive Iron Throne leaders were coming. We were conferring on how to proceed when all of a sudden an Iron Throne wizard appeared in front of us. Dynaheir cast Invisibility 15’ Radius on the party just in time to prevent us from being hurt by the wizard.
When we had retreated to a quiet corner, we discovered that Khalid was missing. Alora offered to scout the building for him, hidden in shadows and protected by Non-Detection. She found him on the third floor, praising a wizard (Alai) who was standing in front of him. Khalid had been charmed.
Meanwhile on the second floor, Diyab’s Minor Globe of Invulnerability would expire, causing Dynaheir to tentatively cast a Web, just out of the wizard’s line of sight. When Jaheira and I found our foe caught in the web, we quaffed a potion of freedom each and finished him off.
Upstairs, Khalid’s charm wore off, allowing him to attack his foe. Both combatants suffered a number of blows, but the odds would be in Khalid’s favor after Alora appeared, much to his surprise he recounted later, with a poisonous backstab. Khalid slew the Fighter/Mage, and descended to the second floor with Alora and with an enchanted ring that Dynaheir identified as a Ring of Free Action.
When the six of us had regrouped and healed (in Khalid’s and Dynaheir’s case), we let Alora scout the building she warned us of Naaman’s appearance on the same floor we were on. We had to act quickly. Dynaheir webbed him, Alora (equipped with the Ring of Free Action) stabbed him in the back, and I pelted him with my magical arrows until he fell.
Alora then snuck upstairs to scout for any remaining foes. She took quite a long time to get back, which made me anxious. I feared that in her desire to prove her worth she might have taken undue risk. My relief, and that of my comrades, was great when we saw her return. She surprised us with the news that she had singlehandedly vanquished the four(!) remaining foes: two warriors (Cloudwulfe and Gardush), a Priest (Aasim) and a Doppelganger.
Happy happy joy joy… Happy HAPPY joy joy:
I scolded her for having done this all by herself, it was far too dangerous. Her eyes got watery so I hugged her tight and I told her that I cared for her, that she had performed oustandingly well, and that I understood how she must have felt after the incident in the streets but that she didn’t have to prove herself to me or any other of our companions. We proceeded to speak with a peaceful (or maybe just cowardly) Iron Throne member who told us that the people we had just dealt with had been important executives but not the true leaders of the Baldur’s Gate Iron Throne. Those leaders were to be found in Candlekeep. We reported this to Duke Eltan, (apparently a prominent figure In the politics of Baldur's Gate). He gave us a tome with which we would be allowed entrance to the citadel, my home less than six months ago…
Just outside the gate we saw two Ogre Mages, but thanks to Silver’s Inivisibility 15’ Radius , they didn’t see us.
I’m sat on a stool in Winthrop’s Inn while writing this. We shall rest first. Tomorrow I’ll face my old acquaintances, tell them my story they’ll no doubt want to hear, and look for the Iron Throne leaders.
*taking a cup of coffee, a cozy pillow and having pleasure*
The read is enjoyable in the very best sense!
Have sweet dreams! Just ... don't dream about Coran
(My PC is in a currently, “successful” romance with Coran, but after reading this I just want to go in and punch him.
@Blackraven I told you to wait for the moon! I did!
(More seriously, with Coran: keep denying him sex until he offers to get you anything you desire, and you tell him you desire the moon. He'll then come back with it. After that, the path splits in to three: the path where he takes responsibility for his child and stays in love with you as a CG soul (although his primary concern becomes his daughter), the path where he gets bored of you (which is the path you always get if you don't wait), and, if you're lucky, the path where he abandons his child forever to stay with you, seeing you as a goddess of sorts... but sort of goes CN in the chaos.)
I feel bad for Serene... redemption sadly won't come until the Umer Hills (unless you make her unfallen using one of the Keepers) in BG2, a long way to go. And poor Alora. Knowing that you killed innocents while under a confusion effect must be horrible for a good character. I imagine that's going to haunt that poor halfling for a long time.
Don't start a romantic relationship with one of the best archers in the game that also happens to be a decent thief, because you might lose him in the end! *teases*
@Elrandir: I know you're not a backstabber, but to me it's one the most gratifying ways to hurt or kill a foe. Alora's low STR isn't really of importance for her backstab damage (STR bonus doesn't get multplied). I did fear she she would miss the Thac0 bonus of high STR, but she only missed one backstab so far.
@Ravenslight and @Twani, I also feel sorry for Serene. It made me think of the real world where many good girls are taken in by guys like Coran. And Twani, yes, Alora won't sleep well for a while I fear.
@SionIV, true all that, but some people have to learn the hard way... The good thing is that thanks to Alora's backstabs Serene doesn't really miss Coran's combat skills.
I'm kind of thrielled by the whole Fallen Ranger thing. It adds to the drama and the challenge: no Stealth hurts. In case Serene makes it to the final battle I think she will only step in with her bow if Alora doesn't manage on her own with backstabs. Alora might well become the most important character in the final part of the game. I'm also looking forward to BG2. Probably will be something like Circus Tent -> Slaver Quest -> Umar Hills, to get her Ranger skills back asap.
Edit: anyway you can be a great backstabber without the STR bonus.
Edit: In that respect, Alora has performed remarkably well so far. I should add though. that as a Burglar she's allowed two pips in Daggers, and that the Dagger of Venom as improved by Thalantyr, with its +3 Thac0 bonus, more or less compensate for her class and low STR.
edit: ninja'd and forgot to mention that I'm using vanilla BG2 and that I got (3+1+7)x7=11, because I forgot to mention the +1 before.
(Base damage + Proficiency bonus + item bonus, bard song etc) x backstabbing multiplier + strength bonus ) x critical hit + additional weapon damage.