Well Chapter 1 is complete and Rei'Leena is after Desther and just realized i was typing his name wrong on other posts.
since we've already talked about the main quests i'll stick with side quest mostly.
in chapter 1 at the Temple with Aribeth i went to see a man named Oleff and with some persuasion he told me that there has been an expedition to find several Tombs belonging to Lord Halueth Never and he needs help to search these locations as they are now in Plague territory which just so happens to be where i'm headed.
he told me to go to the Peninsula District and in a house.
into the basement talked to the guy and read the journal referring to the other location, there where some odd artifacts so i took those too.
each locked door leading to the Tomb has a chest next to it, a torn note inside with a cryptic message to be solved by placing the correct artifact inside.
each Tomb has a new artifact that i took back to Oleff for reward.
oh look Rei'Leena has become Chaotic Good .
the Tomb in Blacklake was hidden and the only strange thing i found was this girl name Punkin and with some persuasion both she and her mother told me that the bookcase was whispering??? well time to test out my new Chaotic Good powers and rush in.
several Undead and Shadows where waiting for fresh victims and another door puzzle.
Oh no floating Swords are charging me!
and i remember this fight being a massive pain.
well that went a lot better than last time i did this, i used 2 Icestorms and 2 Mestil's Acid Breaths and they just managed to bring down Stoneskin before the last Sword went down, i got super lucky on that one as i remember having a terrible fight last time i did this.
so after taking the +1 Greataxe and some rusty armor i went back to Oleff and handed in the armor, i also persuaded him i needed a bigger reward and he gave me some Adamantite.
the other side quest @BelgarathMTH has another thread talking about the Zoo quest to free the animals so i won't babble on about but i took the quest from Nyatar the druid in the city core gives the quest to go to Blacklake and rescue the caged animals.
upon arrival there seemed to be only one person concerned about the animals was a girl named Sally who talked about rescuing them when she gets older.
i talked to others before opening the hallway door and starting a big fight and i reached a room with hunter and next to that was a Ranger.
completely over confident Rei'Leena died when "Sureshot" whipped out a greatsword and slaughtered her
and after respawning paying the 400xp and 3000gp toll the animals are now free.
Nyatar gave a reward and i persuaded him to give more and received some Ironwood.
i do agree that other options would've been nice to have but i didn't need to open every room taking out every guard and hunter.
Against Maldanen i did spare him (almost killed him with that last Acid Breath and he must be hurting bad) after he gave me the key to free the Dryad and the key to the warehouse, the Fermosa chick was worried i didn't kill him but it wasn't necessary.
And Gulnan i was expecting a problem with but she spent her time trying to cast spells and i kept whacking her, she didn't last long and that was 2 fights i got lucky with.
Rei'Leena is now 2 Rogue & 7 Wizard and those Rogue skill points have really helped out with all those locks, traps, appraising, persuading & healing skills.
@Cerabelus , I think you misunderstood me. I know what I was supposed to do, and I know what is inside the sarcophagus, but I had picked up the rune stones before fighting the statues, and after the fight they were just gone from my inventory. I don't have those stones and therefore can't open the sarcophagus.
I'm only using a couple of minor adjustments from the steam workshop. Colored icons, nothing complicated.
But maybe I can try putting other heavy items from my inventory on the squares... I don't think if I can even hit Kel-Garas with my +1 weapon. If it doesn't work, I might have to reload after all.
I'm only using a couple of minor adjustments from the steam workshop. Colored icons, nothing complicated.
But maybe I can try putting other heavy items from my inventory on the squares... I don't think if I can even hit Kel-Garas with my +1 weapon. If it doesn't work, I might have to reload after all.
Your playing a Paladin right? I've never been to that Tomb as a Pally but i know you'll find something i didn't.
That prick Desther got me twice with Slay Living spell , and he summoned a Skeleton Chieftain twice each time, i had to use my new bow i got from Helm's Guardian the Elven Court Bow +3 to pick off the Flesh Golems and draw out the lesser enemies and only after defeating 2 Skeleton Chieftains again could i focus down Desther, that was a little annoying.
oh well now onto chapter 2 and again i'm gonna do side quests first starting with the Farmers Wife.
I know what I will find in the tomb, I've been reading @BelgarathMTH's reports with careful attention to life-saving details. I just don't know if I will find it before meeting anything that my +1 weapon without elemental damage can't hit.
on my way to rescue the Farmers Wife i stopped in to the Tavern and a really nice guy named Soloman was so keen to give me a Ring for being a Hero...i'm sure there's nothing suspicious about that.
Soloman seems like a nice guy no reason to worry.
After defeating the Goblin Chieftain, Orc King than downstairs to the Bugbear Chieftain found Leah very scared.
Found several Bugbears taking a nap, is it evil to do the Coup de Grace? that's what i did.
At the lower levels found 2 Bosses, a Ogre Mage and this Bald guy named Ganon....what is this The Legend Of Zelda? well he was nothing compared to the real Ganon but i found a journal in the nearby chest and a new Helm.
This Thayvian Circlet is perfect for Rei'Leena but the Thieves Hoods is just too valuable right now so holding onto that for later.
My new Friend Soloman is cranky about me getting into danger, he's been tracking my movements with the ring he gave me, he must be very concerned about my safety.
After giving Ganon's journal to Aribeth and now it's time to find Werewolf's.
17th of Marpenoth 1373DR Entry The scouting efforts of Tarlock were instrumental in our success today. Searching for goblin and/or kobold scat is a particularly…smelly business, but his keen eyes noticed an off the beaten path trail which we soon discovered led us to the former kobold, now commandeered by the goblin caves that the kobold chieftain indicated was nearby.
As is typical for their race, the goblins immediately attacked the party leaving us no choice but to waylay them like we did the kobolds. Still, we pressed onward…inaction on our part could mean the death of an innocent halfling, and neither of us would leave a distressed caravanner in need. My holy symbols ability to alight dark places came in handy here, allowing us to explore the caves without blindness.
Deep within the warrens, and after a very bloody fight to get there, we found the goblin chieftain hovel. He swore that the local goblins were not the initiators of the caravan raids that the village have endured. As a seeker of Tyr’s truth, we solicited information from him, which both Dorian and I knew to be true. The goblins had been run off from their lands by a stronger band of ruffians. In turn, the goblins had overrun the kobolds lands, who then in-turn had displaced the farmer from his lands (until we righted that wrong). In the end, we spared the goblin chief, for he had surrendered and did not have human blood on his hands, as the kobold chief did with the slaying of the farmers life. While the goblins had attacked us on sight when we entered their lands, the goblin chieftain stayed his sword, and proved to be informative. If his race are to know a better way, may it begin with a showing of mercy here, this day, when a staying of the sword of Tyr spared a goblins life.
Not far within the chieftain’s hovel, we found the missing halfling, who was abducted by the goblins. He had been seized by the goblins for the simple reason of false identification. The goblins had assumed that he was one of the small bandits who had run them out of their lands. There was some malfeasance by the goblins, who held him at ransom from the town. And yet, no mortal blow was levied at him in his defenseless state, so mercy to the goblin chieftain was not an error in judgment.
We offered to escort the halfling back to town, but he opted to make way of his own accord. The ranger provided a roughly sketched route back to the town that he seemed to think may be a safer route based on information that he’d gleaned from the land. Onward we pressed, because we simply must know why bandits and raiders would don goblin skins and wear them to raid caravans. Something sinister was afoot, and the goblins, though not fully innocent of mischief, may not be the primary initiator of the chicanery in these parts. The bounty on their heads may not have been just after all. *Written in the margins* Refer to first ‘judgment’ levied and recorded in Zelbross.
Surprisingly, Dorian picked up the scent of our next passage, where we found dead goblins and foul, living orcs who attacked us on sight.
With the information that the halfling and goblin chieftain we had garnered available to us, and the possibility of a bandit and/or orc incursion potentially afoot, Dorian and I agreed that it was best for us to return to Zelbross to make the guild and local populace aware of the situation. We, as a group, agreed that we would aid in addressing the problems further, no matter the personal cost. Lives were at stake. A town was in trouble. We would set out at first light on the 18th after we replenished our stock, prayed to our gods, and sharpened the edges of our weapons.
After talking to several people in town i'm tracking down multiple quests, Kendrack is looking for 5 escaped prisoners, Neurik in the Temple he was distressed about 3 missing boys who got caught up in a hunt for a Werewolf, and while looking i saved a Cow .
Kendrack here in the Mercenary Barracks is trying to track down 5 escaped prisoners, Zor a Minotaur,
Wyvern a Elven ranger, Stirge a Gnome, Delilah a Halfling, Yesgar a Half-Orc, we have several leads and I'll keep an eye out.
Went to the Temple and Neurik needs someone to find 4 people infected with lycanthropy and gave me 4 Silver Charms to help them...how am i suppose to convince Werewolves to put on Silver?, he gave me several leads the first is a farm in town.
Tried to talk to these farmers about their son but they were very insistent that i leave and panicked when i approached the stairs.
Oh looky here, after i gave him a burning he came to his senses and told me he was doomed, i told him to take this Silver charm and he was very suspicious but i was persuasive and he transformed back to a human, he gave a lead to a direction for another Wolf and his parents even apologized than thanked me.
My friend Soloman turned up with his buddies and tried to shiv me....i thought we where best friends?
oh well i went Invisible with my trusty stockpile of potions and gave him a shiv in turn, he dropped a letter and i gave it to Aribeth but it was only minor references to the Charwood.
Came across these fellows at the Archaeologist camp and they are very concerned about Trolls and Ogres eating people...well that's very bad I'll be back later.
While searching the Site found Delilah upstairs, after fending her off she tried to talk me into letting her go in exchange for info on the others, she also said her crimes are true but she'll never return to jail...she really didn't want to go back and the first Ear collected.
Just up the road found 1 of the boys hanging about and he wasn't in the mood for talking until i gave him the beat down, he refused to take the charm than i told him if he doesn't ill have to kill him so he took it and reluctantly thanked me.
while searching the south road i found a cave entrance and a Wolf tried to kill a Cow...i'm such i mighty hero, than i went in thinking to find a Werewolf but found a Dire Wolf pack leader named Silverback and i got a nice Critical. (i remember from a previous playthrough this wolf can talk but the Crit killed him umm woops), turns out these wolves where causing trouble and the local farmer rewarded me.
Found Stirge Hiding near the farms and he actually introduced himself as "Stirge the Baby-Killer", he did not survive and i got another Ear.
Found another boy in a cave i missed and after another beat down he accepted the Charm and told where to find the Black Wolf.
While heading to the Black Wolf i found a Polar Bear??? umm why are you here?
Oh no! turns out the Werewolf hunter was turned and framed as the Black Wolf, by Alhelor a
Anti-lycanthropy vender and the real Black Wolf!
Just outside Alhelor's house Tarran here stated Flirting than told me Poor Neva has been taken by Bandits...oh no!
Ho Ho! sneaky Alhelor had a little trap waiting for me, i know all your tricks buddy so took his tooth and returned to Neurik.
Poor Neva tried to kill me...but i'm here to save you!, turned out my investigation is making people nervous.
Got work tomorrow than Troll hunting!
Edit:
Group selected a couple of those shots and they didn't quite load in order sorry about that.
Since you really hate puzzles this is the answer but only read this if you want the answer.
put down some gear so you free up carry weight and pick up 1 of the stones, place the stones on the squares in the X shape but people can take those positions also.
the sarcophagus will unlock and something nice will be inside.
@Cerabelus , That's not her problem. The stones vanished from the game. You did make me wonder if it would be possible to make the pressure plates go down and hold with just dropping anything on them. I doubt it, though.
Fortunately for me, I've played SoU quite a lot, so I knew exactly what to do here and didn't run into this problem. I've encountered the "items disappear from inventory" bug once in my own game, and it cost me a Nymph Cloak +5 and another expensive Cloak of Winter. This is the first I've heard about a game-breaking disappearance of important quest items, though.
@Arvia , I *think* you can hit Kel-Garas with a +1 weapon enhancement, but I'm not sure. He may require +2. I can't remember what weapon I had equipped when I fought him. The item you would have gotten was a +2 weapon with fire damage against undead.
I'm okay with it if you want to reload the puzzle stones and not count it as a reload. Even in the no-reload Baldur's Gate thread, they allow reloads that are caused by game bugs.
Oh.
are you and BelgarathMTH using mods or something? I've never had items disappear from inventory.
No mods. This is a well-known bug, and it's been there since SoU's original release. Dorna's problems are also well-known, and have been there since original release.
When I looked online for any solutions to Dorna's rogue skills breaking, I was seeing posts from 2010.
I'm only using a couple of minor adjustments from the steam workshop. Colored icons, nothing complicated.
But maybe I can try putting other heavy items from my inventory on the squares... I don't think if I can even hit Kel-Garas with my +1 weapon. If it doesn't work, I might have to reload after all.
Your playing a Paladin right? I've never been to that Tomb as a Pally but i know you'll find something i didn't.
Oh, derp, of course. *That's* what I used to fight Kel-Garas. I let Dorna fight with the weapon from the tomb.
@EnialusMeliamne , Those mods you're playing set you up with some really hard ethical decisions. I don't think I would have had the heart to kill the kobold chieftain with his standing there begging for his life, especially if killing the farmer's wife really was an accident.
But then, I would have gone to the goblin chieftain, and gotten yet another sad story. Good grief. So much suffering and tragedy on all sides here.
I wonder if it's possible to resolve the quests in that mod without having to kill any of the factional leaders. So far, it sounds like the brigands and their leader are the real bad guys here. But I wonder if *they* have a sad story, too.
@BelgarathMTH, I had the option of releasing the kobold king in dialogue, so at the very least, the kobold and goblin leaders could have been set free in the module. The hostiles attack on sight, however, but it's safe to say that was the 'hack and slack' limitation choice of the author of the module. The BBEG, who has yet to be revealed in my entries here, can even be 'reasoned' with if one were to wish to do so. The third faction, also instantly hostile, I don't remember being able to reason with at all (They're briefly mentioned above). Honestly, as a good-aligned character, given all of the shenanigans they've (the third faction) launched on the area, I think reasoning with them with the eventual decision to let that free would be pretty absurd.
Now, with that said, I completely agree that the mod gives some fun ethical choices in the lead-up. Had I been playing a druid as the main toon, kobold and goblin chief would have likely been set free. Interestingly enough, one of the NPC's that can be recruited is a druid, so I wonder if that would have opened up some dialogue options? I may need to replay it with a completely different character sometime. If I were to impose upon the author a choice, I would have left the option open to not have hostilities at all before being able to resolve the area's issues but alas...that was not one of the choices given to us. It was advertised as a hack and slash module, with some role-play options. As a Tyrran cleric who IC took to the heart of the farmer's plight (the loss of his wife and lands), I feel the role-play choice to execute the kobold chieftain is justified from the point of Tyrran dogma that I mentioned in his journal entry (now included here in an edit: "Deliver vengeance to the guilty for those who cannot do it themselves.”)
That said, this entry will become relevant in my next journal entry, and would have saved a considerable amount of carnage in the area had it been something that the module construction allowed to play out in such a fashion: "Be vigilant in your observations and anticipations so you may detect those who plan injustices before their actions threaten law and order." That said, I would have loved the ability to attack this scenario in a tabletop setting with a Tyrran PC. I think the results of said would have been a lot less hack and slash xp, and a lot more role-play xp awards. Alas, given the in-game choices presented to my PC, I think the in-game choice was the right one for the right reasons (head canonically speaking).
Last edit: Hopefully none of what I said above is taken as accusatory or otherwise taken as anything other than an explanation on my part.
I loved the module! It's relatively quick (4-5 hours), and gives enough XP and gold to be worth the time investment. The best part of it is that it's tied to the area (the Delimbiyr region) that the two subsequent modules will take place in, which was a key reason I chose to download it.
On the first level of the final temple, I met @sarevok57 's medusa handmaidens. I never had to roll a single saving throw. I knew how dangerous they were, so I approached cautiously. When the first one cast a petrification gaze, I ran as fast as possible in the opposite direction.
It turns out their gazes have a very short range. You have to be close up before they can hit you with it. Plus, they can only do it once, after which they can only engage in not-very-effective melee.
So, I quickly developed a tactic of slowly approaching as they were all kneeling and doing some kind of ritual. As soon as one of them moved and/or stood up, I ran back. There are four groups of four medusa handmaidens on this level, guarded by battle horrors. I kept counting petrification gazes until I saw four of them go off, then engaged.
A few times, one or two of them plus the battle horror would break off from their groups, so I would kill them, then carefully get the others to waste their petrification stares before moving on in.
It was kind of nerve-wracking, but not really that hard to avoid all the petrification stares as long as I didn't just charge in clumsily.
Level two. I thought about trying to skip most of this level, but nope. There are four levers that have to be pulled, and they can only be pulled one at a time from the four corners of this map.
Each of the four corners can only be accessed by running through the middle, and the middle is guarded by an unattackable monster that will light the passages on fire. You have to run really fast, and make sure you've figured out exactly which way you're planning to run *before* the fire starts. This is no time to get lost.
At the corners on the way to the levers, I fought will-o-wisps, animated spears, and skeleton devourers. These enemies were all just annoying more than dangerous.
So, next level, Heurodis. I think she wanted to run forward and talk, but oops, I missed whatever dialogue she had, because I was adrenaline-pumped and ready to start bashing mythallars. The second I spawned onto the level, it was "See mythallars, right-click, BASH, let's go!" There are, I think 8 mythallars, and Heurodis is invulnerable until all eight are destroyed. They all do lightning damage as you bash them, and Heurodis has some really strong, scary spells, so watch your health carefully.
I think there's kind of a plot hole in this whole scenario, as she never tried to petrify me, which could have ended the fight in her favor pretty darn fast. Maybe she used up too much magical power setting up the mythallars and pulling the city out of the ground and into the air.
Slow spell. That's going to make this a lot harder.
YIkes! This could be a reload. Potion of Heal!
Got her! Dorna is under some kind of mind-control spell and is ready to attack me. She got in one hit before the game took over and started the final cutscene and movie plus credits. It would have been awfully frustrating if my hit points had been too low to take that one hit!
Hero: "Hooray! The evil Heurodis is dead!
Dorna: "Not so fast, "hero". Sneak attack!"
Luckily, I had plenty of hit points, and presumably, the spell wore off of Dorna shortly thereafter.
I finished the game at level 12, and flat broke. Obviously, I'll not be taking this character into HotU. I'll be going back to Todangelus Lightbringer, my much higher level paladin, who also had plenty of gold to start HotU with decent gear and supplies.
Final thoughts: I think SoU is strongest in Chapter One. I love all the roleplaying encounters in the early levels, I love Drogan, Dorna, and Deekin, and I love the story of Tymofarrar and J'Nah, as well as all the choices that you are given that lead to different outcomes.
I think it gets progressively weaker and starts to kind of railroad you through the Interlude and Chapter Two. It's still a really buggy game, and some of the bugs are serious. While I really enjoy SoU, and I always replay it every couple of years, I think the OC has the stronger story and characterization, and the OC is the better lead-in to HotU, because it takes you to the appropriate level, where SoU leaves you 1-3 levels too low for the beginning of HotU.
Reloads: 1 (the Wise Wind)
Dorna Deaths: 4 (J'Nah, Evard's Black Tentacles x2, the Wise Wind)
Final Level: 12
I've hid the remaining entry, just in case there is someone who hasn't completed the Zelbross Affair who would wish to do so. Chances are pretty good that since it's been mentioned a grand total of once (now twice) on this forum, there probably isn't a lot of interest from the community. That said, read at your own risk (if you haven't done so already).
18th of Marpenoth 1373DR Entry - Morning prayers - Planning session with the party.
Tarlock felt we left the area near where the orcs ambushed us largely unexplored, so we agreed that we’d begin our day's investigations in that area once again. It proved a fitting choice…bandits, but not ordinary bandits, accosted us with arrow and blade.
The band of halfling and gnome marauders were collectively disguised as goblins! They were the real perpetrators behind the caravan raids in the local area, though the puppet strings were pulled by another, as we soon discovered. The goblinkind in the region, though not completely innocent of mischief (they did run the kobolds away from their warrens after all), were unjustly blamed for the incursions, and the bounty levied on their hides was unwarranted, though easily explained. I was right in my wish to further investigate the allegations of guilt levied their way as justification for the bounty and shall so annotate in my official accounting of judgments.
Upon perusing the bandit captain’s adventurers sack, we discovered direct evidence implicating Captain Redfinn in a plot to destabilize commerce in the area for eventual Zhentarim exploitation. Making great haste, we made for the trade guild to brief Wagon Master Odom.
After dissuading him from endangering his own life, we offered to provide swift justice on the towns behalf and proceeded directly to Captain Redfinn’s shop. When challenged, he admitted to his crime, and offered to bring us in on his efforts. The temerity of such a suggestion. In the end, he and his half-orc bodyguard left us no choice but to lay them low.
Shortly thereafter, we returned the liberated mercantile goods that were stolen from the raided caravans.
*The next several weeks of entry entail recordings of additional judgments levied in Zelbross, whether conversational or as a true arbiter of local disputes. Additionally, Hugh records several opportunities where his healing services were offered, but which were turned down. The locals would often say, "The Healer is of the Great Oak, and he provides for our needs." Hugh left a note with the wagon master that should his healing or mediation efforts be needed in Zelbross again, he could be contacted through courier in the town of Kendann.
Despite their best efforts, the party was unable to locate who or whom were the Zhentarim that Redfinn entered a pact with and after several weeks Dorian Ash's party setoff for their initial assignment that saw them enter Zelbross in the first place. Hugh would be joining them on their quest. The journal does not mention what that assignment is, but it does annotate that Hugh wrote a courier letter to Dorian's Tormtar chapter expressing his deep admiration for his battle prowess, courage and honor the night prior to their departing. The final entry, whereby said courier letter is mentioned, is dated the 20th of Nightal...the Winter Solstice. It mentioned that Hugh and party were destined for the Greypeak Mountains.*
OOC: Reloads - 0 for deaths (a few bugs and cutscene abrupt cutoffs forced reloads)
Module Progression: The Zelbross Affair (Complete), Greypeaks (Start pending), The Maimed God's Saga, others TBD.
Thanks to the SOZ party system being enabled for the Greypeaks module that I'm about to start, I can use what amounts to the same party from the mod I just completed in the next one. I'll need to headcanon a reason that the party will split up for TMGS (I already have an easy idea for this), but I like that the RP continuity exists, albeit for the next module anyway. I used Vordan's Hero Creator to recreate them as close as possible. Voice sets are different, but I can live with that.
With that, the party composition is as follows (all are level 4).
Hugh Calderwood, Cleric of Tyr, principle weapon: longsword
Dorian Ash, Paladin of Torm, principle weapon: greatsword
Dahk Goldrift, Fighter of Clanggedin Silverbeard, principle weapon: dwarven waraxe
Tarlock Baird, Ranger of Meilikki, principle weapon: longbow
@BelgarathMTH , congratulations on finishing SoU with only one reload!
I still have my same two respawns on my counter, and I'm going solo. I decided not to reload just for the Desert Fury. By the way, placing other items on the squares is not possible, I tried that. I went into the tomb without that weapon. I wanted to write my report, but I came back from work at 11pm and I really need to sleep.
I will probably finish HotU half a year later than you
@EnialusMeliamne , Big congrats on no-reloading the first mod in your chosen series of mods. Very nice writing IC, too.
*********************
I have rescued Sharwyn and Daelan Red Tiger from the first level of Undermountain. Deekin and Red Tiger will be my companions for now, while Sharwyn has been instructed to stay safe in the inn.
Daelan went through the Neverwinter Plague crisis with me, although he did not directly accompany me on my adventures. I sure hope I am going to be able to find and rescue my good friend Tomi soon, as he was my chosen companion during those times. Lord Nasher through Aribeth insisted that the heroes from the Academy work in teams of only two, and I felt that Tomi's rogue skills would best compliment my own, though I was very tempted to choose Daelan. He is a most noble warrior of the Uthgardt.
He had a lot to say about Aribeth's fate during that sad time.
(going OOC)
This is an absurd trap setup. I can navigate it easily enough, but there's no way to bring the companions through, because they won't follow your path or avoid the traps, so this scenario has to be soloed. At the end of the gauntlet, there are archers who will shoot at you while you can't get to them (no big deal against my AC). Once you finally get out of the trap maze, there are two levers to pull to deactivate it, allowing you to call your companions forward. It looked really ridiculous at first, but it turned out to be not that bad with a bit of thought and caution.
(IC) I agree Deekin, we will definitely not bother any of these "sarcoff things that you put dead people in" while we're down here, just as we did not disturb any of the remains of the dead kings in the Hall of Dead Kings before.
(OOC) Deekin is hilarious with his comments throughout the game. You will meet more powerful companions, but Deekin can't be beat for comedy relief, so it's worth keeping him around throughout just for that. Also, since you get two companions at a time in HotU, they have banters, just like in BG2. The replayability of HotU is greatly increased by possibly wanting to try different companion combinations just to get to see the different banters and character developments.
This guy tried to surrender just as two killing blows landed. That is, he tried to surrender far too late, which is infuriating. However, the devs seem to have caught on by now that that was happening, and this time, his "ghost" or whatever was still there over in the corner to be spoken to. Interesting. I hope they were consistent in implementing that, because I really hate it with a passion when they program enemies to cry "I give up" when they have so few hit points left that it becomes highly unlikely they are going to live through whatever attack is already in progress.
This hideous black helmet looks awful, and it bears the taint of Mask, but it's just too darn good not to use. Maybe I can have it cleansed, or do it myself through prayers to Torm.
I made level 17. My hit points roll was a sad +6. I gained another third level spell, and decided to take Circle of Protection from Evil. Even though I don't need it any more with my new helmet, the "aura" could protect my two companions from mind-affecting spells.
One of the new and extremely welcome features added to NWN with HotU is metal, leather, and cloth dyes. With these, you can change the colors of your gear to make a decently aesthetically appealing outfit out of whatever hideous clown suit the default gear appearances have put you in. I went around town and bought up all the dyes that were available from the starting merchants. Sadly, none of them had any silver or metallic metal dyes, so I'm stuck with gold armor for the time being. As soon as I can find metal dyes in silver, I'll be changing to a more traditional paladin "shining armor" appearance. There was no dark blue cloth dye for my cloak, either, so I went with "Bleach" for the time being.
My current gear is now Cowl of Warding, Full Plate +2, Nymph Cloak +3, Ring of Protection +3, Ring of Resistance +1, Amulet of Natural Armor +3, Belt of Guiding Light (just purchased), Boots of Hardiness +4, Large Shield +4, and Rapier of the High Road (best available green lightsaber, still looking for a longsword version, or to save up enough money to buy a blue longsword lightsaber from the blacksmith.) Total AC is now 33.
I think I'm going to restart all my counters, for convenience's sake.
@BelgarathMTH
If your interested there is a nice Longsword you may be interested in, it's appearance is Red but I assure you there's much more to it than that.
On the first level of Undermountain you see the coloured Pillars puzzle, facing that on the other side of the map staying on the same floor is a locked room, inside is several Thrones with Undead sitting and one is hold what appears to be a Red Lightsaber, approach it and see what happens.
I assure you some appearances can be deceiving.
Also that crazy trap with the Magic Missiles, when I was there I destroyed them with magic from afar, don't know if it works with Bows.
@EnialusMeliamne , your writing is great. Thank you for putting the spoiler tags in your last report. Against my nature, I actually managed to leave them alone, in case I might want to play the mod in the future. I don't know how difficult it is, but it certainly looked interesting with some difficult choices.
I have had my next "vanishing items" incident. The crystal that I got to call the ant people to help me has disappeared from my inventory. I don't know if that's the same bug, or if it disappeared because fighting the Slaads around the portal would have been the last occasion where I could have used it (and didn't). But I'm still in the ruins, and it's gone.
Thanks to the SOZ party system being enabled for the Greypeaks module that I'm about to start, I can use what amounts to the same party from the mod I just completed in the next one. I'll need to headcanon a reason that the party will split up for TMGS (I already have an easy idea for this), but I like that the RP continuity exists, albeit for the next module anyway. I used Vordan's Hero Creator to recreate them as close as possible. Voice sets are different, but I can live with that.
If anyone is interested in NWN 2 Vordan's Hero Creater Module is perfect for testing your Build before beginning your Campaign, I've used it many times.
I used it to test out the new Prestige Classes before a permanent commitment.
Well I've been too reckless so far so today I'm trying to be more cautious, i didn't have much time today but i completed the Troll Caves, someone was threatening people and asking questions about Rei'Leena and found the escaped prisoners.
Before i could leave town some guy named Benleran comes up and say someones is going to Slaughter me?
sounds like i have a new best friend.
Found the Troll caves next to the Camp and after taking out 3 Trolls what do i find...4 more, have i mentioned i hate Trolls?
These Trolls are tearing through my Stoneskin, I'm gonna have to get Improved Invisibility soon, Oh look It's Revat's Mum and she was quite rude actually considering i'm here to help and kept insulting my Intelligence.
Down to the next level and after a couple of more Trolls and a Bear??? found the Chief, drew out his guards than took him alone and he got daze by the Feyduster shortsword and sneak attacked
After the Chief i tried to disarm a trap and a Ogre came after me and got zapped by the trap lol.
Just down the way i searched a body and found this journal...La'neral? isn't that Linu's family name?
this Troll said "Rend your flesh and suck the marrow from your bones will I" how rude!
Found a +5 Crossbow (later sold it)
Found this guy named Darious and he was completely traumatized and damn near crazy, he thought Rei'Leena was a Troll??? told him to go, before he left he mentioned these Trolls where afraid of "What Lurks Beneath" hmm sounds interesting, how could anyone think Rei'Leena's a Troll?
Found some strange gate and some boxes, inside found some Prism Blossom Seeds...someones gotta want these.
Helmed Horror, Minogon's, they keep Stunning me! stop it!, used so many Heal Kit's, thankfully i invested in Heal.
Flesh Golem's are weak to fire but they hit hard.
This Guardian was cranky and he hit harder, i had to start using my full Heal Potions I've been saving
Damn those Minogon's!
This thief stole the key from the Guardian that attacked me, the Creator Race? never heard of them.
3 Creator Sorcerers and i'm out of good spells.
Invisibility potion than Shiv Attack!
The next one was willing to chat...after a beat down, called me a slave than was confused about the current state of the world than attacked me again!
He did not survive.
Dread Queen Morag? Complete History of the Creator Ruins? I'm sure this has nothing to do with my investigation and I'll just give these to Jax the Archaeologist
Jax was quite please and took the Complete History of the Creator Ruins to Waterdeep, good luck! I'm sure Neverwinter has no use of that knowledge.
After checking in with Revat and making sure his Mum got back and giving the Troll head to Lenton returned to town for Supplies after tapping into my Heal Potions.
After getting supplies this guy named Lerner comes up and tells me my new best friend is still looking for me.
Following leads of the escaped prisoners went north and found this Green Griffon Inn, this guy named Mutamin has a very busy Inn and apparently he is challenging people to "Mutamin's Challenge", told him what he wanted to hear so i can keep searching but maybe I'll check back later.
Found Zor but he was a total beast in combat...Died again! , came back with a vengeance and used Bigby's Interposing Hand to lower his attack bonus -10, after hearing his story turns out he was a Gladiator and he annoyed the wrong people by not taking a dive so i told him if he gave me info on the others I'll let him go, after giving the info he attacked again saying i was honorable and he'd rather i had the bounty instead of another??? WTH all you had to do was leave....oh well he's dead now.
no lead on the Half-Orc prisoner decided to check the forest for a Ranger, found some Druids with some other problems but I'll check back later, I'm hunting right now.
Found Wyvern next to the Druids and after he tried to ambush me he was willing to talk.
I must admit his story had me conflicted, his family suffered heinous crimes than Wyvern went on a vengeance spree, making a horrific crime so much worse by killing those men, than their families, than their animals...after saying he regrets nothing he claimed to only want to disappear, i let his story get to me and allowed him to flee, instantly started wondering if he would go on another spree but it's done now.
Had no leads on the last prisoner so returned to hand in some ears and Kendrack's Daughter has been kidnapped! she was taken to the abandoned mine north of town and i'm charged with her rescue, handed in some ears and got lvl 12 and with my new spell slots ready off i go.
on my way to the mine a new best friend Vardoc turned up and tried to kill me!, after using my new spell Improved Invisibility and buffing up this guy looked like another beast so i used Bigby's Interposing Hand again and...he was no more, he dropped another letter.
Entered the mine and found a hole bunch of Orc's and some Ogre's but they were very weak.
Found a large chest and tried to disarm the trap but my skill wasn't good enough so using my vast Intelligence bashed it open...OMG took 61 Electrical damage! if i wasn't using my new spell Energy Buffer which absorbs 40 points of elemental damage per hit I'd be dead again, found a crappy Staff of Power for my trouble.
I showed Yesgar no mercy...i don't know what else to say.
Work again tomorrow than I'll check out Mutamin's Challenge.
@Cerabelus , Great report. You seem like you're making great progress. I never got that quest to rescue the bounty guy's daughter before, maybe because I never turned in enough ears. The only one I did turn in was Wyvern's, and that was only because he specifically asked me to.
In my HotU run, I didn't bother the remains of the dead kings, because I didn't think there was any good reason for me to defile their final resting places. I just left everything in there alone. I would need a better roleplaying reason to disturb them than just "Ooo, cool shiny treasure, more experience." Some of their names seemed to indicate that most of them had been quite evil in life, but I didn't think that was a justification to disturb them. It was a no-brainer that their remains would animate if disturbed, and they had been made a part of Halaster's death traps, but I still didn't think that justified taking things from their corpses, "just because."
I must say, the beginning of HotU is a lot more "Monty Hall" than I remembered.
Also, I wouldn't use a red lightsaber any way, even if it would have been that sentient sword I remember from before. The red is just too firmly associated in my mind with being a Blackguard/Sith.
even on my run i couldn't disturb the dead kings and i was trying my best to do so, i want to say there was one play through loooooooong ago i was able to make just the one hostile, but i had no idea how i did it
As I have mentioned before, I couldn't use the rune stones and went into Kel-Garas's tomb without that morningstar.
Being a paladin fully armored in the desert can't be fun. We've had 39 (that's 102) degrees today, that's incredibly hot for Germany, and houses don't have air conditioning here. Yesterday was almost the same, and during ambulance duty I had to spend an hour in the sun on a motorway, wearing safety boots, thick pants and a protective jacket. That was already quite a challenge, but imagine full plate mail with a helmet instead!
***************
I made the zombies in the temple explode, went into the tomb, hit some statue and made level 8. A good HP roll, and the point went into strength. Now I can wear Bracers of Armor instead of my Lesser Gauntlets of Ogre Power.
I generally don't disturb graves, especially trapped sarcophagi, but the tomb is swarming with undead and I want to cleanse it. Tanking the traps didn't do anything, and the lids weren't locked. The mummies only appeared when I took items. Usually that would make me feel bad, but the clues about their foul deeds in life and their plan to defend the tomb even in death made me think that they had chosen undeath willingly, so I destroyed them without bad conscience.
The whole tomb was full of traps, but once I had understood how the statues worked, I destroyed them when I could, and I had kept the Helmet of Discharge, using it when I had to pass between two Gargoyles, after being "enlightened" once or twice.
Of course, some statues were just statues, but attacking this one made me stop long enough to hear that voice...
Now this guy was *really* challenging. My spells had worn off, and I had to take a Potion of Bull's Strength and Barkskin while running away from him, picking up the sword from the skeleton and identifying it (I didn't stand a chance with my +1 sword) and frantically trying to keep myself healed. I used 8 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds and 4 healing kits during this fight.
That was difficult! But the result made me think of Cespenar: "Uuuuuuuh, Holy Avenger sword! Nice!" or "Oh, sword that burns. Have cream for that!"
I think I went outside to rest and buy more healing supplies after that.
Then, the dreaded Fireball Traps. Endure Elements didn't last long, but at least it bought me time. I had buffed my HP and saving throws with potions of Endurance and Eagle's Splendor, waited for a good moment to avoid at least the biggest blast, and ran for it. At first I panicked when the fireballs kept hitting me inside the force field, but then I noticed that I didn't take damage any damage there. Lay on Hands during that short break was enough to keep me alive and ready for the second half.
I think there were levers, too. I used them and I think the blasts got slower or weaker. I took less damage during the second part.
Anyway, this Skeleton Blackguard made me glad that I had two emergency Potions of Heal, because I needed one against him.
His helmet could be used by all alignments, and the armor by neutral and evil, but they clearly said "Blackguard". When I took them with me, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. Later I decided to sell them, against my usual practice of leaving items tainted by evil in a temple. There was no excuse for that change of principle, except "I needed them money for healing supplies and AC".
When I finally reached Kel-Garas, most of my spells had started to wear off again, but I wasn't going to run through the fireballs to get outside to rest. So, I added some potions again, and there he was.
Of course. There go my buffs. At least Protection from Evil was still there. Good that I had kept Divine Favor until the last moment. And I have a Holy Avenger!
I don't remember what he cast on me (I had to hit pause in the middle of the fight and returned 3 hours later to continue), but it can't have been so bad. The undead monk and the blackguard had been much worse.
I picked up the rod and some stuff I found in the chests (nothing that I remember) and ran outisde.
I met the Bedine Leader in front of the tomb and ran for the temple to destroy the rod.
I didn't expect him to appear here again. I had no more spells (of course I had not rested after the fight, I had to destroy the rod!) and he cast Doom or something. I decided to ignore him and tanked the Blade Barrier to put the rod on the altar (and *running*), and it worked.
The Bedine were happy to be rid of the ancient evil haunting their home, and Katriana, well, was her usual charming self when she heard that she would always be able to water her oxen here in the future.
We continued to the AO Worshipper Enclave. I talked to Garrick (healed him of course) and learned what I could from him, and then got a ridiculous amount of XP for helping a former Cleric of Lathander through her doubts by, well, listening and not saying much.
Then I got another 1000 XP for negotiating between the merchant Musharak and the Minister of Ao to come to an agreement about trading rights and shared profits. And that was level 9 for me. I chose Improved Critical: Longsword.
Oh, and I see that my AC had gone from 27 to 31. I think I got an Amulet of Natural Armor +2 instead of +1, bought the Gargoyle Boots and a Ring of Protection +2 (+1 was useless with my helmet, now the helmet is useless, because I don't use Infravision, but I kept it for the moment).
I was going to write more (I'm actually in Chapter Two now and have made the acquaintance of the Wise Wind), but I have to sleep.
Level:9
Reloads: 0
Respawns: 2
(not going to use a companion for the rest of SoU)
Sometime in the Spring of 1374DR. *An unidentified evil being looked over the five corpses in the underground Netherese dungeon.* "Fresh minions for my army..." *An evil laugh echoed throughout the halls and rooms*
OOC: Hugh and friends were overrun by mummies, wights, and skeletons in a gallant effort to find missing caravaners in the Greypeak mountains. TPK. Welp...that sucked.
After my post last night I feel the need to elaborate on showing Yesgar no mercy, after catching up with him in the mine he tried to tell me some bull story about Kendrack's daughter instigating the kidnapping, persuaded him and he told a different story...a story I don't have words for so I executed him, Kendrack's daughter confirmed the truth.
My only regret is not being able to get there sooner.
I know it's hardly Good to be executing subdued opponents but I didn't even think about that, once he confessed to those new crimes I just couldn't let him go.
I feel like it was evil to execute him yet at the same time I feel like letting him go was totally not an option I can live with.
None of these prisoners were going back to jail, the option wasn't even available.
I still regret letting Wyvern go, he seemed the type to go on another spree.
And Zor, why didn't he leave? Even though he totally kicked my butt I liked him and wanted him to go, there was another option saying something about Zor being honorable, maybe that would've worked.
@Cerabelus , I never found Yesgar and never knew about Kendrack's daughter. I guess you only meet him if you get the information after turning in more ears.
I let Wyvern go, despite the "evil" points the game gave me (there was no option to let him go without taking his ear), because somehow his background story made me understand (not justify, though) what had happened.
I executed Stirge without regrets, even when he had surrendered.
He was mad and dangerous and had already escaped once. Killing him to protect others from him seemed the only responsible thing to do, and I would have done the same if I met Yesgar and knew the true story.
With Zor, I picked the "There is honor in what you have done" dialogue option to let him go.
In such a world, it makes sense that they don't get a second chance in prison after escaping once, and they all said they would rather die than go back, but many times I, too, miss the option to arrest people in games.
Comments
since we've already talked about the main quests i'll stick with side quest mostly.
in chapter 1 at the Temple with Aribeth i went to see a man named Oleff and with some persuasion he told me that there has been an expedition to find several Tombs belonging to Lord Halueth Never and he needs help to search these locations as they are now in Plague territory which just so happens to be where i'm headed.
he told me to go to the Peninsula District and in a house.
into the basement talked to the guy and read the journal referring to the other location, there where some odd artifacts so i took those too.
each locked door leading to the Tomb has a chest next to it, a torn note inside with a cryptic message to be solved by placing the correct artifact inside.
each Tomb has a new artifact that i took back to Oleff for reward.
oh look Rei'Leena has become Chaotic Good
the Tomb in Blacklake was hidden and the only strange thing i found was this girl name Punkin and with some persuasion both she and her mother told me that the bookcase was whispering??? well time to test out my new Chaotic Good powers and rush in.
several Undead and Shadows where waiting for fresh victims and another door puzzle.
Oh no floating Swords are charging me!
and i remember this fight being a massive pain.
well that went a lot better than last time i did this, i used 2 Icestorms and 2 Mestil's Acid Breaths and they just managed to bring down Stoneskin before the last Sword went down, i got super lucky on that one as i remember having a terrible fight last time i did this.
so after taking the +1 Greataxe and some rusty armor i went back to Oleff and handed in the armor, i also persuaded him i needed a bigger reward and he gave me some Adamantite.
the other side quest @BelgarathMTH has another thread talking about the Zoo quest to free the animals so i won't babble on about but i took the quest from Nyatar the druid in the city core gives the quest to go to Blacklake and rescue the caged animals.
upon arrival there seemed to be only one person concerned about the animals was a girl named Sally who talked about rescuing them when she gets older.
i talked to others before opening the hallway door and starting a big fight and i reached a room with hunter and next to that was a Ranger.
completely over confident Rei'Leena died when "Sureshot" whipped out a greatsword and slaughtered her
and after respawning paying the 400xp and 3000gp toll the animals are now free.
Nyatar gave a reward and i persuaded him to give more and received some Ironwood.
i do agree that other options would've been nice to have but i didn't need to open every room taking out every guard and hunter.
Against Maldanen i did spare him (almost killed him with that last Acid Breath and he must be hurting bad) after he gave me the key to free the Dryad and the key to the warehouse, the Fermosa chick was worried i didn't kill him but it wasn't necessary.
And Gulnan i was expecting a problem with but she spent her time trying to cast spells and i kept whacking her, she didn't last long and that was 2 fights i got lucky with.
Rei'Leena is now 2 Rogue & 7 Wizard and those Rogue skill points have really helped out with all those locks, traps, appraising, persuading & healing skills.
taking a break than Desther goes down.
by the time I'm finished with NWN 1 I'll be looking forward to playing NWN 2 again
are you and BelgarathMTH using mods or something? I've never had items disappear from inventory.
But maybe I can try putting other heavy items from my inventory on the squares... I don't think if I can even hit Kel-Garas with my +1 weapon. If it doesn't work, I might have to reload after all.
Your playing a Paladin right? I've never been to that Tomb as a Pally but i know you'll find something i didn't.
oh well now onto chapter 2 and again i'm gonna do side quests first starting with the Farmers Wife.
I know what I will find in the tomb, I've been reading @BelgarathMTH's reports with careful attention to life-saving details. I just don't know if I will find it before meeting anything that my +1 weapon without elemental damage can't hit.
Soloman seems like a nice guy no reason to worry.
After defeating the Goblin Chieftain, Orc King than downstairs to the Bugbear Chieftain found Leah very scared.
Found several Bugbears taking a nap, is it evil to do the Coup de Grace? that's what i did.
At the lower levels found 2 Bosses, a Ogre Mage and this Bald guy named Ganon....what is this The Legend Of Zelda? well he was nothing compared to the real Ganon but i found a journal in the nearby chest and a new Helm.
This Thayvian Circlet is perfect for Rei'Leena but the Thieves Hoods is just too valuable right now so holding onto that for later.
My new Friend Soloman is cranky about me getting into danger, he's been tracking my movements with the ring he gave me, he must be very concerned about my safety.
After giving Ganon's journal to Aribeth and now it's time to find Werewolf's.
The scouting efforts of Tarlock were instrumental in our success today. Searching for goblin and/or kobold scat is a particularly…smelly business, but his keen eyes noticed an off the beaten path trail which we soon discovered led us to the former kobold, now commandeered by the goblin caves that the kobold chieftain indicated was nearby.
As is typical for their race, the goblins immediately attacked the party leaving us no choice but to waylay them like we did the kobolds. Still, we pressed onward…inaction on our part could mean the death of an innocent halfling, and neither of us would leave a distressed caravanner in need. My holy symbols ability to alight dark places came in handy here, allowing us to explore the caves without blindness.
Deep within the warrens, and after a very bloody fight to get there, we found the goblin chieftain hovel. He swore that the local goblins were not the initiators of the caravan raids that the village have endured. As a seeker of Tyr’s truth, we solicited information from him, which both Dorian and I knew to be true. The goblins had been run off from their lands by a stronger band of ruffians. In turn, the goblins had overrun the kobolds lands, who then in-turn had displaced the farmer from his lands (until we righted that wrong). In the end, we spared the goblin chief, for he had surrendered and did not have human blood on his hands, as the kobold chief did with the slaying of the farmers life. While the goblins had attacked us on sight when we entered their lands, the goblin chieftain stayed his sword, and proved to be informative. If his race are to know a better way, may it begin with a showing of mercy here, this day, when a staying of the sword of Tyr spared a goblins life.
Not far within the chieftain’s hovel, we found the missing halfling, who was abducted by the goblins. He had been seized by the goblins for the simple reason of false identification. The goblins had assumed that he was one of the small bandits who had run them out of their lands. There was some malfeasance by the goblins, who held him at ransom from the town. And yet, no mortal blow was levied at him in his defenseless state, so mercy to the goblin chieftain was not an error in judgment.
We offered to escort the halfling back to town, but he opted to make way of his own accord. The ranger provided a roughly sketched route back to the town that he seemed to think may be a safer route based on information that he’d gleaned from the land. Onward we pressed, because we simply must know why bandits and raiders would don goblin skins and wear them to raid caravans. Something sinister was afoot, and the goblins, though not fully innocent of mischief, may not be the primary initiator of the chicanery in these parts. The bounty on their heads may not have been just after all. *Written in the margins* Refer to first ‘judgment’ levied and recorded in Zelbross.
Surprisingly, Dorian picked up the scent of our next passage, where we found dead goblins and foul, living orcs who attacked us on sight.
With the information that the halfling and goblin chieftain we had garnered available to us, and the possibility of a bandit and/or orc incursion potentially afoot, Dorian and I agreed that it was best for us to return to Zelbross to make the guild and local populace aware of the situation. We, as a group, agreed that we would aid in addressing the problems further, no matter the personal cost. Lives were at stake. A town was in trouble. We would set out at first light on the 18th after we replenished our stock, prayed to our gods, and sharpened the edges of our weapons.
Kendrack here in the Mercenary Barracks is trying to track down 5 escaped prisoners, Zor a Minotaur,
Wyvern a Elven ranger, Stirge a Gnome, Delilah a Halfling, Yesgar a Half-Orc, we have several leads and I'll keep an eye out.
Went to the Temple and Neurik needs someone to find 4 people infected with lycanthropy and gave me 4 Silver Charms to help them...how am i suppose to convince Werewolves to put on Silver?, he gave me several leads the first is a farm in town.
Tried to talk to these farmers about their son but they were very insistent that i leave and panicked when i approached the stairs.
Oh looky here, after i gave him a burning he came to his senses and told me he was doomed, i told him to take this Silver charm and he was very suspicious but i was persuasive and he transformed back to a human, he gave a lead to a direction for another Wolf and his parents even apologized than thanked me.
My friend Soloman turned up with his buddies and tried to shiv me....i thought we where best friends?
oh well i went Invisible with my trusty stockpile of potions and gave him a shiv in turn, he dropped a letter and i gave it to Aribeth but it was only minor references to the Charwood.
Came across these fellows at the Archaeologist camp and they are very concerned about Trolls and Ogres eating people...well that's very bad I'll be back later.
While searching the Site found Delilah upstairs, after fending her off she tried to talk me into letting her go in exchange for info on the others, she also said her crimes are true but she'll never return to jail...she really didn't want to go back and the first Ear collected.
Just up the road found 1 of the boys hanging about and he wasn't in the mood for talking until i gave him the beat down, he refused to take the charm than i told him if he doesn't ill have to kill him so he took it and reluctantly thanked me.
while searching the south road i found a cave entrance and a Wolf tried to kill a Cow...i'm such i mighty hero, than i went in thinking to find a Werewolf but found a Dire Wolf pack leader named Silverback and i got a nice Critical. (i remember from a previous playthrough this wolf can talk but the Crit killed him umm woops), turns out these wolves where causing trouble and the local farmer rewarded me.
Found Stirge Hiding near the farms and he actually introduced himself as "Stirge the Baby-Killer", he did not survive and i got another Ear.
Found another boy in a cave i missed and after another beat down he accepted the Charm and told where to find the Black Wolf.
While heading to the Black Wolf i found a Polar Bear??? umm why are you here?
Oh no! turns out the Werewolf hunter was turned and framed as the Black Wolf, by Alhelor a
Anti-lycanthropy vender and the real Black Wolf!
Just outside Alhelor's house Tarran here stated Flirting than told me Poor Neva has been taken by Bandits...oh no!
Ho Ho! sneaky Alhelor had a little trap waiting for me, i know all your tricks buddy so took his tooth and returned to Neurik.
Poor Neva tried to kill me...but i'm here to save you!, turned out my investigation is making people nervous.
Got work tomorrow than Troll hunting!
Edit:
Group selected a couple of those shots and they didn't quite load in order sorry about that.
@Cerabelus , That's not her problem. The stones vanished from the game. You did make me wonder if it would be possible to make the pressure plates go down and hold with just dropping anything on them. I doubt it, though.
Fortunately for me, I've played SoU quite a lot, so I knew exactly what to do here and didn't run into this problem. I've encountered the "items disappear from inventory" bug once in my own game, and it cost me a Nymph Cloak +5 and another expensive Cloak of Winter. This is the first I've heard about a game-breaking disappearance of important quest items, though.
@Arvia , I *think* you can hit Kel-Garas with a +1 weapon enhancement, but I'm not sure. He may require +2. I can't remember what weapon I had equipped when I fought him. The item you would have gotten was a +2 weapon with fire damage against undead.
I'm okay with it if you want to reload the puzzle stones and not count it as a reload. Even in the no-reload Baldur's Gate thread, they allow reloads that are caused by game bugs.
No mods. This is a well-known bug, and it's been there since SoU's original release. Dorna's problems are also well-known, and have been there since original release.
When I looked online for any solutions to Dorna's rogue skills breaking, I was seeing posts from 2010.
Oh, derp, of course. *That's* what I used to fight Kel-Garas. I let Dorna fight with the weapon from the tomb.
But then, I would have gone to the goblin chieftain, and gotten yet another sad story. Good grief. So much suffering and tragedy on all sides here.
I wonder if it's possible to resolve the quests in that mod without having to kill any of the factional leaders. So far, it sounds like the brigands and their leader are the real bad guys here. But I wonder if *they* have a sad story, too.
Now, with that said, I completely agree that the mod gives some fun ethical choices in the lead-up. Had I been playing a druid as the main toon, kobold and goblin chief would have likely been set free. Interestingly enough, one of the NPC's that can be recruited is a druid, so I wonder if that would have opened up some dialogue options? I may need to replay it with a completely different character sometime. If I were to impose upon the author a choice, I would have left the option open to not have hostilities at all before being able to resolve the area's issues but alas...that was not one of the choices given to us. It was advertised as a hack and slash module, with some role-play options. As a Tyrran cleric who IC took to the heart of the farmer's plight (the loss of his wife and lands), I feel the role-play choice to execute the kobold chieftain is justified from the point of Tyrran dogma that I mentioned in his journal entry (now included here in an edit: "Deliver vengeance to the guilty for those who cannot do it themselves.”)
That said, this entry will become relevant in my next journal entry, and would have saved a considerable amount of carnage in the area had it been something that the module construction allowed to play out in such a fashion: "Be vigilant in your observations and anticipations so you may detect those who plan injustices before their actions threaten law and order." That said, I would have loved the ability to attack this scenario in a tabletop setting with a Tyrran PC. I think the results of said would have been a lot less hack and slash xp, and a lot more role-play xp awards. Alas, given the in-game choices presented to my PC, I think the in-game choice was the right one for the right reasons (head canonically speaking).
Last edit: Hopefully none of what I said above is taken as accusatory or otherwise taken as anything other than an explanation on my part.
I loved the module! It's relatively quick (4-5 hours), and gives enough XP and gold to be worth the time investment. The best part of it is that it's tied to the area (the Delimbiyr region) that the two subsequent modules will take place in, which was a key reason I chose to download it.
On the first level of the final temple, I met @sarevok57 's medusa handmaidens. I never had to roll a single saving throw. I knew how dangerous they were, so I approached cautiously. When the first one cast a petrification gaze, I ran as fast as possible in the opposite direction.
It turns out their gazes have a very short range. You have to be close up before they can hit you with it. Plus, they can only do it once, after which they can only engage in not-very-effective melee.
So, I quickly developed a tactic of slowly approaching as they were all kneeling and doing some kind of ritual. As soon as one of them moved and/or stood up, I ran back. There are four groups of four medusa handmaidens on this level, guarded by battle horrors. I kept counting petrification gazes until I saw four of them go off, then engaged.
A few times, one or two of them plus the battle horror would break off from their groups, so I would kill them, then carefully get the others to waste their petrification stares before moving on in.
It was kind of nerve-wracking, but not really that hard to avoid all the petrification stares as long as I didn't just charge in clumsily.
Level two. I thought about trying to skip most of this level, but nope. There are four levers that have to be pulled, and they can only be pulled one at a time from the four corners of this map.
Each of the four corners can only be accessed by running through the middle, and the middle is guarded by an unattackable monster that will light the passages on fire. You have to run really fast, and make sure you've figured out exactly which way you're planning to run *before* the fire starts. This is no time to get lost.
At the corners on the way to the levers, I fought will-o-wisps, animated spears, and skeleton devourers. These enemies were all just annoying more than dangerous.
So, next level, Heurodis. I think she wanted to run forward and talk, but oops, I missed whatever dialogue she had, because I was adrenaline-pumped and ready to start bashing mythallars. The second I spawned onto the level, it was "See mythallars, right-click, BASH, let's go!" There are, I think 8 mythallars, and Heurodis is invulnerable until all eight are destroyed. They all do lightning damage as you bash them, and Heurodis has some really strong, scary spells, so watch your health carefully.
I think there's kind of a plot hole in this whole scenario, as she never tried to petrify me, which could have ended the fight in her favor pretty darn fast. Maybe she used up too much magical power setting up the mythallars and pulling the city out of the ground and into the air.
Slow spell. That's going to make this a lot harder.
YIkes! This could be a reload. Potion of Heal!
Got her! Dorna is under some kind of mind-control spell and is ready to attack me. She got in one hit before the game took over and started the final cutscene and movie plus credits. It would have been awfully frustrating if my hit points had been too low to take that one hit!
Hero: "Hooray! The evil Heurodis is dead!
Dorna: "Not so fast, "hero". Sneak attack!"
Luckily, I had plenty of hit points, and presumably, the spell wore off of Dorna shortly thereafter.
I finished the game at level 12, and flat broke. Obviously, I'll not be taking this character into HotU. I'll be going back to Todangelus Lightbringer, my much higher level paladin, who also had plenty of gold to start HotU with decent gear and supplies.
Final thoughts: I think SoU is strongest in Chapter One. I love all the roleplaying encounters in the early levels, I love Drogan, Dorna, and Deekin, and I love the story of Tymofarrar and J'Nah, as well as all the choices that you are given that lead to different outcomes.
I think it gets progressively weaker and starts to kind of railroad you through the Interlude and Chapter Two. It's still a really buggy game, and some of the bugs are serious. While I really enjoy SoU, and I always replay it every couple of years, I think the OC has the stronger story and characterization, and the OC is the better lead-in to HotU, because it takes you to the appropriate level, where SoU leaves you 1-3 levels too low for the beginning of HotU.
Reloads: 1 (the Wise Wind)
Dorna Deaths: 4 (J'Nah, Evard's Black Tentacles x2, the Wise Wind)
Final Level: 12
- Morning prayers - Planning session with the party.
Tarlock felt we left the area near where the orcs ambushed us largely unexplored, so we agreed that we’d begin our day's investigations in that area once again. It proved a fitting choice…bandits, but not ordinary bandits, accosted us with arrow and blade.
The band of halfling and gnome marauders were collectively disguised as goblins! They were the real perpetrators behind the caravan raids in the local area, though the puppet strings were pulled by another, as we soon discovered. The goblinkind in the region, though not completely innocent of mischief (they did run the kobolds away from their warrens after all), were unjustly blamed for the incursions, and the bounty levied on their hides was unwarranted, though easily explained. I was right in my wish to further investigate the allegations of guilt levied their way as justification for the bounty and shall so annotate in my official accounting of judgments.
Upon perusing the bandit captain’s adventurers sack, we discovered direct evidence implicating Captain Redfinn in a plot to destabilize commerce in the area for eventual Zhentarim exploitation. Making great haste, we made for the trade guild to brief Wagon Master Odom.
After dissuading him from endangering his own life, we offered to provide swift justice on the towns behalf and proceeded directly to Captain Redfinn’s shop. When challenged, he admitted to his crime, and offered to bring us in on his efforts. The temerity of such a suggestion. In the end, he and his half-orc bodyguard left us no choice but to lay them low.
Shortly thereafter, we returned the liberated mercantile goods that were stolen from the raided caravans.
*The next several weeks of entry entail recordings of additional judgments levied in Zelbross, whether conversational or as a true arbiter of local disputes. Additionally, Hugh records several opportunities where his healing services were offered, but which were turned down. The locals would often say, "The Healer is of the Great Oak, and he provides for our needs." Hugh left a note with the wagon master that should his healing or mediation efforts be needed in Zelbross again, he could be contacted through courier in the town of Kendann.
Despite their best efforts, the party was unable to locate who or whom were the Zhentarim that Redfinn entered a pact with and after several weeks Dorian Ash's party setoff for their initial assignment that saw them enter Zelbross in the first place. Hugh would be joining them on their quest. The journal does not mention what that assignment is, but it does annotate that Hugh wrote a courier letter to Dorian's Tormtar chapter expressing his deep admiration for his battle prowess, courage and honor the night prior to their departing. The final entry, whereby said courier letter is mentioned, is dated the 20th of Nightal...the Winter Solstice. It mentioned that Hugh and party were destined for the Greypeak Mountains.*
OOC: Reloads - 0 for deaths (a few bugs and cutscene abrupt cutoffs forced reloads)
Module Progression: The Zelbross Affair (Complete), Greypeaks (Start pending), The Maimed God's Saga, others TBD.
Thanks to the SOZ party system being enabled for the Greypeaks module that I'm about to start, I can use what amounts to the same party from the mod I just completed in the next one. I'll need to headcanon a reason that the party will split up for TMGS (I already have an easy idea for this), but I like that the RP continuity exists, albeit for the next module anyway. I used Vordan's Hero Creator to recreate them as close as possible. Voice sets are different, but I can live with that.
With that, the party composition is as follows (all are level 4).
Hugh Calderwood, Cleric of Tyr, principle weapon: longsword
Dorian Ash, Paladin of Torm, principle weapon: greatsword
Dahk Goldrift, Fighter of Clanggedin Silverbeard, principle weapon: dwarven waraxe
Tarlock Baird, Ranger of Meilikki, principle weapon: longbow
I still have my same two respawns on my counter, and I'm going solo. I decided not to reload just for the Desert Fury. By the way, placing other items on the squares is not possible, I tried that. I went into the tomb without that weapon. I wanted to write my report, but I came back from work at 11pm and I really need to sleep.
I will probably finish HotU half a year later than you
*********************
I have rescued Sharwyn and Daelan Red Tiger from the first level of Undermountain. Deekin and Red Tiger will be my companions for now, while Sharwyn has been instructed to stay safe in the inn.
Daelan went through the Neverwinter Plague crisis with me, although he did not directly accompany me on my adventures. I sure hope I am going to be able to find and rescue my good friend Tomi soon, as he was my chosen companion during those times. Lord Nasher through Aribeth insisted that the heroes from the Academy work in teams of only two, and I felt that Tomi's rogue skills would best compliment my own, though I was very tempted to choose Daelan. He is a most noble warrior of the Uthgardt.
He had a lot to say about Aribeth's fate during that sad time.
(going OOC)
This is an absurd trap setup. I can navigate it easily enough, but there's no way to bring the companions through, because they won't follow your path or avoid the traps, so this scenario has to be soloed. At the end of the gauntlet, there are archers who will shoot at you while you can't get to them (no big deal against my AC). Once you finally get out of the trap maze, there are two levers to pull to deactivate it, allowing you to call your companions forward. It looked really ridiculous at first, but it turned out to be not that bad with a bit of thought and caution.
(IC) I agree Deekin, we will definitely not bother any of these "sarcoff things that you put dead people in" while we're down here, just as we did not disturb any of the remains of the dead kings in the Hall of Dead Kings before.
(OOC) Deekin is hilarious with his comments throughout the game. You will meet more powerful companions, but Deekin can't be beat for comedy relief, so it's worth keeping him around throughout just for that. Also, since you get two companions at a time in HotU, they have banters, just like in BG2. The replayability of HotU is greatly increased by possibly wanting to try different companion combinations just to get to see the different banters and character developments.
This guy tried to surrender just as two killing blows landed. That is, he tried to surrender far too late, which is infuriating. However, the devs seem to have caught on by now that that was happening, and this time, his "ghost" or whatever was still there over in the corner to be spoken to. Interesting. I hope they were consistent in implementing that, because I really hate it with a passion when they program enemies to cry "I give up" when they have so few hit points left that it becomes highly unlikely they are going to live through whatever attack is already in progress.
This hideous black helmet looks awful, and it bears the taint of Mask, but it's just too darn good not to use. Maybe I can have it cleansed, or do it myself through prayers to Torm.
I made level 17. My hit points roll was a sad +6. I gained another third level spell, and decided to take Circle of Protection from Evil. Even though I don't need it any more with my new helmet, the "aura" could protect my two companions from mind-affecting spells.
One of the new and extremely welcome features added to NWN with HotU is metal, leather, and cloth dyes. With these, you can change the colors of your gear to make a decently aesthetically appealing outfit out of whatever hideous clown suit the default gear appearances have put you in. I went around town and bought up all the dyes that were available from the starting merchants. Sadly, none of them had any silver or metallic metal dyes, so I'm stuck with gold armor for the time being. As soon as I can find metal dyes in silver, I'll be changing to a more traditional paladin "shining armor" appearance. There was no dark blue cloth dye for my cloak, either, so I went with "Bleach" for the time being.
My current gear is now Cowl of Warding, Full Plate +2, Nymph Cloak +3, Ring of Protection +3, Ring of Resistance +1, Amulet of Natural Armor +3, Belt of Guiding Light (just purchased), Boots of Hardiness +4, Large Shield +4, and Rapier of the High Road (best available green lightsaber, still looking for a longsword version, or to save up enough money to buy a blue longsword lightsaber from the blacksmith.) Total AC is now 33.
I think I'm going to restart all my counters, for convenience's sake.
Reloads: 0
Companion Deaths (after initial Resurrection): 0
Level: 17
If your interested there is a nice Longsword you may be interested in, it's appearance is Red but I assure you there's much more to it than that.
On the first level of Undermountain you see the coloured Pillars puzzle, facing that on the other side of the map staying on the same floor is a locked room, inside is several Thrones with Undead sitting and one is hold what appears to be a Red Lightsaber, approach it and see what happens.
I assure you some appearances can be deceiving.
Also that crazy trap with the Magic Missiles, when I was there I destroyed them with magic from afar, don't know if it works with Bows.
I have had my next "vanishing items" incident. The crystal that I got to call the ant people to help me has disappeared from my inventory. I don't know if that's the same bug, or if it disappeared because fighting the Slaads around the portal would have been the last occasion where I could have used it (and didn't). But I'm still in the ruins, and it's gone.
If anyone is interested in NWN 2 Vordan's Hero Creater Module is perfect for testing your Build before beginning your Campaign, I've used it many times.
I used it to test out the new Prestige Classes before a permanent commitment.
Before i could leave town some guy named Benleran comes up and say someones is going to Slaughter me?
sounds like i have a new best friend.
Found the Troll caves next to the Camp and after taking out 3 Trolls what do i find...4 more, have i mentioned i hate Trolls?
These Trolls are tearing through my Stoneskin, I'm gonna have to get Improved Invisibility soon, Oh look It's Revat's Mum and she was quite rude actually considering i'm here to help and kept insulting my Intelligence.
Down to the next level and after a couple of more Trolls and a Bear??? found the Chief, drew out his guards than took him alone and he got daze by the Feyduster shortsword and sneak attacked
After the Chief i tried to disarm a trap and a Ogre came after me and got zapped by the trap lol.
Just down the way i searched a body and found this journal...La'neral? isn't that Linu's family name?
this Troll said "Rend your flesh and suck the marrow from your bones will I" how rude!
Found a +5 Crossbow (later sold it)
Found this guy named Darious and he was completely traumatized and damn near crazy, he thought Rei'Leena was a Troll??? told him to go, before he left he mentioned these Trolls where afraid of "What Lurks Beneath" hmm sounds interesting, how could anyone think Rei'Leena's a Troll?
Found some strange gate and some boxes, inside found some Prism Blossom Seeds...someones gotta want these.
Helmed Horror, Minogon's, they keep Stunning me! stop it!, used so many Heal Kit's, thankfully i invested in Heal.
Flesh Golem's are weak to fire but they hit hard.
This Guardian was cranky and he hit harder, i had to start using my full Heal Potions I've been saving
Damn those Minogon's!
This thief stole the key from the Guardian that attacked me, the Creator Race? never heard of them.
3 Creator Sorcerers and i'm out of good spells.
Invisibility potion than Shiv Attack!
The next one was willing to chat...after a beat down, called me a slave than was confused about the current state of the world than attacked me again!
He did not survive.
Dread Queen Morag? Complete History of the Creator Ruins? I'm sure this has nothing to do with my investigation and I'll just give these to Jax the Archaeologist
Jax was quite please and took the Complete History of the Creator Ruins to Waterdeep, good luck! I'm sure Neverwinter has no use of that knowledge.
After checking in with Revat and making sure his Mum got back and giving the Troll head to Lenton returned to town for Supplies after tapping into my Heal Potions.
After getting supplies this guy named Lerner comes up and tells me my new best friend is still looking for me.
Following leads of the escaped prisoners went north and found this Green Griffon Inn, this guy named Mutamin has a very busy Inn and apparently he is challenging people to "Mutamin's Challenge", told him what he wanted to hear so i can keep searching but maybe I'll check back later.
Found Zor but he was a total beast in combat...Died again!
no lead on the Half-Orc prisoner decided to check the forest for a Ranger, found some Druids with some other problems but I'll check back later, I'm hunting right now.
Found Wyvern next to the Druids and after he tried to ambush me he was willing to talk.
I must admit his story had me conflicted, his family suffered heinous crimes than Wyvern went on a vengeance spree, making a horrific crime so much worse by killing those men, than their families, than their animals...after saying he regrets nothing he claimed to only want to disappear, i let his story get to me and allowed him to flee, instantly started wondering if he would go on another spree but it's done now.
Had no leads on the last prisoner so returned to hand in some ears and Kendrack's Daughter has been kidnapped! she was taken to the abandoned mine north of town and i'm charged with her rescue, handed in some ears and got lvl 12 and with my new spell slots ready off i go.
on my way to the mine a new best friend Vardoc turned up and tried to kill me!, after using my new spell Improved Invisibility and buffing up this guy looked like another beast so i used Bigby's Interposing Hand again and...he was no more, he dropped another letter.
Entered the mine and found a hole bunch of Orc's and some Ogre's but they were very weak.
Found a large chest and tried to disarm the trap but my skill wasn't good enough so using my vast Intelligence bashed it open...OMG took 61 Electrical damage! if i wasn't using my new spell Energy Buffer which absorbs 40 points of elemental damage per hit I'd be dead again, found a crappy Staff of Power for my trouble.
I showed Yesgar no mercy...i don't know what else to say.
Work again tomorrow than I'll check out Mutamin's Challenge.
In my HotU run, I didn't bother the remains of the dead kings, because I didn't think there was any good reason for me to defile their final resting places. I just left everything in there alone. I would need a better roleplaying reason to disturb them than just "Ooo, cool shiny treasure, more experience." Some of their names seemed to indicate that most of them had been quite evil in life, but I didn't think that was a justification to disturb them. It was a no-brainer that their remains would animate if disturbed, and they had been made a part of Halaster's death traps, but I still didn't think that justified taking things from their corpses, "just because."
I must say, the beginning of HotU is a lot more "Monty Hall" than I remembered.
Also, I wouldn't use a red lightsaber any way, even if it would have been that sentient sword I remember from before. The red is just too firmly associated in my mind with being a Blackguard/Sith.
Being a paladin fully armored in the desert can't be fun. We've had 39 (that's 102) degrees today, that's incredibly hot for Germany, and houses don't have air conditioning here. Yesterday was almost the same, and during ambulance duty I had to spend an hour in the sun on a motorway, wearing safety boots, thick pants and a protective jacket. That was already quite a challenge, but imagine full plate mail with a helmet instead!
***************
I made the zombies in the temple explode, went into the tomb, hit some statue and made level 8. A good HP roll, and the point went into strength. Now I can wear Bracers of Armor instead of my Lesser Gauntlets of Ogre Power.
I generally don't disturb graves, especially trapped sarcophagi, but the tomb is swarming with undead and I want to cleanse it. Tanking the traps didn't do anything, and the lids weren't locked. The mummies only appeared when I took items. Usually that would make me feel bad, but the clues about their foul deeds in life and their plan to defend the tomb even in death made me think that they had chosen undeath willingly, so I destroyed them without bad conscience.
The whole tomb was full of traps, but once I had understood how the statues worked, I destroyed them when I could, and I had kept the Helmet of Discharge, using it when I had to pass between two Gargoyles, after being "enlightened" once or twice.
Of course, some statues were just statues, but attacking this one made me stop long enough to hear that voice...
Now this guy was *really* challenging. My spells had worn off, and I had to take a Potion of Bull's Strength and Barkskin while running away from him, picking up the sword from the skeleton and identifying it (I didn't stand a chance with my +1 sword) and frantically trying to keep myself healed. I used 8 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds and 4 healing kits during this fight.
That was difficult! But the result made me think of Cespenar: "Uuuuuuuh, Holy Avenger sword! Nice!" or "Oh, sword that burns. Have cream for that!"
I think I went outside to rest and buy more healing supplies after that.
Then, the dreaded Fireball Traps. Endure Elements didn't last long, but at least it bought me time. I had buffed my HP and saving throws with potions of Endurance and Eagle's Splendor, waited for a good moment to avoid at least the biggest blast, and ran for it. At first I panicked when the fireballs kept hitting me inside the force field, but then I noticed that I didn't take damage any damage there. Lay on Hands during that short break was enough to keep me alive and ready for the second half.
I think there were levers, too. I used them and I think the blasts got slower or weaker. I took less damage during the second part.
Anyway, this Skeleton Blackguard made me glad that I had two emergency Potions of Heal, because I needed one against him.
His helmet could be used by all alignments, and the armor by neutral and evil, but they clearly said "Blackguard". When I took them with me, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. Later I decided to sell them, against my usual practice of leaving items tainted by evil in a temple. There was no excuse for that change of principle, except "I needed them money for healing supplies and AC".
When I finally reached Kel-Garas, most of my spells had started to wear off again, but I wasn't going to run through the fireballs to get outside to rest. So, I added some potions again, and there he was.
Of course. There go my buffs. At least Protection from Evil was still there. Good that I had kept Divine Favor until the last moment. And I have a Holy Avenger!
I don't remember what he cast on me (I had to hit pause in the middle of the fight and returned 3 hours later to continue), but it can't have been so bad. The undead monk and the blackguard had been much worse.
I picked up the rod and some stuff I found in the chests (nothing that I remember) and ran outisde.
I met the Bedine Leader in front of the tomb and ran for the temple to destroy the rod.
The Bedine were happy to be rid of the ancient evil haunting their home, and Katriana, well, was her usual charming self when she heard that she would always be able to water her oxen here in the future.
We continued to the AO Worshipper Enclave. I talked to Garrick (healed him of course) and learned what I could from him, and then got a ridiculous amount of XP for helping a former Cleric of Lathander through her doubts by, well, listening and not saying much.
Then I got another 1000 XP for negotiating between the merchant Musharak and the Minister of Ao to come to an agreement about trading rights and shared profits. And that was level 9 for me. I chose Improved Critical: Longsword.
Oh, and I see that my AC had gone from 27 to 31. I think I got an Amulet of Natural Armor +2 instead of +1, bought the Gargoyle Boots and a Ring of Protection +2 (+1 was useless with my helmet, now the helmet is useless, because I don't use Infravision, but I kept it for the moment).
I was going to write more (I'm actually in Chapter Two now and have made the acquaintance of the Wise Wind), but I have to sleep.
Level:9
Reloads: 0
Respawns: 2
(not going to use a companion for the rest of SoU)
OOC: Hugh and friends were overrun by mummies, wights, and skeletons in a gallant effort to find missing caravaners in the Greypeak mountains. TPK. Welp...that sucked.
My only regret is not being able to get there sooner.
I know it's hardly Good to be executing subdued opponents but I didn't even think about that, once he confessed to those new crimes I just couldn't let him go.
I feel like it was evil to execute him yet at the same time I feel like letting him go was totally not an option I can live with.
None of these prisoners were going back to jail, the option wasn't even available.
I still regret letting Wyvern go, he seemed the type to go on another spree.
And Zor, why didn't he leave? Even though he totally kicked my butt I liked him and wanted him to go, there was another option saying something about Zor being honorable, maybe that would've worked.
I let Wyvern go, despite the "evil" points the game gave me (there was no option to let him go without taking his ear), because somehow his background story made me understand (not justify, though) what had happened.
I executed Stirge without regrets, even when he had surrendered.
He was mad and dangerous and had already escaped once. Killing him to protect others from him seemed the only responsible thing to do, and I would have done the same if I met Yesgar and knew the true story.
With Zor, I picked the "There is honor in what you have done" dialogue option to let him go.
In such a world, it makes sense that they don't get a second chance in prison after escaping once, and they all said they would rather die than go back, but many times I, too, miss the option to arrest people in games.