15235 réponses à ce sujet

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

1823 Nightal 1370:  I’ve been unable to sit down to journal for some time as I’ve literally been to The Underdark & back.  I was ‘underwater’ @ first &, later, ‘Underdark’.  When we did rest I was exhausted & there was nothing to light a fire w/in the Underdark. Our Torches worked well but couldn’t really serve as a light for our encampment.  Besides, it would have been foolhardy down there anyway. I’m gonna try & piece everything together. Things happened so quickly, it seems like a dream & I know all too well about dreams!  I’m gonna have to work on this for a few days. I might not remember some things & I might get some things mixed up…there’s so much I want to remember for the lessons they teach.

 

Damn those Athkatla Bandits.  I’ve been trying to avoid them even though they’re easily crushed but even trying to disengage we got tangled up long enough for one of them to kill Jan. He’d been such a great companion, friend & a super helpful Mage/Thief.  The Bandit ambush included a Bandit Mage, a Bandit Cleric, a Bandit Fighter & two Bandits Rogues. One of the Rogues brutally backstabbed Jan & there was no raising him back to us.

 

After travelling to Valygar’s cabin, I brought him & Minsc to travel w /me. I led us to see Gaelen after Arin Linvail told us that one of his Rogue’s, Arledrian, was missing. Arin feared this might Arledrian might have sided w/Bodhi. After talking w/Gaelen, we searched Arledrian’s room & find poster for the playhouse under the Five Flagon’s.  I led us to search for Arledrian @ Five Flagon’s.  Gaelen allowed us to search Arledrian’s room where we found a journal written in Elvish.  Gaelen thought Marina @ the Thieves’ Guild would be able to translate the Elvish for us. Once she read it, Marina, obviously worried, asked us to rush to Bodhi’s Lair & save Arledrian. We arrived in the nick of time & found Arledrian surrounded by three Vampires. We saved him & he was grateful. We returned his journal to him & he asked me to tell Gaelen he’d be away for a while to tend to for personal matters. Gaelen thanked me & gave us some gems. I told Marina as she’d seemed genuinely concerned for Arledrian. She too was grateful. 

 

After whipping those Vampires I decided to take another crack @ Bodhi’s Lair. We finally caught up to & destroyed Tanova’s Fledgling Vampiress in the torture chamber. Then we descended the stairs & destroyed two Fledgling Vampiress’, a Fledgling Vampire, two Greater Ghouls, two Grimwarders & two Grimwarder Archers.  We returned to the Docks District for some reason & were ambushed by & killed a Ruffian Captain, a Mugger & a two Thugs. 

 

On return to Bodhi’s Lair, we were able to destroy Lassal but Tanova was still too tough & she hurt Auren badly enough that she sunk into unconsciousness. We were able to retrieve her armor & weapons, escape Tanova, & return to the Five Flagon’s where Anomen treated Auren. We rested until she was able to go again.  Auren gets injured so often one would think she is soft but the fact of the matter is that, wearing only enchanted Leather Armor, she rushes to the front of every battle & chooses the toughest opponent she can find.  I can’t move that quickly in my Full Plate so I feel sometimes like she has to wait an entire bell before I reach her side.

 

We went to the Temple of Helm so Anomen could present his tithe. There I was asked by Sir Sarle to search for a Cult that was advertising in the street, decrying both Helm & Lothandar. I was told to search for the cult In the sewers. There we destroyed a Green Slime, a Grey Ooze, a Sea Troll, a Mustard Jelly & six Kobolds, three w/Short Sword, three w/Short Sword & Short Bow. There we met a Paladin-Inquisitor named Keldorn. There was no way I couldn’t take in a Paladin, & Minsc has been w/me thru so much that I asked Valygar to return to his cabin for the time being. Going forward we killed six Goblins, two w/short Sword & Short Bow, three w/Short Sword & one w/Mace. We later came upon five Mephits: Fire, Dust, Ice, Lightning, Magma, Fire Mephits, five Umber Hulks & a Minotaur that we defeated w/o injury. On the way back to rest @ the Five Flagon’s we were confronted by a tough party of Adventurer’s: a Dwarf Berserker w/an Enchanted Throwing Axe, a Mage, a Cleric, a Warrior, et al.  We defeated them fairly easily but they had the potential to be more of a challenge. Returning to the sewers we encountered & defeated a Rakshasa, a Kobold Shaman, two Kobold Commandos, a Kobold Captain, five Kobolds, four Ettercaps, an Ooze Mephit & seven Shadows.  We crushed a weak Beholder his followers called the Unseeing Eye. His Cult High Priest named Gaal wore Plate Mail & was armed w/Ardalla’s Fall. He was surrounded by three Cult Elite Guards w/Plate Mail, Long Sword & Heavy Crossbow. We returned & informed our contact @ the Temple of Helm. I don’t remember how we ended up there but we were able to bring a monster & a murder named Neb to justice. 

 

While working thru the sewers & defeating the Beholder Cult we rescued another Tiefling named Haer‘ dalise who invited us to see a play in the Five Flagon’s.  I thought it would be a nice break but no such providence. Instead we ended up ‘plane travelling’ to a Planar Prison in search of Haer’ dalise & his theater company. We were welcomed to the Planar Prison by six Bounty Hunters (two Mages, two Assassins, Dwarf, & a Drow) & a bit later, by two Thrall’s (Mage, Warrior). For the next day, day & a half, we were stuck in the Prison w/no way to escape except to destroy the Warden & the Master of the Thrall’s. This according to a Gnome that had somehow escaped his collar, the instrument that kept the prisoner’s slaves/thralls under the influence of the Master of Thrall’s.  To get out we had to battle numerous challenging enemies defeating a Wyvern, Two Thrall Mage’s, a Thrall Warrior, a Thrall Bowman, five Umber Hulks, a Minotaur & two Air Elementals.  We had to go back to where we entered after that gauntlet b/c it was obvious things were getting tougher & we still had a ways to go. Next up was the Master of Thrall’s, a Demon of the Tan’narri subtype, a Chasme. He turned out to be pretty difficult but we defeated it w/o loss.  After a few more hours of rest it was time to drive on & we did.  Just past some deep pits that were all over the Prison, we encountered the Warden, a Cambion Demon. I generally think of a Chasme as a tougher opponent. I recall defeating a Cambion easily in Irenicus’ Dungeon.  We had to kill 10 Umber Hulk’s & two Minotaur’s before we completely focus on the Cambion. We ended up in a retrograde to the other side of the Prison to buy time & space but eventually his defenses wore off & our weapons started to damage him.  Once that happens, anything we are battling becomes short of this world.  Once that battle was over we quickly found Haer’ dalise & the theater company in which he performs.  Haer ‘dalise returned to Faerun w/us while the rest of his company went on to perform elsewhere. 

 

On return to Athkatla we went w/Keldorn to his estate so that he could see his wife & children.  Sadly, Keldorn’s Wife & children we distant from him & it turned out his wife had been w/another man.  In the end we learned that she didn’t actually commit adultery but Keldorn took a few days to straighten things out & spend time w/his family.  Once his service to me is complete he plans to resign from active membership in the Order.  

AUREN VS. TANOVA (50 HPS DAMAGE!)

After Keldorn retuned I decided to assault Bodhi’s lair again & this time, Tanova fell after putting up another vicious fight.  We followed her essence back to her tomb & staked her thru the heart (as evil as she was, Tanova was a tremendous foe).  At that point, Bodhi made herself known to me. After cutting each other w/our words she ended the contest & she attacked...we jumped her & beat her mercilessly but she escaped my clutches & slipped away. 

PUMMELING BODHI

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Gawain, Auren, Amber, Anomen & Keldorn in Brynnlaw

I had us rest @ the Five Flagon’s before going to the Thieves Guild to meet w/Linvail to let him know of our success.  He kept his end of the bargain, finally! In no time we were on a ship to Brynnlaw Island.  Unfortunately, Bodhi was in charge of our welcoming party & ‘convinced’ the ship’s captain, Saemon Havarian, to betray us. As soon as we set foot on the dock we were attacked by three Vampiress’ & four Dire Wolves.  This was an extremely challenging battle as we were really caught off guard which is to my shame as a leader because it got Minsc killed with no possibility of raising/resurrecting him.  The others had only known him for the few weeks since Jan was killed but Minsc has been w/me since my second week leaving Candlekeep & he (& Boo) were always “raring to go”.  I believe Imoen is somehow alive in that fortress on the cliff but, if she is, she & I will be all that remains of our original six.  Four dear friends & companions lost forever, not to mention those who’ve joined me since. Brynnlaw was a haven for pirates & we were constantly accosted by them. While there we were ambushed on the streets by the Pirate Lord Desharik, a Pirate Mage & 14 Pirates. We found an inn in Brynnlaw but it only offered a place in the corner where we could spread out, stay safe® & out of rain. There I met a good-hearted Mage, Sanik, who was trying to leave the island w/his wife.  It was a nice talk but, just then, he was ambushed by an Assassin & killed before we could react. I learned from the barkeep that Sanik was an assassin getting revenge for Sanik’s having fallen in love w/a courtesan & convincing her to leave Brynnlaw w/him.  He told me the woman Sanik loved was named Claire & was likely being held prisoner in Galvena’s Festhall. I’d seen that place but it was always closed.  I appreciated Sanik’s heart & his love for Claire was obvious so it was only fitting that I aid her, besides, I’m told she might have the ‘key’ to getting me in the Asylum.  Her rescue was easy enough.  We had to kill a Guard Captain (Note: Front) & two Guards to get into the brothel/prison area. From there it was simple enough to work thru a couple of Guards, a Mage named Vadek, & Galvena herself.  Claire was grateful for her rescue but heartbroken @ having lost Sanik. Claire was able to point me to a man named Captain Golin who gave me two ways into get into Spellhold Asylum.  One was to go to the Pirate Lord & the second was to visit a Mage who used to be a Cowled Wizard. I was curious about the Pirate Lord but I wasn’t gonna fain insanity to get put away in the Asylum which was the angle there. Still I went there to meet him b/c I wondered what a Pirate Lord was all about. When I told him what were here for he exploded & left to warn his allies in Spellhold Asylum.  We tried to prevent him but he quickly evaded our effort.  Perth the Adept was not what I expected either.  He was not a Cleric, Adept being normally associated w/a low level Cleric, & he was most definitely not low level. He was well protected & it seemed Keldorn’s Dispel Magic couldn’t break through. At one point Anomen, Keldorn & Amber were under the control of some kind of mind altering magic.  He may have even captured Auren (who seems to be particularly susceptible to that type spell). We finally got our weapons on him & he was gone in no time after that, leaving us the Wardstone to Spellhold Asylum. 

THE LAST VAMPIRESS DESTROYED!

 

I can’t remember when but somewhere in there we paid a visit to Cayia, the Pirate Leader’s harlot.  She was not his harlot the moment we visited b/c she was in bed w/another (maybe she was just earning some gold on the side).  Regardless, when she realized we were there she bolted & called on three of the Pirate Lord’s Pirates who were easily dispatched. 

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Gawain, Auren, Amber, Anomen, Keldorn & Imoen in Spellhold Asylum 

The path through the pass leading up to Spellhold Asylum was swarming w/what I counted as eight Wraiths, five Umber Hulks, & one Minotaur which we quickly defeated. 

 

It didn’t take long for Spellhold Asylum to become of interest.  The Coordinater insisted on showing me/us around but something about his voice…Irenicus!  We didn’t get far into his tour before I gave the sign to attack.  He slipped into a Shadow Door or used Teleportation to get away, threatening as he vanished. 

 

I’m a little confused here.  I feel like I battled Irenicus first (again things happened so fast I’ve gotten ‘turned around’ in my own mind. But, I also ended up in a ‘mouse maze’ where Bodhi confronted me gleefully and turned me/us loose to navigate a dungeon for her enjoyment or observation, maybe both. I’ll just assume my notes are in order so I’ll follow them.  The most important thing about Bodhi’s ‘maze’ was I was reunited w/my little sister, Imoen.  I’m overjoyed to have her by my side again, now that I know she is my half-sister biologically but she’s not half anything.  She’s always been my best friend.  How wonderful to know she is my little sister. 

 

I mostly have lists of monsters we defeated in the dungeon’s three levels.  First on my list is a Yuan-Ti Mage & five Yuan-Ti that I don’t remember fighting but obviously we killed them b/c I wouldn’t have made the notes otherwise. What I do remember is battling about seven Umber Hulks in the first passage to the left.  Maybe the Yuan-Ti were there.  I also have a Fire, two Smoke, two Ice & two Air Mephit’s, four Gibberling’s & two Mutated Gibberling’s. I made a note about Kobold Captain that seems out of place w/o Kobolds to Captain. 

 

I do remember the Mist Horror down in the dungeons as well as a Mummy & two Ghasts.  I especially recall fighting & defeating a Bone Golem, Greater Mummy & two Skelton Warrior’s. This was a little challenging, mostly b/c we were packed into a doorway during the battle.  Just down the hall we came upon a Vampire & two Dire Wolves who battled us.  We killed him but I’d tossed all my stakes out thinking I wouldn’t need them but it turns out I did.  Not being able to destroy him completely we later encountered two Vampire Apparitions & had to defeat them also.  (Imoen/18)

 

There was a cave in the dungeon w/three Imps, three Kobold Shaman, two Kobold Witch Doctors, four Kobold Commando & six Kobolds. They worshipped a big crystal sculpture & I took a piece but never used it b/c I couldn’t figure out where it might be the key to something.  I dropped it in the Underdark, needing to make room for all the loot we were carrying.

 

Somewhere we found a stake but it was nowhere near the Vampire.  I immediately took it, removed the cover to the sarcophagus & drove a stake thru the Vampires heart. After I did so, the Vampire thanked me profusely for releasing him from his curse & gave me his severed hand to allow me to navigate past a huge statue.

 

We later came upon & defeated a Spirit Troll & three Trolls, four Minotaur’s& a Troll, a Gauth & three Minotaur’s, three Goblin Commandos & two Kobold Commando’s, an Otyugh, two Myconids & three Steam Mephits, a Sahuagin Baron, two Sahuagin Baronial Guards & a Mind Flayer.

 

There was a statue that asked riddles that we solved, that is except one - good to have 100% protection from electricity.  (Keldorn 14, Gawain 16)

 

The last challenge in this dungeon was in a room w/a huge Minotaur Statue surrounded by Bodhi & two Vampiress’.  Another challenging battle stuck in a hallway w/the Vampiress’ casting Domination into a closed space that most of us were packed into. After a struggle, we managed to knock off the two Vampiress’ who were close to taking out Imoen & Amber (the only weakness Auren has is that she seems to be very susceptible to mind altering spells).  In this case she was stuck in the doorway making it hard for me to get to Bodhi but eventually I did so & started taking her out quickly.  And then it happened!  I don’t actually remember now but my followers do! I turned into a Massive beast w/four arms, powerful in every way. I destroyed everything near me they say & then started attacking them. Then I evidently just turned back in myself, at least what I thought was myself. Everyone had worked around me & were down the hall we’d came thru or in the room past it. As soon as I came to, I suddenly realized this creature was @ my disposal on a whim, IF I want to succumb to the darkness, the embodiment of evil to do it. The last thing I remember is Bodhi, as much a cowardess as her brother is a coward, turning tale & escaping before I killed her…& as she did I felt a darkness suck me in to whatever was there.  When I first got my senses back, I didn’t know where I was for a few moments.  Amber has been watching me closely since then & been given comfort to my restless thoughts & sleepless nights.

 

On the way out of the dungeon I ran into Saemon Havarian. My first thought was to split him in two for betraying me & costing Minsc his life in that Vampire ambush.  He (somewhat) convinced me to spare him being quartered by claiming that it was Bodhi who coerced him into betraying me/us. He advised me to let all of the Irenicus’ subjects loose to assist me in confronting Irenicus. That sounded wise so I gave him a reprieve b/c Irenicus was/is the focus of my vengeful nature.  I did exactly that after I paid a Gnome to let them out.  He released them & I got them together. One of them was that insane Gnome we met in Beregost (on a side note he did need to be in the Asylum).  He wanted to fight Irenicus himself, but I convinced him to work together but let him think he was leading the assault.  We headed straight for Irenicus & I wanted to cut him down more than I ever wanted to kill Sarevok.  He was genuinely surprised, even complimentary, about us having joined forces w/his former ‘subjects’. I had no time to think but as he exploded in anger, I divided my lance & sent Auren, Keldorn & Amber to the right back corner while I took Anomen & Imoen with me to the left back corner, both behind Irenicus. I wanted to observe Irenicus for a second before I just rushed us in. The ‘subjects’ were all directing spells @ Irenicus & it was obvious they were not to be taken lightly either. Keldorn started casting back to back Dispel Magic on Irenicus which could have been good or bad depending on what the ‘subjects’ had cast @ him. Things got confused @ this point b/c a clone of each of us appeared @ attacked us. I made an on the spot tactical decision for us to get rid of them first & let Irenicus deal w/the other spellcasters until we did. We were knocking the clones out one @ a time but it wasn’t easy. It was then that I realized Irenicus had summoned a Fallen Diva.  I had us all turn our attention on the Diva & it wasn’t long before it   fell.  Irenicus had moved over to the same side of the room. We were still dealing w/two or three clones. W/Irenicus amongst us, I was able to see that he was injured so I had those nearest him, concentrate on him to see if our weapons would land. Sure enough, Auren & I splattered blood all over everything as both our blades landed @ once (47 & 27 HP damage respectively).  It wasn’t long before the bastard decided to run like a little girl (I don’t say that out loud w/Auren & Amber around).  He bailed, killing his former allies & leaving three Assassins. It amazes me that Rogues attack Auren, she cuts them in half in two blows. They weren’t long for this world.  Damn, Irenicus!  Conniving coward!  I could’ve killed him right there but he’s a milksop! I WILL kill him.  (Auren/15, Anomen Cl12//F/11)

DEFEATING IRENICUS - FOR NOW
 

Havarian popped up again after the battle & offered us escape on his ship if we’d meet him later @ the inn. I wasn’t surprised that it turned out that he didn’t actually have ship & that we’d have to steal the Pirate Lords ship but after the way he acted toward me/us I had no problem w/the plan…after all they are pirates & it’s just as likely as not that they stole the ship anyway. As expected Desharik & his goons attacked, I think there was a Mage but she wasn’t in my written on my parchment notes.  I did scribble, ‘four Pirates & a Fisherman’, but I can’t recall killing a fisherman either. He must have become aggressive for some reason. So much has happened I can’t remember the details.  So we took the Pirate Lord’s ship.  The ship was attacked by Githyanki & we slayed a few of them before the ship started to capsize. Havarian, another coward, swam off & left us as the ship was sucked down to, to…well, I’ll write tomorrow.  I need to rest.  

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Gawain, Auren, Amber, Anomen, Keldorn & Imoen in Sahuagin City

We awoke in a city of Sahuagin.  I guess it was a good thing that they thought we were the key to a prophesy given to them by their shark deity.  There was a High Priestess that backed us the entire time so we were never ambushed.  She took us to the ‘mad king.’ Who was flanked be one of his Barons who wasn’t a prophesy believer. The High Priestess continued to support us but there was another Priestess alongside the Baron who was against us also.  We ended up having to battle an Ettin that we killed almost instantly but once that was done, the king was convinced we were indeed the (I can’t remember what he called us) ones the prophesy spoke of. 

 

We returned w/the High Priestess to the alter after learning that we were needed to battle some rebels. But then thing’s changed & she wanted us to find the Rebel Prince & help him overthrow ‘the mad king’.  I actually trusted her, if nothing else b/c she truly believed we were the ones to bring the prophesy to fruition.  We trekked into the ‘rebel end’ of the city under the premise that once we brought the Rebel Prince back to over throw the mad king we would, 1) get to clean out the treasure vault & 2) continue our pursuit of Irenicus. I had to play along, & heard about it from my advisors, but we were in a undersea Sahuagin City.  W/o assistance I saw no way out. Finding an ally in the High Priestess was a means to that end.  The fact that she could aid us in following Irenicus was a plus.   

 

So we headed into Rebel territory & immediately swatted two Sword Spiders & two Ettercaps before we found some Imps guarding several treasure chests w/famous personages from Faerun in front of each.  We solved the riddle & garnered a bit of treasure. (Imoen/19) We also defeated a Beholder (Spectator); a Sahuagin Priestess, three (greater) Sahuagin Rebels, three Sahuagin & 10 Sahuagin Rebels before we finally found the Rebel Prince. He trusted us enough to send us back to the mad king to assassinate him.  We headed back but didn’t have to assassinate the mad kind b/c he turned on us & called us betrayers & attacked.  When it was done, both King Ixilthetocal & Baron Thelokkassyil lay dead as well as two Royal Sahuagin Guards. The new Sahuagin King kept his word & let us go to follow Irenicus so we headed off to the…

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Gawain, Auren, Amber, Anomen, Keldorn & Imoen in the Underdark

When we arrived in the Underdark, I questioned maybe for the first time in a long time, my ability to guide my followers thru this place.  I shouldn’t have doubted b/c it wasn’t just me, it’s been us all along. 

 

Our first steps led us into battle w/four Air Elementals that came out of a portal in the wall.  We destroyed them but realized that they came continuously out of the portal so I had us move beyond sight & they didn’t follow. 

 

One of the toughest battles we fought while in the Underdark was versus a Kuo-Toa Leader, two Kuo-Toa Wizards, Kuo-Toa Priest, three Kuo-Toa Monitors, a Kuo-toa Warrior & Kuo-Toa Whelps. My mistake here was to hold back instead of attacking full bore.  I allowed the Kuo-Toa spellcasters to cast believing their protections to be greater than they were.  By the end of the battle, Anomen, Imoen & Keldorn had fallen unconscious b/c of their wounds.  Eventually, out of desperation & wounded myself, I took my focus off of the Warrior’s & Monitor’s to attack one of the Wizards.  I struck a blow right off & realized our focus needed to be on the casters.  Auren, Amber & I then cut them down easily before finishing the rest.  I had to use a charge from our Rod of Resurrection to bring Anomen back to us.  He, in turn, had to use his two Raise Dead spells to bring the others back to consciousness so that we could return to our encampment to heal.

 

After resting, we walked what seemed like forever across the Underdark until we came upon some stairs leading down.  We were instantly sealed into an IIllithid City & the next thing I knew we were in a small cell. After a few hours a Massive Ogre, our jailor, came & told us we had to fight for the entertainment of Illithid’s. We suddenly found ourselves in a pit surrounded by darkness above from where I knew the Illithid’s were watching.  We were led out to battle three now dead Umber Hulks.  Back in the cell we found we could open the door to the next cell that contained about seven Githyanki. I thought, “Here we go,” but instead the leader suggested we work together to escape. We would be fighting whatever was in the pit w/the Githyanki as our allies. The Githyanki leader said that they would use their own abilities to block the psionic abilities of the Mind Flayers. We were to kill whatever we were led in to battle   out to be find their way out after finishing w/the Illithid’s.  We killed the Kuo-Toa but initially went out the wrong door before finding the right one & heading out into the IIllithid City.  We worked thru what turned out to be easy to kill Mind Flayers, five of them to a room full of slaves lying on slabs. In another room we found the liquid needed to awaken them.  We agreed to try & open the exit so that they could escape. Their leader said they could find the way out if we’d only open the way. 

 

There always seems to be a battle that’s tougher than I expect it to be, but then there are those I expect to be the Nine Hells of Toril, & we defeat them in one or two attacks.  This one was the former but somehow I didn’t lose anyone.  The presence of two Ulithids along with one Mind Flayer & two Umber Hulks made the encounter much more difficult. We were cramped in a hallway w/Umber Hulks in front of us & Illithid’s & a Mind Flayer amongst us. I managed to put one of four collars on one of the Illithid’s who immediately starting working four us. We’d gotten the collars from the Slave Leader & he told us they’d help us w/the Illithid’s.  Sure enough, he tried to help but

got right up near the Umber Hulks & he succumbed to his blows. Both Imoen & Amber were confused from some spell or psionic weapon the Illithid’s used, so we had to try & protect them too.  Meanwhile, I was between the Mind Flayer & an Umber Hulk.  I chose to deal w/the Umber Hulks & allow Anomen & Keldorn to work over the Ulllithid & the Mind Flayer.  I took a couple or three hard whacks & had to work on three Umber Hulks @ the same time.  Unfortunately, one of the Illithid’s had successfully cast Domination on Auren.  You haven’t lived until you find yourself fighting monsters & trying to avoid Auren’s destructive sword blows.  Keldorn & Anomen focused their efforts on the Ullithid & then they finished off the Mind Flayer. Keldorn quickly backed up & cast Dispel Magic on Auren to stop her constant attacks on me.  It actually worked on Auren, Imoen & Amber so we were all in our right minds.  We rested back near where the slaves were waiting before heading back into the city.  There were only two doors we’d not yet opened.  One was the exit @ about 1 bell & the other was @ 10 bells, neither of which we could open.  Also in the room were our seven Githyanki allies. They were leaving us behind.  No one was surprised that they hosed us.   They disappeared & were gone after a few words.  I couldn’t open either door & then I remembered The Slayer (at least that’s what I call it but I haven’t shared that w/anyone else). I consciously made the decision to give of myself to help us find the way out of here & became the monster.  I saw myself ripping the door out of the wall while the rest of them stayed in a room down the hall w/the door shut until I hailed for them. We ended up destroying two Ulithids before I chose to use The Slayer again.  The problem w/this is that I realize to use this ability is to give myself over to pure evil as means to an end.  I feel myself slipping & somehow falling in favor in the eyes of someone or something.  In this case, someone larger than me turned this curse into a blessing as The Slayer single handedly & easily destroyed the Illithid’s Master brain, two Brain Golem’s & an Umber Hulk. (Auren/16, Imoen/20)  I could see thru the creatures eyes as I controlled its movements & crushed our enemy but I still felt the evil draining away something inside.

SLAYER VERSUS THE MASTER BRAIN

After a well-deserved rest of eight bells of rest we came upon another tunnel, this one to the south…only it wasn’t a tunnel.  It was a cave where we easily popped a Beholder & an Elder Orb.  We’d used a bit of magic on them so we went back to our encampment.  After we left we found another of those portals but this one ended up spitting out 11 Earth Elementals that we eliminated almost as quickly as they appeared.  I was trying to see if there was an end to how many would appear but they just kept going so I led the last few away from the portal until we were beyond line of sight.  Then we walked the wrong direction & stumbled onto the portal w/the Air Elementals, four of them, but I got us out of there after finishing them.  No sense hitting the wind all day.  Just north of our camp we found some cracks in the rock & blew thru five Mind Flayers.  In another place where we found cracks that went into the walls of the Underdark, we stumbled on a Drow Priestess & three Drow & right behind them another Drow Priestess & a Drow w/an Efreeti. If there really are god’s they must be blessing us b/c the Drow were much less a challenge than I anticipated.  Sometimes we have to hack a while to get thru the spellcasters but soon enough our weapons land & the affair ends quickly after that, we found yet even another crevice in the rocks where we defoliated a Myconid King, three Spore Colonies & six Myconids.   

 

The last area we found in the north wall of the Underdark was a Svirfenblin Village.  It was turned out to be a place we could rest & sell loot gathered down there. But before we could use it as a haven we had to help the Svirfenblin w/a creature they discovered while mining. He said that we’d need to cave the rock in on top of the dead monster when we’d killed it.  He gave us a scroll for that & we rested before heading out.  Once we awoke, we donned our armor & weapons & headed off to where the creature was.  We descended a mining shaft.  As soon as we reached the bottom of the steps the monster immediately starting appearing from some magic ability (I have to figure out what that spell is). The monster appeared but it wasn’t just a monster.  It was a huge Balor Demon. 

 

In later years these were called Type VI Demons (the largest one was Balor). Only were six known to exist at that time but now scholars believe there could be hundreds of thousands or more. No longer called Type VI Demon’s, they are now called by the species name, Balor, after the largest & most powerful of their kind. They are Tanar’ri, one of the subtypes of demons, the other being the much older Obyriths.  At one time they were all called Demons but that was really before anyone new about the more ancient Obyriths.

 

Facing Balor himself (it obvious it was THE Balor), I had the spellcasters, including Imoen, remain back & throw everything they could @ it.  That included Keldorn’s Dispel Magic, Anomen’s Bolt of Glory, Flame Strike & Holy Smite, two each Imoen’s Greater Malison, Magic Missile & Amber’s Contagious Eye & three Blinding Eyes.  In the meantime Auren & I went straight for the ‘jugular’.  At one point I dropped my own Flame Strike on him as I can use it next to instantly. Keldorn was pumping out his Dispel Magic one right after the other & Anomen also used his. Meanwhile, Balor was dropping a constant rain of an extremely powerful & painful Unholy Blight on all of us & it was wounding w/every drop. I don’t know what it was or who it was but either Auren or I landed a blow & then the door was open. Every other blow between the two of us caused more damage & I called Anomen, Keldorn & Amber in to use their individual weapons.  Then blows landed more & more causing more & more damage, especially Auren.  We were racing against time b/c Balor’s abilities are @ will so we weren’t ‘breaking up a spell’ by landing blows.  All of us were wounded, Keldorn, Anomen, Auren & I the most.  I don’t know if was a Death Gaze or something else but as we were cutting him down he knocked both Anomen & Keldorn out of the fight & I was beginning to get desperate.  We needed to finish him.  As wounded as she was Auren kept trying to finish him, as did I, when one of us did so. Neither of us knows, or cares, who destroyed him.  We’re just thankful to be alive. With our Rod of Resurrection (two of them), we were able to Resurrect Anomen who used two Raise Dead spells to bring Anomen & Keldorn back to consciousness.  We rested a full day. W/Anomen’s Heal spell he was able to heal quickly back to full strength.  

DESTROYING BALOR

[Aasim]

Very noble of you to keep on fighting, I would have retreated my character after his protections were removed (unless both the protection removal and the FoD happened during TS and there was no window for escape). My condolences friend.

No, non of that was in TS. He used TS to cast Wish-defences destroyed and debuff Nashlee; in addition he summoned Planetar. Nobody can stand against it in melee w/o risking vorpal (-4 to save), so I had to make sure everybody's under PfMW (Death Ward dispelled). It also left us open for Dragon's Breath & Planetar's Dolorous Decay spells.

Yeah, probably I should have ran.

These liches seem to be the bane of my PCs...(and demons, naturally ).

[Alesia_BH]

Condolences, Aasim. That's a terrible way to go.

 

Are you sure you were running Spell Shield? If so, can we get confirmation from Demi that that mechanic was intended? That it isn't a bug, associated with the new version of Spell Shield?

 

Best,

 

A.

 

 

What's the strategy to deal with Wish -> remove protections?

 

Historically Spell Shield did work. Using Spell Shield was always my strategy against Wish: I Wish for My Enemy's Magical Protections to Be Utterly Destroyed. I've foiled Wish many times using Spell Shield. Spell Shield should work, in my opinion.

 

Spell Revisions re-worked Spell Shield semi-recently. Those changes were integrated into SCS. It is possible that those adjustments cause Wish to bypass Spell Shield now. Of course, its also possible that that mechanic is Revisions specific. One of us with SCS v 30 sans-Revision should test.

 

If Spell Shield no longer protects against Wish in G3 SCS installs, someone should inquire whether this was intended. If it is a bug, hopefully someone will patch soon. If it is not a bug, if it was intended, then I'd be inclined to view it as an undesirable design decision. I would (We should) change Spell Shield, or Wish, so that Spell Shield does foil Wish. I strongly prefer the classic mechanic. The new mechanic is unacceptable in no reload play.

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Gawain, Auren, Amber, Anomen, Keldorn & Imoen in Ust Natha

After resting in the Svirfenblin Village, we travelled to the NE corner of the Underdark looking for more crevices that might lead us out of here.  We found a bridge leading N & set out to cross it when we were ambushed by Five Drow. I really expected this to be a challenge & it was excerpting but not much more. The biggest problem, that continues to plague us, was being stuck on a bridge w/Drow in of front & behind us.  After selling what we could to some Underdark Duerger Merchants we rested in the Svirfenblin Village before continuing across the bridge.  The bridge led down into a pitch black stairway. The Svirfenblin leader had given me a gem that cut through the darkness or there’d be no way for us to negotiate the descent.  At the bottom of the staircase was a massive Silver Dragon.  She was a very proud dragon, rightfully so.  She was a fantastic specimen: Large, adult (female) & the gems light made her look spectacular. Scholars used to think Silver Dragons were Lawful & Good but more recently, after many more have been encountered, they believe most, if not all, Metallic Dragons were actually unaligned. The Dragoness was not hostile @ any point despite her haughtiness.  She wanted only one thing.  Her eggs had been stolen by Drow. She asked us to retrieve her eggs from the Drow City of Ust Natha & in return she would open the passage that leaves from the Underdark & give us a powerful weapon from her treasure.  She had the power to change our appearance to that of Drow to help us into the city.  If Irenicus & Bodhi are in that city I’m going & the Dragoness made it that much easier.       

 

Next up was the Drow City of Ust Natha.  We walked right into a market & were able to buy a pant load of Potions, like 30,000gp it seems.  I can’t remember exactly how it happened but as I recall we talked w/a Imrae, Matron Mother, who directed us to a Drow Commander Soluafein who we met in the Male Fighters Society.  I knew Drow had a female dominated society but seeing it up close was another matter. Soluafein served the Matron Mother we’d spoken to earlier & he served unquestioningly.  Then Imrae made him responsible for her daughter Phaere & that was truly amusing. After that I became Phaere’s ‘top male’ & Soluafein just became an uncomfortable middle man. There was no way here to go ‘rogue’ until I knew I wasn’t insuring our death here. I made my mind up that if I was asked to do something evil, that I’d draw the line @ that point & face the consequences.  The first time I met Phaere, we were sent by Imrae to rescue her from some (three) Mind Flayers & three Umber Hulk’s, a mission we accompanied by Soluafein on & one in which he was of little use. I/we aided Phaere in destroying a Beholder & then she asked us to meet her again in three days. On the way out of Ust Natha we ran into & were attacked by an adventurer party w/what seemed to be a Cleric, Mage, a Dwarf & a Rogue who thought us Drow. They were likely good but there was no opportunity for us to tell them otherwise & we were forced to defend ourselves to the death – theirs.  I had a really bad feeling after that.  We returned to our old encampment, no wanting to endanger the Svirfenblin. We’d only rested a little over a day & had to beat off 20 Lizard Men when we were attacked by Soluafein who lasted not quite the time it took all of us to draw our weapons.  Unfortunately, somehow three days turned into something like one day & one third & we were known in Ust Natha. I expected an Army of Drow to be waiting outside the city but we were able to walk right in. We carefully moved forward this time hoping not to be caught in a massive ambush.  We battled a Drow Warrior, an Ogre Berserker & a Giant Spider.  After that we began what turned out to be a full on assault on the City of Ust Natha. Without ever stopping we plowed through seven Drow & a Drow Torturer near the Ust Natha Bazaar/Aboleth Tank (Gawain/18).  Since we were barely scratched & the battle was a breeze we moved on toward the Tavern still expecting to be challenged, especially w/o a real Mage. Instead we easily offed seven Drow of various abilities & skill levels before heading out to the Walkways where we defeated a Drow Priestess, a Drow Slave Trader, three Drow, two Mind Flayers & a Giant Spider.  Still unfazed I elected to continue on so we went to the upper level walkways but found nothing there.  I didn’t want to lose our momentum nor did I want the Drow to regroup so I led us to attack the Temple of Lolth. Inside we killed a Handmaiden of Lolth, a Drow Executioner, four Ritual Guards, four Matron’s Guards & two Egg Guards.  We found the eggs & we searched the Temple hoping to find Lolth herself.  I had hoped there’d be a way for the Drow to reach their queen from here but she wasn’t here so that battle didn’t happen.  It’s probably a good thing b/c we certainly weren’t able to face her @ that moment b/c we’d had some more challenging action in the temple. It was strange as we left Ust Natha.  There was not a living Drow or creature anywhere.  Best I could tell, we’d wiped out the city. There were two buildings we could get into b/c of wards so I don’t know what was there but everything we could find alive was destroyed.  

CRUSHING THE DROW
 

Back in the Svirfenblin Village for the last time we spent a few hours gathering our strength before we went back to Adalon in her finished lair.  She gave us an enchanted Mace (Skullcrusher +3) before transporting us to a ledge leading into series of caverns & some Elven Temple ruins which led up near the city of Suldanesseller. The ledge was a tough battlefield, even w/Adalon aiding us in human form.  We battled there & defeated two Drow, an Aerial Servant & two Skeletons. Once past that challenge we entered the Elven ruined temple area where we killed six Drow, two Ogre, Berserkers, a Giant Spider, & a Huge Spider.  The Elves continued to implore us to go the surface but we insisted on aiding them. Eventually, we went to the surface where an Elf encampment was located & met w/the Elven Commander Elhan. Elhan wanted us to continue our pursuit of Bodhi to retrieve from her something called the Rhynn Lanthorn. This item would allow them to reveal & enter Suldanesseller, the Elven City once more.  Evidently Irenicus & Bodhi had somehow put an illusion or other spell over Suldanesseller so that the elves were unable to enter or see it.  We agreed to assist them & were given free pass to travel in/out of the Elven encampment.  Elhan gave us some Elven Holy Water & vampire stakes to aid me. We couldn’t buy/sell anything there so we headed back to Athkatla to prepare our pursuit of Irenicus/Bodhi.  On the way we met Drizzt Do’Urden & his party who agreed after speaking with us to assist in battling Bodhi in the in her lair.  This is the second time I’ve met Drizzt. Imoen was w/me last time when we battled w/him versus some Gnolls near Fisherman’s Lake.  Bodhi might be a little more challenging w/Imoen’s essence strengthening her. 

 

Once we arrived in Athkatla we were almost immediately ambushed by the same Githyanki we temporarily allied ourselves w/in the Ullithid City. We had our guard down & that battle against the Githyanki was extremely tough.  It became apparent that their leader was THE Supreme Leader of the Githyanki, Gith himself. In addition there was at least one Githyanki Anti-Paladin, a Githyanki Knight & four other Githyanki. We one another tough fight & were lucky not to lose anyone.  (Anomen Cl/13/F12)

 

Some Treasure of Note: (Purse = 28,651gp) Armor/Weapons: Sentinal +4, Full Plate Mail +1 (sold); Darkmail +3 (Minsc); Blade of the Roses +3; Mace +3 Skullcrusher, Flail +3, Shield of Balduran (sold), Helm of Charm Protection (Auren); Katana +2 (Valygar), Wyvern Tail (Keldorn); Plate Mail +1 (sold), Full Plate Mail, Hangard’s Axe +2 (sold), Club +2 Gnasher (sold), Small Shield +2 (sold), Battle Axe +1 (sold), Plate Mail x2; Ardulia’s Fall +1; Jewelry/Gold:  Pearly White Ioun Stone (sold),Laeral’s Tear Necklace (sold, two King’s Tears (sold), Star Sapphire (sold), three Emeralds (sold), two Diamonds (sold), 2,577gp, 890gp, 130gp, 112gp, 102gp, 100gp x2, 432gp, 211gp, 573gp; Potions: Extra Healing ~ x35 (general use), Genius x2 (TBD), Mind Focusing (sold), five Stone Giant Strength, two Hill Giant Strength;  Scrolls: Delayed Blast Fireball, Finger of Death, Limited Wish, Power Word Stub, Project Image, Ruby Ray of Reversal, Warding Whip x 2 (sold); Chain Lightning, Spell Turning (sold), Blade Barrier (sold); Breach (sold), Sunfire x2 (sold), Monster Summoning III, Slow (sold); Fire Shield Blue; Wands: Rod of Resurrection, Cloudkill (sold);

 

Current Disposition:  I decided a trip to Trademeet might allow us to rest before our battle w/Bodhi to retrieve the Rhynn Lanthorn …but it didn’t.  Still we have an opportunity to help the people here.

 

Next Steps:  I/we have to face Bodhi again.  We need to help the Elves of Suldanesseller to obtain a thing called the Rhynn Lanthorn to help them find their city.

 

Level Up:    

·         Gawain:        Lord Leve1/14 (Fighter/14-18)

·         Auren:           Apprentice Level/13 (Fighter/13-17)

·         Anomen:       Priest of Helm/11-13//Fighter/11-12

·         Keldorn:        Paladin (Inquisitor/12-16)

·         Amber:          Thief/16-20, Fighter/6

·         Imoen:           Thief/18-21

·         Minsc:           Barbarian/11-12

 

Current Party (In Order of March): (Reputation: 12 – Popular; +1 saved Arledrian, +1 killed Neb, -4 Used Ravager ability)

·         Gawain: Ftr/18 (HP 137); Full Plate Mail w/ Helm of Balduran w/Sentinal +4, Ring of Protection +2, Ring of Fire Control & Belt of Inertial Barrier, Cloak of Reflection & Periapt of Proof Against Poison ; Bastard Sword +1/+3 vs Shapeshifters*****, Hammer of Thunderbolts +3*, Bastard Sword***** (Adamantite Golem)(1)

·         Auren Aseph: Ftr (Apprentice//17), (HP 92); Armor of the Night +4 w/Helm of Charm Protection & Girdle of Hill Giant Strength; Blade of the Roses +3*****, Long Sword***** (SWS**; Ring of Fire Resistance; (Thaxll’ssillyia) (SCS Ease of Use, Setting 1)(2)

·         Anomen: Ftr/Watcher of Helm//13/12, (HP 62); Plate Mail w/Shield of the Stars +3, Gauntlet’s of Ogre Power, Golden Girdle & Amulet of Power & Ring of Protection Against Fire; Mace +3 Skullcrusher***,Mace***; (Mekrath)(Cleric Aggressive)(4)

NPC Update:  Anomen

ANOMEN RECORD


ANOMEN INVENTORY

·         Amber:  Thief/20//Fighter/6 (97); Studded Leather +2, w/Amber’s Earing’s & Gillian’s Bracelet & Ring of Invisibility & Girdle of Piercing; Long sword (Daystar***); Long Sword*** (Drow Servant) (Amber’s Combat Script AI)(5)

·         Keldorn: Paladin (Inquisitor/16); HP 85; Firecam Full Plate w/Flail +2**, Two-Handed Sword Blade of the North; Flail of the Ages (Acid); (Mind Flayer)(Spellcaster Attack); (6)

·         Imoen:  Thief (Charming Rogue/21); (HP 75); Leather Armor +1 w/Short Bow +1*, Staff of the Earth +2*, (Dagger*, Short Sword*, Club*, Katana*, Scimitar*)(Spirit Troll)(Ranged or Thief Adventurer)(3)

·         Minsc: Fighter (Barbarian/10), HP76; Darkmail +3 w/Two-Handed Sword of Chaos +2***, Mace +2**,Two-Handed Sword***, Mace** (THWS**); (Parisa)(Spellcaster Defend)(6)

·         Jan: Illusionist/11//Thief/12 (HP34); Jan’s Adventure Wear, Jen’s Techno Gloves, Jan’s Spectroscopes & Flasher Launcher w/Flasher Master Bruiser Mates & Abyssal Pipe; (Thief Adventurer)(Slaver Guard)(5)

 

Mods Used: BG2 FixPack _v10; Amber_v4; Auren Aseph_v9; Sarah_v4; Haldimir_v2; : Tyris Flare_v6; Gavin_v20 & Hotfix;  scs-v30 (- Tactical Challenges); MegaModKits v1.01L (Anti-Paladin, Charming Rogue, Priest of Sylvanus, Bladesinger, Amazon, Apprentice, Ninja, Samurai); Divine Remix_v8 (Nightcloak of Shar, Holy Strategist of the Red Knight, Batleguard of Tempus, Strifeleader of Cyric, Bowslinger, Forest Runner, Wilderness Runner) ; Rogue Rebalancing; bg2_tweaks-v16; Item Randomizer-v6.8; level1npcs-v1.9

 

Blue Font: New information;

Red Font: Monster encounters (first use)

(Best kill)(Current AI)(Chain of Command)

* Name Levels are ancient, AD&D titles that used to represent each new level in a class

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Nashlee, 11th BG2 update

 

We finished Underdark by returning the eggs to Adalon. Special thanks to Corey for informing me that Aboleth can be reasoned with. I can't believe I let this fish bully me all these years!

 

The Aboleth just led me around by the nose too.  His bluster is hard to resist.  

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

 

Some fantastic images of the battle there.  Really good, A_BH.  CKT

[Grimwald the Wise]

Messed up this post. See corrected one below.

 

[Alesia_BH]

Ok. I just did some testing with Arcadia, who had successfully no reloaded the Trilogy with a prior version of SCS installed.

 

I imported her save to an SCS v30 install and had her use the same buff regiment she had used in her trilogy run, one that foiled Wish. I CLUAed in a copy of Kangaxx the Lich. He used a Spellstrike, which took down Spell Shield. Arcadia countered with a Spell Trigger that included Spell Shield. Kanggaxx the Lich cast Wish: I Wish for My Enemies' Magical Defences to Be Utterly Destroyed. It bypassed Spell Shield. It dispelled specific protections and combat protections. Spell Shield remained in place. That would not have happened in prior versions of SCS. I don't like this change at all.

 

 

Aphril's run is on hold until further notice. There's no way I'm continuing without a means of foiling Wish based debuff.

 

Test replicated in my prior version of SCS. Wish was cast, it was foiled, and the Spell Shield came down. That's how it should work, in my opinion.  

 

 

 

Best,

 

A.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Got it. If you do find any and it bugs you, you can do it yourself - it's rather simple. (I made it overly complicated with Stake)

Spoiler

In "criticals" folder you'll see another folder called "components". Open the one named Grimwald. You'll see few lines of code. 

Now, add this code below it: (copy/paste it from here)

 

COPY_EXISTING ~SPELLNAME.SPL~ ~override~

  SAY NAME1 @ 151

  SAY NAME2 @151

  SAY DESC  @151

 

SPELLNAME is the name of the spell with wrong strings (you can find them in SK or similar, example O!DECAY, SPWI503 or whatever), so replace that word with the spell code.

Now this SAY part.

@ means the description is located in TRA file. Hence, open criticals/langauges/english file. 

You'll see a large number of lines, all start with a @ followed by a number. 

What you need to do is match SAY with TRA.

So, now you  add a line to "english" file, and make sure numbers match. For the example above you'd add this:

 (again, you can copy/paste this and write whatever you want between  ~ and  ~. 

 

@151 = ~This spell has a sucky description.~

 

Now reinstall the component, and your spell strings will be fixed (or will say whatever you write in "english" text file).

For every new spell, simply repeat from step one and use different number (152, 153, etc.)

 

 

Messed up strings usually occur if you copy-paste  files w/o Weidu installer; number of mods doesn't really matter.

 

Thanks for the info. I will try it out next time I come across one of these, even if it doesn't bug me. Need to learn these things. Not so old that I can't learn.

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

I open my one PfMW scroll, there are no more in the game; apart two in ToB.  I cannot risk getting Nashlee's CON to 8, which is one hit away. It does outlast her, and she succumbs to FoA + MoD blows. Lastzee & Galia have nearly expened their spellbooks. Vampire mages dissapeared with Bodhi's death.

 

 

Fantastic battle.  I know I'm a few days behind but the images here are great.  Thanks for the write up.  CKT

[Alesia_BH]

Some fantastic images of the battle there.  Really good, A_BH.  CKT

 

Thanks CKT!

 

I'm really looking forward to reading your updates! You've made amazing progress!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

While I'm kind of adjusting to solo mode again, inadvertently as the above proves, I intend to stick to the original plan: to form a caster-heavy crew. Jan, Nalia and Haer'Dalis are currently on the shortlist. I don't like Edwin, so he's less likely to join. Dagny met Xan in the Gov District, but his voice had completely changed and much as she had always disliked Xan's moaning voice, she realized she wouldn't have him any other way.

@ B_R:  Fantastic images of the ice areas.  Solo in BG2?  Wow!  The grasshopper is in awe of the master!

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Nashlee's final update. Briefly.

 

Killed Shade Lich with no trouble. Elemental Lich killed Nashlee with Finger of Death. 

 

I don't mess w/the Lich's so you're a bigger man than me, Aisim.  Sorry dude.  CKT

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Ok. I just did some testing with Arcadia, who had successfully no reloaded the Trilogy with a prior version of SCS installed.

 

 

Wow!!!  I've never had a PC buffed like that. Hopefully we'll get there soon.   Very cool, Alesia.  CKT

[Blackraven]

@ B_R:  Fantastic images of the ice areas.  Solo in BG2?  Wow!  The grasshopper is in awe of the master!

Haha, you're the master here! You've made a lot of progress! Honestly I'm pleasantly surprised to see you do so well in BG2 after a long time of only playing BG1. You know, rust never sleeps. So props for that!

 

Anyway, I'm a bit sleepy now so I will catch up proper tomorrow
 

[Alesia_BH]

Another test, in v30. Same buffs but with SI:C active. Wish was foiled.

 

I'm not certain that SI:C did the job though because, interestingly. The Spell Shield was not bypassed this time: it came down.

 

Weird, but I may have an explanation. I'll be back.

 

EDIT: Another test in V30. With SI:C active. No joy.

 

Here's what I think happened in the case where I got a positive result in v30. I was using an imported save, with spells that had been cast in my earlier version of SCS. I suspect that the prior version of Spell Shield was active on her when Kangaxx cast Wish. In the most recent test, I had Arcadia rest and recast, insuring the v30 version would be applied. It was bypassed, and Arcadia was debuffed.

 

We should find out whether this is a bug associated with the new version of Spell Shield, or intended behavior. Aasim, I'd appreciate your help here since you have a G3 account and communicate with Demi often. 

 

If it is a bug, then Nashlee would have the right to continue.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Aasim]

Ok. I just did some testing with Arcadia, who had successfully no reloaded the Trilogy with a prior version of SCS installed.

 

I imported her save to an SCS v30 install and had her use the same buff regiment she had used in her trilogy run, one that foiled Wish. I CLUAed in a copy of Kangaxx the Lich. He used a Spellstrike, which took down Spell Shield. Arcadia countered with a Spell Trigger that included Spell Shield. Kanggaxx the Lich cast Wish: I Wish for My Enemies' Magical Defences to Be Utterly Destroyed. It bypassed Spell Shield. It dispelled specific protection and combat protections. Notably, it did not remove spell protections. Spell Shield remained in place. That would not have happened in prior versions of SCS. I don't like this change at all.

 

Aphril's run is on hold until further notice. There's no way I'm continuing without a means of foiling Wish based debuff.

This is a bug in SCS code I recon. I've just browsed the files involved. There are 2 errors. This has nothing to do with SR, it's the same code used.

a) the Wish spell (for destroying protections) doesn't get patched correctly. Neither does Wand of Breaching (or whatever it's name is, spellstriking?). Try testing the Wand vs spell shield, it shouldn't work correctly (the "correct" and intended way displays "Spell Shield dispelled" or "removed" message.)

You should get wonky vanilla behaviour. 

b)Spell Shield doesn't (can't, because it requires "a" to be working correctly) get patched correctly for these two cases above.

 

 

The piece of code governing this is in initial/ardanis_spell_shield file.

Spoiler

~spwi321~ // spell thrust
~spwi419~ // secret word
~spwi513~ // breach
~spwi608~ // pierce magic
~spwi704~ // ruby ray of reversal
~spwi705~ // khelben warding whip
~spwi805~ // pierce shield
~spwi903~ // spellstrike
// beholder innates
~spin992~ // beholder antimagic ray
~spin550~ // hive mother antimagic ray
// pnp beholder innates
~dw#bhan~ // beholder pnp antimagic ray
~dw#hvan~ // hive mother pnp antimagic ray

 

All of these above cast 2 spells with SCS. One destroys Spell Shield, and the other does what is in spell's description (removes this and that protection)

Spell Shield is patched to protect you from the second part of these spells, but gets destroyed by the first spell.

What's wrong is that this code lacks a few spells, including Wand breach  (at least in IR, I don't know how it works in vanilla. If it casts the real spell, it works) and the relevant spl file for Wish. (dw#wish1). 

In effect, SS doesn't protect you, nor gets removed (maybe sometimes, but only randomly; since the spell is bugged) by any spell removal not in the code above.

I might write a piece of code to fix it tomorrow.

[Aasim]

 

Weird, but I may have an explanation. I'll be back.

 

EDIT: Another test in V30. With SI:C active. No joy.

 

 

Here's what I think happened in the case where I got a positive result in v30. I was using an imported save, with spells that had been cast in my earlier version of SCS. I suspect that the prior version of Spell Shield was active on her when Kangaxx cast lich. In the most recent test, I had Arcadia rest and recast, insuring the v30 version would be applied. It was bypassed, and Arcadia was debuffed.

 

We should find out whether this is a bug in the new version of Spell Shield, or intended behavior. Aasim, I'd appreciate your help here since you have a G3 account and communicate with Demi often. 

What you're experiencing here is the vanilla SS behaviour. Sometimes it does work, sometimes it doesn't. There's some stuff which is always foiled, some which is never foiled, and sometimes it's random.

 

Demi has nothing to do with this, nor does SR - SCS has this fix about 5 years, SR for 6 months .

Demi did come up with the idea of how to fix SS so that it does what it should according to it's description (stop one removal, then remove itself); Ardanis wrote the code and DavidW included it in v21 and later SCS versions.

As I wrote above  - I see what's wrong, I'll see what I can do tomorrow. I think we can all agree that Wish-breach should be blocked by SS, no?

[Alesia_BH]

Noted. Are we sure those weren't intended omissions?

 

Either way, I'd prefer to have a patched version. Please do produce one.

 

But if Wish wasn't intentionally omitted, if its absence was an oversight, then I vote that Nashlee can continue.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

What you're experiencing here is the vanilla SS behaviour.

 

 

No. That's not the case. All of the failures have occurred with the new version.

 

I've never seen vanilla Spell Shield fail to stop Wish. Sometimes it isn't removed when it should be, but it stops it when it should.

 

 

 

Demi has nothing to do with this, nor does SR - SCS has this fix about 5 years, SR for 6 months  .

 

The new version of Spell Shield was originally develop for Revision. SCS just implemented it sooner. 

 

Demi has said this on our forums.

 

Best,

 

A

[Alesia_BH]

 I think we can all agree that Wish-breach should be blocked by SS, no?

 

I think we can agree, meaning you and I. That's how I'd like it to work, and it seems like you'd like it to work that way as well. 

 

I'd still be interested in hearing whether the omissions were intended or not.

 

Best,

 

A.