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Harpers Bizarre

FrdNwsmFrdNwsm Member Posts: 1,069
edited April 2015 in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
(Couldn't resist the title, sorry!)

Well, so I agreed to do the Harpers a wee favor, to gain their trust. No biggie, just put down a few offenses against Nature. Easy peasy, right? Well, the follow up totally blindsided me; never saw THAT one coming.

OK, I was a wee bit surprised by the outcome of the Xzar thing; I had expected just to have to bail Montarn out of jail. I wasn't too shocked, though, to find out he was behind the whole plot. I mean, Evil Necromancer hatching schemes against the natural order of things? Pretty standard fare. And I never did like him, even back in BG1. Dumped him and his buttboy pal as soon as I recruited Neera and Bronwen.
But! The whole Local Chapter 37 of the Harpers turning on us and trying to take me down? OK, that one took me by surprise. Luckily I had both Neera and Nalia with me; I guess I did figure out how sequencers worked. I suppose the moral of the story is that even Harpers can be buttheads.


Anybody here who actually was NOT taken by surprise by this whole thing? Be honest now!

Comments

  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,266
    I take it you have Jaheira in your party? I think the Harper quest where they turn on you only happens when you have her with you.
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    It was a surprise, but Harpers work like that, really. And there are corrupt ones just like in any given organisation.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    I was surprised. I had no real reason to suspect the bird was a halfling other than the item description and even less reason to believe it was actually an assassin to kill Xzar. Nothing in that plot makes much sense.

    The Harpers want to kill Xzar, Montaron, and his apprentices? Sure, I'll do it for 100 gold.

    Or you could just have Colette walk over to Xzar and stab him in the face with a dagger covered in a poison magical.
  • FrdNwsmFrdNwsm Member Posts: 1,069
    " Sure, I'll do it for 100 gold."

    But, this way they get it done for free. They're a thrifty lot; waste not, want not and all that.
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  • JarrakulJarrakul Member Posts: 2,029
    That's kind of the problem with the Harpers. The direct approach isn't really their thing. Elminster is basically the embodiment of this. "What, the Sword Coast is in peril? Well, I could show up and throw around some 9th level spells until the problem is solved, or I could decide that my neigh-limitless power is better used elsewhere and leave it to sort itself out. Nah, both of those are dumb. I'll go wander around on foot giving cryptic advice to teenage demigods. It's the only way to be sure."

    As to whether we originally saw it coming... I honestly can't remember. Which is odd, because I do remember my first run-in with them (my mom wanted me to get off the computer, but I was being interrogated and then attacked so I couldn't save), but I have no idea if I was surprised. I probably was. I was like 9, and 9-year-old Jarrakul was not great at seeing things coming.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @FrdNwsm: If my memory is correct, Rylock actually pays you 100 gold for bringing back Renfeld. This is not to mention all of the other costs the Harpers had to pay: organizing the ambush with Renfeld, kidnapping and killing Montaron, polymorphing Colette and supplying her with poison, and letting an outsider know where their secret hideout is located. Plus all the time they spent planning this.
  • AkihikoAkihiko Member Posts: 213
    I wasn't surprised. I've been a fan of Forgotten Realms games and books ever since I was a kid, so I know how the Harpers operate. It's why I hate Harpers, and try to deal with them as little as possible. It's also why I kill Zhents and Red Wizards of Thay on sight, but that's neither here nor there.
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  • JarrakulJarrakul Member Posts: 2,029
    Sure. Until someone came along with a bunch of goons and a Freedom spell. Then Charname's pretty much hosed, and the world gets a new Lord of Murder.

    I mean, it's not like I don't see the logic. But if an Imprisonment spell is your entire endgame, you probably shouldn't be playing with gods.
  • FrdNwsmFrdNwsm Member Posts: 1,069
    Ok, Now I am getting honked off. I went to trademeet to help with their druid problem, and got jumped yet again. Are these morons going to follow me forever all over the bloody map??
  • JarrakulJarrakul Member Posts: 2,029
    Not *forever*, but for a long time, yeah. The Harpers are pretty persistent.
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