The Song of Alianna - A Necromance
Permidion_Stark
Member Posts: 4,861
Standing outside Candlekeep Inn is Alianna, ward of Gorion the sage. She is a strange, solitary young woman, with a defensive, haunted expression in her eyes. She was a mere babe in arms when she was carried by her guardian to the library-fortress and she grew up believing herself to be a foundling, abandoned by her parents. Then one day, Gorion sat her down and told her what she still holds to be the true: that the identity of her father is unknown but that her mother, after whom she was named, died in childbirth.
Perhaps Gorion thought he was being kind in making up this story? If he did he was mistaken. Alianna had merely believed herself to have been unwanted and unloved. But now she knew the truth: knew that she was responsible for the death of her mother. It is a heavy burden of guilt for a young child to bear.
Gorion, sensing perhaps that he had already said too much, refused to tell Alianna anything more, save to add the detail that her mother hailed from Silverymoon, a city far to the north.
It was therefore left to Alianna's childish mind to create an image of the mother she had never known. She spent long hours in the library reading up about Silverymoon, the supposed city of her birth. It sounded like an enchanted place: a beacon that shone in the wilderness. Alianna longed to go there and she became obsessed with its ruler, the beautiful and wise Lady Alustriel Silverhand. In fact, she soon identified her mother with that paragon, conjuring her into one of the fairest, most noble maidens in all the Realms. Ultimately, Alianna created a mother that was everything that she felt she was not: beautiful, good and beloved.
Alianna's guilt about the death of her mother also engendered in her a morbid curiosity. One day Gorion was shocked to discover her dissecting a dead bird. When he asked her what she thought she was doing she told him simply: "I wanted to see how it works." Gorion's appalled reaction didn't end her necromantic interests but it did turn her into a dissembler and from then on she was careful to conceal her activities from him. And when he declared that in addition to her regular schooling she should receive spiritual training from the priests of Oghma she submitted to his ruling without complaint.
The clerics found her to be an apt pupil, intelligent and eager to learn. But they are unaware that at night, when she is alone in her room, it is not to Oghma that she addresses her prayers. Instead she whispers her entreaties to Sune, the flame-haired goddess of physical beauty: a deity she identifies with her mother and the place of her birth. A deity Alianna feels must surely hold her in contempt for her own lack of beauty in body, mind and spirit.
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However, today Alianna isn't content with just killing rats. She has discovered a spell that she intends to cast - a spell to provide her with a companion, both physical and spiritual. However, she is convinced that to do this the spell must be cast on a creature she has killed with her own hand. So Alianna turns her blade on Skamble one of the storehouse cats.
Alianna's spell works and the spirit version of the cat rises from its dead body. Alianna feel a sudden rush of well-being coursing through her veins. She has cast her first spell and the feeling is intoxicating. To her delight she finds she is able to converse with her familiar, understanding everything it says (if not everything it is thinking)
Reevor is surprised to see Alianna emerging from the storehouse with the cat at her heels. Not that he is worried, Skamble always was a useless excuse for a cat - couldn't be relied upon to catch so much as a dormouse let alone a rat. Reevor does, however, sense a new-found confidence in Alianna. Seems like the praise he gave her for emerging victorious from her epic battle against the rats has gone to her head.
However, she agrees to fetch his scroll - because she would like to get her hands on it. She has absolutely no intention of returning it to him. She also notices Firebead locking some other scrolls in the chest in the day room. As soon as he is not looking she uses her dagger to prise open the lid.
Having already purloined two of Firebead's scrolls she goes in search of Tethoril to obtain the third.
She then goes looking for somewhere quiet to scribe them into her spellbook.
At this time of day the priests are normally at the shrine to Oghma or working in the infirmary so it comes as a shock to Alianna to find she is not alone.
Fortunately, Skamble launches himself at the would be assassin, taking him by surprise and Alianna is able to finish the job.
Parda approaches her, wondering what the commotion was. She tells him that one of the cats didn't like her petting it - which is closer to the truth than he will ever know.
Skamble proves to be a vicious fighter and he cuts Carbos to ribbons.
So Alianna copies the spells into her spellbook while the corpse of her would-be assassin lies there in a pool of his own blood. Fortunately, his grisly presence does not distract her from her task and she successfully scribes all three spells
The night is dark. They are not far from Candlekeep when they are ambushed. From the way he speaks, Gorion seems to know their attacker. Why could he not have told her who it is that seeks to kill her?
Alianna, who has often willfully failed to do Gorion's bidding, now does as he beseeches and flees into the night.
The dawn finds Alianna alone and racked with shame. She ran and left Gorion to die alone. The guilt at having abandoned him is almost unbearable. For the first time in her life the words "Heya, it's me Imoen," are music to her ears.
I am using the following mods in the game:
BG1 NPC Project https://www.gibberlings3.net/mods/npcs/bg1npc/
BG Tweaks (which allowed me, among other things, to create a human multiclass character) https://www.gibberlings3.net/mods/tweaks/tweaks/
EET Tweaks https://github.com/K4thos/EET_Tweaks/releases/tag/v1.12
@jastey's SoD Tweak Pack https://www.gibberlings3.net/files/file/1015-jasteys-sod-tweak-pack/
Endless BG1 https://www.gibberlings3.net/mods/other/endlessbg1/
Imoen 4 Ever (a must have mod for Imoen fans) https://www.gibberlings3.net/mods/other/imoen4ever/
Balduran's Sea Tower - an Early Access Open Beta Mod that I am excited to try https://www.gibberlings3.net/mods/quests/baldurans-seatower/
Portraits, portraits everywhere ttps://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/61015/mod-portraits-portraits-everywhere-for-bg1ee-sod-bg2ee-iwdee-eet/p1
Chatty Imoen (because with Imoen you can have too much but never enough) https://github.com/AstroBryGuy/ChattyImoen/releases/tag/v1.3
And now it is time for a little housekeeping. I hate the colour that the EE's made Imoen. If I am honest I can't clearly remember what colour she used to be but I am pretty sure it wasn't this hideous shade:
So I have turned her to this, which I find more pleasing (and more in keeping with the notion expressed in the NPC project that Imoen only wears pink)
There now follows an interlude where Alianna and Imoen will journey to High Hedge. They are doing this because I conceived of Alianna as specialising in necromancy but it wasn't possible to assign a kit to her during character creation. I can't get EEKeeper to work on my Mac so the only way I could find to do this was by using the More Style for Mages mod: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/18108/mod-more-style-for-mages-v1-56/p1
So what follows isn't really happening at all, it isn't part of the run, and you should ignore it. Move on. Nothing to see. Never happened.
Alianna hasn't as yet received the additional spell that should come with specialisation but I hope, and believe, that this will happen when she reaches second level.
And now we return to our heroines, who are just where we left them, though now, inexplicably, darkness has fallen:
So to reset the clocks (and, coincidentally, to enable Alianna to memorise some spells) I figured it was time to rest:
I don't know about you but I think that is a beautiful image.
Alianna despises the person who could have written those words. They are the words of a person who feigns concern. A person who says they could have done something if it were not so inconvenient. Alianna has no idea who 'E', the author of the letter, is but she hopes one day to meet him and so she can spit in his eye.
In truth, Montaron makes Alianna's skin crawl but she is fascinated by Xzar. He appears to be insane; but maybe it is an act?
Imoen continues to be the voice of reason. And Alianna continues to ignore her.
The companions travel a little further into the woods and Imoen makes another happy discovery.
Shortly afterwards the party arrives at the Friendly Arm Inn. (I don't know about you but my heart leaps up every time I hear the Friendly Arm Inn theme and see the drawbridge lower. One of the delights of playing EET is that the original films are restored by default. I don't know who decided to remove them but whoever they are they are a bad person and they should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves)
Soon after Imoen proves that the first discovery wasn't a fluke and she actually has a talent for finding magical rings discarded in unlikely places. It's like she has a sixth sense for this stuff. It's almost as if she know s exactly where to look:
Tarnesh proves to be no better an assassin than Shank and Carbos were. At least those two had the sense to try to attack her when she was alone.
In fact, the most worrying thing about the encounter turns out to be Imoen's reaction to finding Tarnesh's spellbook because it suddenly gets her to thinking that she too could cast spells. Alianna finds this prospect worrying because Imoen has the attention span of a gnat and the idea that she might have the dedication and patience to become a spellcaster is laughable.
Also, I'm pretty sure that is Imoen's original colour. I always thought it odd that they mentioned pink so much when perhaps she just has a penchant for plums...
Thanks so much. I'm glad you are enjoying it. It's fun to write and I find it makes it more interesting if I try to roleplay the characters a bit. The BG1 NPC Project is really helpful for this because it gives you a lot more to play off.
You are probably right about Imoen's colour. For some reason I am convinced she used to be more pink but nostalgia does tend to use rose-tinted spectacles.
So Alianna heads south accompanied by Xzar and Montaron and a miserable and disapproving Imoen.
Alianna hopes to calm him down by saying something along the lines of 'No need to get all bent out of shape. There's plenty of bar for us all,' but before she can open her mouth Montaron butts in.
Alianna attempts to calm him down but Montaron is spoiling for a fight.
And after that everything escalates pretty quickly.
Alianna and Imoen attempt to drag Montaron away but the drunk and his friend follow them outside and then things turn very nasty indeed.
Imoen and Xzar are badly injured and the party has to flee into the night, lucky to escape with their lives.
Alianna's knows that her foolishness almost got Imoen killed. She knows that the only sensible thing to do would be to dismiss Xzar and Montaron and go back and beg Jaheira and Khalid to help her. But she doesn't. Not because she is too proud but because she is too afraid. Too afraid of Montaron and Xzar and what they might do if she were to tell them to leave.
They then found a place to lay low for a while.
That night Imoen and Xzar got to chatting (I love the following exchange so I have included it in full. Whoever wrote Xzar for the NPC project really captured his voice. I think this is incredibly good dialogue - as good as anything in the game.)
Unfortunately, the light-fingered halfling's lockpicking skills aren't up to much so many chests went unopened but he did manage to find a Wand of Lightning for his wizard friend.
Alianna needs a place to rest and try to make sense of what is happening to her. But yet again as soon as she walks into an inn she finds herself being attacked.
Xzar and Montaron prove their worth in combat against the the bounty-hunting cleric. Which is both a relief and a worry: if they can take down Neira this quickly what could they do to her.
Once they are rested, the party heads to the Nashkel Carnival. Alianna is hoping that it might be a good place to recruit some new companions. And failing that they can at least get new equipment from the visiting merchants. Unfortunately, the choose the wrong tent and find themselves in a deadly battle with a wizard who makes Xzar look well-adjusted. At first they seem to be getting the upper hand and succeed in interrupting all of the wizard's spells. But just before he dies he manages to cast Melf's Acid Arrow, hitting Montaron. Alianna attempts to cast Cure Light Wounds to save the halfling but he dies before her spell can take effect.
Alianna feels a sense of guilt mixed with relief. At least now she doesn't have to worry about getting her throat slit in the night.
Thalantyr laughs at Alianna when she asks about it. "Melf's Acid Arrow? Don't waste my time. A neophyte like you wouldn't be able to cast it anyway." He is right about that. While her abilities as a cleric have improved she is still right at the start of her necromantic studies.
Fortunately, the journey to High Hedge wasn't a complete waste of time and Alianna has found a new companion. He is a troubled, brooding guy and is quite intimidating in his way. But she senses that she can trust him.
Meanwhile, Xzar is advancing in his arcane abilities.
And Imoen is quietly becoming a rather effective thief.
Happily, this brings a much-needed extra healer to the party.
Unfortunately, shortly afterwards the party is back down to four after Kivan gets killed by a Cave Bear. Alianna feels responsible for his loss. She had thought that if both she and Branwen threw Command spells at the creature they would be able to put it to sleep for long enough to kill it. When neither spell landed the party tried to escape but Kivan got caught in the confusion at the mouth of the tunnel and died in two swipes of a bear's paw.
The party then fled back to Beregost to rest up. Alianna knows she needs to find a replacement for Kivan. Maybe she should go back to the Friendly Arm Inn and seek out Khalid and Jaheira? But to do that would feel like failure . . .
It's not to do with Alianna in particular. It's just I never do resurrection in my games. I figure if you're dead you're dead.
Yes. I basically thought up the idea of her killing a cat to find her familiar and that meant CN was the only choice. However, I do think it chimes reasonably well with her personality.
Alianna has prepared for the situation by readying two Charm Person spells in the hope that it will enable her to talk them around.
However, things don't go according to plan. When charmed, the two guys have nothing much to say for themselves, and as soon as the charm wears off they are both spoiling for a fight again. Alianna tries to avoid this by casting command on Marl and Dunkin and retreating into a store while they are unconscious. Unfortunately, Marl sees them and follows them in.
There is no reasoning with the guy and he chases them out into the street again. After a long fight they eventually kill both of their pursuers, which does the party's reputation no good at all.
The only good thing to come out of the whole sorry affair is that they meet Kagain, the owner of the store they tried to hide out in. He appears to be a guy who knows how to handle himself and the party is desperately in need of that.
I was really annoyed with myself about this one. I got careless and thought I could just send Kagain and Branwen in to fight while the others stood back and threw daggers at the beast. But dread wolves don't behave like their natural brethren and instead of letting my melee guys hack it to bits it kept turning on the last person to attack it. Stupidly, I also forgot to activate Xzar's Shield Amulet so I think he was something like AC6 at the time of the attack. Still I'm not sure how the wolf managed to kill him in a single bite without getting a crit since he had 12 hit points and I thought they did 1d10 damage?
All in all, a very disappointing end for Xzar. I was really enjoying his dialogues from the NPC Project. His character is superbly written. Does anybody know who was responsible for penning his speeches?
So that AC 6 or whatever was actually AC 10, and dread wolves have 15 THAC0 ... hit on a 5, for 1d10+4 damage. The chance of instant death on any one attack roll under those circumstances is more than 20%.
It always gets me that I can still panic and mess up a game when all I need to do is to hit pause and take a moment to think about what I am doing.