Dark Days: a Broken Heart and a Broken Vow
My life's a mess, there’s no denying it. I honestly don’t know what I’d be doing right now if I didn’t have my faith, and my companions I now consider friends to motivate me to keep on serving the Realms, against all odds. Probably I'd be out somewhere alone in the wilds, not bad a prospect at all come to think of it.
It all started in the city of Baldur’s Gate. We ran into a woman near the Splurging Surgeon Inn. She presented herself as Brielbara and took Coran by surprise, telling us that she had mothered a child, his child, and that her husband Yago, a human male, hadn’t been amused when confronted with the baby’s pointy ears. He had placed a fatal curse on the child and he had tormented Brielbara with the fact that he had the means but not the intention to remove the curse and save the child’s life. Brielbara urged us to seek Yago out at the Low Lantern and save her baby. Though the woman wasn’t entirely without fault, the baby surely was. We agreed to the task. On our way I asked Coran why he had never told me anything about Brielbara, and whether he wanted to stay with her and with their child. He simply said it was something of the past and that it didn’t matter now. I decided to let the matter rest for the time being, as the news might have been quite upsetting for Coran at that moment.
In the Low Lantern we faced two aggressive women who wanted us to experience the “pleasure of entropy”. None of us really understood what they were on about, until they tried to communicate with us in another language: that of battle. Dynaheir was very uncomfortably positioned right before Desreta, a fighter. She managed to get away though, and let Khalid, Jaheira and me take Desreta on. The woman stood no chance against our physical force.
The other woman, a mage, caused us more difficulty. She opened with a damaging Sunfire and she attacked Coran with Melf’s Minute Meteors. Coran did what he seemed to be best at, or maybe second best (after flirting): dying. My elemental arrows and Khalid’s and Jaheira’s sword attacks helped us prevail. (At one point a Hamadryad, summoned by Fadorn, had even managed to charm the woman, but that effect would be nullified by the party's physical attacks.)
The same strategy (me pelting with my elemental arrows to avoid spellcasting; Khalid and Jaheira attacking from up close) worked against Yago after he was unwilling to hand us his Book of Curses.
We visited the Splurging Surgeon where I raised Coran with a scroll. His first words were about us: our relationship had begun to bore him, which stung like a knife, but I suppressed my emotions and asked him why, and whether there was someone else, Brielbara maybe. He said that there was indeed someone else, her name: Freedom. That’s where I lost it. All those months he’d been courting me, stealing kisses, declaring me he loved me, and now this! I told him I had thought he loved me as a man would, and urged him to go do what he’s good at: hunting giggling wenches. I also added that I loved him no more. Coran remained silent for a while and proposed we all went to sleep and speak the next day. It was probably for the best because I could have slain him there and then. The next morning I expected him to be gone, but he was still loitering about, hoping to continue traveling with us. (I suspect that the news regarding Brielbara and his child had him eager to be on the road with us.) We spoke with Brielbara who was thankful for our help, and almost as furious at Coran as I had been the night before. Dynaheir, Jaheira and Faldorn took me apart and told me that they would understand me and back me should I decide to throw Coran out of our party. They also urged me to think well before taking that course though. Coran had skills that none of us had, and that we would sorely miss if he weren’t around. My companions could keep the two of us separated for me. I saw their point and reluctantly agreed to having Coran stick around, though I didn’t understand his desire to do so.
That same day, we met a wizard called Ramazith who asked us to free a Nymph that was being held captive by another Mage, Ragefast, and to bring her to him. Freeing a Nymph sounded like a good idea, but we weren’t sure whether we should entrust her to this Ramazith. Ragefast turned out to be hopelessly in love with the Nymph, but somehow he was susceptible to reason. We convinced him that his muse wasn’t well and wouldn’t last in the confines of his home. Annoyingly, Coran found it necessary to dally with the released Nymph, right in front of me.
We went to see Ramazith to explain to him that the Nymph had been ill and that we had had to let her go. He was not amused and he would have probably hurt us if it weren’t for Coran’s poisoned arrows (credit where credit is due).
When we left, Coran started to openly flirt with Dynaheir. Whether it was to hurt me or to please Dynaheir I don’t know. Thankfully Dynaheir put him in his rightful place, though if I hadn’t known her any better I might have taken her words as a covert or offhand criticism of my intelligence:
Just east of Ramazith’s tower we met Marek and Lothander, two rogues who had somehow managed to poison us without us knowing it. We had to retrieve the antidotes within ten days or die. We opted for the former. I’m not going to recount the entire process of us getting the antidotes. Suffice it to say that Lathander was pretty helpful, and that Marek was quite the opposite. He forced us into a fight before surrendering his antidotes. He was a well buffed spellcaster (Mirror Image, Ghost Armor, Stoneskin), with damaging spells such as Magic Missile, Melf’s Acid Arrow and Lightning Bolt. Again, my elemental damage arrows, and Khalid’s and Jaheira’s brute physical force saved the day.
The quality of Coran’s and my relationship reached an all-time low when we were warned of a Basilisk in a storehouse in the Docks district. His (misplaced) words were now aimed at hurting me. He made a reference to the Basilisk and my supposed heart of stone, but if there was one with a heart of stone, it was my wicked, abusive and treacherous elven companion.
I told him to get out of my sight or I’d flay him alive. He took the wiser course and left. Morale in the party couldn’t be lower, but still my remaining companions stuck with me and were considerate with me. I thought I wouldn’t see Coran ever again, but the next day he showed up with a couple of presents he had “acquired” for me: the beautiful Cloak and Helm of Balduran, and a Tome of Understanding. I asked him how he had obtained these items as he could have never afforded them in any store supposing they had even been for sale, but all he would tell me was that the adventuring profession can be quite profitable at times, and that no one would be missing any of the items. I accepted the Cloak and the Helm, the protections they give were too good to pass up on. If someone would indeed come to me to claim any of these items as the rightful owner, I could always give them back. I asked Coran whether he wanted to tell me something by giving me a Tome of Understanding, but he just smiled and said that there was no hidden meaning behind it and that he could have given me any other interesting tome just as well. At least my former lover seemed to be showing me in his way that he was sorry about his actions.
I proposed to my companions, including Coran, to leave the city together, to see if the great outdoors would be able to raise our spirits again. Faldorn and Jaheira, very uncomfortable in the city just like me, immediately agreed, and Khalid said he was much more at ease in the forest as well. Dynaheir just smiled at our consensus and said ‘Let’s go then!’
We decided to explore the Firewine Plains and the Ruins we had been told about before in Beregost. Many Ogres roamed the plains but our party, aided by a pack of strong Worgs I had bonded with, cleansed the area of its Ogre presence. We also slew hordes of Skeletons and Kobolds. Nature’s majesty and the satisfaction of making the Sword Coast a safer place brought back the smiles on our faces. However, near the entry to the Ruins Coran fell back in his old behavior of flirting with anything that looks remotely feminine. This time his target was Amelia, who would turn out to be a demoness that had charmed a human male we met inside the Ruins so that he would pilfer them for her. We slew the creature with some difficulty, as she kept on charming members of our party and she had more Charms than Faldorn Dispels.
Inside the Firewine Ruins we ran into two evil wizards that had been using Kobolds as their minions, apparently in an attempt to raid nearby the nearby Halfling village of Gullykin as we would learn later. The first Mage, Lendarn, wasted some of his destructive magics on Khalid and Jaheira , got webbed by Dynaheir for a while (during which many of his spell protections expired), and was subsequently slain by an arrow in the skull.
A second wizard, an Ogre Mage, managed to panic Khalid but was otherwise harmless thanks to Coran’s arrows and mine, and to Jaheira’s melee attacks with her Scimitar.
We left through a secret corridor that led us to a Gullykin home. A Halfling named Jenkal, who had obviously been working with the Wizard in the dungeon, was very surprised to see us instead of his wizard and Kobold friends. He attacked, but when we hit him, he somehow eluded us. The other Halflings were very enthusiastic when they met us, and thankful to us for (unknowingly) saving their village from a probable raid. Gandolar Luckyfoot, their spokesman, gave me his Lucky Ring and a young lass by the name of Alora proposed to join us. She told me she was a Cat Burglar with great skill in Picking Locks, and Detecting Traps and Illusions. She was quite good at sneaking too, so she would make a great scout for our party, she held. I welcomed her into the party, and I told Coran that this was a good moment for us to go separate paths. This was more painful for me than any arrow or blade that had wounded me thus far, not because I wanted him around me but because the goodbye felt almost unbearably final. Either way I knew I had to do this for my own wellbeing and for that of the party.
With Alora in our midst we traveled to Beregost and the High Hedge to conclude some business. At Feldepost’s we bought the Masterbelt for Alora. It increases her lock picking and traps disarming and setting skills [by 10% each]. At Feldepost’s I bought the Dagger of Venom and an Amulet of Protection +1. At the High Hedge we sold almost all our loot. Thalantyr enchanted the Dagger of Venom, making it an even deadlier weapon [+3, and 1 extra APR]. It is now Alora’s main weapon. He also merged the Amulet of protection +1 and a Shield Amulet we had found I think on Davaeron, into an Improved Shield Amulet for Faldorn [which sets AC to 4 and gives +1 to saves]. And on top of that he combined a pair of Gauntlets of Weapon Skill, Bracers of AC7 (we had found on Ramazith) and my Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise into a pair of Gauntlets of Grandmastery [+2 Thac0, +2 Damage, +1 AC]. This left us with only a few thousand gold, insufficient to buy Alora an Ioun Stone or to buy the Weary Cudgel club for me as an offhand weapon.
We returned to the city of Baldur’s Gate in good spirits. Alora was very cheerful and talkative, and she did a great job at creating a new group energy and at helping me forget Coran. The merriness wouldn’t last though. It’s as if that city is cursed. At the Sorcerous Sundries we met a kindly priest by the name of Ordulinian who asked us to intervene in a feud between two quarreling lovers, Arkion and Nemphre, wizards both, to prevent things from escalating into violence. In brief, our mission was to rid Arkion of an amulet and Nemphre of a ring, without bloodshed. Alora offered to pickpocket the items if she could have two potions of master thievery. We agreed to the plan. It worked perfectly with Arkion, but Nemphre caught Alora red-handed. The wizard immediately triggered a string of magical protections, including Shield, Mirror Image, Stoneskin and Minor Globe of Invulnerability, and started casting another spell, no doubt to hurt or debilitate us. We saw no other option than to run outside, but Nemphre followed us.
Outside, she started casting Confusion, so I urged everyone to rush back inside. Unfortunately I was the only one who made it inside, and even I got confused by Nemphre.
I missed most of the fight, but I understand the others, excluding Dynaheir and Khalid (who has activated his sword’s Enrage ability), all got confused as well, and that Nemphre managed to cast many more debilitating spells, including Enfeeblement and Blindness on Khalid and a Slow that affected a few of my other comrades. After the Confusion had worn off a Dispel Magic by Faldorn and the physical attacks of the party’s warriors (including myself) sufficed to take Nemphre down, without any notable physical injuries on our side. But the real damage we suffered was of a different kind. In the chaos Alora had started to attack innocents, which had resulted in the deaths of three bystanders.
Alora and two of her victims:
More than three years ago Selûne, you sent your nameless disciple to me. It was a full Moon. I had snuck out of Candlekeep, over the wall. Your disciple scared me. I had never faced a Wolf before, not from up close, but I didn’t run. And I didn’t even run when the Wolf became a Man. “You’re a Child of the Moon, Serene. Know that Selûne is with you. Soon you will hunt with Bears. You will speak with Birds. And you will run with Wolves.” Those were his very words. I haven’t forgotten them. And they were all true, I’ve done all these things your disciple mentioned, and you’ve been with me, ever since that day, until now. You’ve punished me and for good reason. I vowed to protect the innocent, all the innocent. Animals, Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, all races. And I know that I've failed. As a Ranger I cannot hide behind someone else’s magic to exculpate myself. I should have never gotten into a situation where I or those I have in my care are exposed to such corruptive magic, and least of all places in the bustle of a big city as Baldur’s Gate. Your punishment is just. I should not have commanded my party to step outside that house, endangering the innocent people of Baldur’s Gate. I only ask you, Moonmaiden, for a chance to redeem myself. I shall not deviate from the path you’ve shown me. I shall continue to do good, to protect, and to act out of love and compassion, never out of fear or selfishness. You’ve taken many of my powers, I intend to show myself worthy of getting them back.
[Alora’s slaying of three innocents caused the party’s reputation to drop to 4, and had Serene fall as a Ranger, which means no more Stealth, no more Animal Empathy, no more Favored Enemy, and no Priest Spells, the first of which Serene was to receive at level 8.]
After the battle was done, I had to be strong. Sweet young Alora, who had just joined me a few days before and who had been so eager to prove herself, was inconsolable. She had been the one to propose the pickpocketing of Arkion’s and Nempre’s items and the one who had ended up killing three innocent people, she kept saying. I tried to convince her that it was not her fault, that we had all agreed to her plan, and that under the effect of Confusion she never acted out of her own will. But Jaheira and Faldorn and I had also been confused, and we hadn’t started killing any innocents, she insisted. I embraced her and whispered in her ear that she had to stop torturing herself. The only way was that of redemption. I told her that maybe there was some good we could still do in the city of Baldur’s Gate.
We rested at Silence’s shop in east Baldur’s Gate, and descended into the sewers the next day, to investigate a number of disappearances for Scar. We ended up slaying at least twenty Carrion Crawlers, Jenkal the Halfling who had found a new Ogre Mage to associate with, and said Ogre Mage. The Carrion Crawlers were no problem thanks to Khalid’s Free Action (Spiders’ Bane). And Jenkal was no match for our party of six plus Faldorn’s Dread Wolf.
The Ogre Mage was of a different caliber. He was well-buffed and had a few nasty tricks up his sleeve, most prominently an Emotion: Hopelessness he cast in my direction. I ran to keep my comrades from being exposed to the spell as well, and then fell to the ground. Faldorn’s Dispel Magic stripped our foe of all magical protections, after which he was easy pickings for Khalid, Jaheira and Faldorn’s Dread Wolf.
Having Khalid as your party's (single) frontliner is often hilarious!
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