Well, my dwindling party of adventurers is doing a little better. While exploring the areas around Beregost and Nashkel, various and sundry monsters have been met and bested. Pollie has decided that they need a little extra help, but no one seems to be willing to join up. Perhaps word has gotten around that the party has been seen frequenting a circle of stones and corpses, and that's just a little too weird for the average Sword Coast thrill seeker. Whatever the reason, the only lead they have is the "witch" Minsc and Edwin were so interested in. Off to the gnoll fortress they go...
Our adventurers seem to be coming in to their own, now. On the way to the Gnoll Stronghold, very little posed much of a problem. Things got a little touch and go when a dandy gentleman pleaded for their help with a bear across a bridge from him. But the bear fell. However, at this point a severe ammo shortage forced them to backtrack to town. Pollie wanted to go check out the tower at High Hedge to see what spell scrolls she could pick up. On the way, they met a strange talking chicken and also joined up with a grumpy ranger named Kivan. Rescuing the witch Dynaheir posed no real challenges. On the way back to Nashkel for a little R&R, Kivan was nearly taken down by a bandit named Neville, after being "softened up" by some ogre berserkers on another bridge. He narrowly escaped with 1 hp when Branwen landed a couple of good blows to Neville. She is a beast with the ankheg plate and the Stupifier equipped (I gave her a pip in maces). Now they travel straight to Nashkel to see what's up with the mines there. They want to make haste, as Kivan seems pretty anxious to get off to take care of some bandits.
Side note: this has been the most fun play through of BG for me. The minimal reload has forced me to actually use up those extra scrolls and potions I usually drag around through the whole game, and to treat combat as more than pointing at the enemy and letting the characters just slug it out. As much as I'd like to have a funny picture of NPC bodies piled up around the stone circle, i don't want to run out of characters before getting to the difficult areas.
You get two near the bandit camp. One in cloakwood, one on the farm leading to baldurs gate.... Add Safana who is in the neighbourhood and you got a full (and balanced) party again.
You are coming up to one of the the toughest back to back to back fights.
Oh I know it! I'm trying to not meta game at all though, so my characters really haven't had any need to go to the areas with more NPC's yet. As far as they know, they're as good as it gets. I fully expect that once I get around to The TOTSC stuff, the body count is going to explode!
Deep breaths....well, the trip to Nashkel was pretty uneventful. Kivan continued to cut down anything that came within 20 yards with his longbow. Even a run-in with an ambushing ogre mage was dealt with. Traveling to the mines from Nashkel, they met up with Dorn, whom they'd had the displeasure to meet at the Friendly Arms Inn. His muscle did help us out of another ambush by a bunch of heavily armed bandits. He suggested joining forces but the party politely took a rain check. Down to the mines. The party has definitely gotten their footing in the ways of adventuring. Hardly a scratch was had as they ventured lower into the mines. Even Mulahey was a breeze. Rasaad's sun soul ray laid waste to most of the skeletons and kobolds Mulahey called on for assistance. The stragglers were easily dispatched once Mulahey was defeated. "Great," says Pollie. "Everything is fantastic on the Sword Coast today. Let's get out of this dump and get our reward and throw back a few tankards." They let the mopey Mage Xan know they'd contact him if there was an opening anytime soon, then headed out into the bright summer day. "Ah, fresh air. A lovely meadow. Let's have a picnic. That little spot up ahead looks nice." Nope. It was not a nice place for a picnic. Unless you like a lunch of knuckle sandwich and arrow pie from a bunch of dumb asshole assassins who seriously ruined the day for Kivan and Branwen. Once Dynaheir got her $#!% together and launched a stinking cloud, the fight was basically over. Kivan had already bee narrowed to death, but Branwen, who was already knocking on death's door, decided it would be a good idea to take on the head bandit mano a mano. Man oh man did that not work out. Dead. The rest of the bandits finally succumbed to volley upon volley of slings and arrows. But the damage was done. Back to Nashkel to collect some cash from Berrun Ghastkill. Oh, whaddayaknow, ANOTHER assassin. Nimbul (or as he likes to call himself NIMBUL...what a jerk!) is now pushing up daisies 50 yards west of a proper cemetery. unfortunately, so is Taris, who got caught by a bit of Rasaad's sun soul ray (I really don't understand how to aim that damn thing. Half the time he winds up hitting someone several feet away from where i click. but that's a matter for another discussion). Ollie may have take a 7 point reputation hit, but at least Taris' 20gp will come in handy Another trip to the grimmest of grave sites....
I'm loving this thread so far! It's nice to see these people getting a (somewhat) proper burial rather than being left to rot in some cave. If only there was a way to bring petrified companions so you could decorate the place with some statues. I think that's all this graveyard is missing
Didn't have too much time to play today, but it was enough...
After their latest escapades, Pollie and co. headed for the Friendly Arms Inn for a good night's sleep and to look up Dorn. He was there waiting for them, and joined up. "Hey," says Pollie. "So you're pretty tough and look like you can handle that gigantic sword. From the tales you've told you must be, what, level 4, 5, somewhere in there, right. Oh, LEVEL ONE???? What the hell? What good is a first level chump going to do us? (no offense, @AlveusMalcanter ) Fine, you can come along with us anyway." So off they head into the wilderness to try to get this low level chump some field training. And he handles himself pretty well, aside from guzzling most of their healing potions. Down around Beregost, they come upon some sort of ruins filled with all sorts of skeletons and zombies, and the mad Bassilus they've been asked to find. Pollie uses her cunning to trick Bassilus into totally setting his undead army against them. Everyone in the party to a man was killed. Pollie was the last one standing, and knew the only way to save her friends was to sacrifice herself and hope for some sort of time traveling Magic. It worked! Drawing on previously gained insight, Pollie fooled the mad Bassilus into dropping his control over the undead, all of whom dropped into piles of bones and zombie goo. Bassilus himself proved no contest. And rightly so. I mean, five against one, they better have beat him! Spoils were collected, high fives were issued, and off they set to collect their rewards at the temple in Beregost. "Hey, I know," says Rasaad. "Let's take a bit more of a look around here before going back to town. Well, they bumped into a party of some particularly nasty hobgoblins. A nice web and stinking cloud and shower of arrows made mince meat of them. Unfortunately, before said meat was made minced, one of the hobgoblins (Malkax, to be exact) nailed Rasaad with a critical hit that killed him instantly. Say hi to Selune for us, buddy! Add one more to the pile.
the adventure continues...(had to take a little break in order to prepare for and have my daughter's fifth birthday party.) The party has been out getting into trouble trying to get Dorn up to speed. They swung back down to the Nashkel mines to finally get Xan out of his cave. Things were going well until they ran into Sendai and her crew. Imoen was shot down before Pollie and Dynaheir could launch their web/stinking cloud fight ending combo. They took Sendai and friends out pretty easily, but it was too late for Imoen. Since nothing was really pressing, they decided to take the scenic route back to the grave site. Several days of travel left a a swath of dead gnolls, hobgoblins, and assorted canine aggressors in their path. Albert was reunited with his pooch, Drienne as reunited with her kitty. Areas were explored. Finally, the stink of Imoen was too much for even Dorn, so back to the stone circle they went. But then a funny thing happened. Imoen's body refused to drop on the ground. (Side note, I think this may be a very minor bug. I kept the dead Imoen in the party for at least a week game time, but her avatar didn't show on the ground. I loaded up an earlier save and killed her, and she did show up when I dropped her. Don't know if it was a factor of having hung on to her for too long, or if something else is going on...). Well, Pollie has decided that this is some sort of sign from the gods of the mysterious engine driving the infinite worlds and will bend her rules against resurrection and give Imoen a second chance. She really hated to see her childhood go so soon, anyway. So now to the temple at the Friendly Arms, then off to start tracking down the bandits...
I think we all knew someone was not going to make it out of the bandit camp alive. I didn't expect it to happen in the cave with the gnolls...so long Xan. Your humor and chipper attitude will be missed. Pollie is really starting to feel the weight of all these lost companions on her conscience. The party's reputation is in the gutter at this point. Even Imoen is starting to loose faith, grumbling about mutton mogering riff-raff. They really need to get through and defeat Tazok with no more losses. They've been on the road a mere 2.5 months and have lost how many companions now? Let's count...12 including Gorion. Not encouraging. Yet something inside is pushing Pollie on. These dreams she's having are unsettling, to say the least. But she must go on, because the little rodent on her shoulder tells her to. "Meep,"
@Luremaster You should cut them some slack...they're just doing what they're told
With a renewed sense of determination, Pollie and Co. set off to wreck some $#!@ back in the bandit camp. On the way they somehow take a wrong turn and end up in a farming area to the west of the camp. A fortuitous wrong turn, for there they meet a strapping paladin of Helm. He agrees to join the party, at least for the time being. He, too, is looking to add a few notches to his bandit beating stick. Pollie isn't sure how long this association is going to last. Right off, she sees him eyeing the drow cleric and the half-Orc blackguard. Ajantis seems pretty uptight to her, but so long as he keeps his mouth shut and doesn't start getting all self righteous, the extra muscle will come in handy.
Back at the bandit camp, a low profile is maintained. Pollie convinced Tazok of their desire to join with the bandits, but she sees the crooks eyeing her party warily. They convince the night guard at Tazok's tent that they are there to relieve him, then send him off. Not knowing what they'll find in that tent, they gulp down some potions and cast some protective spells and head on in.
They find not too much of a challenge, really. Tazok's goons go down without too much of a struggle. The captive Ender Sai gives some useful tips before he slinks away into the night. It would appear the next leg of the journey will take them to the dreaded Cloakwood Forest. But first, the party needs a break.
What better place to take a needed vacation than along the Sword Coast's majestic sea-side beaches. They decide to work their way southward from the Candlekeep area. Ah, the smell of sea salt and pine trees on the breeze is refreshing.
Soon, the idyllic calm is interrupted by the lilting voice of a neriad. Ajantis is drawn to her, and she lays a kiss on his lips. He falls to the ground like a sack of potatoes. (Side note: this encounter has always really bugged me because there's no way to get past it without using prior knowledge if Charname is in the leader slot). Turns out there's an ogre Mage holding her captive. Of course they're going to help her out. He goes down without a problem. Other intrusions into the party's restful day at the beach include a mad gnome, a whole bunch of ogres (who damn near killed Viconia...she had to run for dear life while the others pelted them with arrows and bullets), some nasty carrion crawlers, and wolves. Heading south along the beach, they hear the most beautiful singing. Only it turns out to be deadly sirines. Dynaheir lobbed a couple of fireballs in their direction, then Dorn swigged a potion of clarity and finished up the job. Easy-peasy.
And that is where we'll end for the day. Thanks everyone who is still reading my tale!
The seaside retreat continues splendidly. The sun is shining, a warm breeze blows in from the beaches. Viconia even has a little time to work on her tan.
Heading south, the party chances upon a rogue of loose morals. She's just what the group needs! Hearing her tale of treasure they agree to help her out and join forces. For practically the first the time since leaving Candlekeep, Pollie must send one of her companions to "the dugout." Dorn had had some dubious mutton the night before and agreed to head to the FAI for a little "me time."
Knowing the hidden pirate cove will be crawling with undesirables, Pollie sends her ferret familiar, Mr. Furley, off to scope things out. While he's out scampering around, Imoen practices laying some snares to keep herself occupied. Mr. Furley returns and inform Pollie there are at least to groups of sirines cajoling on the path ahead. A couple of well placed fireballs from Dynaheir make the first group easy to clean up. A little backtracking to set up camp so Dynaheir can relearn her spells reveals a pile of hobgoblin pieces scattered about. Looks like those traps Imoen put down did some good!
A quick rest, some fireballs, and a few magic missiles later, the cave is their's to plunder. Aaaand the entire party is wiped out b a single flesh golem. Reload. Again, total party wipe. WTF? A change of tactics, and Imoen and Pollie go in alone running around just out of reach, hitting it with magic arrows. It goes down surprisingly easy! Rinse and repeat with the other 2 flesh golems. Done and done.
With that out of the way, the party continues further south along the coastline. They eventually happen upon Captain Brage. They cleverly solve his riddle, and take him back to Nashkel to atone for his misdeeds. Returning to the coast, the party finds an excavation site not far from Brage's gruesome campsite. Pollie agrees to help guard the site. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? Well, there could be an ancient spirit that takes control of the minds of the excavationeers. But that won't happen, right? Wrong. Pollie and Co. have no choice but to mercifully cut the possessed men down. Ooooh. What's this? An ancient relic. Sure we'll take that back to the museum. Heading out into the light, an apparition appears...and attacks!
Now, let me say this...I was playing this section on my iPad on the train into work this morning and it was all I could do to not yell at the game. It was a sloppy fight. Not pretty at all. Ajantis had to drink like 10 healing potions. Danaheir somehow wound up going into melee and nearly got killed. Everyone was having to scramble around to not get themselves killed. Finally, out of desperation, Viconia pulls out a potion of fire breath. Now, I don't think I have ever once used this potion before, so I really didn't know what to expect. It is an awesome potion! The fire spitting out of Viconia's mouth took the phantom whatever it was down immediately. Sweet! Everyone survived, too! Vicci goes over and high-fives Imoen, who drops dead from the remaining flames...Are you F'ing KIDDING ME?
Shaking their heads, and not really making eye contact with one another, the group drags her back to lie down next to Gorion. Only her body doesn't drop, once again. (This must be some sort of bug, so I am going to officially change up the rules so that Imoen can be resurrected, but still no reloads without Pollie getting killed.)
Another trip to see Galena Mirrorshade, who now get's dollar signs in her eyes when she sees the party coming through her door. Another night at the FAI. And a toss of the coin to see who gets grave watching duty. Heads it's Safana, tails Dorn. Safana it is.
Oh, boy Or should I say oh girl, because there are no male characters left in Pollie's party.
At Dorn's insistence, they set off to the south again to hunt down the people on his list. Way down th]o the southeast, they tracked down Kryll. She and her skeletal minions were easily dispatched. Dorn was happy, for the time being at any rate. The companions debated amongst themselves about whether to forge on to Cloakwood to continue their hunt for those behind the iron crisis or to spend more time honing their skills in the areas near the Friendly Arms Inn. Ajantis suggested heading back up north to where he was first met by the party. He had heard tell of some large insects that were plaguing the farmlands. The others agreed and off they went.
As they arrived in the northern farmlands, a group of fishermen hailed the party and asked for some help with some girl who lived farther to the north. They claimed she was using the power of Umberlee to disrupt their fishing and to extort money out of them. The party traveled to speak to her, and got her side of the story. Pollie felt the girl was more truthful than the fishermen, and returned to tell them. The girl was grateful and promised some sort of help in the future.
Returning to the farm, a seemingly endless stream of ankhegs began attacking the party. At first, the large insects fell one after another. Eventually, though the party's energy began to run out. Desperate for some rest, they set up camp. Ankhegs interrupted their rest. Ankhegs were laid to rest. A second time trying to get some shut eye, ankhegs attacked again. The critters did some damage, but nothing immediately life threatening. A third time trying to get some damn shut eye...and you guessed to, ankhegs AGAIN. This time, Dorn was hit with simultaneous crib hits from the pair of ankhegs, and was unable to continue on. The remaining party finished off the ankhegs and wearily retreated to the south and the safety of the Friendly Arm Inn. A quick trip out to the cemetery and Dorn was laid to rest with the other unfortunate companions of Pollie. Safana, who was at this point getting pretty bored hanging around with a bunch of cadavers, asked to rejoin the party, and was granted her wish.
Figuring that fighting more ankhegs at this point, with the reduced muscle in the party, was a bad idea, they decided to head out east again, back to the vicinity of the bandits' camp. Traveling through Larswood, they came upon a henge of sorts, in which a druid accused them of killing his friends. He would not listen to reason, and attacked...but not before calling forth two massive cave bears. the fight proved too difficult for Ajantis, who was mauled by a bear just as he landed the finishing blow to the druid. The others scattered, as they were all in pretty bad shape as well. Viconia remained with the bears and repeatedly hit them with her mace, while the others pelted them with magic missiles, arrows, bullets, really anything they could get their hands on. The bears finally fell.
The party made yet another trip to deposit their fallen comrade with the others....
p.s. I just noticed...I had dropped Dorn's sword on him, but apparently it was stolen by gibberlings.
I've been a little distracted by other stuff the last week or so, but I will have a new pic to share later this evening or tomorrow. The pile has definitely grown. The gang has made it through Cloakwood and are currently bickering amongst themselves whether to head straight on to Baldur's Gate or to go back east and raise a ruckus in Gullykin and see what's up with that old bridge they have out there.
@Grum It also puts into perspective how not very good I am at this game
I've been a little distracted by other stuff the last week or so, but I will have a new pic to share later this evening or tomorrow. The pile has definitely grown. The gang has made it through Cloakwood and are currently bickering amongst themselves whether to head straight on to Baldur's Gate or to go back east and raise a ruckus in Gullykin and see what's up with that old bridge they have out there.
@Grum It also puts into perspective how not very good I am at this game
What's your charisma? How are you keeping the morale up? With so many deaths, you'd think someone would simply stop believing in the cause and quit or, worse, plot against you for a coin.
Here's the latest grave(n) image. To be honest I kind of lost track of who's there now. I know Dynaheir was killed by the Wizards of Thay. Faldorn joined the party for literally 10 minutes before being critically mauled by a bear she failed to charm. The bears of the Sword Coast are no laughing matter. So as it stands now, Pollie is traveling with Imoen, Shar Teel, Viconia, Coran, and Baeloth. It's pretty solid party...they got all the way through Cloakwood and the mines without too much trouble (aside from a couple of party killing lightning bolts from Daevorn down in the mines). Onward to Firewine then the city...
I always wondered how could a single surviving character carry 5 dead members to a temple for raising. If it was implemented that a dead member becomes an item that must be carried in inventory, like the body of Samuel from Gibberling Mountains, then most characters could only carry one dead member due to weight limitation.
It would add a great deal of realism if this could be implemented by a mod, but it's overly complicated.
This is a great thread - Thanks Pollie for keeping us all entertained. It's inspired me to start a new game. One thought - how do you keep the bodies from rotting? Must be a perfect climate for preservation at the gravesite. Or maybe it is the lingering influence of Gorian's magic?
Oh, dear. We are now without our main warrior. Pollie and Co. set off for Gullykin and rolled into town without incident. They needed to get a bit of rest, but those half long beds are none too comfortable for the less stature challenged, so down to the dusty countryside they went to find a good camping site. What should they find but MORE assassins. What the hell is with all these assassins. Someone must really not like Pollie. Well, they went down without too much trouble.
Speaking with the locals, Pollie learned more about the catacombs under the bridge. How could they resist? Again, nothing proved too much trouble down in the dungeon. The only time it was really touch and go was with the wizard and his ogrilons blocking the hallway to the ogre mage. The ogre mage himself fell to many magic missiles.
Coming out into the daylight on the bridge, Pollie listened to the epic poem by Poe. Poe was also sacrificed to Shar to keep the party's ever increasing reputation from making the Drow companions leave.
Down in the dried riverbed, they came upon a madwoman going on about a jar. The jar this and the jar that. Jeez, just shut up and give us the jar, would ya? She gave up the jar, and we all know what happens next. Shar-teel takes a lightning bolt to the brain and is dropped dead. It took a little while for the remaining party to beat down Kahrk, but that they did. They have returned for another, but surely not last, visit with the fallen.
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Rescuing the witch Dynaheir posed no real challenges. On the way back to Nashkel for a little R&R, Kivan was nearly taken down by a bandit named Neville, after being "softened up" by some ogre berserkers on another bridge. He narrowly escaped with 1 hp when Branwen landed a couple of good blows to Neville. She is a beast with the ankheg plate and the Stupifier equipped (I gave her a pip in maces). Now they travel straight to Nashkel to see what's up with the mines there. They want to make haste, as Kivan seems pretty anxious to get off to take care of some bandits.
Side note: this has been the most fun play through of BG for me. The minimal reload has forced me to actually use up those extra scrolls and potions I usually drag around through the whole game, and to treat combat as more than pointing at the enemy and letting the characters just slug it out. As much as I'd like to have a funny picture of NPC bodies piled up around the stone circle, i don't want to run out of characters before getting to the difficult areas.
You get two near the bandit camp. One in cloakwood, one on the farm leading to baldurs gate.... Add Safana who is in the neighbourhood and you got a full (and balanced) party again.
You are coming up to one of the the toughest back to back to back fights.
The party has definitely gotten their footing in the ways of adventuring. Hardly a scratch was had as they ventured lower into the mines. Even Mulahey was a breeze. Rasaad's sun soul ray laid waste to most of the skeletons and kobolds Mulahey called on for assistance. The stragglers were easily dispatched once Mulahey was defeated.
"Great," says Pollie. "Everything is fantastic on the Sword Coast today. Let's get out of this dump and get our reward and throw back a few tankards." They let the mopey Mage Xan know they'd contact him if there was an opening anytime soon, then headed out into the bright summer day. "Ah, fresh air. A lovely meadow. Let's have a picnic. That little spot up ahead looks nice." Nope. It was not a nice place for a picnic. Unless you like a lunch of knuckle sandwich and arrow pie from a bunch of dumb asshole assassins who seriously ruined the day for Kivan and Branwen. Once Dynaheir got her $#!% together and launched a stinking cloud, the fight was basically over. Kivan had already bee narrowed to death, but Branwen, who was already knocking on death's door, decided it would be a good idea to take on the head bandit mano a mano. Man oh man did that not work out. Dead. The rest of the bandits finally succumbed to volley upon volley of slings and arrows. But the damage was done.
Back to Nashkel to collect some cash from Berrun Ghastkill. Oh, whaddayaknow, ANOTHER assassin. Nimbul (or as he likes to call himself NIMBUL...what a jerk!) is now pushing up daisies 50 yards west of a proper cemetery. unfortunately, so is Taris, who got caught by a bit of Rasaad's sun soul ray (I really don't understand how to aim that damn thing. Half the time he winds up hitting someone several feet away from where i click. but that's a matter for another discussion). Ollie may have take a 7 point reputation hit, but at least Taris' 20gp will come in handy
Another trip to the grimmest of grave sites....
After their latest escapades, Pollie and co. headed for the Friendly Arms Inn for a good night's sleep and to look up Dorn. He was there waiting for them, and joined up. "Hey," says Pollie. "So you're pretty tough and look like you can handle that gigantic sword. From the tales you've told you must be, what, level 4, 5, somewhere in there, right. Oh, LEVEL ONE???? What the hell? What good is a first level chump going to do us? (no offense, @AlveusMalcanter ) Fine, you can come along with us anyway."
So off they head into the wilderness to try to get this low level chump some field training. And he handles himself pretty well, aside from guzzling most of their healing potions.
Down around Beregost, they come upon some sort of ruins filled with all sorts of skeletons and zombies, and the mad Bassilus they've been asked to find. Pollie uses her cunning to trick Bassilus into totally setting his undead army against them. Everyone in the party to a man was killed. Pollie was the last one standing, and knew the only way to save her friends was to sacrifice herself and hope for some sort of time traveling Magic. It worked! Drawing on previously gained insight, Pollie fooled the mad Bassilus into dropping his control over the undead, all of whom dropped into piles of bones and zombie goo. Bassilus himself proved no contest. And rightly so. I mean, five against one, they better have beat him!
Spoils were collected, high fives were issued, and off they set to collect their rewards at the temple in Beregost. "Hey, I know," says Rasaad. "Let's take a bit more of a look around here before going back to town. Well, they bumped into a party of some particularly nasty hobgoblins. A nice web and stinking cloud and shower of arrows made mince meat of them. Unfortunately, before said meat was made minced, one of the hobgoblins (Malkax, to be exact) nailed Rasaad with a critical hit that killed him instantly. Say hi to Selune for us, buddy!
Add one more to the pile.
The party has been out getting into trouble trying to get Dorn up to speed. They swung back down to the Nashkel mines to finally get Xan out of his cave. Things were going well until they ran into Sendai and her crew. Imoen was shot down before Pollie and Dynaheir could launch their web/stinking cloud fight ending combo. They took Sendai and friends out pretty easily, but it was too late for Imoen.
Since nothing was really pressing, they decided to take the scenic route back to the grave site. Several days of travel left a a swath of dead gnolls, hobgoblins, and assorted canine aggressors in their path. Albert was reunited with his pooch, Drienne as reunited with her kitty. Areas were explored. Finally, the stink of Imoen was too much for even Dorn, so back to the stone circle they went. But then a funny thing happened. Imoen's body refused to drop on the ground. (Side note, I think this may be a very minor bug. I kept the dead Imoen in the party for at least a week game time, but her avatar didn't show on the ground. I loaded up an earlier save and killed her, and she did show up when I dropped her. Don't know if it was a factor of having hung on to her for too long, or if something else is going on...). Well, Pollie has decided that this is some sort of sign from the gods of the mysterious engine driving the infinite worlds and will bend her rules against resurrection and give Imoen a second chance. She really hated to see her childhood go so soon, anyway. So now to the temple at the Friendly Arms, then off to start tracking down the bandits...
With a renewed sense of determination, Pollie and Co. set off to wreck some $#!@ back in the bandit camp. On the way they somehow take a wrong turn and end up in a farming area to the west of the camp. A fortuitous wrong turn, for there they meet a strapping paladin of Helm. He agrees to join the party, at least for the time being. He, too, is looking to add a few notches to his bandit beating stick. Pollie isn't sure how long this association is going to last. Right off, she sees him eyeing the drow cleric and the half-Orc blackguard. Ajantis seems pretty uptight to her, but so long as he keeps his mouth shut and doesn't start getting all self righteous, the extra muscle will come in handy.
Back at the bandit camp, a low profile is maintained. Pollie convinced Tazok of their desire to join with the bandits, but she sees the crooks eyeing her party warily. They convince the night guard at Tazok's tent that they are there to relieve him, then send him off. Not knowing what they'll find in that tent, they gulp down some potions and cast some protective spells and head on in.
They find not too much of a challenge, really. Tazok's goons go down without too much of a struggle. The captive Ender Sai gives some useful tips before he slinks away into the night. It would appear the next leg of the journey will take them to the dreaded Cloakwood Forest. But first, the party needs a break.
What better place to take a needed vacation than along the Sword Coast's majestic sea-side beaches. They decide to work their way southward from the Candlekeep area. Ah, the smell of sea salt and pine trees on the breeze is refreshing.
Soon, the idyllic calm is interrupted by the lilting voice of a neriad. Ajantis is drawn to her, and she lays a kiss on his lips. He falls to the ground like a sack of potatoes. (Side note: this encounter has always really bugged me because there's no way to get past it without using prior knowledge if Charname is in the leader slot). Turns out there's an ogre Mage holding her captive. Of course they're going to help her out. He goes down without a problem. Other intrusions into the party's restful day at the beach include a mad gnome, a whole bunch of ogres (who damn near killed Viconia...she had to run for dear life while the others pelted them with arrows and bullets), some nasty carrion crawlers, and wolves. Heading south along the beach, they hear the most beautiful singing. Only it turns out to be deadly sirines. Dynaheir lobbed a couple of fireballs in their direction, then Dorn swigged a potion of clarity and finished up the job. Easy-peasy.
And that is where we'll end for the day. Thanks everyone who is still reading my tale!
Heading south, the party chances upon a rogue of loose morals. She's just what the group needs! Hearing her tale of treasure they agree to help her out and join forces. For practically the first the time since leaving Candlekeep, Pollie must send one of her companions to "the dugout." Dorn had had some dubious mutton the night before and agreed to head to the FAI for a little "me time."
Knowing the hidden pirate cove will be crawling with undesirables, Pollie sends her ferret familiar, Mr. Furley, off to scope things out. While he's out scampering around, Imoen practices laying some snares to keep herself occupied. Mr. Furley returns and inform Pollie there are at least to groups of sirines cajoling on the path ahead. A couple of well placed fireballs from Dynaheir make the first group easy to clean up. A little backtracking to set up camp so Dynaheir can relearn her spells reveals a pile of hobgoblin pieces scattered about. Looks like those traps Imoen put down did some good!
A quick rest, some fireballs, and a few magic missiles later, the cave is their's to plunder. Aaaand the entire party is wiped out b a single flesh golem. Reload. Again, total party wipe. WTF? A change of tactics, and Imoen and Pollie go in alone running around just out of reach, hitting it with magic arrows. It goes down surprisingly easy! Rinse and repeat with the other 2 flesh golems. Done and done.
With that out of the way, the party continues further south along the coastline. They eventually happen upon Captain Brage. They cleverly solve his riddle, and take him back to Nashkel to atone for his misdeeds. Returning to the coast, the party finds an excavation site not far from Brage's gruesome campsite. Pollie agrees to help guard the site. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? Well, there could be an ancient spirit that takes control of the minds of the excavationeers. But that won't happen, right? Wrong. Pollie and Co. have no choice but to mercifully cut the possessed men down. Ooooh. What's this? An ancient relic. Sure we'll take that back to the museum. Heading out into the light, an apparition appears...and attacks!
Now, let me say this...I was playing this section on my iPad on the train into work this morning and it was all I could do to not yell at the game. It was a sloppy fight. Not pretty at all. Ajantis had to drink like 10 healing potions. Danaheir somehow wound up going into melee and nearly got killed. Everyone was having to scramble around to not get themselves killed. Finally, out of desperation, Viconia pulls out a potion of fire breath. Now, I don't think I have ever once used this potion before, so I really didn't know what to expect. It is an awesome potion! The fire spitting out of Viconia's mouth took the phantom whatever it was down immediately. Sweet! Everyone survived, too! Vicci goes over and high-fives Imoen, who drops dead from the remaining flames...Are you F'ing KIDDING ME?
Shaking their heads, and not really making eye contact with one another, the group drags her back to lie down next to Gorion. Only her body doesn't drop, once again. (This must be some sort of bug, so I am going to officially change up the rules so that Imoen can be resurrected, but still no reloads without Pollie getting killed.)
Another trip to see Galena Mirrorshade, who now get's dollar signs in her eyes when she sees the party coming through her door. Another night at the FAI. And a toss of the coin to see who gets grave watching duty. Heads it's Safana, tails Dorn. Safana it is.
At Dorn's insistence, they set off to the south again to hunt down the people on his list. Way down th]o the southeast, they tracked down Kryll. She and her skeletal minions were easily dispatched. Dorn was happy, for the time being at any rate. The companions debated amongst themselves about whether to forge on to Cloakwood to continue their hunt for those behind the iron crisis or to spend more time honing their skills in the areas near the Friendly Arms Inn. Ajantis suggested heading back up north to where he was first met by the party. He had heard tell of some large insects that were plaguing the farmlands. The others agreed and off they went.
As they arrived in the northern farmlands, a group of fishermen hailed the party and asked for some help with some girl who lived farther to the north. They claimed she was using the power of Umberlee to disrupt their fishing and to extort money out of them. The party traveled to speak to her, and got her side of the story. Pollie felt the girl was more truthful than the fishermen, and returned to tell them. The girl was grateful and promised some sort of help in the future.
Returning to the farm, a seemingly endless stream of ankhegs began attacking the party. At first, the large insects fell one after another. Eventually, though the party's energy began to run out. Desperate for some rest, they set up camp. Ankhegs interrupted their rest. Ankhegs were laid to rest. A second time trying to get some shut eye, ankhegs attacked again. The critters did some damage, but nothing immediately life threatening. A third time trying to get some damn shut eye...and you guessed to, ankhegs AGAIN. This time, Dorn was hit with simultaneous crib hits from the pair of ankhegs, and was unable to continue on. The remaining party finished off the ankhegs and wearily retreated to the south and the safety of the Friendly Arm Inn. A quick trip out to the cemetery and Dorn was laid to rest with the other unfortunate companions of Pollie. Safana, who was at this point getting pretty bored hanging around with a bunch of cadavers, asked to rejoin the party, and was granted her wish.
Figuring that fighting more ankhegs at this point, with the reduced muscle in the party, was a bad idea, they decided to head out east again, back to the vicinity of the bandits' camp. Traveling through Larswood, they came upon a henge of sorts, in which a druid accused them of killing his friends. He would not listen to reason, and attacked...but not before calling forth two massive cave bears. the fight proved too difficult for Ajantis, who was mauled by a bear just as he landed the finishing blow to the druid. The others scattered, as they were all in pretty bad shape as well. Viconia remained with the bears and repeatedly hit them with her mace, while the others pelted them with magic missiles, arrows, bullets, really anything they could get their hands on. The bears finally fell.
The party made yet another trip to deposit their fallen comrade with the others....
p.s. I just noticed...I had dropped Dorn's sword on him, but apparently it was stolen by gibberlings.
@Grum It also puts into perspective how not very good I am at this game
So as it stands now, Pollie is traveling with Imoen, Shar Teel, Viconia, Coran, and Baeloth. It's pretty solid party...they got all the way through Cloakwood and the mines without too much trouble (aside from a couple of party killing lightning bolts from Daevorn down in the mines).
Onward to Firewine then the city...
It would add a great deal of realism if this could be implemented by a mod, but it's overly complicated.
Pollie and Co. set off for Gullykin and rolled into town without incident. They needed to get a bit of rest, but those half long beds are none too comfortable for the less stature challenged, so down to the dusty countryside they went to find a good camping site. What should they find but MORE assassins. What the hell is with all these assassins. Someone must really not like Pollie. Well, they went down without too much trouble.
Speaking with the locals, Pollie learned more about the catacombs under the bridge. How could they resist? Again, nothing proved too much trouble down in the dungeon. The only time it was really touch and go was with the wizard and his ogrilons blocking the hallway to the ogre mage. The ogre mage himself fell to many magic missiles.
Coming out into the daylight on the bridge, Pollie listened to the epic poem by Poe. Poe was also sacrificed to Shar to keep the party's ever increasing reputation from making the Drow companions leave.
Down in the dried riverbed, they came upon a madwoman going on about a jar. The jar this and the jar that. Jeez, just shut up and give us the jar, would ya? She gave up the jar, and we all know what happens next. Shar-teel takes a lightning bolt to the brain and is dropped dead. It took a little while for the remaining party to beat down Kahrk, but that they did. They have returned for another, but surely not last, visit with the fallen.