Let's Play: The Pools Saga (SSI Gold Box classics)

[Endrosz]

Chapter 16: The Road Warriors
 

 

 

The world map is ours! Northeast corner: Phlan, the seat of our previous adventures.  Southwestern corner: Tilverton, where we are right now. The powers that bonded us can be found somewhere in the region.

 

This will be a faily short and uninteresting chapter. But it had be done, I remembered that there are "road" encounters all over the place, and I wanted to visit all the towns, since there are some minor events.

 

However, the wilderness battles are the most annoying part of the game. I swear I'm more freaked out by these than fighting a dozen of dragons (it's not a hyperbole, we're getting there very soon!).

 

1. There are many more trees in Curse than in PoR. The upper tile of trees block line of sight and movement. Since there is no minimap, it becomes a guessing game to position characters for ranged attacks and spells.

2. Dead tree trunks are a new type of tile, and they block movement.

3. Rock, pond, undergrowth tiles require +1 MP, and they're everywhere.

4. AoE spells vs. line of sight is bugged. If a mob is out of sight for the caster, then the AoE won't hurt it. Srs ltdwn.

 

Sometimes it takes 3-4 turns to finally engage the opponents. Thank all the gods of the Planes, 95% of battles take place on non-wilderness maps.

 

Unlike in PoR, we can't walk around the map freely, instead, we travel from town to town (or point of interest). For each trip, there are usually two choices: by road/by boat, or wilderness. If the former is selected, then whomever controls that road/river will check on us. If we're considered an ally, they'll let us pass, if not, they attack immediately. If we take the wilderness route, then there is a random chance for a monster attack, typical for that region. Road controllers include the Red Plume mercenaries of Hillsfar, the troops of Zhentil Keep, cultists, and buccaneers for the boat routes.

 

Most towns are "menu towns". Inn -- rest; store -- buy/sell; hall -- levelup; tavern/bar -- listen to rumors, meet NPCs, pick fights; temple -- heal. Depending on the bonds we have remaining and deeds you have done, some inns will refuse to let us rest, or the opposite, to rest for free. The non-menu towns always have a dungeon map connected to the town.

 

We first set out for Ashabenford, and attacked by hippogriffs midway, at Tilver's Gap.

 

 

Hippogriffs are fast and have multiple attacks, but otherwise harmless.

 

In Ashabenford, we idenfity the loot, remove the cursed bracers from Narancs, and realize that fighters and mages qualify for another level of training! This is the final hit die roll for the fighters, Alma rolls a 6 and Barack an 8, the mages have two left, until level 11. I select Hold Monster for Citrom, Cone of Cold for Narancs. Here's the current HP/AC roster:


 

We have nice magical weapons, but no magical armor. Not even a single shield +1. It shows in the damage we take, ettins weren't dangerous at Stojanow Gate in PoR, now they are.

 

Further east of Ashabenford is a place called the "The Standing Stone". A robed figure is here, and greets us by spouting cryptic exposition.

 

 

Alma: -- Fire at will.

 

The figure pulls an Obi-wan on us instead of fighting, then a voice says:

 

"Seek red to south".

 

Okay, will do that, but only after we wandered the Dalelands enough. Going even further east, into Hillsfar territory, we're refused a room at the local inn.

 

Szilva: -- See, this shows how hasty in our judgments we all are. Just because we carry the sign of the Zhentarim on our arms, doesn't mean we're in league with them. We could have tattooed it there as part of an oath to exterminate them! Why are people's minds are so easily clouded? Bask in Lathander's light and gain supreme understanding, my child.

Innkeeper: -- Here's two coppers, that was a nice speech. Now, get out of here.

 

I've taken this screenshot to show certain tiles: pond on the left, trunk below, undergrowth in several places, and river tiles which cost 4 MP to cross, except for the plank bridge that is somewhere on the map. And trees, trees everywhere.

 

North of Hillsfar, in the Moonsea area, our Z-bonds work like a passport.

 

On the road between Yulash and Voonlar, green robed cultists greet us and call us the "the chosen ones". We've heard that one before, and it's never a good sign...

 

 

Between Dagger Falls and Teshwave, we find a hidden cave, where monsters are trained for an attack on Dagger Falls by Zhentrarim troops. We can't have that, can't we? They have no means of controlling us through the bonds, luckily, that's for a higher up.

This is a big battle, a dozen Z fighters plus a dozen worgs plus a dozen bugbears. And no easy Fireballing them, as I explained at the beginning of the chapter, since it's a wilderness battle. Narancs is almost killed by 3 worgs, but Citrom rescues him with a Stinking Cloud at the last second.

 

Another road, another farm in need of a rescue.


 

The giants turn out to be ettins, who decimate the party's hit points heavily. But this is not a dungeon, all we need is to survive one battle.

 

The most suprising encounter happens in Shadowdale's bar. A grey robed figure explains to us that the brace sigil looks almost like that of the legendary Elminster. He tells us that Elminster is mightily pissed that someone is usurping his sigil, and we get tip that the usurper can be found to the south, in Hap. That's consistent with what the other robed figure said, is he your brother, sir? He's gone in instant, and we don't deduce that we just talked to the most powerful man in the Forgotten Realms. Nah, it must've been someone else who likes grey robes, has a long beard and stuff.

 

As we are making the last legs of the round-trip, from Shadowdale to Tilverton, we find another hidden cave, where a dark elf fighter trains some monsters. Is this a profession in the Dalelands, training monsters in caves? Can you get an instructor's certificate somewhere? We could make good money with this, we're adept at handling monsters! There's info in the cave.

 

We're really tired by now of all the road battles, and decide to follow the leads we were told. Going south from the Standing Stone, Essembra is just a stop, but as we move forward to Hap, a trio of black dragons swoop down from the sky and attack us. It's an anticlimactic introduction to multi-dragon battles, to shove them in our face like this, but at least it's an interesting fight, because the trees block sight for dragon breath, too! (Don't think about the "reality" of that.) I like my acid stream with a bit of creme fraiche

 

In this fight, Narancs almost dies again, saved by a good initative roll and a Cone of Cold left in the spell list.

 

This is a good moment to talk about the improved monster graphics. Both the blobber-view square portraits and the battle sprites were improved after Pool of Radiance, and these black dragons look more impressive than Tyranthraxus's bronze dragon form. It might be that black is more rad than bronze, tho.

 

Hap! Hap! Hap!

 

 

Finally, a non-menu town! We want some real XP and loot, and this place smells of that.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Endrosz

[Enoch]

Ooh, now *this* is a nostalgia dump.  While I had forgotten a lot of the details to PoR, for some reason I played through the first couple stages of CotAB enough times to carve a lot of those scenes into my long-term memory. 

 

And, yeah, those wilderness encounters sucked.  Except the ones with Displacer Beasts, because those things are totally rad. 

Edited December 29, 2014 by Enoch

[jhirvonen]

Those who play Gold Box games with DOSBox might be interested in Gold Box Companion:

http://personal.inet.fi/koti/jhirvonen/gbc/

 

In short, it's a Gold Box games related tool that is run along with DOSBox. It has "encamp-fix" for Pool of Radiance, can rememorize spells etc.

 

Little off-topic, but for those interested in SSI's Eye of the Beholder games:

http://personal.inet.fi/koti/jhirvonen/ase/

[Endrosz]

Chapter 17: Help, We're Drow-ning
 

Finishing this chapter took longer than the previous two combined. A jump in difficulty, that's still an understatement, explanation below. I'm following the game's and basically every walkthrough's order by dealing with "red" first. I know it for a fact that Yulash and the "green" enemies are much simpler, there are no magic-resistant, magic item-hoarding, heavily armored spellcasters by the dozen there, and you get a special wand to take care of the heavy hitters... But I decided to run through here anyway.
 
Just a few steps down the road, we bump into a dark elf patrol. They don't attack on sight, instead they're strolling our way leisurely, like they own the world.
 
Barack: -- Look at that mesmerizing silvery hair! I will ask for a lock from that woman who leads the patrol! And that jet black skin, you can't get that by suntanning! I'm so envious!
Alma: -- Are those... what I think?
Narancs: -- Yes, they are. Although I don't understand why they're walking in sunlight, that's supposed to be hurting their eyes and skin or something.
Alma: -- What should we do? They don't act hostile. Yet.
Narancs: -- If we act like subjects, they should leave us alone, they're a slaver race. We need information about what is going on here before we pick a fight.
 
(Parlay/Meek is selected from the encounter menu)
 

 
We enter the inn, where...


 
Talking is useless, they beg us not to resist the drow masters.
 
Alma: -- All right, this can't go on. I don't understand why they're here, but the entire village, including the Temple of Sune, has ****ted their pants. We can't get any service or any question answered. I'm sick of their groveling, and therefore I suggest that we start eliminating the patrols. The occupying force doesn't look big.
Barack: -- I'd rather be friends with them. They look so magnificent.
Citrom: -- *laughs* They don't have a word for 'friend'. Do you want details on what they do with their slaves?
Barack: -- No, no thanks!... At least, it'll be easy to get that lock I want as memento.
 
The first battle, with 4 drow fighters plus 2 clerics and 2 mages is a stark demo of things to come.
 
Cleric: AC 0, 42 HP, drow mace +3, hold person, bestow curse, magic resistance.
Mage: AC 1 (!), 28 HP, drow long sword +3, lightning bolt x2, stinking cloud x2, magic missiles, magic resistance.
 
Hurting them with spells is not reliable, neither with weapons attacks, while they're full of disabling spells, plus strong damage spells on the mages. If they run out of spells, or get silenced, they can still put a lot of hurt on the party thanks to the +3 weapons.
 
In this first encounter, we manage to disable 3 fighters and 1 cleric and 1 mage with Stinking Clouds (lucky) and hurt the other mage, but the other cleric gets off a hold person, aaaaaaand everyone saves. The battle goes smooth thereafter.

 

After the battle, we loot the drow equipment: their chain mails are like a plate mail +1, an upgrade for the frontline, plus the base item is chain mail, so they get 9 Move Points in battle instead of 6! Trust me, that matters a lot. Their weapons are all +3, that's an upgrade for Barack, Szilva and Eper. Supposedly this equipment is drained in sunlight, but in the village it works flawlessly, both for them and for us. I'm not complaining.
 
The next two patrols have only 1 spellcasters each, so they don't pose a lot of problem.
 
 

 
Alma: -- You don't look like you've seen a lot of battle.
Akabar: -- I've seen plenty of battle. The trick is to kill them before they get to you. I'm expert at employing active magic defenses.
Citrom: -- But can you color your fireballs like me? *casts a lavender-colored fireball into the sky*
Narancs: -- Or shape them into various geometric shapes like me? *casts a 12-tip star-shaped fireball into the sky*
Alma: -- What is this, m-peen competition?
 
I forgot to mention that at the inn, this brave soul volunteered to join us. I was hesitant because of the AI friendly fire ignorance, but decided to be an optimist in the end. Akabar Bel Akash the 6th level magic-user,  with your vigorous 15 Hit Points and majestic Armor Class of 10, welcome.
 
His spell list is perfect, though, I didn't need to touch his memorized list. My mages take care of all the specials anyway (Knock, Detect Magic, Slow/Haste, etc.).
 

 
 
According to the townsfolk, the invaders' leadership camps out in a barn. Time to butcher some animals...
 
The leader is an efreet. We've seen one as an ally from the bottle, this one mocks us. His retinue consists of 4 drow clerics and 4 drow mages. Ouch.
 
We manage to get one hit each into two clerics on the front row. A third one finishes a Hold Person, Alma and Narancs are held. The latter was casting a Fireball... Next up, Szilva casts Silence 15' radius, and silences the last cleric and three mages. That's a big relief. Citrom follows up with a fireball, killing two mages outright, and hurting the fourth one. Akabar casts another Fireball, but with little effect, and hurts some frontliners. Only one enemy spell cast on the first turn, that's a nice result.
 
Next turn, first is another enemy Hold Person, Akabar and Eper are held. Szilva casts Dispel Magic on Alma, since she's on the frontline, it succeeds, Alma is battle-ready again. Narancs, Akabar and Eper are all out reach for melee, thanks to Barack advancing before Eper. Citrom's Hold Monster fails to do anything, we manage a few hits to prevent spellcasting. Silence is still 'on'.
 
This is how it looks like at the start of the third turn, when Szilva casts a Hold Person, which turns out to be another total failure. We didn't even scratch the efreet yet, because really, who cares about a regular melee attack when two squads of drow casters are breathing down your neck?
 
 

 
The hero of the battle is Szilva by a large margin. His Silence was the key to not dying on the first turn, and dispelling the Hold from Alma before a coup-de-grace took her down was another big win.
 
After the battle, the village comes alive. The general store opens, we identify and sell loot we found on the road, and get a map to some hidden caves beneath a sleeping volcano. Fire creatures love the place. I still keep Akabar on the roster. He was useful as an additional target!
 


 
This is the first time we fight salamanders, who are immune to fire damage.
 

 
This narrow tunnel-fight shows me something that I missed about having a 7th member in the party. The battle setup is automatic in the Gold Box games, I have no control over it, and thus, Eper is now considered frontline, and the outermost one, to make it even worse. I decide to drop Akabar after this battle. Eper is very vulnerable with is 1 AC and low HP, he belongs to the backline.

Akabar, sensing that he's going to be fired, casts Stinking Cloud on the front drow fighter plus Alma and Szilva. Szilva fails the save and is disabled. Yes, THIS is why I don't allow NPC casters in the party.
 
Akabar: -- Oops... These is inadequate lighting in these tunnels, I can't see clearly.
Alma: -- *coughing and crying from the irritation* Run, you miscreant, run while we're still fighting! After that, my sword will be talking to you!
Akabar: -- These adventurer types are so finicky... I'm leaving, no thanks necessary!
Alma: -- Waaaaaaaaaaagh!
 
Now that order is restored, we start exploring the caves carefully. Eper notices that small arrows, blending to the environment almost perfectly, point first west, then south.
 
Szilva: -- It could be a trap.
Eper: -- Can't be a bigger trap than your mouth.
Narancs: -- It follows that if the tunnels are ruled by the drow, then whomever is hiding from them is a potential ally.
Alma: -- Agreed. We will follow the arrows.
Barack: -- Oh, it's a game! Maybe there is a reward for following the clues?
 


 
Szilva: -- No, no, no, no, no. And I can repeat that a few hundred times if necessary. We won't walk into a trap set by seductive females. That's like Adventuring 101.
Citrom: -- That's a sexist statement.
Szilva: -- And that makes it untrue? We are not in danger, because what I said is sexist?
Citrom: -- Of course.
Szilva: -- I rest my case. You're not worth saving.
 
Szilva's fears are unfounded. We are led to a woman who introduces herself as Silk.


 
She begins to explain the situation. What's an "elfin" woman, by the by, and how does it compare to an "elven" woman, anyone knows?
 

 
Silk asks our esteemed leader, Alma to join the Swanmays.
 
Alma: -- We didn't have any secret clubs where I grew up. Hello, black sisters!


 
Barack: -- Oh, is that so easy and painless? I was afraid to have tattoos, but now I'm confident! I wish they asked meeeeeee!
Eper: -- I thought we were trying to remove our bonds, not add to them.
Alma: -- This is different, it's a secret alliance that I entered as an equal.
Eper: -- Are you sure of that? I wouldn't accept some magical schmizmo that comes from a dark elven woman, no matter how friendly she acts... It could be a geas, compelling you to betray us later! They're all schemers, you know the stories!
Alma: -- I trust them no less than I trust you.
Eper: -- What's that supposed to mean?
 
The mark of the Swanmays works here like the Zhentarim bond in the Moonsea region, as a passport. Not all patrols respond it, though! However, the patrols here are not eager to fight, and if we choose to get out of sight (Flee), they don't pursue.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Endrosz

[Endrosz]

We spot a barracks. Let's kick dark elf ass until it turns red! This is the first barrack, a dozen fighters are here. Does that mean that there will be cleric and mage barracks, too? Hmm...

 

The battle goes pretty well by and large, Citrom is able to throw a Confuse before they break up and engage us. It's rare that she gets to cast Confuse, because it's a large AoE and affects allies. Unlike with damage spells, I'm not risking a buffed-up frontliner turning on us. In this battle, I witness the first Fireball that does 0 damage, because all of the dark elves (about 6-7) inside resist it. You're munchkins, drow, and you know it.

 

 

Before this battle, I tried to buff up with Enlarge. And it said "... is unaffected". What-what-what? Enlarge is pretty important, it can boost Strength into giant levels with high level mages, which is awesome. This is a very annoying bug, and I have not seen it happen before.

 

15 salamanders, a full platoon of spear-wielding heat-bathers.  I empty my entire spell arsenal into them (minus the fireballs and hold persons), but they're pretty resistant to Stinking Cloud and Ice Storm doesn't deal a lot of damage. They did a lot of damage, Szilva had to heal himself with Cure Serious.

 

The lair of the salamanders is hot. There are 6 caskets here, and the characters trying to open them constantly take damage. But nothing a "Fix" can't fix. The loot is good:

 

-- Scroll of protection from dragon breath. I have a weeeee bit of suspicion this'll be handy soon.

-- Scroll of protection from paralysis. Another important hard counter, but for later.

-- Long Sword +2 Dragon Slaying. Woo-hoo.

-- Mace +3, non-drow. Will be useful after we leave Haptooth.

-- Mage spells: Hold Monster (now both mages have it), Cloudkill (yes!), Minor Globe of Invulnerability (for Narancs, and not a moment too soon...)

 

And an Ioun stone that raises Strength. But if I equip it, this happens:

 

 

Look at the THAC0 and the damage bonus. So Enlarge is bugged and doesn't work, the Ioun Stone is bugged and gives godlike Strength, which I consider an exploit and won't use. Sheeeet...

 

On a whim, I check my last option, the 2nd level Strength spell, both mages have it. It sets Strength to 100, and does nothing. The derived stats stay the same. COME ON! At least leave me one option to raise Strength, out of three...

The say: "Move on sister, we have no quarrel with you." We would, but this a challenge we cannot pass on.

 

A full dozen drow clerics. A whirlwind of Hold Persons, resistant to both might and magic. Is this doable? I will bend myself trying, that's for sure! They start out far, so several key spells won't reach them on the first turn (both Clouds, Silence), and Fireballing is still no guarantee.

 

I won't detail the first two tries. Normal methods just don't work. The bastards are walking through the clouds like they're a refreshing sauna... (blue is Cloudkill, green is Stinking Cloud). And only the two mages are left standing, they don't have any chance.

 

We need stealth, which means Invisibility 10' radius, for the frontline and Eper. When they're invisible, no spells or ranged abilities can target them, and only melee attacks are possible after the enemy bumps into them.

 

The mages use Minor Globe of Invulnerability, which makes them immune to everything these casters can do. However, they're still targeted, which means the drow will waste spells on then. But I can't put them out front, they would get creamed by melee attacks. The solution is simple: the invisible members will wall off the mages, not doing anything on their turn (Done/Quit) to stay invisible. The enemy casters will bump into them, and start whacking them, but since they have good AC and are fully buffed, I don't expect any problems.

 

The "Invisible Wall" tactic works beyond my expectations. I finish the battle without taking any damage! After the clerics wasted their Hold Persons on my immune mages, the other party members break invisibility and finish them off. They are targeted by a few Bestow Curses, but none of them even work (and even if they would, it wouldn't be a big deal).

 

Here's a shot mid-battle, Barack is standing in the Cloudkill (she's immune at level 9). During the battle, Cloudkill claimed one cleric, the Stinking Clouds zero. They waltzed around in them... Out of  the many Hold spells (I switched the Fireballs to Holds), I managed to paralyze a total 4 of clerics. There is no visual effect for invisibility, which is a bit confusing, but not that hard to keep track of.

 

 

Yes, Citrom is unaffected. Come at me, bitches!

 

In a side room, a few fighters are training ankhegs. Their spit is like a dragon breath, but only manages to spit, Stinking Cloud does its job. It feels so good to fight non-drow mobs, no magic resistance.

 

Upcoming: the Mage Barracks! A total of 24 Lightning Bolts, plus plentiful Stinking Clouds and Magic Missiles. They can kill our party with Magic Missiles alone, given enough time... And they still have +3 warrior gear when can't cast for whatever reason. For comparison: so far, the most magic user enemies we faced was two, and they had no magic resistance, low AC, low HP, bad THAC0 and pitiful weapon attacks.

 

The Invisible Wall tactics nets another win. But this one isn't as smooth. On turn 3, instead of D-Q for Done-Quit, I hit Q with Alma, which is for Quick fight. She attacks and breaks invi. Noes! On turn 2, I cast Confusion in the midst of the mages. The only one that failed to save is next my frontline, and he flees on turn 3. This draws disengagement attacks from Barack and Szilva, and reveals them as well. I learned something there.

 

However, by this time, the Lightning Bolts are all spent and we're working our way through the mages with Fireballs (with their less HP, I went back to FBs from Hold Persons). Their Stinking Clouds disable three party members, and two of them are finished off, but that's the most they can achieve.

 

In this battle, of the enemy mages becomes a Darwin Prize nominee. He casts a Stinking Cloud on my frontliners next to him, which means he is inside the AoE -- and then fails both the resistance and the save.

 

 

 

All the barracks are cleared out, the battles that remain are cakewalks compared to them. 4 efreeti and 2 fighters guard a gate to the dark elf city below the tunnels, but the gate is collapsed when we get near. "None shall reach the divine city!". Who cares about your mushroom-lit cave city? It's worthless as a real estate. We care about the loot.

In a large room, after dispose of the pathetic guards (2 casters, pfeh), a voice in our head says. "Beware! Great danger lies ahead!". Better buff up then! Haste is used. We peek into the next room, and notice an ominous huge shape move in the darkness...

 

 

 

 

[Gorth]

Ah, Alias.  The thing I most remember about her

CLEAVAGE

 

The 80's were a good time

 

I remember liking the trilogy though, having read the books and not just watching the cover art

 

Never could find the game, so thanks for posting and sharing. I got a bit of catching up to do, needing to go back to 20th of December and then read through your story, so thanks for all the work you are putting into it.

 

 

[Endrosz]

I remember liking the trilogy though, having read the books and not just watching the cover art

 

I've bought and read lot of the AD&D brand novels, and I can honestly say that the Finder's Stone trilogy, with Azure Bonds as the starter was among the better ones. It had viewpoint characters, a "save yourself" story instead of the standard "save the world" story, and good amounts of humor. Just for the record, my favorite AD&Đ brand novels are the Prism Pentad from Troy Denning, which was the "world-builder" set of novels for the Dark Sun setting.

 

 

There! Now that I've paid proper respects to my teen favorites, I feel much better.

 

If you wanted to see skin, Dark Sun as a desert setting offered a lot, see the covers above. Even for the female gaze... And it was more believable, too, if you care about that.

[Enoch]

Those Ankhegs look so cute!

[Keyrock]

I could never get into Dark Sun back in the day.  I'm still not sure why, I mean it was a pretty cool concept and completely different from the usual pseudo-medieval Europe fantasy stuff, which is great, but it just never clicked with me.

[Nepenthe]

Yeah, the finder's stone trilogy and the harper sequels still get occasionally reread at casa nep.

[Endrosz]

Chapter 18: How To Slay Your Dragon

 

 

Szilva: -- That's a dracolich!

Barack: -- What's a dracolich?

Szilva: -- It's an undead dragon.

Barack: -- It's the child of an undead father and a dragon mother?

Szilva: -- Nevermind.

 

Alma: -- This is an abomination! It cannot be allowed to exist!

Szilva: -- Lathander, stalwart enemy of all unlife beyond death, will be pleased to see this blasphemical creature obliterated, his light will guide our hands. During my studies as an acolyte, we were specifically instructed on the Cult of the Dragon, which creates dracoliches. In 916 Dale Reckoning, he sent an avatar to deal with the cult. Alas, they're like pests, always repopulate.

Citrom: -- This avant-garde reimagining of the dragon's classic form is superb. But I don't think it would be pleased with a place in my garden.

Narancs: -- Lemmesee... It's immune to the element of its original form, most likely fire. It's immune to mind effects, paralysis, cold, poison and smell because it's undead. Would Magic Missile work? I'm kind of stumped, and not too happy about fighting it.

Eper: -- I see the hoard behind it. What are we waiting for?

 

 

 

 

The battle goes without a hitch. Hasted fighters, one armed with the Dragon Slayer sword, magic missiles, and one final thrust by Szilva. That last action of my party takes it down. It had dragon breath, I spread my characters around, but it didn't get a chance to use it.

 

"Solo boss" encounters are usually easy. I learned it while I was a GM to always break the challenge into multiple parts, that each require attention. Henchmen or allies, an environment effect or other permanent defense, summoned creatures, traps, hidden reinforcements, triggered defenses, a way to escape that must be blocked, and so on.

 

The dracolich's treasure is only valuables, 8000 gold and 9000 platinum, LOL. No magic items. We're taking the gems and jewelry, as usual, and leaving the money behind.

 

After a few steps, we reach a passage going up to a tower. A long cinematic sequence starts here. I don't like long cinematics, but this one is interesting to watch and offers a big choice at the end. Before I go into this, I use the Scroll of Prot. Dragon Breath on Barack. The buffs from the dracolich battle are still ongoing. This is pure metagaming, we don't get a chance to prep for the battle ahead otherwise.

 

 

 

 

It's a non-choice, all options lead to Dracandros invoking the bonds to control us. And then teleports us away.

 

Eper: -- We're done for!

Alma: -- No guts, no treasury!

One dragon approaches us.

 

Eper: -- Wait, are all of those dragons illusions?

Citrom: -- You wish. I feel their acrid breath right here.

 

 

 

So Dracandros's agenda was to sic dragonkind on Elminster, that's why he used a sigil that looks like his. Clever, but no candy.

 

Barack: -- Bye then, we're going! Have a nice chat, draggies and Draccie!

 

 

A total of 14 Black Dragons? There can be only one --

option.

 

During the first try, I'm too reckless, and Eper is killed by dragon breath. On the second try, I hang back with everyone except Barack, switching to ranged weapons on Alma and Szilva. I spread them out, too, just in case.  Barack, protected by the scroll, is the vanguard, advances to the dragon ranks. Fireball's very long range comes in handy, we manage to kill a total of 3 dragons on the first turn: 2 with Fireballs and failed saves, and 1 with fireball damage plus the Dragon Slayer long sword wielded by the still hasted Barack (she has only 2 attacks on turn 1, then 4 attacks on turn 2, that's how 3/2 attack rate doubled by Haste works).

 

Second turn takes down another 6 dragons, but they're up close now, two of them bypass Barack and attack Szilva. On turn 3, we suffer 3 breath attacks that don't target Barack, but no one takes two, so it's okay. Some dragons choose to breath on the back rank, ignoring Barack in front of them, that's a nice move from an otherwise weak AI. Turn 4 is the final one, and by that time, Hold Monsters were thrown to reduce the remaining threat. This is the last dragon:

 

Here's the party status after the battle, which yields no treasure at all:

 

 

 

Eper: -- *screaming* Where is maaahhh trehshuuure?

Narancs:  -- Their lair is not here, what did you expect?

Eper: -- Mountain ranges of gold! Seas of platinum! Forests of jewelry! *cries in exasperation*

Barack: -- There, there, have a peppermint candy. I save it for emergencies, it always makes my mood brighter.

 

 

[Gorth]

Eper: -- Mountain ranges of gold! Seas of platinum! Forests of jewelry! *cries in exasperation*

[Endrosz]

A little essay on this epic battle and dragons in general in the Gold Box games.
 
A lot is missing from the Curse dragons. They don't have dragon fear, no wing buffet (prone status doesn't exist in the GB engine), no spell-casting abilities, no magic resistance. They do have 5 physical attacks per turn, which includes the wing attack without the special effect.
 
They have 48 Hit Points, which is ridiculously low. For comparison, a Drow Cleric has 42, and an Efreet 72, in this same dungeon. However, their breath weapon damage is tied to their maximum Hit Points, so if they have more maximum HP, they do more damage! This was a really bad design choice for the Gold Box series. Breath damage should be based on age-dependent rolls, just like in the Monster Manual, and Hit Points independent of that. Their breath is extremely dangerous thanks to this upgrade, even without the other features. (48 points equals the average of 16d4+8, which is the breath damage of an Old Black Dragon, 400+ years old. More on age categories below.)
 
Since they breathed acid, I only had the scroll, a unique item, as protection. If they would've been red or white dragons, I could've used the cleric spells Resist Cold (1st level) or Resist Fire (2nd level) and the mage spell Fire Shield (which can be created as a Frost Shield instead, 4th level) to increase survival. But against acid, there is no systemic protection at all. At least, not in Curse, I vaguely recall that Pools of Darkness added rings against lightning and acid. This nonsense was rectified in 3rd edition, where the elemental defense spells protect against all elements.
 
Dragons have age categories, a total of twelve, going from hatchling to great wyrm. A black dragon with AC 3, 48 HP, no spells and no magic resistance is age "2", which is "very young" (-4 HD). So weak dragons like we just fought do exist, but it's not believable that the host of dragons Dracandros summoned to his tower roof consisted entirely of kid dragons. Dragons that young are usually timid and elusive, since they're very vulnerable. However, different ages would have required more resources (separate stats, sprites, and most of all, the implementation of new abilities), which is always in short supply.
 
I like this battle, it's very special, but you have to wink a lot to accept it as part of a story.
 


Cutting the heart involves taking acid damage from the carcass. I didn't expect that, but only Alma and Barack take damage, no one dies. It's safe to rest here, which is badly needed at this point.
 
So we're at the highest level of Dracandros's tower, and need to walk down to the exit. But there is an easy way down, no?
 
Eper: -- *peeks below* We can just levitate down with one of those wizard spells, right? What's it called, Feather Flight?
Narancs: -- Feather Fall. And there is a Levitation spell, second level. And a Fly spell, third level. But neither Citrom, nor I know such a spell.
Eper: -- Why? These spells have a myriad plus one uses for an adventurer.
Narancs: -- I don't understand it myself. It's as if these spells are... out of reach.
Eper: -- The bogeyman has hidden it under your bed, and you're afraid to get it, or what?
 
This conversation is my lamentation about how much is missing from the tabletop adventuring options in computer RPGs. Spells like Feather Fall, Spider Climb, Levitate, Fly were never implemented DnD computer games, since the engines don't handle height difference. They're staples in any adventuring wizard's arsenal otherwise. I would love to see a 3D first-person D&D game in the vein of Dark Messiah of M&M, Enclave, Ultima Underworld, etc. where these spells would be useful. One of the reasons I enjoyed Might&Magic 6-8 was that those games had Jump, Walk on Water, and Fly which changed how you play the game, and opened up new areas to explore. Jump and Fly also required vertical thinking, which is so different from the flat level-based games most cRPGs are.




The first encounter on Level 4. This guy has 110 HPs and an AC of -6, the same basic stats as the buccaneer commander from Pool of Radiance. But he attacks twice per turn for an average of 15 damage. And resists everything I throw at him, and the fighters keep missing. On turn 3, he kills Eper, which prompts a reload.
 
Second try, he fails against the first spell, Stinking Cloud, and dies without doing any damage. LOL, that's AD&D swinginess for you. He carried strong magical treasure, which we'll identify later.
 
Still on level four, we find the Deadly Circus!


 
The Standing Man, The Danger Games, Mettle Royale, you name it:


 
Citrom: -- I'm too young to die!
Narancs: -- This will finally establish who's the more capable mage in our party.
Citrom: -- I promise to visit your grave now and then!
 
This is a turn-based minigame, which is entirely based on random rolls as far as I know. The sphere starts in the middle, 30 feet from each, and whomever wins the control roll moves it towards the opponent 10 feet. The Sphere of Annihilation is fun item: "Any matter that comes in contact with a sphere is instantly sucked into the void, gone, and utterly destroyed. Only the direct intervention of a deity can restore an annihilated character."
 
Narancs ceases to be promptly, without ever winning a roll. Second try is with Szilva, because I vaguely recall from old plays that the Curse implementation is wrong: it uses Wisdom instead of Intelligence as a roll modifier. And contrary to what the enemy mage says, but in accordance with the book description, anyone can control it, not just a mage. Sure enough, Szilva creams the enemy mage without much effort:
 
 

 
After the battle, we find a single Potion.

 

As we're moving down, the tower is full of random encounters, but these are weak, 3-4 opponents each. Down to Level 3. At the entrance, another dark elf lord appears, but this one's more flexible:
 

 
Alma: -- The only payment here will be your life. Have at him!
 
And then it disappears, another illusion. Smart kid, this Dracandros, I've got to give it to him.
 
Eper: -- Con illusion, figures. Nowadays, even thieves aren't real.
 
 The way down is guarded by a pack of owlbears, led by drow.
 

 

 

In this battle, I fail to notice at the beginning that "up" from the owlbears is a single drow cleric. After noticing, I send a Fireball, a Hold Person, and a Magic Missile her way, all resisted. She casts Hold Person, and 1/3 of my party is disabled. I still win, but I should be more careful, and check every angle of the screen.




We find a pulsating object in the pool, which turns out to be a dragon egg. Another component for Silk.

Barack: -- I want to take this egg home and hatch it and have a baby dragon that is so cute and then we'll be good friends and I'll be flying on his back and then he'll find a mate and his partner will come to live with us and lay eggs and they'll hatch and grow too and I'll have an entire pack of them and then I'll be called the Mother of Dragons and everyone will love me and talk about me.
Szilva: -- How do you know it's a male?
Barack: -- Because that's how I imagined it.




That's an actual question? Like any RPG player ever wanted to skip loot because it takes abstract game-time?   Oh these Gold Box text snippets are so weirdly funny sometimes.

Level 2. The first thing we find is a piece of folded paper, the writing on the outside says "Avoiding tower traps"
 
Barack: -- This is useful! I like learning about things!
Narancs: -- Maybe we should...



 
Dracandros, mage-mate, I wonder who'll have the last laugh. 
 
Level 1, exit floor. The last room is guarded by 6 wyverns. One of them strolls to Barack, hits, she fails the poison save. From max HP to dead, with one attack. On the other hand, Narancs was hit 3 times, and survived. I make camp, memorize a Neutralize Poison, then bring back Barack to life. This is a different "dead" state, the label is confusing (it confused younger me for a long while, a Commodore World magazine article taught me the details).


 
Sensing that the final confrontation with "Red" is near, I buff up, using the Invisible Wall tactic.


 
Dracandros has a permanent Protection from Normal Missiles and Minor Globe of Invulnerability on him. Or something which gives those effects. His entourage consists of 6 efreeti and 4 drow fighters, not a big threat. Since on turn 1, he can only see my mages, he casts a Lightning Bolt on one, which is absorbed by MGoI. On turn 2, Alma braves 2 disengagement attacks to reach Dracandros, hits him (no casting), he goes down on Turn 3. Mopping up the rest is not even worth a screenshot. We're finally at the end of this!
 
Dracandros himself carried a magical bracers and a staff, but his bag contains a lot of additional loot.
 


One final visit to the caves to reap our rewards:

 

Barack: -- Nooooooo! You're destroying my dreams! I hate you all!

Citrom: -- I'll buy you an umber hulk puppy when we get back to Phlan. They're really charming.

It's money only, but a large sum which translates into XP in the GB engine, thank you.

Back in Haptooth (which is called Hap on the world map, Oghma knows why) we sort out the loot, discarding the drow stuff since it would melt anyway after leaving the village.
 
Dark elf lord treasure: Plate mail +3, shield +2, great stuff.
Sphere of annihilation treasure: Potion of giant strength. It's better than nothing, and since Enlarge and other Str-options don't work due to bugs, it's actually pretty valuable.
Bedroom treasure: Ring of prot +3 (becomes property of Szilva), some +1 and +2 weapons, potion of extra healing
Dracandros gear: Bracers AC 2 (finally both mages have bracers!), quarter staff +2
Heavy bag: wand of fireballs, wand of ice storm, robe of powerlessness (cursed), ring of wizardry (*insert mad cackle*), scrolls: charm monster, lightning bolt, slow, confusion, cone of cold x2, protection from normal missiles, protection from good,
 
Narancs: -- I don't want this Protection from Good. We're the good guys, this is for the bad guys.
Citrom: -- I... uh... We all have a dark side, deep in our subconscious. I'll take it, just in case.
 
This loot package finally helps with the AC of the frontline. Before we entered Hap, they had -2/-1/-2 AC, now they have -5/-4/-5, much better. And Citrom doesn't need to rely on a Shield spell any more to have physical protection.
 
The biggest haul however is the Ring of Wizardry, without a doubt.


 
I'm optimistic that maybe the Enlarge bug can be fixed somehow, like removing the characters from the party and re-adding them in the Training Hall.

 

We turned Red to a red paste. What should be next, Green or Black?

Edited January 8, 2015 by Endrosz

[Gorth]

We turned Red to a red paste. What should be next, Green or Black?

Can't really help much there, never played the game before. Love your writing style though

 

Somewhat unrelated, but wasn't there once upon a time an "aging" part to the haste spell? In general it should only be cast on long lived characters as they wouldn't feel the loss as keenly.

[Endrosz]

Can't really help much there, never played the game before. Love your writing style though

 

Somewhat unrelated, but wasn't there once upon a time an "aging" part to the haste spell? In general it should only be cast on long lived characters as they wouldn't feel the loss as keenly.

Thanks! When I started, I considered different styles, and decided that I'm too old, jaded and cynical to write fully in-character about a heroic adventure. The ample real-world references and occasional 4th wall breaks entertain me while I'm writing, and hopefully others. Also, Tigranes's BG2 LP was very inspirational, he's a really talented writer. I deeply regret not letting forum members to name and "own" characters, I didn't think of that until after finishing PoR. Maybe for another LP.

 

Haste does age characters, it was already "in" in Pool of Radiance, but according to Gold Box experts that I found over at the CRPG-Addict blog, aging doesn't change the primary stats and doesn't kill characters. The code is simply missing. I'm playing it safe now, like I would in a tabletop game, only casting Haste for the hardest battles, but I'm tempted to test this out myself.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Endrosz

[mkreku]

I had forgotten how much better the graphics became later in the Gold Box series, compared to Pool of Radiance. They almost hold up even today!

[Enoch]

Green is the Moander cult, right?  I vote for that one.  And you should totally use that Wand of Lightning on some Shambling Mounds, just for educational purposes. 

 

Seeing all the little tricks you used to get through the tough fights makes me wonder how I managed to clear Hap(tooth) this when I was a kid.  I'm guessing that I skipped the ones that were optional. 

[Endrosz]

Chapter 19: The Pit Fighters

 

Another low-intensity chapter, but this has a few fun monsters and a visit to an important place and a few gear upgrades.

 

I remembered that at every town, in the outside menu, there should be a "Search area" option. Looking into a walkthrough confirmed this. But it wasn't there when we played Road Warriors. After leaving Haptooth, Essembra is the first stop, and lo and behold, "Search Area" is there. Was it removing the second bond? Was it killing Dracandros? I don't know, I'm just happy it's there.

 

In Essembra, we visit the training hall. We gained more than 100 kXP each in Haptooth. Szilva rises to level 9, his final hit die is a 1, total HP 59. The mages also level up, to 10, they're still allowed to roll: both roll a 4. I select Ice Storm for Citrom (she has all the level 5 spells that are needed), and Dispel Magic for Narancs (he's done with both level 5 and 4). Szilva now has level 5 cleric spells, Raise Dead is available. I test out Slay Living in a few battles, but it doesn't impress. Having Raise Dead means less reloads, so I keep that.

 

I start going to Daggers Falls, but at the Standing Stone, the robe-troll appears again, and says:

 

 

Barack: -- I have good feelings about this! Green people are good people, they care about nature! I hope I can discuss gardening with them!

 

Green it is then.

 

Moving across the entire Dalelands, first stop is the best addition in Curse of the Azure Bonds: the magic shop. After we search around Dagger Falls:

 

 

Citrom: -- A spare scroll with Hold Monster and Cloudkill is really handy.

Narancs: -- Or one with Lightning Bolt and Haste.

Barack: -- That javelin looks too big for a piercing! Is it for giants? I still would like to have one, it reminds me of my sexiest stiletto!

Szilva: -- Potions of extra healing are a must, we need at least a six-pack. Remember those battles where I was held or otherwise hindered? Or Barack's poisoning, it could happen to me! You can't rely entirely on me to save your asses.

Eper: -- STOP SPENDING MY MONEY ON YOUR WHIMS!

Alma: -- It isn't your money, greedyface. We spend it according to the tactical needs presented by the members, that's the rule.

Eper: -- I have a tactical need to own everything in this shop, twice.

Alma: -- Hmmm... nnnnnno. But you're in luck, you'll be the first one to get a Wand of Magic Missile, which costs a hefty sum. Those worked for us very well back in Phlan, especially in the graveyard. Happy now?

 

So, money still has weight, and we left behind a lot, because it's impossible to carry it. Time to convert the gems to money:

 

 

Until we use "appraise" in a shop, we don't know how much a gem is worth. Least is 10 gp, most is 5000 gp (obviously, the appraise roll is weighted towards the cheap gems). We have about 350 gems by now, and sell it all plus 5 jewelry to buy:

 

-- Two Wands of Magic Missiile, one each for Szilva and Eper. If there's a need for ranged combat, the fighters do well with Composite Bows plus magic arrows, the mages have a full arsenal, but the cleric and the rogue don't have a good ranged output. MaMi is a guaranteed hit and doesn't care about elemental immunities. This costs 80000 gp, that swallows most of the the gems' prices.

-- Arrows +1, 50 each for the fighters and 100 for Eper. Seriously, this is so great, that I can, for example, shoot wights from afar with magic arrows and don't need to risk melee attacks.
-- Two darts of hornets' nest, one each for the mages. Last resort weapons against magic resistant/immune enemies to prevent spellcasting, like high-level drow or rakshasas.
-- The scrolls teach a total of 3 spells to my mages (one to Citrom and two to Narancs), but the rest is good as a backup. This is why I'm annoyed that "search area" wasn't available before Hap. If I had access to these scrolls earlier, I wouldn't have selected the spells on them on level-up (like Cloudkill). Level-up spell picks are a very limited resource.

-- I'll be buying more stuff later.

 

Basically everything in this shop is useful.

 

Narancs: -- Did he say... beholder?

Citrom: -- That's what he said.

Eper: -- I'm marking this tower to be avoided even when I'm totally wasted.

Alma: -- I'm so glad our bonds don't force us to visit there.

Barack: -- What's so bad about beholders? Beauty is in their eyes, as the saying goes, they'll surely appreciate mine?

 

The Tower of Oxam will be last chapter in Curse of the Azure Bonds, just like Valhingen Graveyard was in Pool of Radiance, an extra difficult challenge. We'll be coming back here, but definitely not now.

 

Shadowdale pit

 

This is the first of a number of very similar "side quests". We go down, wait for a few scripted encounters to happen (not tied to any place), then get some treasure.

 

Szilva: -- A genuine "damsel in distress" story! Finally, it was missing from our journal!

Citrom: -- I'm waiting for the invention of "hunk in distress" stories. Oh wait, I already invented them, but the publishers won't accept them! We really need more disposable income for women.

Barack: -- I would buy them! But only if the guy in distress has orange eyes, dense black eyebrows, smells of cinnamon, has a pear-shaped birthmark above his left ear, is between 6 feet 2 inches and 6 feet 3 inches tall, has impeccable abs, his favorite food is spinach with fried eggs, favorite color is light cyan, doesn't wink while kissing, was born under the sign of the Raven, and likes gardening and smelling flowers. And his name is Cecil.

Alma: -- And not one of you cares that a brave man died here.

Eper: -- Brave and poor, he had nothing valuable on him.

 

 

A mage scroll and a magic broad sword is our reward.

 

Can anyone explain to me why are dragons interested in human females? Did someone play a marketing trick on them, "maidens are a dragon's best meal"?

 

Alma: -- Hang on, girl, we're coming!

Citrom: -- What if she is into dragons, and ran away from her family who weren't accepting of dragons as partners? Most people are monsterists, you know.

 

 

Her father rewards us with 4000 platinum, a magical partisan (that's a polearm type in AD&Đ) and dagger, and a mage scroll with Feeblemind and other spells.

 

Eper: -- Hey Narancs, you really need to learn or invent a spell which can haul away these piles of money. Or some dimensional whazzit to put it away, that would be safer, too. Leaving behind so much money is killing me!

Alma: -- Mules.

Eper: -- That's a porter spell?

Alma: -- Yes, the material component is water and feed.

Ashabenford pit

 

 

This dracolich gets to act, we're not hasted and buffed. It 'gazes' on Alma, which paralyzes, but she shakes it off. The breath also hits Alma, but no else, spreading the party around in dragon battles is second nature by now. Magic missiles do the most damage to it, it falls on turn 2. I checked the Monster Manual, and it should have magic resistance and fear from the original form (even a -1 on the fear save). With MR stronger than the drow and buffed automatic fear, a dracolich would be a formidable opponent, no cheesy MaMi kills.

 

 

A bunch of efreeti and salamanders appear, then disappear after a few AoE spells. This battle yields a "wanted" piece of gear, a Shortbow +2 for Eper. I was long hoping to find a +1 one, this is a juicy find.

This pit is larger than the others, and it takes a lot of time to explore. In one area, even the architecture changes, buildings with doors, and inside one of them:

 

Szilva: -- Is this guy for real? Sitting deep in a cave, where only monsters live, waiting to be employed as a guide?

Eper: -- Greetings traveller, and welcome to my humble presence. I am Eper and, for a tithe, I will leave you alone and not take all your possessions. Interested?

 

 

Several maps are reused in the game in the sidequests, and these false doors are a designer's trick to make them feel like different.

 

Essembra pit

 

 

Citrom: -- This looks a Friday night costume party. I wasn't aware that the drow know how to have real fun!

Barack: -- Owlbears, I don't like them, that owl head is so last year. This year's trend is otyughlisks.

 

 

 

 

After the Essembra adventure, fighters reach level 10, and the mages level 11. That's the last hit die roll for mages, Citrom rolls a 4 for a total 54 HP, Narancs a 3, total of 58. He now has more than Eper, though this is temporary. Citrom learns Dispel Magic, Narancs learns Prot From Evil 10'. With +3 weapons and base Strength of 17, THAC0 is 7 for the fighters. I really wish I had a non-bugged method to increase Strength, Enlarge worked so well in PoR.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Endrosz

[Endrosz]

Hillsfar ruins

These ruins have a large variety of mobs we've not encountered before. Here's the nastiest:

 

Rakshahas are immune to spells up till level 8, and that -4 AC is a form of physical immunity. I can't prevent them throwing lightning bolts, Narancs goes down (but isn't killed). The dog-monsters are Hell Hounds, a nuisance.

 

 

 

Welcome back, Phase Spiders and Thri-Kreens, also known as Mantis Warriors! I've only a had few encounters with you in PoR. Those phase spiders look so adorable, like a ladybug before taking flight.

 

 

And the treasure is...

 

 

Seriously, why put so much currency as loot in the game? I have five party members with high strength, all 17, and the total carrying capacity is around 10000. But we have armor and stuff, the free capacity is about half of that.

 

The pirates' also had a broad sword +2 (Eper) and a Ring of Prot +1 (Barack).


 

There is a bug here, if the encounter consists of only phase spiders, their sprites disappear. Killing them works the same, it's graphics only. 

 

 

As mkreku said, Curse has much better portraits, both NPC and monster. This spider portrait is animated, the front two pairs are moving up and down, it's impressive and menacing. This is my favorite portrait so far in the Pools saga.

 

Phlan ruins

 

 

Here we are, in Old Phlan! Where the skies are so blue...

 

 

Barack: -- I've missed my cats and doggy so much! And the budgies and the hamster and the llama and the koala and the canaries and the horses and the mongoose and the ducks and the piggy!

Eper: -- How much does this cost you, to pay for caretakers and feed and so on?

Barack: -- They don't cost a lot, only about 4000 gold per month. But the joy they give, you can't buy that with money!

 

Alma: -- Strange. I didn't live here for long, compared to my previous life... But it feels like home.

Szilva: -- It's memories that make a home. All the dangers we survived to help the city prosper.

Citrom: -- My favorite bars are ready for rumble. Party-week starts NOW!

 

This part of Old Phlan has absolutely nothing, not even a three-scene sidequest.

 

Barack: -- We must've destroyed every cult and gang!

 

We skip Zhentil Keep as before, it's a main quest zone. Moving to Teshwave by boat, the river pirates we beat up before still remember us:

 

Alma: -- That's a first. I wanted to be a famous warrior whose enemies cower in fear at her mere sight, now I am!

 

Teshwave ruins

 

We get the surprise advantage in this battle, which is rare. It's usually the other way around.



The enemies were lined up next to a wall, just waiting for a Lightning Bolt to rip through them. I moved Narancs into position, then targeted the wrong tile, taking down Szilva and seriously hurting Citrom.

 

Narancs: -- I just blasted this hell hound in front of me...

Citrom: -- Did you forget to take your pills this morning? Blasting away our cleric is the worst thing you can do! And I have second degree burns, awwwwww! Do I look like a lightning rod?

Alma: -- *swinging at a Baneite cleric* There's still fighting to be done, you can kill each other later!

 

The Voonlar Army

 

 

We still have the Zhentarim bond. Is Voonlar allied with Zhentil Keep or Hillsfar? Let's talk with them.

 

 

 

Another golden opportunity -- we're not subjects of the Black Network, just look like ones, thanks to the Z-bond. The fight is a joke, about 10 fighters without magical support. It's a wilderness battle, getting around the trees and rocks and whatnot to actually engage is the biggest challenge. Seeing their leaders fall, the army disperses.

 

Szilva: -- And now we can add Army-Smasher to our already impressive list of self-made titles.

Citrom: - We should have our own country. It's high time we got recognized by the world at large.

Alma: -- One day, we're going to get that recognition. In the form of six "Wanted" posters.

 

 

Voonlar ruins

 

Voonlar is the demo version of Yulash, our next stop in the main quest. I'm skipping a few scenes, don't want to spoil everything.

 

 

 

 

 

My mages are now level 11, I see the first Fireball with a 50+ damage roll. Poor vegepygmies, there's so many of them in a single battle, laziness prompts me to throw FB at them.

 

 

 

A piece of a God? These Moander cultists need to be stepped on. Yulash is the next town, that's where 'Green' is hiding.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Endrosz

[Keyrock]

Ugh, Rakshasa.  They are a super pain in the butt to deal with.  I hated them with a passion back when I played this game.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Keyrock

[Endrosz]

Chapter 20: Greenpiece

 
Yulash has seen better days. It's completely ruined, and the mercenary army of Hillsfar, the Red Plumes and the Zhentarim troops are in a constant state of tug-of-war because it's halfway between the two city-states, a perfect place for a forward garrison. Currently, it's the Red Plumes who are in control, having established a perimeter camp. While the fighting rages on, the bowels of the city are used for sinister purposes, out of sight.


 
 
Alma: -- Now this is a hard one. We, as citizens of Phlan, are supporters of the Red Plumes. But the bonds say otherwise, we are always treated as Zhentarim agents, everywhere. Will the commander believe us? If we just ride in, we could get captured, executed even.
Szilva: -- I'm confident I will be able to talk sense into him if necessary. His reputation doesn't paint him as overly aggressive or malignant.
Barack: -- Soldiers with such shining armor and magnificent plumes must be nice as well! I'm not afraid of them! Let's go!
 
As we approach the wall, a horse charges out of the compound, carrying a large man and a woman in purple dress behind him. The horse almost tramples on a few party members!


 
Citrom: -- That was... No, not again! Oh Gharri of Gond, why are you still taking care of that clingy bitch Nacacia? She's literally clinging to you, right now! I can be the princess of your dreams without the hassles of having an actual princess in your life! I have the dresses, the veils, the shackles, everything!
 

 
Alma: -- This is not so bad. They didn't attack on sight.
 
We are escorted outside the commander's room, and told to remain there until called.


 
Alma: -- A chance to prove we're allies of Hillsfar and kick Zhentarim ass, it doesn't get any better than this!
Eper: -- I heard the Zhentarim are so fillthy rich they equip their rank and file agents with magical gear. I'm eager to find out if that's true...
 
The Zhentarim troops have the same three types as the drow, a figher, a mage, and a cleric. However, they're higher level, all immune to Cloudkill, and can cast level 4 spells, and the fighters have good to-hit. A devilish grin is on my face because they don't have magic resistance as the drow, so I'm preparing to wipe the room clean with just a few spells. Then I realize, too late, that the mages come prebuffed with Minor Globe of Invulnerability, and we suffer a nasty pair of Lightning Bolts. Then they put on Fire Shield, one of mages gets interrupted, and so on -- in the end, they do so much damage that I need to rest afterwards.
 
They do have good loot. The mages all carry Bracers AC 4 (worth 9000 gold when sold), a Dart of Hornets' Nest, the clerics a Splint Mail +2 (AC upgrade for Barack, also 9 MP instead of 6).
 
Eper: -- *joy on his strained face, holding both pairs of bloody bracers* It was worth it, all the pain...
Narancs: -- This is incredible. The Black Network is indeed the most powerful organization in the Moonsea region, if they can afford this. I wish we received such support when we started in Phlan.


 
The commander is a reasonable man, he judges us by our actions. He offers free passage to the so-called Pit of Moander. We are allowed to hang around in the mess hall and sleep in the barracks. He warns us about Zhentarim "terror teams" prowling around in the ruins, they are just like the group we defeated recently. Some walls are unstable, he explains, and might collapse without warning. And finally, he gives us a sketch map of the ruins.


 
We carefully edge our way towards to the entrance of the Pit, defeating two more Zhentarim teams. And after that, I decide to turn back and sell all the bracers and stuff in the magic shop, and buy two more Wands of Magic Missile. The magical loot was starting to burden the party, the best burden imaginable.
 
Coming back, near the entrance of the pit...


 
Shambling mounds, huge humanoid-shaped semi-intelligent plants are the heavy hitters of the Cultists. AC 0, HD around 10, HP 65, two attack of 2-16 and they entangle victims hit by both attacks in the same round, then suffocate them a few rounds later. Half damage from all physical attacks, immune to fire (that always surprises me, a plant immune to fire), half damage from cold, and strengthened by lightning (+1 HD from every lightning that strikes them).
 

Since shamblers gain power from electrical attacks, there are rumors of shambling mounds with 20 or more Hit Dice

 
Citrom: -- If I ever grow tired of humanity, I'll be having fun with buffing shambling mounds and letting them loose.
 
But here's the fun fact: Stinking Cloud works on them. It shouldn't, really, just like it shouldn't work on otyughs. Hold Monsters works, too, they're not immune to mind-affecting. Magic Missile if someone's in dire need of a rescue.
 
This battle yields two wands: one is a wand of defolation, which puts serious hurt on Shambling Mounds and other plant monsters (like vegepygmies), doing around 25-30 damage on each use, possibly to two if aimed well (it's a short-range cone attack). The other is a wand of lightning, which is kind of a prank loot, if you're not familiar with Shambling Mounds... But it's still great to wipe out cultists.
 

 

Barack: -- Not another foul place! Citrom, use the Rod of Refreshment or something, why do you study magic for so long if you can't even make a place smell good?

Citrom: -- That's actually a good idea, the Rod of Refreshment will be my next creation project. The market is already there, housewives will love it!

 

 
Citrom: -- Yes, worship me! I am the new goddess of heavenly parties! *arranges her robe to show more cleavage*
Eper: -- Chosen ones die young... I'm not the Savior, bugger off!
Szilva: -- Moander's loonies, bringing their regular play.
Barack: -- Did I win something? I never win at sweepstakes!
 
Then he reaches for a protruding rock in the wall, which collapses the tunnel behind us. The cultist then dies with a triumphant smile on his face.
 
Alma: -- He must've had a rough childhood, if that was the biggest joy in his life.
 
As we move forward, sounds of battle come from south, through a door, along with a vague smell of baked bread.




 
This is getting weird. Rushing into the next room, we fight a large party of cultists and vegepygmies to secure these people:
 

 
Citrom: -- A boob chain that has an open front! Why didn't I think of that? Best eyeglue for men, ever!

Barack: -- I'm not sure where these smells are coming from, but please, stick to violets, whomever is doing it!
 
Alias's thankful and friendly mood freezes when she sees our bonds. She relates that she is actually a flesh construct, a homunculus, and she was created with such azure bonds along with a dozen of copies of her, but managed to get rid of them [this is the story told in the book version, Azure Bonds]. We answer honestly, and tell our entire story so far in the Dalelands.
 
Barack: -- Long story short, and then we went to Voonlar, and there was this army we met on the road, and they had so many spears, they looked like a walking giant pincushion. When I was a little girl, I was afraid to touch my mother's pincushion because my older sister told me that if a needle prickles you, at night a demon with needle-horns will come and claim your soul. And when I grew older and realized my sister was lying to me I became so angry I threw her best shoe in the duckpond! Where was I? Long story short...
 
Alias decides we are worthy of their company, and we allow them to join. She tells us about Dragonbait, that's how she calls the saurial with her. Dragonbait communicates with smells, and he's not from Faerun. Alias has all 17s, which is a consequence of her being a construct. She's a fighter. Dragonbait's characters sheet lists him as "Male Monster, Age 22". And he's a paladin, with lay on hands and all.

 

She gives us the scoop on what's going on in the Pit, including their current leader, Mogion, High Priestess of Moander.


 

Eper: -- Target acquired. Launching party-cluster bomb. Let's go!

 

She also gives us general directions.
 
As we more further south, we spot another dying cleric of Moander.  "Moander be praised, the sacrifice can continue!", he says with his last gasp. Is there a drama school here in the Pit, which teaches them to always go for the dramatic exit?
 

 

 
Eper: -- A god like that? Tell me more about it. I like to live, and getting on the bad side of a god is not healthy.
Szilva: -- I can tell you more. Moander is a dead god, but a god is not truly dead till he has worshippers left. His body exists on one of the Planes, a tangled mess of dead plant matter, and his cultists are trying to bring over bits of his body in hopes of resurrecting him.
Barack: -- That's so sad. Anyone who cultivates plant life is a good person in my book. Maybe Moander just needs more sunshine and fertilizer?
 


 

Barack: -- Lemon scent... *inhales deeply, then a dreamy expression spreads on her face* Dragonbait, are you married?

 

Escape route noted, thanks Alias&Dragonbait.

 

Just a few more turns in the corridor, then stairs down, and we arrive in the lower level of the Pit. The air here is heavy with spores and swamp-smell, it's burning our lungs. Mogion can't be far.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Endrosz

[Endrosz]

The lower level presents almost immediately a dead fighter, clutching a scroll with Zhentarim's seal on it. An envoy, a messenger?



 

Szilva: -- *turns pale* Fzoul Chembryl himself, Lord of Zhentil Keep, High Priest of Bane is the owner of the Z-bond on our arms. Getting rid of that one will be... difficult, even impossible.

Eper: -- Is he as preachy as you? Because if he is, I can kick his ass like I kick yours.

Barack: -- Yours in darkness... That's how Benny and Johnny were greeting each other, when they were playing Luncheons and Flagons in the bar. What a prick! I hated Benny, he was always slapping my behind in a sneaky way and then said "Shocking Grasp! I'm a wizard!" and then he laughed like it was a good joke. I'm sure this Fzoul is as nasty as Benny, maybe even worse!

Citrom: -- I'm sure I can find a way for him to go soft on us... Powerful men like being dominated as punishment for the bad deeds. He sounds like a very, very naughty boy.

Narancs: -- This is the worst news I've ever heard in my life. Even learning I have a colon infection was better.

Alias: -- I know how you feel, but -- *shows her arms* -- I was freed of my bonds. It's possible, you just need good allies, perseverance and a bit of luck. Okay, a lot of luck. But your Dracandros story shows that your luck is in a good shape!

Alma: -- I was on the verge of despair when the bonds flared up in Tilverton, and we attacked the royal carriage. I felt like a puppet with no will and a sealed fate. But ever since we got out of there, things have been going pretty well! Don't lose hope, these bond-owners have issues with each other, like this letter shows... And anyway, it's Mogion-time now, we're not free of that freaky hand-eye symbol yet! Eyes ahead!

 

 

 

This battle is easy, they're Fireball-positive. The next one is more difficult, the acid-spitting giant slugs hide behind the tanks of Moander:

 

A large door leads to somewhere important. The smell of violets coming from Dragonbait confirms that the confrontation with Mogion is near. Buff time.


 

Oh, a cougar! Didn't expect one...

 

Narancs: -- Baby, you can pull all my parts through your portal, if you want to.

Alma: -- Szilva, use a Hold Person spell on him. At least he won't turn on us that way.

Szilva: -- He's already stiff, it won't do anything.

 

 

 

 

That was another rhetorical question. Mogion evokes our bonds, another painful blue flare that robs us of body control. Tendrils come up from the ground and grab Alias and Dragonbait, who were trying to help us.

 

The chanting intensifies as Mogion turns towards the altar, and commands the bonds' energy to activate the portal.



The good news is that the ritual drains all the energy from the bonds!

 

This looks really cyclopean and hideous, before it starts fading. The "eye in palm" symbol of Moander has a lovecraftian, Old God vibe to it, because you know, the Forgotten Realms was patched together from every possible source, not just classic mythologies. They had to have some dead chulthoid god in there, complete with insane cultists doing unspeakable things. I lost 10 SAN by looking at it.

 

 

Alma: -- Dear Mogion, who exerts as undesirable eldritch effect on my male companions, you had severely underestimated the threat we pose after the bonds are gone. Looking at green all the time tires the eyes, we'll mix it with some red!

 

Mogion's bodyguards include 6 cultists and 4 shambling mounds. This battle is only mildly challenging. Mogion doesn't have any special defenses like Dracandros, she dies quietly to Fireballs aimed at the cultists without doing anything, really.

Loot is plate mail +3 (big upgrade, goes to Barack), shield +2 (small upgrade, goes to Szilva), mace +3, cloak of displacement (another big upgrade, goes to Alma), incandescent blue ioun stone (+1 wis).

 

Citrom: -- Another costume idea.

Eper: -- This is why you don't mess around with gods! Mouths, mouths, mouths everywhere! *looks like he's lost it*

Alma: -- *sighs* I knew it wouldn't be that easy...

 

 

The Bits of Moander have humongous HP. They are the boss version of the shambling mounds, inheriting their every special defense, and having more: neither Hold Monster, nor Stinking Cloud is effective, altough at least they get the itchiness AC penalty.

 

This battle drains most of our spells, all Magic Missiles and cold spells and the remaining Stinking Clouds, charges from the Wand of Ice Storms. Only some Fireballs remain, which are useless here.

The Gauntlet of Moander is ours. Supposedly it drains the Pool of Radiance?

 

What this means is that random encounters are much more frequent from now on. We can't even get to the altar where the treasure is without 4 shambling mounds dropping on us first. That battle is won by a Hold Monster left in Narancs's memory, which works to maximum effect, disabling all of them with a single casting. Winner of "Best Spellcasting in the Moonsea Region" award in the "Mind Tricks" category, 1322 Dale Reckoning.

Alias shows us where the treasure is hidden below the altar. It has a Gloves of Thievery and a map to Pit. That allows us to plot the shortest route to the exit Dragonbait sensed on the upper level.



 

This is the vegepygmy portrait. It's befitting of the place.

 

At the exit, a finale with 5 shambling mounds and a dozen each of cultists and large vegepygmies.


 

By now, I'm totally out of spells. All I have is the wands and a... Charm Person! I exchanged the Enlarges for Charms after running out of ideas for making it work.

 

 

That cultist will be ripped apart by the mounds standing next to her. I feel Sufficiently Evil . Besides, that's what they want, to be assembled into plant-flesh, no? Now she's getting it.

 

I also find a Slow scroll on Citrom that she's been hauling from dungeon to dungeon, that helps a lot with the Shambling Mounds. And a Hold Monster scroll on Narancs, which disables one of them. Repeated uses of Wand of Defolation by Eper and Wand of Ice Storm by Citrom finish the job.

 

And it's still not over yet! The exit corridor has more shambling mounds in it! I select "wait", and they flee. You're welcome, I suppose?

 

Alias and Dragonbait say their goodbyes. Or rather, the latter exudes his goodbye.

 

Alias: -- See, allies, perseverance, and some luck! You're more than halfway through!

 

Narancs: -- Mogion is gone... And now no boob chain with a vista, either. Oh, cruel fate! Why do you rob me of my favorite sights!

Citrom: -- That brilliant boob chain design will make a comeback, it impressed me as much as you. You just need to be invited to the right parties to see it again. And maybe, maybe you could do more than just look...

 

After we leave the Pit, a large Zhentil Keep force invades Yulash. This doesn't really have any consequence besides making the city map inaccessible. 

While the individual battles were not as difficult as in Haptooth, the final part with the constant random encounters (every 3-4 tiles) and therefore risky resting was really taxing the party to its limits. The Wand of Defolation has many charges, without that reliable DPS, the mounds would have eaten the frontline eventually.

 

Only two more bonds left, but flaming T is hiding somewhere, Black is our only option. Onwards to Zhentil Keep.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Endrosz

[Endrosz]

Chapter 21: Team Deathmatch

 
We visited Zhentil Keep during our Phlan days, the parting wasn't on amicable terms. And now, we're back in... back in...


 
They put us through a rough questionnaire aimed at filtering out "unwanted" people. We pass, but we have a suspicion it is because of the bonds, they were told to let us in.



 
Eper: -- The little thief! Is she... maybe... here?
Alma: -- What she are you talking about?
Eper: -- My dearest Olivia Ruskettle, the amazing halfling harper, whom we met briefly in the Tilverton sewers.
Alma: -- Oh, that one... Your dearest? You didn't even talk to each other!
Eper: -- Love doesn't need words, it's ethereal.
Alma: -- If you, of all people, are in a poetic mood, then the end of the world is nigh.
 
 

 
This is the first time a Gold Box game deals with personal property of normal people. All other town locales in PoR and Curse are either named places like the inn or the general store, or simply empty.
 
As we move through the city, we hear a number of whispers, people are uncomfortable around us.
"Look, on their arms, it's them!"
A mother takes her child away from the street when she sees us.
In one place, someone showers us with rotten food from a window.
 
Szilva: -- *collecting the rotten food*
Barack: -- What are you doing? You shouldn't touch that!
Szilva: --  I'll cast Purify Food on it...
Barack: -- I still wouldn't eat that! Yuck!
Szilva: --- ...and give it to the poor. You're a spoiled child, you wouldn't understand.
 
The ultimate derision is delivered by an animal:
 

 
Barack: -- Bad doggy! Nasty doggy! My own doggy never does that!

We also hear rumors.
Dimswart the sage was kidnapped. (Who is Dimswart?)
Fzoul Chembryl is on some personal campaign, but no one knows anything about it.
 

 
Eper: -- Tell me about it! I mean, the magical protection! Can't even open a merchant's purse without some runes blowing up in one's face! About Phlan, no, it's quite the opposite! It's full of watchful magical eyes, there's one on every corner, and they're observed by the city watch's mages! Same for homes! Merchants place invisible magical seals on their wares and other properties, allowing them to track thieves! Don't go to Phlan to find marks, it's not worth it!
 
At the inn, a sign says: "No Red Plumes allowed." We never were Red Plumes ourselves, but shh, let's not talk about what we did in Yulash.

On the street, various groups stop us. The priests offer blessings if we're "nice". We play "meek" with mages and their bodyguards, but they attack! The fighters do let us pass if we're "meek".

There is another magic shop here, the selection is the same as in Dagger Falls, but the prices are different: everything costs double, except Wand of Magic Missile which costs about one-third. Should've bought the Wands here.



He claims we killed his soldier buddy.
 
Eper: -- I hope we did kill his soldier buddy. Blasted Zhentarim.
Alma: -- We did what we had to. I won't celebrate it.
Narancs: -- He just won't shut up, people are starting to watch...
Szilva: -- Here, this may help.
Legless soldier: -- *trashes the money offered* I don't want your alms! I want you to pay for what you did, blood for blood!
Szilva: -- War. War never changes.
 
There is a large tavern in the east part of Zhenzil Keep, the Gorge and Grog, which offers arena fights and betting.


 
Citrom: -- Blood sport, yes! I'm so betting!
Alma: -- We don't have time for this, even if I wasn't disgusted by watching people get massacred for a show.
Citrom: -- What's wrong with getting to afterlife faster? It's supposed to be a good place, right?
Alma: -- Just one, then. Even if it pains me, I want to understand the madness at display here.
Szilva: -- For some, killing is the sweetest thing there is. It's their sustenance, their drug. Then there are the masses, who always like a good execution, it's their cheap and safe guilty pleasure. They're not allowed to kill, but they can watch it.
Alma: -- It's even worse when you explain it. Citrom, get on with it!
 


 
Citrom bets on the monsters.The monsters win.
 
Szilva: -- May their soul find their way to the golden fields of Elysium.
Citrom: -- Or a more funky place like Arborea.
 
As we wander around to the southern, poorer part of the city...


 
We reach the gigantic High Temple of Bane. Along its eastern wall, before we turn to the main gate:
 

 
Eper: -- I knew it! She's here! My fair petite lady! *tears in his eyes*
Narancs: -- She's really well-endowed, compared to her size.
Eper: -- DON'T YOU DARE EVEN LOOK AT HER, YOU FILTHY DESK POTATO!



Alma: -- Ahem... Szilva, Plan S?
Eper: -- Olivia, shining songbird of the Dalelands, whom I always loved from afar, would you...
Szilva: -- *finishes casting Silence on Eper*
Alma: -- Thanks, mate. So, Olivia, what secret way were you talking about?
Olivia: -- Umm... Why is that bearded fellow of yours waving his arms so desperately?
Citrom: -- He's got LDD, Loot Deficit Disorder. Terrible condition, always in need of fresh loot.
Olivia: -- It's not that bad, I might have something like that myself. Now, if you're promising to help me, I'll help you avoid the main entrance.
 
Narancs: -- What was that about the Amulet of Lathander?
Szilva: -- I'm supposed to know about it, but I don't. But I would really like to, at least, take a look at it.
 
Olivia pulls out a small device and utters a command word. The device spins around its own axis, and a large round-shaped tunnel appears in the temple's wall right next to us. The device emits smoke and is promptly destroyed.
 
Citrom: -- How much for one of these? It would be convenient to have a few, for so many reasons.
Olivia: -- Sorry, not sold in stores, it's a gift from a friend.
Citrom: -- Maybe I can be friends with your friend, too?
Olivia: -- *in a disapproving voice* I doubt it.
 
Olivia escorts us to the cell of Dimswart, then leaves, says she has her own way of getting around. Dimswart is supposed to know more about our bonds.


 

 
 
(I forgot to write about it, but we did find a strange helm on Dracandros, adorned with dragon motifs).
 
Alma: -- He sures likes to talk.
Citrom: -- Yeah, he's about one and a half Szilva, when measured.
Szilva: -- I already found about Tyranthraxus's sigil in Tilverton, in the Fire Knives' offices, remember? And Filani told us about the other symbols. The only revelation is about the Pool of Radiance. What a coincidence, all the items needed to drain it were distributed among the bond creators! It's as if someone was placing these items in our way! Lathander be praised!
 
Dimswart is attached to our party. He's not on the roster, just a backseat rider. Right outside the cell is a large room filled with standing mirrors.
 
 

 
Eper: -- I knew it! All the conspiracy theories are true, even the elemental trails the in the sky! We are being watched and manipulated all the time!
Szilva: -- Sorry friends, Silence has expired.
 
The mirrors show various places, some we've not visited yet.
 

 
Alma: -- Okay, enough sightseeing, let's get Dimswart out of here, like we promised Olivia.
Eper: -- The altar is to the west.
Alma: -- So?
Eper: -- The treasure is always by the altar.
Alma: -- It would interfere with our mission.
Eper: -- Nah, that route has less guards. I already checked it.
 


 
Eper: -- Trapped, eh? That's a good sign, you don't use traps to protect a bag of nuts.
Narancs: -- In the faraway realms of Rashemen, animal spirits called tethyr use various enchantments to protect their lairs and hoards.
Eper: -- That's nuts. I feel sorry for the... adventurous types over there.
 
Contrary to Eper's expectations, the treasure is meh, and the longsword we find is cursed, berserking. A Remove Curse is needed, but thankfully, the temple is not on alert, we can rest in Dimswart's cell.
 
Barack: -- I'll kill you all! Everyone, everywhere!
Alma: -- Can you do this, Szilva? I really want to the old Barack back.
Narancs: -- Cursed? She's always like that when she's angry about her pets or other favorites. I really need to invent the spell 'Remove Ignorance". But if I use it, what else remains in the brains of people?

The exit to the foyer is guarded by Clerics of Bane, their bodyguards, and a High Priest of Bane. This is a standard encounter here, a demo for this area.


 
The battles in Zhentil Keep are pretty demanding, because they use a 6-8 frontline plus 4-6 caster backline setup. The clerics have a good amount of HP (40 normal, 60 high priest), usually, even two AoEs are not enough to take them all down. They have basic magical equipment as well. At least the mages are not as strong as in Yulash, they don't have Minor Globe pre-cast and have less HP.
 
As we head for the exit...



Trapped again. These bonds make us so special, they want us alive. Kind of flattering.



Alma: -- Illusion?

Narancs: -- Hmmm, no, I don't think so.

Alma: -- A demon or devil in disguise?

Szilva: -- I would say... no.

Alma: - Who is your master?

Hooded woman: -- Someone with a marked interest in you.

Alm: -- Well then... Lead on, guess we don't have much of a choice.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Endrosz

[Endrosz]

 

 

The beholder portrait is impressive. All the stalks are animated, moving about, the central eye twists up and down, sizing you up.

 

Everyone: -- *stunned silence*

Alma: -- You... Your master... We don't...

Hooded woman: -- What where you expecting as a master in Zhentil Keep? A jovial old man who does gardening?

Barack: -- I... did expect that...

 

We're in a large room, underground. This is another chapel of Bane, and the Amulet of Lathander is on the altar. We recognize it after hearing Dimswart's description. Dexam speaks.

 

 

Eper: -- Discomfort... laboratory... certain death... Why did I ever leave my hometown? My mother was always so kind to me, and advised against this whole adventuring business.

Citrom: -- The lull of the loot?

Eper: -- Yes, the lull of the loot. Stronger than a mother's words.

 

Suddenly, as we succumb to despair, Fzoul Chembryl -- the blond guy before we were teleported away -- bursts into the room with troops of his own.

 

 

 

History note: This death of Fzoul is not canon. He died a different death in the official history of the Forgotten Realms, then raised by Bane when he returned to be his exarch, etc.

 

 

 

Dexam uses one of his eyes to levitate the Amulet to himself, and then leaves.

 

Citrom: -- Yes, more blood sport! Go-go Chembryl's Chimeras! You're the best, Dexam's Drakes! Don't let up! Woooohooo!

 

We need to fight after every step we take in this room.

 

 

Again, to prevent all clerics from casting Hold Person is no small effort, they're spread out, have good health, and generally protected by their own frontline. I'm using wands as needed.

 

We go the same way Dexam went. There's little desire to confront him, but he's got the Amulet. After no small amount of battles, we find another beholder blocking the way. It looks like it's not aggressive, so we don't "attack" either.

 

 

Barack: -- This is so confusing. Did that beholder have a tummy ache?

Narancs: -- It wasn't a beholder, it just looked like one. It's called mimicry in the animal world. You look like a dangerous creature, others leave you alone.

 

Without warning, we stumble into Dexam's group. I didn't have a chance to buff. The hooded woman drops the hood and reveals herself as a medusa, she's leading about a dozen minotaurs.

 

 

Some snakes are animated, yuck.

 

The first try is a fast disaster. Two characters stoned on the first round, and I can't even reach Dexam with the fighters.

 

After reloading, I buff up, going Invisible Wall. Which isn't a complete safety protocol, because: a. The medusa can still stone the mages, they're not invisible and Minor Globe doesn't help with stoning gaze. b. The beholder's eyes have varying ranges, I need to move back about 5-6 tiles with the mages, where the deadly stalks can't reach. If Dexam has a good initiative, the mages are probably goners.

 

The second one succeeds, barely. Szilva and Citrom in Stone, Narancs death ray'd, and the two fighters are feared and out of sight, running away. However, they did enough damage for Eper to finish the job with his Shortbow +2/Arrows+1 combo. Actually, the medusa is heavily damaged too, and goes down in this same round to the second arrow. Eper, the killer of a Beholder AND a Medusa in the same round!

 

 

However, after the Dexam fight, we're attacked by a strong Zhentarim patrol immediately. We even survive this by using 3 charges from the Necklace of Missiles, preventing the clerics from casting (it helps that the battle is in a narrow corridor). But there are still more fights left until the exit, and we can't survive that many enemies without Szilva's fixes and the mages' spells. Second try is a pyrrhic victory. I did try to get to the exit, I didn't reload immediately.

 

 

The third try is another LOL, Dexam wins initiative, disintegrates one mage, kills the other. The rest can't deal enough damage to him before being wiped out. HA! Good fun!

 

It's embarrassing, but it is at this point that I remember buying silver mirrors back in Tilverton, at the start of Curse. For the specific purpose of turning back stoning gazes... The mages have a free hand for it, the frontline exchanges the shield (melee damage is negligible in this battle), only Eper doesn't equip a mirror, because the shortbow needs two hands. I carried those mirrors through so many dungeons, and almost forgot to use them...

 

This is the fourth try, where finally everything clicks. The kill happens on round 2. The mages were throwing Darts of Hornets' Nest, it was well worth the 2000 gold price. Each Dart does about 10-12 damage, which is fantastic DPS from a low to-hit single-class mage against AC 0. It is all-in, they move back to throw the darts after backpedaling on round 1, and the invisible members reveal themselves by attacking. However, I first used Done/Delay a lot to get Dexam to waste his action with long-range eyestalks on the mages in the safe distance before attacking. Since all members have a mirror in hand, the medusa doesn't really matter unless she targets Eper, which she doesn't. And for a final laugh, she failed the reflected save on round 4, and turned to stone just before weapon hits killed her. Artists do create self-portraits, this one's her final statue...

 

 

Alma: -- Die, eyefreak! *delivers the killing thrust*

Szilva: -- Beholder-Slayers is added to our titles.

 

The second battle, the Zhentarim patrol is a matter of enough Fireballs, it's not difficult with a full party. The Amulet of Lathander is now ours. Now we just have to get out of here.

 

 

That long, spiraling corridor we've been following finally ends with a tunnel leading to the surface.

 

 

Alma: -- You're surprised? With a tongue that sharp, I'm surprised it's still in place!

Eper: -- Olivia, now that we're done here, allow me to...

Alma: -- Plan H!

Olivia takes Dimswart, and they leave.

 

We see a familiar rider leave the city's premises. The woman in purple, riding behind him, screams 'Gharriiiiiiiiiiii....'

 

Citrom: -- I give up. That man is hopeless. They deserve each other, the troublemaker and the even bigger troublemaker. Why are all the decent-looking guys such idiots?

 

Our adventures here are finished, but the civil war between Chembryl's local troops and Dexam's legionnaires still rages on.

 

Szilva: -- It feels so good to watch them decimate each other. Evil always implodes upon itself in the end.

Citrom: -- Want to bet on the outcome?

 

 

Here we are, Changers of Government. Maybe people should vote for adventurers instead of politicians to run the show? Nah, they're just as greedy and ignorant as politicians are.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Endrosz

[Enoch]

This was the point where my party flamed out back in the day.  Most likely, a large part of the problem was my unwillingness to stock up on and expend consumable resources like you did. 

 

Was there some option in there that would've led to your party fighting in that monster ring?  (Maybe breaking into too many houses?)  I seem to remember something like that. 

Edited January 13, 2015 by Enoch