Yeah it was a huge chunk, I think yeah it took me from 18 to 9. Right, he's not an "innocent" and not even a guard so it's weird from an in-game perspective and on a logical level I don't agree withit either.
But personally I was fretting Baeloth was going to leave, so when I saw the -9 I was pretty happy, even if slightly surprised--now I really wouldn't have to worry about him running off.
... Ah. I found it. There's a rarely used field in the creature file "Reputation gain/loss when killed". Phandalyn in 2.5 has this set to -30 - the values used are ten times the reputation numbers you see. How rarely is this field used? I'm not aware of any other uses.
The other creatures that got the "murder1" script in 2.6 were innocents in older versions of the game, and 2.6 changed them to actually have the classes you'd expect. So no change in the reputation penalty for killing them.
5AM. I tricked the drunken Captain once he got his ale, and got the Sea Charts. I left town for Ulgoth’s Beard at once–if this is truly how I’m going to get my tome into Candlekeep, I don’t want there to be any delay.
9PM. Back in Ulgoth’s Beard. With Mendas chartering me a ship, it looks like I’ll set sail at dawn tomorrow. This seafaring journey may take a few weeks, and I risk allowing the Iron Throne to leave Candlekeep unhindered. If that’s the case, then I’ll just have to chase them down again. But at least now I’ll have a chance to get back inside my library fortress home.
[Day 71]
6AM. After stashing some minor belongings in Shandalar’s home, we set sail west.
Baldur’s Gate 1/Tales of the Sword Coast
[Day 96]
6AM. The journey has been a disaster. We had sailed for longer than I was led to believe-over three weeks–and eventually shipwrecked on an island in the middle of the Trackless Sea after a violent storm. My entire party survived thankfully, although the rest of the crew seems lost to sea. Home back on the Sword Coast feels like a distant memory at this point. Even before we lost our way back, I had been seething with a distraught frustration imagining the Iron Throne restoring all of their dastardly operations. Perhaps it was too rash a decision to set sail when I did, but regardless…I need to deal with the situation I’m in.
As morning breaks on the shore I believe we may have made it to our destination in any case, despite the tragedy of the shipwreck. This is an inhabited island in the Trackless Sea, by the looks of a wandering child, and our charts had indeed brought us here. So I will set out to understand my circumstances, what we need to do to still find Balduran’s shipwreck (and his logbook), and then figure out how to get home as soon as possible.
8AM. There’s a fairly substantial village established on this island, and its denizens speak common tongue. They are almost all very quiet, mysterious, and tight-lipped…urging me to see the Chiefwoman first. I scout around a bit to see what I’m dealing with…then go to meet her.
Kaishas Gan provides the village’s origin story to me. They are descendents of Balduran’s crashed ship, stranded here for generations. There’s mention of “trinkets” still on board the years-rotted ship, so there’s hope I may still recover Balduran’s logbook.
They have attempted to build a different seafaring vessel that can sail them home, but apparently there are mysterious beasts on the northern end of the island that have been ravaging them for years (generations, even?), making it impossible to evacuate and launch. Huh…I will investigate, and see what I can do.
9AM. I looked around the village and tried to get more information about the creatures and this island. Apparently these are werewolf-type creatures that have been terrorizing this strange village. I will head north immediately and make my own plan of action.
2PM. The northern half of the isle was creeping with wolf-fiends and beach sirines, and I dispatched most of what I came across. After fighting through most of mid-day, I found both Dradeel the mage, and the ruins of Balduran’s ship. Both findings are good signs, despite the present circumstances.
[Ugh, Reload number 10 here and I didn’t even get to Karoug yet. Embarrassing. Palin and his ambush of Wolfweres. PC just clawed to death. I had been scouting out the ambush with a stealthed Imoen before it happened, but then she got accidentally revealed, all enemies were aggroed at the same time, and the ensuing chaos threw me for a loop. I’m kind of upset about it because there is no good story to it, just inattentive/lazy playing and really shouldn’t have happened. My second attempt at this encounter was trivial, once I sat up and paid attention. I was playing later at night than I usually do, maybe that had something to do with it…]
I battled a large pack of wolves on the bottom level of the ship and slayed them all. When Imoen scouted to the levels above, it was obvious the entire place was swarming with powerful wolfweres and the like. With most of my magic spent for the day, and not trusting I can defeat these beasts in simple melee, I decide to rest back in the village until later tonight. I’ll be rested, recharged, and more able to fight deeper into the ship.
Current party:
Wybrough, Level 6 Fighter/Level 6 Mage (The Thresher +2 and Morning Star +1)
Branwen, Level 7 Priest of Tempus
Imoen, Level 8 Thief
Baeloth, Level 8 Sorcerer
11PM. I returned to Balduran’s ship, and attempted to fight the Wolfweres inside. They proved vicious and nigh-invulnerable, but with a potion of Storm Giant Strength, a Potion of Invulnerability, and all of our defensive spells, I was able to fight my way to the cabin where Karoug had holed himself up.
[Reload number 11. The wolfweres were too difficult to defeat the first time. Did way too much damage too quickly. For my second attempt, I tried more potions, more haste, and running around up on the deck to spread them out from the entrance. But whew, it was tougher than I was expecting.]
Whatever distant hope I had of a peaceful resolution was dismissed almost immediately. Karoug is a Greater Wolfwere, and my party was already fatigued in the few hours we fought this night. From what Imoen scouted, there also looks to be chests and desks and offices of documents up there–the likely location of the logbook, if it indeed exists. Imoen very dangerously snuck back up to gather this information, but set off a fire column trap that almost killed her. She managed to climb back down to us.
There is some luck in that the leader’s small pack is staying away, up in the cabin. They didn’t chase me back down outside, where they may have easily finished us off. But that does mean I’ll have to take the battle up to them, through the tiny staircase entrance. I’m in no shape to do that right now, so I’ll head back to the village again to heal and rest until morning. I know I’ve culled a large number of their population so far, so that buys me some time.
[Day 97]
10AM. I returned in the morning to finish off Karoug and his protectors, but the battle didn’t quite go as well as it could have.
[Reload 12…Oof. My PC got stuck up there when I was trying to lure the pack around to spread themselves. Couldn’t run, could just sit there and take the massive amounts of damage until I was dead.]
I was able to slay the wolfweres, but Karoug himself could not be killed. Baeloth was successful with a Wand of Paralyzation bolt, and I thought the battle would be trivial after that. Unfortunately, no weapon I had could hurt the beast. Even with both mine and Baeloth’s fire wands blasting, Karoug’s physical regeneration rendered him unkillable.
In the moments I had before our enemy could move again, I looked around the cabin. Baeloth had to set a few magical traps off on himself to get to it, but I pulled out what looks like Balduran’s logbook! Phenomenal!
More relavant to the immediate situation, I also retrieved an unidentifical magical bastard sword. Not having many other options, I had Baeloth identify it–and it looks like my hunch was right, this blade could work to actually hurt the beast!
With Haste and more fire wands, I still wasn’t quite able to pull down the beast before he started attacking me, his giant claws giving me gaping mortal wounds. We fall back down the stairs again–and again, he did not follow. Damnit, again I must retreat!
6PM. Resting again back in the village and returning to Balduran’s ship, I was finally able to destroy Karoug–and it looks like whatever wolves remain of his pack are battered and scattered into the wilderness.
His regeneration was difficult to overcome, but we didn’t need to use the Wand of Paralyzation. Between critical strikes, defensive magic, and more Aganazzar’s Scorchers, he was eventually slain.
8PM. I returned to the southern village, and the strange tension that’s been building for the past day and a half has come to a head. Indeed, the villagers are werewolves themselves, if slightly more humanlike in nature. Not only that, but at some point, we had been infected with lycanthropy?! This may have been some scheme by Kaishas Gan, but as for the rest of her followers…they reject us as their saviors and anything resembling being members of their clan.
8PM. While Kaishas flees to the ship to get off the island, the rest of the village transforms and attacks us! I must find the passageway to this ship, but I’ve yet to discover how to get to it… I had held onto Dradeel’s spellbook–but now I will go back north to search him out for answers that he might have.
9PM. Gah, as soon as that blasted Dradeel got his hands on his spellbook, he teleported away. So much for help from him. I’ll have to head back to the village to see if there are any clues for how to get to the ship, or if I have any allies left there.
10PM. Back in the village, I realized Dradeel did in fact stay to help. He directed me towards the hidden passage to the eastern harbor–and told me to make haste, since Kaishas was already looking to set sail with the only seafaring vessel on this island.
11PM. In the subterranean, lycan-infested labyrinth, several encounters with werewolves left us injured and with very few spells left…but if Dradeel was speaking the truth, Kaishas may be looking to set sail immediately. I need to keep on pushing forward until I know what’s happening with the ship. So far, though, I’ve been stuck in this underground maze.
[Day 98]
12AM. At midnight, I found the harbor, and Kaishas. I have no idea how imminently she plans to leave, but I will confront her first! My party is spent, but I’m forced to figure out a strategy regardless.
I drank Potions of Fire Giant Strength, Heroism, Defense, and Regeneration. Between that and Baeloth’s Haste, we were able to kill Kaishas–who saw no other path forward herself but to kill US.
With control of the ship, I determine we will set sail at first light. Nothing is left for me on that infested island, so we’ll spend the rest of the night on the ship itself. Woe be to any more merchants or adventurers who find themselves here... Despite the troubles, I have what I came for: Balduran’s ancient logbook in my hand.
On the journey back, I have no choice but to prepare for the scenario that the Iron Throne has run amok in the time I’ve been absent from the Sword Coast, and there may very well be a war between the city and Amn. Whether I’ll still have to enter Candlekeep to hunt down their leaders–that remains to be seen.
[Welp, three reloads during my werewolf island trip; 25% of my total reloads this playthrough. Each of my deaths were when 4-5 wolfweres just surrounded me and started going nuts. The fights vs. solo Karoug, or Kaishas Gan, or Mendas and co back in UB, I survived just fine (even if the Karoug fight was pretty tough to figure out). Always goes back to positioning, positioning, positioning, and tactical retreat. Also I’m wearing a damn robe.]
[Day 120]
8AM. Three weeks’ journey and we arrive back at Baldur’s Gate. Almost two months since we’ve been on the mainland, and there’s a lot to catch up with.
But first, suspiciously, someone approaches me from Mendas’s house, the scholar who initially funded this expedition for us. He is of the same clan as Kaishas?! I’m realizing the entire journey, from its outset in this vilage, may not have been what it seems.
I had to kill Mendas and his partner, Baresh. Two Loup Garou, almost as invulnerable as Karoug himself.
With that, I make haste to Baldur’s Gate to see what the Iron Throne was able to get up to in my time gone…
[Day 121]
2AM. I arrived in Baldur’s Gate late that night. There weren’t many people on the street, but I briefly stopped in the Elfsong to get a sense of the goings-on since I was gone. It looks like the situation on the Sword Coast hasn’t changed much; the threat of war has ratcheted up, but has not come to fruition yet.
Even though it was the middle of the night, I barged into the Iron Throne building and learned quickly that Rieltar and Brunos are STILL at Candlekeep. I still have Balduran’s Logbook, so I’ll make my way there immediately.
I had learned from the Elfsong that the rival trading guilds may still be in trouble. Despite the absense of absolute disaster, it looks like the situation on the Sword Coast hasn’t improved since I’ve been gone. I went to check the merchant halls, but they were almost completely abandoned. That’s to be expected, I supposed, if most of their members had been killed and replaced by monsters only a couple of months previous.
With that, we headed immediately south to Candlekeep…
[Day 122]
10PM. I arrive at the Candlekeep gate…and WHAT NOW?! Gah! The worst of possible situations. The Gatekeeper will not accept Balduran’s Logbook as a valuable enough tome. Damn Ulraunt and these rigid rules which seem rigged against me! I cannot imagine why this wouldn’t be accepted, other than it is not a “proper” book of knowledge scribed by some petulant scholar in a library. But now I have to face the fact I wasted two months on a fool’s errand. I’m furious and I can barely think straight. We will head to Beregost to think this out…
[Day 123]
11PM. Back in Beregost since the early afternoon. I took care of some business with all of the equipment and items I’ve been carrying around.
I realize my first instinct months ago was the right one: go east to Durlag’s Tower and Firewine. I’m not particularly hopeful I’ll find a tome of sufficient value there either–dwarves especially are not generally known as scholars and book collectors–but it’s my only avenue left to explore. And just maybe I’ll be able to take out some of my frustration fighting dungeon monsters.
And unlike the nighmare trip to Balduran’s Isle, at least I’ll still be close to the Sword Coast and able to rush to help if the situation knocks itself out of the stalemate it’s currently in. The dungeon crawls likely won’t take more than a week or two, and we’ll be within a few days journey of Candlekeep or Baldur’s Gate if my enemies decide to finally show their faces.
If this all doesn’t work out and I don’t get my “key” to Candlekeep–I’ll have to force the situation some other way. And I’ll deal with that then. But now, not looking to even stay the night in Beregost, we will set out tonight to begin our next adventure.
What I’ve heard about Durlag’s Tower are stories about the myriad of deadly traps that have been set over the centuries. Imoen has developed her stealthing and lockpicking skills to remarkable levels–however, I would only trust her to detect the traps in a place like that...maybe one out of two times [her detect traps skill is 60]. Normally if we suspect traps are ahead of us, Branwen will cast ‘Find Traps’...but those spells last a relatively short duration, so likely won’t work well either. No–I’ll have to recruit more help for this. I think back to the thieves and rogues I’ve met in my time on the Sword Coast, and where they may currently be…
[Day 124]
9PM. I made my hike back towards the outskirts of the Cloakwood forest, by Aldeth Sashenstar’s cabin, to see if Coran the hunter was in the area. I found him in the evening, nearby the bridge where I first met him.
I let him know that we had already taken claimed the Kelddath reward for the wyverns long ago; however, we could still use his assistance, specifically his thieving skills. The rogue warrior seemed a bit directionless and eager to join us–good.
He’s marginally better at detecting traps than Imoen, but I see room for rapid improvement. We’ll simply have to put his skills to the test and get experience. [I dumped all his level up points into detect traps, only got to 70. BUT he’ll level up his thief side in 4k xp, which will hopefully happen relatively soon.] Regardless, his bow skills will be a boon to us in certain combat situations. We’ll have to travel back east via Beregost to get him better equipped.
I know the insane gnome Tiax in Baldur’s Gate is also a thief, but I’ll avoid that headache unless it’s one of my last options.
[Day 126]
11AM. From Beregost, we head out east. My destination is Durlag’s Tower, but I’ll travel via Gullykin to get a look at that area. It may serve as a useful waypoint.
Current party:
Wybrough, Level 6 Fighter/Level 7 Mage (The Thresher +2 and Morning Star +1)
Branwen, Level 7 Priest of Tempus
Coran, Level 5 Fighter/Level 5 Thief
Imoen, Level 9 Thief
Baeloth, Level 8 Sorcerer
3AM. We arrived in Gullykin in the very early morning; I decided to scout around the outskirts of the settlement until dawn so as not to startle the halflings in the middle of the night.
5AM. I’m glad I did take a look around–there was some bounty hunter scum waiting for me, probably tracking me since I got back from my journey at sea. Is this Rieltar and Brunos’s weak plan to deal with me? Or maybe Sarevok’s, for that matter? I slew my attackers.
6AM. Gullykin was a simple village, but there was a healer here–Alvanhendar–who could provide temple services if needed, an eight hour trip from either Durlag’s Tower or Firewine. With that knowledge, I took my leave of the halflings and kept heading east.
4PM. I arrived at Durlag’s Tower in the late, rainy afternoon. A shady merchant was nearby, and he was willing to buy the wares we had accumulated from previous adventuring.
A little farther on the pathway, we had to fight two Battle Horrors. Between the traveling of the day, and the magical Haste, we were all fatigued. I’ll scout around a bit more, but the plan was always to make camp before attempting any incursion…
6PM. I had Imoen and Coran scout a little deeper into the grounds beyond the drawbridge. There were doppelgangers and skeletons prowling about…I’ll make camp, then start the dungeon crawl in the very early morning when we’re fresh and ready to fight.
[Day 128]
7AM. I entered the Tower, and started working my way upwards; moving slowly and having Imoen and Coran act in unison to scout ahead stealthed and detect traps. I’ve only come across a pack of ghasts so far. The first trap I find and already Coran cannot disarm–at least he found it, in any case. One way or another he’ll eventually figure out how to deal with the traps of this Tower. We’ll just have to keep pushing on carefully until then.
12PM. Fighting ghasts and basilisks through the morning, I encounted two thieves–Riggilo and Bayard–both in different phases of attempts to loot the place. Bayard had been scared off by the terrors below, and Riggilo tried to scare US of from the tower level above. But eh, I don’t need to make an enemy of some thief who may have more knowledge about the traps here than me. This is not a place where I want to deal with half-baked sabotage attempts from enemies I didn’t have to make. Besides, I’m not here for the gold and treasure–just books.
I found at least one valuable tome so far–it is magical and yet unidentified, but from the looks of it it won’t gain me entry into Candlekeep. However, it’s a fair enough sign that there may be more tomes as I progress though this evil place. [It was a Wisdom tome.]
5PM. On the first true subterranean level, I encounter some cryptic dwarven warder golem-like creatures, stationed in place with riddles. I imagine these warders have some connection to my passageway through the dungeon; but as of right now, I’ll continue to explore, as I have for the majority of the day so far.
7PM. After fighting a Flesh Golem, Coran inadvertently took too many violent blows and sustained injuries beyond what our current, drained healing spells could make better. As evening rolled in, I decided now would be as good a time as ever to make camp. We’ll rest and continue our downward progress in the morning…
[Day 129]
10AM. The next morning, we continued the dungeon crawl. We had made camp overnight on the ramparts of the Tower, and were harrassed by packs of gnolls that must have crept in from the surrounding rocklands. The attacks got frequent enough that I considered changing camp locations, but eventually they calmed down and we rested in peace for the night.
Our battles this following morning were trying. We were able to explore the entirety of the first dungeon level, but Branwen took some massive hits from a flesh golem, Greater Dopplegangers caused some more damage, and Coran set off a flame column trap that almost killed him–the first trap we had set off so far, by the way. So we soon needed rest and healing again.
8PM. As the day of rest on the outside ramparts turned into evening, Branwen casted her regained healing spells and we gathered ourselves to push on.
Current party:
Wybrough, Level 7 Fighter/Level 7 Mage (The Thresher +2 and Morning Star +1)
Branwen, Level 8 Priest of Tempus
Coran, Level 5 Fighter/Level 6 Thief
Imoen, Level 9 Thief
Baeloth, Level 9 Sorcerer
Hi! I'm very new here and read the first few days or so of your report. My comments so far are:
At times I think Tarnesh is the real boss in this game. If you are following the quest / story line closely, then he catches your party of two or four completely by surprise. When I got back into the original game, I played about about 40 reloads and won about 40% of them. Then I got better at cheesing it. Then I downloaded BGEE and found out the rules were a little bit different. In this specific case, I learned that enemies follow you into buildings and that made it interesting. For some reason, it is the struggle to get to Level 3 that I love the most.
Your character has 18/93 strength and I understand your roleplay forbids you from using a weapon that you have no skill in. Something I find amusing is the Composite Longbow would grant you 3 to 8 points of damage for two attacks per round, but the throwing daggers also grant two attacks per round, but 6 to 9 points of damage. However, your RP bans you from these two options, on at least two levels. You did take a skill point in Axes and the throwing axe would have given you 7 to 12 points for a single attack in a round.
It made me pretty nervous watching your toons melee that ogre.
Comments
But personally I was fretting Baeloth was going to leave, so when I saw the -9 I was pretty happy, even if slightly surprised--now I really wouldn't have to worry about him running off.
The other creatures that got the "murder1" script in 2.6 were innocents in older versions of the game, and 2.6 changed them to actually have the classes you'd expect. So no change in the reputation penalty for killing them.
Please wait for my next reply as soon as possible.
5AM. I tricked the drunken Captain once he got his ale, and got the Sea Charts. I left town for Ulgoth’s Beard at once–if this is truly how I’m going to get my tome into Candlekeep, I don’t want there to be any delay.
9PM. Back in Ulgoth’s Beard. With Mendas chartering me a ship, it looks like I’ll set sail at dawn tomorrow. This seafaring journey may take a few weeks, and I risk allowing the Iron Throne to leave Candlekeep unhindered. If that’s the case, then I’ll just have to chase them down again. But at least now I’ll have a chance to get back inside my library fortress home.
[Day 71]
6AM. After stashing some minor belongings in Shandalar’s home, we set sail west.
Baldur’s Gate 1/Tales of the Sword Coast
[Day 96]
6AM. The journey has been a disaster. We had sailed for longer than I was led to believe-over three weeks–and eventually shipwrecked on an island in the middle of the Trackless Sea after a violent storm. My entire party survived thankfully, although the rest of the crew seems lost to sea. Home back on the Sword Coast feels like a distant memory at this point. Even before we lost our way back, I had been seething with a distraught frustration imagining the Iron Throne restoring all of their dastardly operations. Perhaps it was too rash a decision to set sail when I did, but regardless…I need to deal with the situation I’m in.
As morning breaks on the shore I believe we may have made it to our destination in any case, despite the tragedy of the shipwreck. This is an inhabited island in the Trackless Sea, by the looks of a wandering child, and our charts had indeed brought us here. So I will set out to understand my circumstances, what we need to do to still find Balduran’s shipwreck (and his logbook), and then figure out how to get home as soon as possible.
8AM. There’s a fairly substantial village established on this island, and its denizens speak common tongue. They are almost all very quiet, mysterious, and tight-lipped…urging me to see the Chiefwoman first. I scout around a bit to see what I’m dealing with…then go to meet her.
Kaishas Gan provides the village’s origin story to me. They are descendents of Balduran’s crashed ship, stranded here for generations. There’s mention of “trinkets” still on board the years-rotted ship, so there’s hope I may still recover Balduran’s logbook.
They have attempted to build a different seafaring vessel that can sail them home, but apparently there are mysterious beasts on the northern end of the island that have been ravaging them for years (generations, even?), making it impossible to evacuate and launch. Huh…I will investigate, and see what I can do.
9AM. I looked around the village and tried to get more information about the creatures and this island. Apparently these are werewolf-type creatures that have been terrorizing this strange village. I will head north immediately and make my own plan of action.
2PM. The northern half of the isle was creeping with wolf-fiends and beach sirines, and I dispatched most of what I came across. After fighting through most of mid-day, I found both Dradeel the mage, and the ruins of Balduran’s ship. Both findings are good signs, despite the present circumstances.
[Ugh, Reload number 10 here and I didn’t even get to Karoug yet. Embarrassing. Palin and his ambush of Wolfweres. PC just clawed to death. I had been scouting out the ambush with a stealthed Imoen before it happened, but then she got accidentally revealed, all enemies were aggroed at the same time, and the ensuing chaos threw me for a loop. I’m kind of upset about it because there is no good story to it, just inattentive/lazy playing and really shouldn’t have happened. My second attempt at this encounter was trivial, once I sat up and paid attention. I was playing later at night than I usually do, maybe that had something to do with it…]
I battled a large pack of wolves on the bottom level of the ship and slayed them all. When Imoen scouted to the levels above, it was obvious the entire place was swarming with powerful wolfweres and the like. With most of my magic spent for the day, and not trusting I can defeat these beasts in simple melee, I decide to rest back in the village until later tonight. I’ll be rested, recharged, and more able to fight deeper into the ship.
Current party:
Wybrough, Level 6 Fighter/Level 6 Mage (The Thresher +2 and Morning Star +1)
Branwen, Level 7 Priest of Tempus
Imoen, Level 8 Thief
Baeloth, Level 8 Sorcerer
Reputation: Disliked (8)
11PM. I returned to Balduran’s ship, and attempted to fight the Wolfweres inside. They proved vicious and nigh-invulnerable, but with a potion of Storm Giant Strength, a Potion of Invulnerability, and all of our defensive spells, I was able to fight my way to the cabin where Karoug had holed himself up.
[Reload number 11. The wolfweres were too difficult to defeat the first time. Did way too much damage too quickly. For my second attempt, I tried more potions, more haste, and running around up on the deck to spread them out from the entrance. But whew, it was tougher than I was expecting.]
Whatever distant hope I had of a peaceful resolution was dismissed almost immediately. Karoug is a Greater Wolfwere, and my party was already fatigued in the few hours we fought this night. From what Imoen scouted, there also looks to be chests and desks and offices of documents up there–the likely location of the logbook, if it indeed exists. Imoen very dangerously snuck back up to gather this information, but set off a fire column trap that almost killed her. She managed to climb back down to us.
There is some luck in that the leader’s small pack is staying away, up in the cabin. They didn’t chase me back down outside, where they may have easily finished us off. But that does mean I’ll have to take the battle up to them, through the tiny staircase entrance. I’m in no shape to do that right now, so I’ll head back to the village again to heal and rest until morning. I know I’ve culled a large number of their population so far, so that buys me some time.
[Day 97]
10AM. I returned in the morning to finish off Karoug and his protectors, but the battle didn’t quite go as well as it could have.
[Reload 12…Oof. My PC got stuck up there when I was trying to lure the pack around to spread themselves. Couldn’t run, could just sit there and take the massive amounts of damage until I was dead.]
I was able to slay the wolfweres, but Karoug himself could not be killed. Baeloth was successful with a Wand of Paralyzation bolt, and I thought the battle would be trivial after that. Unfortunately, no weapon I had could hurt the beast. Even with both mine and Baeloth’s fire wands blasting, Karoug’s physical regeneration rendered him unkillable.
In the moments I had before our enemy could move again, I looked around the cabin. Baeloth had to set a few magical traps off on himself to get to it, but I pulled out what looks like Balduran’s logbook! Phenomenal!
More relavant to the immediate situation, I also retrieved an unidentifical magical bastard sword. Not having many other options, I had Baeloth identify it–and it looks like my hunch was right, this blade could work to actually hurt the beast!
With Haste and more fire wands, I still wasn’t quite able to pull down the beast before he started attacking me, his giant claws giving me gaping mortal wounds. We fall back down the stairs again–and again, he did not follow. Damnit, again I must retreat!
6PM. Resting again back in the village and returning to Balduran’s ship, I was finally able to destroy Karoug–and it looks like whatever wolves remain of his pack are battered and scattered into the wilderness.
His regeneration was difficult to overcome, but we didn’t need to use the Wand of Paralyzation. Between critical strikes, defensive magic, and more Aganazzar’s Scorchers, he was eventually slain.
8PM. I returned to the southern village, and the strange tension that’s been building for the past day and a half has come to a head. Indeed, the villagers are werewolves themselves, if slightly more humanlike in nature. Not only that, but at some point, we had been infected with lycanthropy?! This may have been some scheme by Kaishas Gan, but as for the rest of her followers…they reject us as their saviors and anything resembling being members of their clan.
8PM. While Kaishas flees to the ship to get off the island, the rest of the village transforms and attacks us! I must find the passageway to this ship, but I’ve yet to discover how to get to it… I had held onto Dradeel’s spellbook–but now I will go back north to search him out for answers that he might have.
9PM. Gah, as soon as that blasted Dradeel got his hands on his spellbook, he teleported away. So much for help from him. I’ll have to head back to the village to see if there are any clues for how to get to the ship, or if I have any allies left there.
10PM. Back in the village, I realized Dradeel did in fact stay to help. He directed me towards the hidden passage to the eastern harbor–and told me to make haste, since Kaishas was already looking to set sail with the only seafaring vessel on this island.
11PM. In the subterranean, lycan-infested labyrinth, several encounters with werewolves left us injured and with very few spells left…but if Dradeel was speaking the truth, Kaishas may be looking to set sail immediately. I need to keep on pushing forward until I know what’s happening with the ship. So far, though, I’ve been stuck in this underground maze.
[Day 98]
12AM. At midnight, I found the harbor, and Kaishas. I have no idea how imminently she plans to leave, but I will confront her first! My party is spent, but I’m forced to figure out a strategy regardless.
I drank Potions of Fire Giant Strength, Heroism, Defense, and Regeneration. Between that and Baeloth’s Haste, we were able to kill Kaishas–who saw no other path forward herself but to kill US.
With control of the ship, I determine we will set sail at first light. Nothing is left for me on that infested island, so we’ll spend the rest of the night on the ship itself. Woe be to any more merchants or adventurers who find themselves here... Despite the troubles, I have what I came for: Balduran’s ancient logbook in my hand.
On the journey back, I have no choice but to prepare for the scenario that the Iron Throne has run amok in the time I’ve been absent from the Sword Coast, and there may very well be a war between the city and Amn. Whether I’ll still have to enter Candlekeep to hunt down their leaders–that remains to be seen.
[Welp, three reloads during my werewolf island trip; 25% of my total reloads this playthrough. Each of my deaths were when 4-5 wolfweres just surrounded me and started going nuts. The fights vs. solo Karoug, or Kaishas Gan, or Mendas and co back in UB, I survived just fine (even if the Karoug fight was pretty tough to figure out). Always goes back to positioning, positioning, positioning, and tactical retreat. Also I’m wearing a damn robe.]
[Day 120]
8AM. Three weeks’ journey and we arrive back at Baldur’s Gate. Almost two months since we’ve been on the mainland, and there’s a lot to catch up with.
But first, suspiciously, someone approaches me from Mendas’s house, the scholar who initially funded this expedition for us. He is of the same clan as Kaishas?! I’m realizing the entire journey, from its outset in this vilage, may not have been what it seems.
I had to kill Mendas and his partner, Baresh. Two Loup Garou, almost as invulnerable as Karoug himself.
With that, I make haste to Baldur’s Gate to see what the Iron Throne was able to get up to in my time gone…
[Day 121]
2AM. I arrived in Baldur’s Gate late that night. There weren’t many people on the street, but I briefly stopped in the Elfsong to get a sense of the goings-on since I was gone. It looks like the situation on the Sword Coast hasn’t changed much; the threat of war has ratcheted up, but has not come to fruition yet.
Even though it was the middle of the night, I barged into the Iron Throne building and learned quickly that Rieltar and Brunos are STILL at Candlekeep. I still have Balduran’s Logbook, so I’ll make my way there immediately.
I had learned from the Elfsong that the rival trading guilds may still be in trouble. Despite the absense of absolute disaster, it looks like the situation on the Sword Coast hasn’t improved since I’ve been gone. I went to check the merchant halls, but they were almost completely abandoned. That’s to be expected, I supposed, if most of their members had been killed and replaced by monsters only a couple of months previous.
With that, we headed immediately south to Candlekeep…
[Day 122]
10PM. I arrive at the Candlekeep gate…and WHAT NOW?! Gah! The worst of possible situations. The Gatekeeper will not accept Balduran’s Logbook as a valuable enough tome. Damn Ulraunt and these rigid rules which seem rigged against me! I cannot imagine why this wouldn’t be accepted, other than it is not a “proper” book of knowledge scribed by some petulant scholar in a library. But now I have to face the fact I wasted two months on a fool’s errand. I’m furious and I can barely think straight. We will head to Beregost to think this out…
[Day 123]
11PM. Back in Beregost since the early afternoon. I took care of some business with all of the equipment and items I’ve been carrying around.
I realize my first instinct months ago was the right one: go east to Durlag’s Tower and Firewine. I’m not particularly hopeful I’ll find a tome of sufficient value there either–dwarves especially are not generally known as scholars and book collectors–but it’s my only avenue left to explore. And just maybe I’ll be able to take out some of my frustration fighting dungeon monsters.
And unlike the nighmare trip to Balduran’s Isle, at least I’ll still be close to the Sword Coast and able to rush to help if the situation knocks itself out of the stalemate it’s currently in. The dungeon crawls likely won’t take more than a week or two, and we’ll be within a few days journey of Candlekeep or Baldur’s Gate if my enemies decide to finally show their faces.
If this all doesn’t work out and I don’t get my “key” to Candlekeep–I’ll have to force the situation some other way. And I’ll deal with that then. But now, not looking to even stay the night in Beregost, we will set out tonight to begin our next adventure.
What I’ve heard about Durlag’s Tower are stories about the myriad of deadly traps that have been set over the centuries. Imoen has developed her stealthing and lockpicking skills to remarkable levels–however, I would only trust her to detect the traps in a place like that...maybe one out of two times [her detect traps skill is 60]. Normally if we suspect traps are ahead of us, Branwen will cast ‘Find Traps’...but those spells last a relatively short duration, so likely won’t work well either. No–I’ll have to recruit more help for this. I think back to the thieves and rogues I’ve met in my time on the Sword Coast, and where they may currently be…
[Day 124]
9PM. I made my hike back towards the outskirts of the Cloakwood forest, by Aldeth Sashenstar’s cabin, to see if Coran the hunter was in the area. I found him in the evening, nearby the bridge where I first met him.
I let him know that we had already taken claimed the Kelddath reward for the wyverns long ago; however, we could still use his assistance, specifically his thieving skills. The rogue warrior seemed a bit directionless and eager to join us–good.
He’s marginally better at detecting traps than Imoen, but I see room for rapid improvement. We’ll simply have to put his skills to the test and get experience. [I dumped all his level up points into detect traps, only got to 70. BUT he’ll level up his thief side in 4k xp, which will hopefully happen relatively soon.] Regardless, his bow skills will be a boon to us in certain combat situations. We’ll have to travel back east via Beregost to get him better equipped.
I know the insane gnome Tiax in Baldur’s Gate is also a thief, but I’ll avoid that headache unless it’s one of my last options.
[Day 126]
11AM. From Beregost, we head out east. My destination is Durlag’s Tower, but I’ll travel via Gullykin to get a look at that area. It may serve as a useful waypoint.
Current party:
Wybrough, Level 6 Fighter/Level 7 Mage (The Thresher +2 and Morning Star +1)
Branwen, Level 7 Priest of Tempus
Coran, Level 5 Fighter/Level 5 Thief
Imoen, Level 9 Thief
Baeloth, Level 8 Sorcerer
Reputation: Disliked (8)
3AM. We arrived in Gullykin in the very early morning; I decided to scout around the outskirts of the settlement until dawn so as not to startle the halflings in the middle of the night.
5AM. I’m glad I did take a look around–there was some bounty hunter scum waiting for me, probably tracking me since I got back from my journey at sea. Is this Rieltar and Brunos’s weak plan to deal with me? Or maybe Sarevok’s, for that matter? I slew my attackers.
6AM. Gullykin was a simple village, but there was a healer here–Alvanhendar–who could provide temple services if needed, an eight hour trip from either Durlag’s Tower or Firewine. With that knowledge, I took my leave of the halflings and kept heading east.
4PM. I arrived at Durlag’s Tower in the late, rainy afternoon. A shady merchant was nearby, and he was willing to buy the wares we had accumulated from previous adventuring.
A little farther on the pathway, we had to fight two Battle Horrors. Between the traveling of the day, and the magical Haste, we were all fatigued. I’ll scout around a bit more, but the plan was always to make camp before attempting any incursion…
6PM. I had Imoen and Coran scout a little deeper into the grounds beyond the drawbridge. There were doppelgangers and skeletons prowling about…I’ll make camp, then start the dungeon crawl in the very early morning when we’re fresh and ready to fight.
[Day 128]
7AM. I entered the Tower, and started working my way upwards; moving slowly and having Imoen and Coran act in unison to scout ahead stealthed and detect traps. I’ve only come across a pack of ghasts so far. The first trap I find and already Coran cannot disarm–at least he found it, in any case. One way or another he’ll eventually figure out how to deal with the traps of this Tower. We’ll just have to keep pushing on carefully until then.
12PM. Fighting ghasts and basilisks through the morning, I encounted two thieves–Riggilo and Bayard–both in different phases of attempts to loot the place. Bayard had been scared off by the terrors below, and Riggilo tried to scare US of from the tower level above. But eh, I don’t need to make an enemy of some thief who may have more knowledge about the traps here than me. This is not a place where I want to deal with half-baked sabotage attempts from enemies I didn’t have to make. Besides, I’m not here for the gold and treasure–just books.
I found at least one valuable tome so far–it is magical and yet unidentified, but from the looks of it it won’t gain me entry into Candlekeep. However, it’s a fair enough sign that there may be more tomes as I progress though this evil place. [It was a Wisdom tome.]
5PM. On the first true subterranean level, I encounter some cryptic dwarven warder golem-like creatures, stationed in place with riddles. I imagine these warders have some connection to my passageway through the dungeon; but as of right now, I’ll continue to explore, as I have for the majority of the day so far.
7PM. After fighting a Flesh Golem, Coran inadvertently took too many violent blows and sustained injuries beyond what our current, drained healing spells could make better. As evening rolled in, I decided now would be as good a time as ever to make camp. We’ll rest and continue our downward progress in the morning…
[Day 129]
10AM. The next morning, we continued the dungeon crawl. We had made camp overnight on the ramparts of the Tower, and were harrassed by packs of gnolls that must have crept in from the surrounding rocklands. The attacks got frequent enough that I considered changing camp locations, but eventually they calmed down and we rested in peace for the night.
Our battles this following morning were trying. We were able to explore the entirety of the first dungeon level, but Branwen took some massive hits from a flesh golem, Greater Dopplegangers caused some more damage, and Coran set off a flame column trap that almost killed him–the first trap we had set off so far, by the way. So we soon needed rest and healing again.
8PM. As the day of rest on the outside ramparts turned into evening, Branwen casted her regained healing spells and we gathered ourselves to push on.
Current party:
Wybrough, Level 7 Fighter/Level 7 Mage (The Thresher +2 and Morning Star +1)
Branwen, Level 8 Priest of Tempus
Coran, Level 5 Fighter/Level 6 Thief
Imoen, Level 9 Thief
Baeloth, Level 9 Sorcerer
Reputation: Disliked (8)
At times I think Tarnesh is the real boss in this game. If you are following the quest / story line closely, then he catches your party of two or four completely by surprise. When I got back into the original game, I played about about 40 reloads and won about 40% of them. Then I got better at cheesing it. Then I downloaded BGEE and found out the rules were a little bit different. In this specific case, I learned that enemies follow you into buildings and that made it interesting. For some reason, it is the struggle to get to Level 3 that I love the most.
Your character has 18/93 strength and I understand your roleplay forbids you from using a weapon that you have no skill in. Something I find amusing is the Composite Longbow would grant you 3 to 8 points of damage for two attacks per round, but the throwing daggers also grant two attacks per round, but 6 to 9 points of damage. However, your RP bans you from these two options, on at least two levels. You did take a skill point in Axes and the throwing axe would have given you 7 to 12 points for a single attack in a round.
It made me pretty nervous watching your toons melee that ogre.