Our second trip in search of Minsc’s witch was more successful. We trekked back to where we had encountered Brage. Nearby, we met Charleston Nib, whom we protected against possible bandits while he was exhuming what appeared to be an ancient place of worship, dedicated to a deity lost to time. The air inside the excavated structure was foul. It afflicted Nib’s diggers, causing them to go hostile on Nib and our party. Sadly, we saw no other option than to slay the workers. Nib was understandably both thankful and horrified. We found a relic on an altar, some kind of statuette, but decided to leave the possibly cursed artefact in its place.
We traveled south to an area referred to on the map I brought from Candlekeep as "Ogres' Reach", and we soon learnt why. We found ourselves east of a river, and when we wanted to cross the first bridge we encountered, our party was attacked by Ogres. We decided to run, so we followed a southern direction along the river, hoping to find a second bridge. We did, but a nobleman warned us that there was a massive mountain bear on the other side of it. I asked the others what they considered to be the greater challenge: a huge mountain bear or a number of Ogres. “A mountain bear is no challenge, a mountain bear is a good friend”, Minsc replied. Before I had any chance to ask my exotic Ranger companion what he was trying to say, Minsc crossed the bridge and returned together with the enormous animal.
With our ursine friend by our side we felt confident enough to return to the northern bridge and make the Sword Coast slightly safer by ridding it of the Ogres. First we had to deal with a bandit and his Hobgoblin minions though. I tried to negotiate safe passage with him, but there was no negotiating with that one. Our party, aided by our new animal companion, made short work of the vermin.
We also had little difficulty with the Ogres, although the monsters were helped by Hobgoblin Elite that fired poison-tipped arrows at Branwen, so I had to hand her one of my antidotes. On the other side of the bridge we met a Paladin called Laurel who asked us to help her extinguish a bunch of Gibberlings. We agreed, taking out a couple of Gibberlings would be no big deal we reckoned. Laurel should have been a bit more specific in her description of the numbers we would be fighting though. We got surrounded by a horde. Such were their numbers that I had to defend myself, and couldn’t even sing my battle song and inspire my comrades. Not that I really minded. Swinging my axe once in a while will keep me from getting fat and slow. What saddened my comrades and me the most was Vilson’s demise. Branwen had started calling our mountain bear Vilson, so I told my companions that next time Minsc befriends any other animals besides Boo, no one is to name them. The animals deserve our respect but we shouldn’t attach ourselves too much.
The good thing was that the nobleman by the southern bridge rewarded us with a pair of Boots of the North, for having saved him from Vilson. Anyway, we continued our journey to the southwest until we reached the Gnoll Stronghold. It was only accessible via a narrow bridge that was guarded by two Half-Ogres we had to slay. One of them dropped a pair of Bracers of Defense AC8 I decided to wear. It offers me some minor protection in case I am without armor and want to try and cast one of the few spells I think I understand. The Gnoll Fortress was relatively scarcely inhabited, so we hadn’t much difficulty to wipe the place clean and rescue Minsc’s witch, a Half-Elven Sorceress named Dynaheir. [I kitted her as a Sorceress because I’ve little experience with them, and I made her a Half-Elf because I don’t like Ocker to be surrounded by humans only.]
We traveled back to Nashkel where we spoke with the town’s mayor, Berrun Ghastkill. He asked us to investigate the Nashkel Mines for him, since apparently many of the miners have gone missing. We agreed to the task. Near the entrance to the Mines we were warned by one the superintendents, a man named Emerson, that there were treacherous traps on the lower levels. This was something no one in our party would be able to deal with. So we returned to Nashkel to speak with Ghastkill and ask for assistance. On our way we ran into Prism, a sculptor who had stolen two emeralds. He didn’t seem to care much about his liberty or even his life; all he wanted to do is finish his work. We let him, but then a relentless Bounty Hunter came for Prism. Shar-Teel knew the man. Apparently he had hurt or killed her former mentor.
Battle ensued. Dynaheir tried in vain to Spook our foe, but Branwen was more successful with a Hold Person. He soon fell to our party’s physical onslaught. Prism fell as well, probably due to overexcitement (heart failure?), but at least he had completed his magnum opus.
In Nashkel Berrun Ghastkill couldn’t help us with a competent Thief, so we agreed with the mayor that we would make it our priority to find one, after which we are to return to the Nashkel Mines. Shar-Teel appears to be increasingly critical of the course our party is taking. Even after we vanquished her old foe Greywolf and avenged her former mentor, she was complaining about my leadership. We haven’t mated since that night after we lost Minsc and Branwen in battle. I wonder why she’s so irritable.
***
In search of a Thief I led my party to the Nashkel Carnival, to look for a Gnome we had seen the first time we were there. He had looked like a clerical figure, perhaps a Hoodwinker of Baravar Cloakshadow. These priests tend to be as much Rogue as Cleric, so I was hopeful. We did meet him, but he was no Rogue. Quayle, as he called himself, combined his clerical profession with the arcane arts. He was very eager to join our party and I welcomed him on the condition that he would instruct me in the magical arts, especially the spell scribing aspect. The thing is, Dynaheir is a more than competent arcane caster, but she doesn't study magic, scribe scrolls or anything, she's a Sorceress after all. Quayle doesn't seem to be one to talk down his skills, so he gladly took up his job of instructing me. It didn’t surprise me that Shar-Teel was less pleased with Quayle’s presence. (Little did she know that in a way there would be truth in her words.)
We entered one of the tents to buy some gear for Quayle to equip himself with, particularly a shield and a helmet. What we encountered was a highly aggressive Wizard who killed a girl, supposedly an evil witch, right in front of us and he also made no secret of his intentions with us. He proceeded to Sleep my entire party except me. This was quite a predicament. The Sleep effect seemed to last for ages while I was entering and leaving the tent all the time to escape the effects of the spells the Wizard cast at me. At one point he appeared to have run out of spells, so I took it upon me to defend my party in melee combat. The Wizard had some kind of magical armor because I only (critically) hit him once, for good damage by the way, whereas he hit me various times. It wasn’t until my comrades woke, that we slew our foe in a joint effort. I shall keep an eye out for a Sleep scroll, very powerful magic.
On the Wizard we found a Knave’s Robe that went to Dynaheir, and from the girl’s corpse I took a Mage Robe of Fire Resistance I gave to Quayle. After some time to confer, we agreed to head to Gullykin, a Halfling village north/northeast of Nashkel according to my map. Halflings are known to have a knack for thievery. It was a rough journey. The Firewine Plains were a dangerous place with many Ogres and Ogre Berserkers. Dynaheir would cast them in her Webs and Shar-Teel (bow), Quayle (sling) and I (throwing axes) would take them on from a distance. One time, though, Dynaheir got caught in one of her own Webs, as did I. I saw Quayle Blind one of the Ogres just in time before it could make short work of Dynaheir.
In the end it was worth it though: we met a cheerful halfling lass in Gullykin, Alora. She was more than happy to join us. Her desire was to explore the Firewine Ruins but I told her the party had other priorities. She made no objections, a welcome difference with Shar-Teel. Alora is a Fighter/Burglar who’s well-versed in the use of the Sling and she’s also quite adept at picking locks, disarming traps and hiding in shadows. We traveled to Beregost where we parted with Branwen. She would wait for us at the Jovial Juggler. At the Temple of the Lathander we spoke with Dawnbringer Keldath Ormlyr who requested our assistance in two urgent matters: first there was a gnomish Wizard who had somehow gained control over a number of Basilisks and used them to petrify people and animals, and second Bassilus, an evil Cleric who had killed many people and animated their corpses. We bought a green Scroll of Protection from Petrification at the Nashkel Carnival and traveled to the area that Keldath had mentioned to us. Shar-Teel, our best all-round warrior, cast the scroll on herself while Quayle used his innate ability to make himself invisible once a day so that he could scout the area and guide her. After a long wait our party got nervous, fearful that something had gone terribly wrong. I begged Alora to go and look for our companions, hidden in shadows. Not much later Alora returned with Shar-Teel, but there was no sign of Quayle. Shar-Teel told us that she hadn’t had any difficulties with the Basilisks, they were all slain.
However, one the beasts had petrified Quayle, whose invisibility had apparently worn off at some point. Shar-Teel herself, enraged, had been blinded by Mutamin before she managed to slay him, which is why she had decided to wait for the party rather than search for us herself. We traveled to the Temple of Lathander where we bought a Scroll of Stone to Flesh, and returned to the Basilisk area to depetrify poor old Quayle. I gave him Mutamin’s Adventurer’s Robe; Minsc is now clad in Full Plate, another drop from Mutamin.
We traveled all the way to the Red Canyons, west of Beregost where Bassilus had last been active according to Keldath’s sources. We spoke with a little girl that confirmed Bassilus’ presence. When I encountered the priest, surrounded by skeletons and zombies, I tried to convince him to come with us peacefully, back to Beregost, but he would have nothing of it, and his undead family turned hostile. Two well-placed Webs by Dynaheir held all our foes in their places, while those of us with ranged weapons attacked from a safe distance, first Bassilus, later his minions. We did well here, it was a clean operation.
Keldath awarded us with 5000 GP, which we used to have Thalantyr remove the curse of the Cursed Berserking sword and enchant it. It cost us two scrolls of Remove Curse, two scrolls of Horror, and 3000 GP.
The time has come to investigate the Nashkel Mines, so that's where we're headed.
Retour en haut
Discovered that the reason for him hurting me was a +2 staff. Since I have **** in staves, that staff could prove useful. 
A sign of old age perhaps.
