Psyche and Diomedes, Part 2
atcDave
Member Posts: 2,341
This is the continuation of my "Psyche and Diomedes" Playthrough that started with Candlekeep in the first Baldur's Gate game. I had not planned on doing a separate post for the second game, honestly in my own mind I don't really distinguish between the two of them. They're just all "Baldur's Gate" to me. But that post got massive. With 18 updates and multiple AI art renders for every one of them, the original post came to be unwieldy. Obviously transitioning from the first to the second game is a pretty rational place to split them, so here we are.
I won't reiterate information on the builds, or even the full character backgrounds here. But a few thoughts about gameplay so far. I've run Psyche through the saga before, but I was more faithful to a young Psyche on this run. Where I often set her up as some sort of warrior mage, fitting for an older version of the character, this time I only gave her two thief levels in her background to reflect a misspent youth and have run her mostly as a pure mage. Who can use a sword. That's pretty much it. She is a combat mage, that is she likes damage causing spells and area effect spells. Fitting for a young woman who married a Paladin and follows him into the thick of the action. The sword gets used mostly for dramatic effect. She will point and gesture with it, but fighting mostly means spells, or she steps back and uses a sling.
When we lost access to Imoen for Siege of Dragonspear, Psyche became the team thief. A Lawful-Good thief! Call that an experiment, that I don't think I'll repeat. As a 2nd level thief her abilities were pretty useless. I had thought boosting with Potions of Master Thievery and Potions of Power would make her viable in the role. But the Potions of Power were the problem; those are the ones that boost Find/Remove Traps, really what we most needed. But they are pretty short duration. So only useful when you *know* you're stepping into a trapped area. I mostly do, so it worked, but its very meta. I call that immersion breaking and I don't like it.
I'd also mention her strength as an issue. In PnP she started with a 4. Late in her career, through several means, it had risen to 13. And as an arch-mage she often walked around with a 25 (she was a fun character to play!). But I knew that growth wouldn't happen here, so I set it at 7. Again, in PnP it was a source of humor, but apart from knowing she couldn't do any heavy lifting, it was rarely brought up. Well computers keep score; with robes, cloak, sword, buckler, bracers, several potions and a Bag of Holding... she ran out of load and couldn't wear magic boots! As our main identifier things were constantly shuttling between characters. I don't mind a lot, inventory management is part of the game. But this gets a little hard to deal with sometimes.
But I love using her as team spokesman. This just fits her so well. Charming, Intelligent, good-natured, fearless and tough. An idealized hero and team leader, a role she will own.
Diomedes is her husband/partner/protector. He is a strong Cavalier and an aggressive warrior. He adores his wife and by any measure they are a good team. As a Paladin he's also a capable leader, and in PnP that was often his role. Here he will more often take a back seat to Psyche, except to note he has a lot more hit points in an armored shell. So whenever it looks like parlay will quickly transition into combat, Diomedes does the talking.
The team for this run will be very different from what I had in the first game. Late in this game it will very different from what I usually run. Role playing and strategic team building sometimes clash; I am trying to lean more heavily into role playing on this run, but readers may notice some exceptions. What can I say, I love a good story, but I'm a gamer too. Without further ado...
*****
I remember an ambush, some magic and getting so sleepy. Then waking up in this cage.
Apparently we escaped jail for a prison. I could see Diomedes in a cage across from me and hear Minsc and Jaheira, so my husband and some of my team was here. But I'm worried about the voices I haven't heard.
The "Hooded Man" has captured us. And I wish he'd stayed hooded, his visage is hideous. He has tortured us with magical "experiments". And I'm clearly his favorite subject. I know, he knows what I am. And I know he's a psychopath who murdered Skie Silvershield just to frame me for murder. We *must* find an escape, I know we will get no mercy from him.
Then the facility we're in comes under attack. I hear an explosion, shouting and clash of arms in the distance. Our captor runs off to see to this new business. Then Imoen arrives as an answer to prayer. She makes quick work of our locks.
We rescue Minsc and Jaheira, but Minsc delivers the sad news Dynaheir was murdered before his eyes. I try not to think about Khalid, and try to give Jaheira an assuring pat. But she'll have none of it and is all business. We need to find an escape, and find our gear if possible.
The facility is huge. A mage's lab, residence and fortress. We manage to equip ourselves with second rate equipment, much of it taken from goblins and Duergar dwarves who attacked us. I try to assess my team. Diomedes seems fine, if uncharacteristically angry. Minsc is much the same, even more righteously angry! Jaheira seems like herself, but I see that jaw clenching, she is rightly worried. Imoen is down, she's obviously been tortured, more physically tortured than the rest of us.
We fought a small group of Duergar, and Imoen made a joke about me falling asleep during our school days and not knowing what Duergar are.
I was relieved when Imoen teased me! She's down, but still with us.
This whole level of the facility has no obvious egress. We did find a door to a separate dimension, because what powerful mage wouldn't have one...
A small pocket plane, from the plane of air? Apart from a small number of mephits to fight, the sole resident was a captive Djinn. He claimed to have an item of mine, which he would happily trade for help escaping.
The resident Djinn was more captive than we were, apparently unable to leave this pocket dimension without his bottle. We agreed to find it. Did I mention this facility is quite big? We found a room with a forest in it! And three Dryad residents who were apparently our captor's concubines. They provided a name, we've been captured by Jon Irenicus. I know that name! Contrary to what Imoen says, I'm not the one who fell asleep during lessons. I know Irenicus is a frightfully powerful mage as renowned for evil as he is for his vast knowledge of the arcane. Having attracted his attention is not good news. But the dryads do have the genie's bottle! So we run back to free the friendly Djinn. He gratefully accepts his freedom, and returns to me an item I've never owned. But I know what it is! It is Sarevok's great sword. Exactly the sort of weapon Minsc likes to swing. And its a powerful magic item, so are rebuilding our assets.
We've also found a magic key to open a transport portal and get off this level!
The transport portal led us into another storeroom. And we met another prisoner. A warrior-thief from Kara-Tur named Yoshimo. He was friendly and helpful, and believes we are in the capitol city of Amn. But admits to some uncertainty about that, he was unconscious at least once when he was moved. That seems to be Irenicus' SOP. Keep the captives confused. Yoshimo joined with us, more people seems like a good idea just now!
The next room was a horror show. after defeating a few mephits we looked around and realized a dissected body was laid out on a slab. I know only a little about biology, but this looked like a grotesque classroom experiment. Maybe not a shocking find in the lair of a great villain. But then Jaheira gasped and recognized it was her husband. I tried to wrap her in a hug but she would have none of it. We continued our explorations escaping the room as quickly as we could. Jaheira won't acknowledge her grief, but I see her shaking.
This floor was nearly as big as the first one. After a number of minor fights with Irenicus' flunkies we finally found a tunnel with daylight ahead. We emerged into a rubble strewn area, part of a larger structure. Irenicus was there unleashing a massive barrage of spells against a number of masked intruders. Clearly a group of thieves and assassins. We've stepped into a war zone with very little knowledge. Imoen launched some spells at Irenicus, but then more mages teleported in and pronounced this fight (this magic?) illegal and everyone was under arrest. Again? Irenicus was not amused and casually slew six or more of the new arrivals. "Imoen, stand down, we need to get out of here and figure out what's going on". Too late. The mages teleported back out with Irenicus, and Imoen! And everything fell quiet.
For a moment I was overwhelmed. And saw Jaheira was too. We were friends and would be there for each other.
Then I stood and we were a ready team again. Jaheira identified our location as Waukeen's Promenade in the Amnish capital of Athkatla. "All use of arcane magic is illegal here, at least in public". Okay.
"Let's make sure our area is secure. Then we need sell some of what we gathered in the facility so we can get new supplies and provisions... and clean clothes."
This was a large shopping arcade so restocking supplies and gear should be no problem. As we headed out we came across a small boy, crying that something had gone wrong at the circus and he'd lost his mama. He indicated a large circus tent nearby. Maybe helping out would help us get our bearing back. On entering the tent, it was a far larger space, obviously a great illusion of some sort (does that make this illegal here?!). We met an ogre with the voice of a young woman, who insisted she was chained (we saw no chains) and under an illusion. She talked us through breaking it and we met Aerie. A young elf who explained the circus' illusionist had apparently lost his mind transformed the whole tent.
Indeed! A gnome named Kalah was building his own fantasy world. We were forced to slay him, which broke the spell. And let us reunite a young mom with her sobbing son outside.
Aerie. Sweet but a little naive. She'd lived a sheltered life as a performing slave at the circus. She was actually a winged elf, an Avariel, who recently lost her wings to abuse and infection.
From the circus we went to "The Adventurers Mart" not far away. And for the first time in many days we felt some level of normalcy. We were able to at least get basic gear for everyone, and outfit Aerie as a new team member. She is a mage and a "Fastpaw of Baervan", that is a cleric of a good-aligned gnomish deity? Interesting. She has potentially useful skills, bonus that she's likable and good-natured. But she's been sheltered and traumatized for most of her adult life. Hopefully we can be what she needs.
After shopping we found an inn and slept.
*****
A long introduction! Obviously now the adventure is off and running. I don't expect I'll continue updates with this level of detail. But I didn't think I'd do as much with BG1 either. This is a ton of fun for me. And its making me look more closely at the game from a role playing perspective which I really enjoy. I recommend this sort of "journaling" highly for really immersing in the game.
Also the team is no where near its final form yet. I have a few changes in mind I know I'll do for this run, and one other I'm considering.
The full post, with more art, is available as "Psyche and Diomedes, Part 2" at davesgaming.blog
I won't reiterate information on the builds, or even the full character backgrounds here. But a few thoughts about gameplay so far. I've run Psyche through the saga before, but I was more faithful to a young Psyche on this run. Where I often set her up as some sort of warrior mage, fitting for an older version of the character, this time I only gave her two thief levels in her background to reflect a misspent youth and have run her mostly as a pure mage. Who can use a sword. That's pretty much it. She is a combat mage, that is she likes damage causing spells and area effect spells. Fitting for a young woman who married a Paladin and follows him into the thick of the action. The sword gets used mostly for dramatic effect. She will point and gesture with it, but fighting mostly means spells, or she steps back and uses a sling.
When we lost access to Imoen for Siege of Dragonspear, Psyche became the team thief. A Lawful-Good thief! Call that an experiment, that I don't think I'll repeat. As a 2nd level thief her abilities were pretty useless. I had thought boosting with Potions of Master Thievery and Potions of Power would make her viable in the role. But the Potions of Power were the problem; those are the ones that boost Find/Remove Traps, really what we most needed. But they are pretty short duration. So only useful when you *know* you're stepping into a trapped area. I mostly do, so it worked, but its very meta. I call that immersion breaking and I don't like it.
I'd also mention her strength as an issue. In PnP she started with a 4. Late in her career, through several means, it had risen to 13. And as an arch-mage she often walked around with a 25 (she was a fun character to play!). But I knew that growth wouldn't happen here, so I set it at 7. Again, in PnP it was a source of humor, but apart from knowing she couldn't do any heavy lifting, it was rarely brought up. Well computers keep score; with robes, cloak, sword, buckler, bracers, several potions and a Bag of Holding... she ran out of load and couldn't wear magic boots! As our main identifier things were constantly shuttling between characters. I don't mind a lot, inventory management is part of the game. But this gets a little hard to deal with sometimes.
But I love using her as team spokesman. This just fits her so well. Charming, Intelligent, good-natured, fearless and tough. An idealized hero and team leader, a role she will own.
Diomedes is her husband/partner/protector. He is a strong Cavalier and an aggressive warrior. He adores his wife and by any measure they are a good team. As a Paladin he's also a capable leader, and in PnP that was often his role. Here he will more often take a back seat to Psyche, except to note he has a lot more hit points in an armored shell. So whenever it looks like parlay will quickly transition into combat, Diomedes does the talking.
The team for this run will be very different from what I had in the first game. Late in this game it will very different from what I usually run. Role playing and strategic team building sometimes clash; I am trying to lean more heavily into role playing on this run, but readers may notice some exceptions. What can I say, I love a good story, but I'm a gamer too. Without further ado...
*****
I remember an ambush, some magic and getting so sleepy. Then waking up in this cage.
Apparently we escaped jail for a prison. I could see Diomedes in a cage across from me and hear Minsc and Jaheira, so my husband and some of my team was here. But I'm worried about the voices I haven't heard.
The "Hooded Man" has captured us. And I wish he'd stayed hooded, his visage is hideous. He has tortured us with magical "experiments". And I'm clearly his favorite subject. I know, he knows what I am. And I know he's a psychopath who murdered Skie Silvershield just to frame me for murder. We *must* find an escape, I know we will get no mercy from him.
Then the facility we're in comes under attack. I hear an explosion, shouting and clash of arms in the distance. Our captor runs off to see to this new business. Then Imoen arrives as an answer to prayer. She makes quick work of our locks.
We rescue Minsc and Jaheira, but Minsc delivers the sad news Dynaheir was murdered before his eyes. I try not to think about Khalid, and try to give Jaheira an assuring pat. But she'll have none of it and is all business. We need to find an escape, and find our gear if possible.
The facility is huge. A mage's lab, residence and fortress. We manage to equip ourselves with second rate equipment, much of it taken from goblins and Duergar dwarves who attacked us. I try to assess my team. Diomedes seems fine, if uncharacteristically angry. Minsc is much the same, even more righteously angry! Jaheira seems like herself, but I see that jaw clenching, she is rightly worried. Imoen is down, she's obviously been tortured, more physically tortured than the rest of us.
We fought a small group of Duergar, and Imoen made a joke about me falling asleep during our school days and not knowing what Duergar are.
I was relieved when Imoen teased me! She's down, but still with us.
This whole level of the facility has no obvious egress. We did find a door to a separate dimension, because what powerful mage wouldn't have one...
A small pocket plane, from the plane of air? Apart from a small number of mephits to fight, the sole resident was a captive Djinn. He claimed to have an item of mine, which he would happily trade for help escaping.
The resident Djinn was more captive than we were, apparently unable to leave this pocket dimension without his bottle. We agreed to find it. Did I mention this facility is quite big? We found a room with a forest in it! And three Dryad residents who were apparently our captor's concubines. They provided a name, we've been captured by Jon Irenicus. I know that name! Contrary to what Imoen says, I'm not the one who fell asleep during lessons. I know Irenicus is a frightfully powerful mage as renowned for evil as he is for his vast knowledge of the arcane. Having attracted his attention is not good news. But the dryads do have the genie's bottle! So we run back to free the friendly Djinn. He gratefully accepts his freedom, and returns to me an item I've never owned. But I know what it is! It is Sarevok's great sword. Exactly the sort of weapon Minsc likes to swing. And its a powerful magic item, so are rebuilding our assets.
We've also found a magic key to open a transport portal and get off this level!
The transport portal led us into another storeroom. And we met another prisoner. A warrior-thief from Kara-Tur named Yoshimo. He was friendly and helpful, and believes we are in the capitol city of Amn. But admits to some uncertainty about that, he was unconscious at least once when he was moved. That seems to be Irenicus' SOP. Keep the captives confused. Yoshimo joined with us, more people seems like a good idea just now!
The next room was a horror show. after defeating a few mephits we looked around and realized a dissected body was laid out on a slab. I know only a little about biology, but this looked like a grotesque classroom experiment. Maybe not a shocking find in the lair of a great villain. But then Jaheira gasped and recognized it was her husband. I tried to wrap her in a hug but she would have none of it. We continued our explorations escaping the room as quickly as we could. Jaheira won't acknowledge her grief, but I see her shaking.
This floor was nearly as big as the first one. After a number of minor fights with Irenicus' flunkies we finally found a tunnel with daylight ahead. We emerged into a rubble strewn area, part of a larger structure. Irenicus was there unleashing a massive barrage of spells against a number of masked intruders. Clearly a group of thieves and assassins. We've stepped into a war zone with very little knowledge. Imoen launched some spells at Irenicus, but then more mages teleported in and pronounced this fight (this magic?) illegal and everyone was under arrest. Again? Irenicus was not amused and casually slew six or more of the new arrivals. "Imoen, stand down, we need to get out of here and figure out what's going on". Too late. The mages teleported back out with Irenicus, and Imoen! And everything fell quiet.
For a moment I was overwhelmed. And saw Jaheira was too. We were friends and would be there for each other.
Then I stood and we were a ready team again. Jaheira identified our location as Waukeen's Promenade in the Amnish capital of Athkatla. "All use of arcane magic is illegal here, at least in public". Okay.
"Let's make sure our area is secure. Then we need sell some of what we gathered in the facility so we can get new supplies and provisions... and clean clothes."
This was a large shopping arcade so restocking supplies and gear should be no problem. As we headed out we came across a small boy, crying that something had gone wrong at the circus and he'd lost his mama. He indicated a large circus tent nearby. Maybe helping out would help us get our bearing back. On entering the tent, it was a far larger space, obviously a great illusion of some sort (does that make this illegal here?!). We met an ogre with the voice of a young woman, who insisted she was chained (we saw no chains) and under an illusion. She talked us through breaking it and we met Aerie. A young elf who explained the circus' illusionist had apparently lost his mind transformed the whole tent.
Indeed! A gnome named Kalah was building his own fantasy world. We were forced to slay him, which broke the spell. And let us reunite a young mom with her sobbing son outside.
Aerie. Sweet but a little naive. She'd lived a sheltered life as a performing slave at the circus. She was actually a winged elf, an Avariel, who recently lost her wings to abuse and infection.
From the circus we went to "The Adventurers Mart" not far away. And for the first time in many days we felt some level of normalcy. We were able to at least get basic gear for everyone, and outfit Aerie as a new team member. She is a mage and a "Fastpaw of Baervan", that is a cleric of a good-aligned gnomish deity? Interesting. She has potentially useful skills, bonus that she's likable and good-natured. But she's been sheltered and traumatized for most of her adult life. Hopefully we can be what she needs.
After shopping we found an inn and slept.
*****
A long introduction! Obviously now the adventure is off and running. I don't expect I'll continue updates with this level of detail. But I didn't think I'd do as much with BG1 either. This is a ton of fun for me. And its making me look more closely at the game from a role playing perspective which I really enjoy. I recommend this sort of "journaling" highly for really immersing in the game.
Also the team is no where near its final form yet. I have a few changes in mind I know I'll do for this run, and one other I'm considering.
The full post, with more art, is available as "Psyche and Diomedes, Part 2" at davesgaming.blog
0
Comments
We got a fresh start on things the next morning. We came up with two things to look into; most obvious was our missing teammate. We had learned Imoen had been arrested by a group known as the "Cowled Mages" who were responsible for overseeing and regulating arcane magic in Athkatla. Word was, most of those taken for practicing "magic without a license" were rarely seen again. We could go straight to the government district, but Jaheira had contacts at a seedy dive known as "The Copper Coronet" in the Slums district. This seemed like a good place to get information, we could decide on further action from there.
Second, we had learned from questions at the "Adventurer's Mart" yesterday, that an older sage type magical researcher named Nem would be a good contact to help us with the broken "Soultaker Dagger" we had found in Irenicus' lab. I desperately wanted to find my missing sister, but no doubt if we could fix things so Skie could be resurrected it would clear my name of murder charges. The rational part of me knows the Skie problem is likely more urgent. And she has family mourning a dead daughter. Nem can also be found working in the slums. So that was our destination.
On entering the slums we met a man named Gaelan Bayle. He claimed to represent an organization that could help us free Imoen. After a chat, we learned this help wouldn't come cheap. We were told captured mages were not held locally, and there were organizational and logistical challenges in getting it done. Not sure how much of a snow job this was, but we seemed to have a solid contact if we could raise enough money. Yoshimo answered several questions afterwards, this was clearly the local Thieves Guild making contact with us. Known locally as the Shadow Thieves, they are a big organization. Diomedes voiced a strong suspicion they were who was attacking Irenicus yesterday. If so, we can likely trust they ARE enemies of our enemy.
Jaheira still thought checking in with her contacts was a good idea, so we set out for the Copper Coronet. On the way there, we met an elderly mage who fit the description of Nem. She started with an offer to cure any magical rash (!). I've not heard that line before! I explained, we'd lost a friend we were pretty sure was trapped in this blade.
Nem gasped, "that's the Soultaker! I wouldn't have thought it was even possible to damage it so!"
She was immediately very curious. I understand her type! So much like Gorion... She offered to look into it for us, but wanted the damaged blade to do research. We parted with the promise to meet back up in three days and discuss her findings.
Entering the Copper Coronet is an assault on the senses. Its a large building and loud, food is cooking, games of chance in progress, and armed guards scattered throughout, especially watching doors leading to private rooms. I suggested to Yoshimo I'd like him to work separately from us for a time, and let us know if he learned anything pertinent. We heard a young woman asking for help, "I've helped so many of you, will no one listen to me?" I introduced myself and learned she was Nalia. A woman who said her father's lands had been over-run by monsters and she needed help.
Monster hunting is right up our alley, count us in! We asked Nalia to join us and we'd take care of her.
A loud man, claimed to be a "Lord Jierdan Firkraag" was asking for similar help. He offered a specific 10000 gold piece bounty for help. He told us how to find his land, we now had a couple of jobs lined up.
I introduced myself to the proprietor, Lehtinan, and immediately sensed I was talking to a human slimeball. He hinted around at all the "extra" sorts of amusements he had to offer. Diomedes nudged me and gave the nod, this man was evil as he seemed. I suggested we'd love to partake, and were granted admittance to the back rooms. I'd never seen such a flagrant evil in any human city. They were staging death matches between slaves, for gambling and amusement. We ended it. The moment reminded me of when we'd encountered those necromancers a couple weeks ago. No words were said, we all drew weapons at the same time. We quickly fought our way to the back where slaves were held in cells.
"Give me the keys or I'll take them from your dead hand".
Diomedes was really not amused. He gutted the jailkeeper. Really fast. We had a small melee with a number of wild animals that were released. But we had the keys now and released all the gladiators. They joined with us and we pacified all the guards very quickly. The leader among them was man named Hendak, Diomedes handed him the keys and said "congratulations, you own a bar". Hendak told us they'd had children who were being held at another site in the slum district. There was a tunnel from the Copper Coronet off to that site, which we used. And killed more slavers. That was an unexpected turn of events.
We were all a little spent at that point, and decided to enjoy the hospitality of Hendak for the night. We started off for Nalia's home the next morning. Before even leaving the city we met a messenger from a town called Trademeet, that said they had been under attack from Druids and wild animals. Well that seems a little strange! Jaheira thought this demanded investigation. So we have another task.
Just outside of town we found a poisoned man, beset by thugs. This led to another little detour and an encounter with Harpers. Which also led to Jaheira admitting for the first time that she was one (although Khalid had admitted it, not so long ago). So the following morning we set out for Nalia's home again.
We finally made it out to Nalia’s family home the next day. It was a good size castle, and we saw a small wooden palisade outside the walls. This was all that was left of the local troops, barely a dozen of them. The invaders were a mixed force of trolls and yuan-ti, those always ill-tempered snake-men. Obviously this was an organized and determined assault, I’d not heard of either of these types striking with that kind of determination in human controlled lands.
Nalia of course knew how to find a hidden sally port, so that’s where we entered. We fought a number of trolls.
We tried and failed to save a few servants. We found one who was well hidden but couldn’t report much except that most of what he’d seen were in fact, trolls. He also embarrassed Nalia for her tendency to sneak out at night. That was good for a chuckle, but the situation was grim enough it didn’t last long. We cleared the main floor and opened the drawbridge so the troops outside could secure what we’d cleared.
Upstairs we ran into more trolls and a Yuan-ti mage who might have been the leader? Or a leader anyway. We did manage to rescue Nalia’s aunt, who was barricaded with a guard in her chambers (and a thoroughly unpleasant lady!).
I think I liked the trolls better…
And freed another guard from a Charm spell. We last searched the cellar and found a number of huge trolls desecrating a large chapel. The body of Nalia’s father was also in the room. Nalia’s grief and loss were palpable. I’ve seen far too much of this recently. Then Nalia shocked us with an unexpected proposal. She was the legal heir, but would not be considered a legitimate power to hold the noble title on her own. She suggested appointing Diomedes as her master-of-arms who held the land secure. This was an odd concept for me to understand, as near as I can tell mages are not considered an adequate power base for a noble title? I think a lot of local nobles would not be happy with the outcome if they faced young Nalia in a dual! For the record, I would not recommend THAT as a means of making decisions either. But Nalia is really opposed to any nobles with a claim getting ahold of this land.
Later research I did indicates Nalia gave us a tremendous gift. Of course its the sort of gift many would not want, it comes with huge responsibilities. But in essence, Diomedes (and I) now rule this land with only the caveat *we do so in Nalia’s family name*.
Almost as soon as this was settled, Jaheira received a summons back to the Harper base in Athkatla. We let her go immediately, and the rest of the team went back to the city the next morning. We met Jaheira there and she requested we join her for an interview with the Harpers. It was obvious pretty quickly this was a trap. Jaheira was outraged at being used this way. She joined with us in fighting off an attack. She has said with no doubt this was not an official or sanctioned act by Harpers, but I worry even more for her about what the cost will be of her loyalty to me.
From here we met up with Nem. It was a big “good news/bad news” sort of situation. We could free Skie’s soul from her prison, but it would come with a cost. A physical cost to me to open a portal, and someone would have to take her place. Find someone who would willingly be entrapped in an extra-planar void? I was torn, my immediate thought was “no way”. But Skie herself was an innocent in this. Nem suggested a volunteer was possible if not easy. We did find someone terminally ill, who feared for their eternal fate (with good reason we learned). Huh. I still don’t like it, but this seems as close to just as we can get. So we travelled into the dagger, and freed Skie’s soul. Leaving an elderly Halfling woman named Pyll behind in her place. I will need to make sure Skie and her family know that name to give thanks for. But for now we’ve done all we can. Nem suggested, if Skie’s mortal remains were intact and she’d already received a Raise Dead spell, she should come back to life. I’m reasonable sure both those conditions had been met by her wealthy and powerful father.
Now it was time to run off for Trademeet to investigate some troublesome Druids. I hope Jaheira is up for another assault on things she holds dear! This turned out not to be extremely dramatic. Apart from the life and death stuff we deal with every day. But the town was threatened by two perils. First was a group of Djinn looking for a wayward Rakshasa, we slew the beast and the Djinn left willingly. Next was a group of Shadow Druids. I don’t get all the details, but we’ve faced some of these nuts before, back in the Cloakwood Forest. Basically a group that makes an odd choice in the eternal “man vs nature” struggle. Very strange, their leader decided she wanted to face me in personal combat instead of one of her own kind (Jaheira would have had some challenge rights under their odd Druid rules; but no, she wanted to fight me). She turned into a beast and came at me with claws. I chose Flame Bolt, Magic Missile, Flame Bolt. My Stone Skin was still intact when she went down.
We enjoyed the hospitality of the grateful residents of Trademeet afterwards. Then a messenger found Diomedes to get back to our castle.
Some merchant was complaining about thieves attacking his caravans in the area, and he was threatening foreclosure on the large number of tenants he had in the holding to make up his losses. We bought out all the debt ourselves. But it was obvious this required some attention. We would increase spending for a new militia force. And I think we need to leave someone powerful here in case serious muscle is needed.
Minsc please look at me. This isn’t a punishment and it isn’t permanent. But we need someone here who can deal with trouble. I promise we are still friends and we will still spend a lot of time together. You still need to help me with my fierceness lessens.
As before, the whole text, with more renders, is available as "Psyche and Diomedes" at davesgaming.blog
This will be a shorter update today. I thought it covered some important ground, but I did not get to do much.
*****
We traveled back to the city, we have plenty of money and its time to continue our search for Imoen. We are intercepted by a woman who wants us to reconsider our dealings with the Shadow Thieves, for a meeting with her "mistress" in the graveyard, at night. We've already battled a few vampires in the city, one even during our escape from Irenicus' lab. I can guess who this new suiter represents. The only reason I can think of to meet with a vampire is to drive a stake through them. So we continue over to Gaelan Bayle's place. As expected, he tells us how to contact the head of the Shadow thieves, and we are expected. So far, so good.
We stop at the Copper Coronet for the night, which leads to two events. First, Skie pays us a visit! That was unexpected. Funny how someone you know only casually can become the most wonderful sight you've ever seen. Words can't describe how happy I was, and what a huge relief it was to see her. It felt like there was hope in all the challenges we've faced.
Skie! What a happy surprise!
Then, on our way out in the morning we were intercepted by a messenger with news for Nalia. Her father's funeral was being held in the graveyard, now. That obviously seemed like a priority so that's where we went. It was an odd thing, we really didn't fit in. Nalia is normally the scruffiest looking of the bunch of us, yet the rest of us were the ones being insulted as "low class". The nobility of Amn is a very odd crew. Although the dwarf Hurgan Stoneblade was present, and apparently an old friend of the family. He was the one who first sent us to Durlag's Tower looking for the Soultaker Dagger. Funny.
Some threats were made, I think Nalia will still face some challenges related to her land ownership. And of course, we're now right in the middle of it.
From there we went back to Waukeen's Promenade, where we'd planned on meeting Skie for some shopping. I can just see the excitement all over Diomedes' face!
"C'mon you'll have fun!" "Maybe I can still catch the chariot races..."
On meeting up with Skie I cautiously asked how her warrior training had gone, and if she'd want to join with us in rescuing Imoen?
I knew Skie had received some martial training when she joined the Flaming Fist, and she fought with us in the War against the Crusade. As she talks I gather she's had reasonable bow and sword training, and she would like to come along! Oh boy. I think I just recruited someone with pretty marginal skills, certainly below the rest of the team. That will require some attention. Hopefully, we can convince her hold back with me, Aerie and Nalia and leave the melee to Diomedes and Jaheira.
After supper we went to the dock district to meet up with Aran Linvail and the Shadow Thieves. He explained a little about the guild war he's tied up in. I'd bet money this is about the vampires. And he offers us a magic amulet "to keep", I Identify it has having Negative Plane Protection among its powers. This will be *very* useful against vampires, I strongly suspect Aran knows more about our new foes than he's letting on.
He assures us he *will* be able to get us to Imoen, but first could we go check up on a particular dock guard? Yeah, it was a fight with a vampire. Aran is right to be worried about this. And regardless of what I might normally think of thieves, we will happily battle vampires. Even for free.
*****
Skie is not a character I ever used in the original Baldur's Gate, or even the EE when it came out. But her story is so tragic in Siege of Dragonspear. The mod "Skie: Cost of a Girl's Soul" provides a pretty satisfying way to make things right in BG2.
But a problem remains. Originally Skie was a thief. I really, really don't want a fully dedicated thief on my team. Now again, I've never run with her in BG1 at all. But it occurs to me, I have no knowledge of her alleged thieving career. I'll say, Dave's head canon, that it was never anything. Maybe an extreme teen rebellion phase, but she was never really a thief. Never anything but a bored and spoiled noble's daughter. So when she "secretly" joined the Flaming Fist that became her first ever class training. As a single class fighter. So that's how I rebuild her. A single class fighter, short bow and short sword specialist. And since she already has seen some action, she has 3000 experience. Yes, my 11th level (or so) party has just recruited a 2nd level fighter. At least as an archer she should face few direct threats. And she'll level up very quickly.
I also wanted to mention a minor thing on my AI design prompts that I've learned. Sharp eyed readers may recall I figured this out about halfway through my BG1 postings. But psyche's signature "purple wizard robes with gold trim" needed a more casual aspect. So if she's dressed down to be casual, or look scruffy (like after a shipwreck) I show her in a "purple tunic". Amazing but true! You can plainly see the difference in the two renders of her here. The first is meant to be relaxing for the night, in gameplay Skie actually wakes her up. While the second is actually geared up for a day in the city. I love the difference in looks.