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    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Khay's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jun 2013

    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    The forums are still online, so I get to update on time today. Yay!

    Have faith, dear readers: As of Chapter Seventeen, we have covered about two thirds of the book. The remaining third will be something of a bumpy ride, however. This, I think, is where the author really started to feel the deadline pressure. As a result, the game section covers about two to three hours of gameplay. (Seriously, the raw video files for this one are almost 27 GB in size.) This one gets long, so make sure you're comfortable.

    Spoiler: The book
    Show
    You know what, let's check in on Team Evil again. Sarevok is not currently in the process of murdering anyone, but the option is clearly on the table.

    “One missing guard doesn’t frighten me, fool,” Sarevok growled into the empty picture frame. He paused, waiting for or listening to an answer Tamoko couldn’t hear.
    Once again, Tamoko is our viewpoint character. She's sitting on Sarevok's bed while trying to meditate, and Sarevok is snarling at the scrying glass (which is apparently more of a two-way communication thingy). Things are, apparently, not going well.

    He was nervous, Tamoko could see that. (...) Something was coming to a head, and she didn’t know what it was, but she could feel it out there, in the winds.
    Sarevok is clearly unhappy about something. Tamoko ruminates on this for a while. Sarevok, according to her, is a strong man - mentally as well as physically. She has trouble understanding why a man like him would waste his time on a needlessly circuitous iron ore price manipulation scheme. There's something bigger behind this, Tamoko decides, but she can't quite figure it out.

    And then...

    “What do you mean you can’t find the book?” Sarevok said, his voice as heavy as the world itself. “He wasn’t supposed to see the book.”
    Dun dun dunn!!

    More on that in the commentary section below, because this is going to take a while to dissect. For now, we cut back to (what remains of) Team Abdel. It's a day later, and our heroes have located the mining camp using Abdel's time-tested method of wandering in a random direction until plot occurs.

    “There are men, and elves,” Jaheira reported quietly, “and a large number of dwarves. They’re in chains.” - “Slaves,” Abdel agreed.
    The two are more or less intact, though Jaheira keeps swatting at invisible spiders. She's recovering, all things said and done, though she's obviously not doing well.

    “So what do we do?” Abdel asked, eyeing the cluster of guards with murderous intent.
    “We can’t just rush in there and attack, Abdel,” she answered. “These people must be expecting someone to wander past here, even in the middle of the Cloak Wood.”
    Jaheira notes that the bandits seem to be stockpiling ore for the war. Abdel, being Abdel, is confused by this.

    Abdel eyed her closely and asked, “You’re still convinced that someone wants to start a war, that someone wants Amn and Baldur’s Gate to rip each others’ throats out?”
    She looked at him sadly and said, “I don’t have any idea what I believe anymore, Abdel, I really don’t. I was sent—I came here to find out...”
    Abdel let her think he wanted her to go on. She had her secrets, of course, but Abdel had no idea how to tell her he just didn’t care.
    Oh, Abdel, never change for Oghma's sake man what the hell is wrong with you.

    Abdel and Jaheira hide in a tree and watch the camp for a while. There are slaves, most of them dwarves or elves, and a few human mercenaries are watching them. The camp is guarded, but not well. Abdel and Jaheira slip by the guards (off-screen), sneak around the back and make it into the mine. They start exploring, freeing slaves as they go along. Eventually, Jaheira's keen senses lead them to a group of dwarves.

    Jaheira was whispering to a group of dwarves who were sitting on the floor. Their picks were leaning on the wall, and they were slothfully munching some kind of jerky, and one of them had a big canteen.
    “You have got to be kidding,” one of the dwarves said in heavily accented common.
    “We can break your chains,” Jaheira told him, “but you’ll have to take it from there.”
    “How many have you freed?” the dwarf, whose beard was long even for a dwarf and going gray in patches, asked.
    (...)
    The dwarf grinned, showing gray, yellow, and broken teeth. His voice was slow, dull, like the life had been lashed out of it. He scratched at the iron manacle around his left ankle that trailed a thick chain to the left ankle of the next dwarf in line. They were fastened together that way, in series, all five of them.
    “A dozen dwarves’ll do ya, lass,” the dwarf said, making his four companions grin. “The name’s Yeslick. Looks like we got a revolt on our hands.”
    It's Yeslick Orothiar! Hello, Yeslick.

    So! We have a revolt on our hands. Two dozen newly-freed slaves . This ought to be interesting.

    The Iron Throne slaver died screaming, and Abdel thought the man was just pitiful. He glanced over at Yeslick, who had just finished beating the last guard to death with a length of chain, and said, “Looks like you’re free, my friend.”
    ... or not!

    Athans was probably starting to feel the deadline pressure around this point. This book always had the habit of skipping ahead and then backfilling exposition, but the skips are gradually becoming more frequent. The plot takes its sweet time during the first half, then suddenly starts jumping ahead.

    Anyway, Yeslick and his dwarf friends take out the local mercenaries with relatively little trouble. The Iron Throne didn't send their finest troops, it seems. The group sits down for a chat, and Yeslick tells his story in flashback form.

    “This doesn’t sound right, Yeslick,” Turmod of Clan Orothiar said, his gravelly voice echoing in the tight mine shaft. “Hear?”
    Turmod took his heavy iron pick to the wall again, and there was — at least to the assembled dwarves — a noticeable change in the tenor of the ring.
    Yeslick is nominally in charge of a digging party of fifty, but he's a smith by trade, not a miner. Also, the direction and the digging quota are set by the infallible Orothiar engineers, not actually Yeslick himself. In other words: He has no idea what he's doing and he doesn't get to make any decisions, but it's still his fault if something goes wrong. Ahh, middle management.

    A good manager listens to their team, though, and so does Yeslick.

    “At least send for one of the engineers, Yeslick,” Turmod offered.
    Yeslick felt a wave of relief wash over him. If he got an engineer out here he’d only appear cautious, not cowardly.
    He sends one of the dwarves to fetch an engineer, and tells the others to continue digging while they wait for the engineer to arrive. This turns out to be a horrible decision.

    As the years turned into decades, Yeslick would think back to that moment time and time again. He always found it difficult to believe that the strange sound of the picks clanging off stone was the only signal.
    (...)
    The water came out all at once. They were working, Yeslick, Turmod, and the others, banging away at rock and then, just all at once, they were underwater. There was a loud sound right away, then an eerie silence. Yeslick held his breath, closed his eyes, prayed to Moradin, and was tossed like a cork in hurricane seas for what seemed like forever. He’d timed himself, years later, and never made it past about a hundred and fifty heartbeats, but he could swear that day he had held his
    breath for hours.
    Yeslick and Turmod survive, thrown out of the mines by the backwash, as do a few other dwarves. Almost everyone else drowns, and clan Orothiar ceases to exist as an entity. The other survivors blame Yeslick's team for the catastrophe, not wanting to admit that the engineers made a mistake. Turmod kills himself, and Yeslick goes into exile in Sembia, spending a century and trying to forget what happened. That's where he met Reiltar.

    “Reiltar took an interest in my work,” Yeslick told Abdel. “I’m a good smith, and many a man in Urmlaspyr—all of Sembia—had heard my name. I did some work for him, some specialty stuff that looking back... well, it gives me the heebie-jeebies, I can tell you that much.”

    Abdel nodded, not sure what the “heebie-jeebies” were, but content that it was some kind of dwarf thing.
    Turns out the phrase was either invented or at least popularized by Barney Google in 1922. Barney Google - the work, not the character - later metamorphosed into the still-existing comic strip Smuffy Smith. Maybe the inhabitants of Hootin' Holler are hill dwarves. Who knows? I do want that crossover, though. Remind me to spam the Enhanced Edition forums later.

    Anyway, Reiltar hired Yeslick to do some weaponsmithing for the Iron Throne. Yeslick slowly came to see him as a friend, and eventually shared his tragic past with Reiltar.

    “Reiltar, he got me drunk, got me talking about the old times, got me crying about the old times. I let him in on a strike, the way he saw it. He brought me back here in chains to work it for him, afraid I’d claim it for my own, maybe, or in the name of a clan that’s long moved on, without me[.]”
    Man, Reiltar is a jerk.

    “This Reiltar,” Abdel asked finally, “he leads the Iron Throne?”
    “What are you here for, son, if you don’t know that?”
    “He runs this gang of his from Sembia?”
    The dwarf didn’t answer, just smiled.
    “Abdel!” Jaheira called. He looked up and saw her running toward them out of the light at the end of the tunnel. “There you are.”
    Abdel. Abdel, please, ask a follow-up question just this one time. Abdel, come on. Abdel, don't just accept a smile as an answer.

    “I may have something,” she said. “I saw a sigil on the crates of supplies and tools, and on one of the wagons. All this stuff is coming from the Seven Suns, a trading coster we’ve had our suspicions about.”
    “We?” Yeslick asked. Abdel only smiled when Jaheira blushed.
    “They’re from Baldur’s Gate,” Jaheira added.
    Abdel sighed and said, “Close enough to look into, but our new friend Yeslick here tells me we’re looking for a man named Reiltar — and he’s in Sembia, not Baldur’s Gate.”
    “Oh, no,” Yeslick said, “Reiltar’s never been out here. He has a man — I don’t know his name — in Baldur’s Gate.”
    Well, Abdel doesn't ask a follow-up question, but we have Jaheira for that.

    Next stop: Reiltar's man in Baldur's Gate.


    Spoiler: The game
    Show
    We take a moment to rest and recover from the beating the wyverns gave us. This rest finally triggers the chapter's dream. I thought this could only happen at inns, but apparently not!


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    As before, we received the "good" dream due to our reputation being quite high. (Reputation really is the only thing that governs the dreams, which is a shame, as it makes reputation little more than a morality meter.) The "evil" dream isn't all that different this time, as CHARNAME is a little more independent than the essence would like.

    We pick up a shiny new power in Slow Poison. It would've been nice to have in spider hell, but the spell will still see heavy use until the end of the game. Since the casting is instantaneous, Abdel can actually cure himself of poison without the spell being interrupted. This area of the Cloakwood is kind of a breather after the last one, and there are a few more people around.


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    This is Eldoth, a potential companion. He's a bard. Accordingly, he is quite useless. He's also deeply unpleasant, so I'm not even going to talk to him. We can't recruit Skie without him, but... to be perfectly honest, it's not much of a loss.


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    In terms of wildlife, this area of the Cloakwood isn't so bad. It's mostly normal, non-poisonous critters. These bears don't even turn hostile until you get close to them (though the dodgy pathfinding really loves snuggling up to brown bears, so.)


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    Eventually, we come to a bridge we have to cross. If there's an ambush, this is where it'll happen.


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    Right on cue. This is a rather obvious trap. We have reason to suspect the local druids aren't on the Iron Throne's side, so...


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    Claim to be with the Iron Throne and Laskal attacks. Be honest, and you get a free potion as well as some advice. As far as Shadow Druids go, Laskal is quite alright.


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    Sadly, his fellow druids are much less reasonable. Normally, you can talk to some of the Shadow Druids - Izefia here even gives you a quest relating to that fool to the northwest. If you have Jaheira in your party, though, they just turn hostile. I don't quite see how Jaheira is a follower of Senyiad (he didn't seem to recognise her back in Cloakwood 1), but perhaps that's just a general-purpose slur Shadow Druids like to use.


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    Anyway, the Shadow Druids are not dangerous at all. But, you know, it's a shame.


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    Let's check out that cave while we're here.


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    We meet... Peter of the North, a slightly confused subterranean woodsman. I... alright. Hello, Peter.


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    You can play along with him for a considerable length of time as he ties himself into lie knots, but eventually Peter turns hostile no matter what you say. Curiously, he's not a ranger or anything like that - just a regular Blacktalon Elite. He's not particularly dangerous, even with wyvern backup.


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    Oh well, we need all the magic arrows we can get. Let's continue exploring!


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    We come across a literal tree house. Nice. Takiyah, like every other Shadow Druid, attacks on sight because Jaheira is in our party and we dispatch her off-screen.


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    This really is a neat house. I don't know how I feel about an open flame inside a hollowed-out tree, but I guess the druids would know better.


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    Amrande here is the other local archdruid. He also refers to Jaheira as being one of Seniyad's followers, which continues to be baffling.


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    He's also worth 120 XP and doesn't have any loot worth mentioning. This makes me think you're not actually supposed to fight the Shadow Druids. The game very directly points you to Jaheira and Khalid, though, which makes me think that most people probably take them along during their first playthrough, so most people won't see the "friendly" dialogue. Maybe it's intended to add to the replay value? I don't know.


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    Anyway, there is one more Shadow Druid worth mentioning.


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    Faldorn here is hanging out near a stone circle to the south, and she's a potential companion. If Jaheira isn't in your party, the other Shadow Druids point you to her. Faldorn herself doesn't seem to mind Jaheira, however. We rotate Viconia out of her party in favour of Faldorn.


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    Faldorn is notable mainly for being the only single-class druid in the game. This, combined with the game's relatively low experience cap, means she's the only character who can access fifth-level spells. There's some good stuff in there. Faldorn also gets a neat special ability (summoning a Dread Wolf for free). Other than that, Faldorn isn't anything special. Her STR and CON are mediocre, but she has decent DEX and the right proficiency, so she holds a sling reasonably well. Still, if you need a backup healer, you could do much worse than Faldorn.


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    That about does it for this part of the Cloakwood. We're still not done with this forest, though. This whole area like a cruel joke to me when I first played the game - not only is the Cloakwood creepy and dangerous, it also just keeps going.


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    At least the fourth area gets one of these fun CGI intros, this time showing a wyvern abducting a cow. (Wyvern, not dragon - note the stinger.) Coran has a point - a large wyvern seen from a distance could be mistaken for a dragon.


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    After the small breather we got in the last area, the Cloakwood is back to being the Cloakwood. As the intro implies, this neck of the woods is positively swarming with wyverns. The small ones aren't that dangerous, but they usually attack in groups and are well capable of killing one of your weaker characters.


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    We go exploring for a while. There aren't many notable landmarks in this area, but this cave seems promising.


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    Turns out there's a good reason for all that dried blood. This area is known as the Wyvern's Cave, and there's a good reason for that. There are two adult wyverns inside, as well as three baby ones.


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    We use the narrow entrace of the cave as a bottleneck of sorts so we can fight the adult wyverns one at a time.


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    This is a rather dangerous fight. The wyverns have decent saving throws, hit for a lot of damage and have the ability to inflict a poison effect strong enough to kill most characters. You really don't want to fight more than one at a time.

    Eventually, we manage to take down the wyverns. We take one of their heads as a trophy. All adult wyverns drop them, but you only ever need one.


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    Remember that he was hired to hunt down a "dragon" sighted by a local farmer. Turning the head in resolves that quest. However, I'm pretty sure none of the adult wyverns were the "dragon" in question...


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    ... because the cave also contains this fellow, who actually looks to have been dragon-sized. I don't think there's any explanation as to what happened to this monster. These look to be metal javelins, which implies it probably wasn't the druids, and the people of Beregost would certainly remember it had their city watch fought off a "dragon." Maybe it attacked the Iron Throne encampment? I don't know.


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    Speaking of the Iron Throne, there are some guard patrols in this area. We must be getting close to the mine, though these are hardly Sarevok's finest. As you can see, the guards are weak enough to be vulnerable to Sleep, which means the encounters barely qualify as speed bumps.


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    That about does it for this area.


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    Finally.

    This is a rather small area. There are two small islands, walled off with a wooden palisade and surrounded by a river for good measure. Let's see if we can find a back entrance, perhaps.


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    This area is patrolled both by Guards and Black Talon Elites. I'm mostly bringing this up as an excuse to show off Faldorn's ability to cast Call Lightning. The guards continue to be little more than speed bumps, but as you can see from Khalid's health bar, the Black Talon Elites are still kind of dangerous.


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    Well... most of them are.


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    Turns out I misremembered, and there is no back entrance. In fact, the bridge that gets you onto the islands is very close to your spawn point. Somehow, I make this mistake every time I replay this game. Oh well.


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    The moment we step on the first island, we are stopped by a party of guards. No matter what you say, Drasus turns hostile. He and his companions were hired to deal with you, specifically, and the resulting fight is quite difficult.


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    Drasus is a melee fighter under a permanent Haste effect, and there's no real way to keep him from . We fire off a bunch of fear spells to keep the rest of his party at bay. (There's one more fighter, Genthore, as well as two mages, Kysus and Rezdan.)


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    We spend some time punching away at Drasus. He has a fair bit of health and decent damage output, and his high speed makes it difficult to get injured characters away from him. We occasionally fling another fear spell or Oil of Fiery Burning in the general direction of Genthore, just to make sure nobody gets any funny ideas about joining in.


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    Eventually, Drasus goes down. We fall back and take a moment to heal before returning to face the rest of the party.


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    Genthore and Rezdan failed at least one of their saving throws, which reduces their effectiveness a bit. Unfortunately, Kysus not only made his saving throws, he also got a Shadow Door off and is currently invisible.


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    We defeat Rezdan and Genthore with relatively little trouble. Kysus gets some damage in s I silently curse the invisibility mechanics in the first Baldur's Gate. SoA at least has the decency to display a half-transparent version of the character, so you can order your party to attack them. The first game, not so much - you have to rely on the party AI, which doesn't always cooperate. Thankfully, Kysus picked Abdel as his target, and Abdel has HP to spare. Eventually, the mage's invisibility wears off...


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    ... and we emerge victorious once more. Whew.


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    As befits a party of evil adventurers, there's some good loot to be had. Drasus drops a pair of Boots of Speed, which are simultaneously the best and the worst item in the game. They double your movement speed, which is extremely useful in combat, especially on a melee fighter. However, they also double your movement speed, which means the wearer tends to run far away from the rest of your party. The pathfinding is held together with spit and twine, and at higher speeds it seems to break down completely. We'll pocket the boots for now, though no promises on whether we'll actually use them.


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    There's nothing else of note on the two islands. There's a barracks you can raid, but all you find inside are a few 120 XP Guards and a few hundred pieces of gold. You can charm one of the guards to learn that the mines are indeed run by a guy named Davaeorn, who is waiting for you on the fourth level of the mine.


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    The building on the second island contains the entrance to the mines proper.


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    Down we go! There are some guards on the first level, but they're nothing special. I guess they're not worried about escaping slaves - even if you make it out of the mine and off the island, you still have to get through the Cloakwood.


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    Yeah, I don't know either. There are a few random encounters with hostile guards, but I won't even bother showing these off since they just die to one hit.


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    The enslaved miners here also use the beggar sprite, but it makes more sense here.


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    Some of them are named, but they all use the same voice clip ("Get me out of this hell-hole!") and either beg you to free them or point out how miserable their lot in life is.


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    Palette Swap here is notable, though.


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    And thus a plan begins to form. Free Rill and Yeslick, kill Davaeorn and flood the mines, thereby ruining the Iron Throne's scheme. Can do!


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    The prison is on the second level, so... onwards and downwards.


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    The second level of the mine looks less like a mine, more like living quarters. There's a small prison near the entrace area, containing a few miners more downtrodden than average. Neither Yeslick nor Rill are here, so we have to keep looking.


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    Whoops. Right, traps still exist.


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    There, that's better. The first trap just fires a few magic missiles, but the second one throws a lightning bolt at you. Lightning bolts bounce off walls, so setting this trap off can well lead to a full party wipe.


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    The room beyond is full of guards, including some of the still-dangerous Black Talon Elites. The mage here (Hareishan) can be a real problem. You can avoid this room by going through a secret corrior starting to the north, but... eh.


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    I seriously underestimated Xan. The fact that his targets get a -2 penalty to their saving throws is significant. Thanks to Horror and Sleep, large groups of low-level mooks simply aren't a problem anymore.


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    I have no idea what a "happy-galagher" is supposed to be. If that's slang, it's too obscure for me. Anyway, the cook doesn't seem to mind all the dead mercenaries next room, so... as you were, ma'am.


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    Further down the corridor, we find a second set of prison cells. This seems promising.


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    And there's Rill! He's the de facto leader of the miners beneath the Cloakwood, and he already has a plan to deal with the Iron Throne.


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    He also confirms that the Iron Throne knows us by name. That's probably bad news for our life expectancy, but it does imply that we've done some damage to their operations, which is good. We give him the gold, and he runs off to get the slaves ready.


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    The dwarf here is Yeslick, and he's more than happy for a shot at getting his revenge.


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    He's also more than happy to tell us his life story. For the love of Clangeddin, Yeslick, paragraph breaks are your friend.

    Yeslick joins our party, and we rotate Faldorn out again.


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    Yeslick is a Fighter / Cleric with perfectly decent stats. The lack of INT isn't a problem for his class combination, and his STR, CON, DEX and WIS are quite acceptable. He's one of very few NPCs who can make good use of Draw Upon Holy Might, and he gets to use Dispel Magic for free once per day. Dispel Magic can be a bit all over the place, so we have to be careful not to interfere with Xan's debuffs, but it's still super useful.


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    He also has good proficiencies, which means we finally have someone to swing that +2 warhammer we've been hanging on to.


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    His backstory contains an even longer expedition dump, explaining how the mine became a watery grave in the first place.


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    Next stop: Level 3 of the mine. We're getting ever closer to Davaeorn.


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    There are a lot of optional encounters on this level. None of the random Guards are remotely dangerous, but you don't have to fight them if you've been paying attention and know the correct answers to their challenges.


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    We will fight this Ogre Mage though, because this is Not Okay.


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    Ogre Mages are mildly dangerous, since they fight well and have spells to back that up, but this one goes down without too much trouble.


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    There is another notable encounter on this level, involving another mage.

    [img]http://i.imgur.com/ccqsmGH.png[img]
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    Natasha fires off a lightning bolt. Abdel and Yeslick barely survive, and then it kills Natasha on the rebound. Hee.


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    She carries a scroll of Slow, one of the most universally useful debuffs in the game. Xan will be using the spell to good effect.


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    That about does it for the final level of the mine complex. Davaeorn awaits.


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    A guard stops us as soon as we enter. This is mostly to let you know that a boss fight is coming up.


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    He wasn't kidding, though. Davaeorn really doesn't like unexpected guests.


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    The mage hails you as soon as he spots you. There isn't any fun pre-boss dialogue here; he says hi, then starts flinging spells. So hard to find decent banter nowadays. Sigh.

    Davaeorn is a mid-level mage, and a highly dangerous opponent. He's the sort of person who casts Protection from Normal Missiles and Mirror Image on himself first thing in the morning, so he won't have to waste the first round of combat on buffing.


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    He also is the master of the teleport spam. He pelts you with spells from a distance, including Fireball and Lightning Bolt. He can also summon monsters to act as meat shields. As soon as you get close to him, he casts Dimension Door, teleporting to one of the three rooms bordering this intersection. You can never ever get access to Dimension Door, which is a shame, because Davaeorn makes it look pretty good.

    We'll cast Haste on our melee fighters to force him to use Dimension Door frequently. Coran will plink away at Davaeorn with the magic arrows we've collected, which'll hopefully get through for some damage. You can't hurt him until you've gotten through his mirror images, making this a long and dangerous battle of attrition.


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    ... err, well, it normally is one, anyway.

    You know, I've played through this game a half-dozen times, but I always forget how overpowered [url=http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Haste]Haste[/i] is. I think I won't use it again unless I absolutely have to, since this makes the game a little easy.

    Anyway, Davaeorn carries a few letters, which provide some background information about the Iron Throne's scheme.


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    TL;DR: They've planned this for several years. Establishing the mine was step one, setting up the "bandits" and subverting the other merchant cartels was step two, iron poisoning and political upheaval was step three. The bit about using bags of holding for logistics is legitimately clever, and the sort of exploit you don't expect to see from NPCs.

    This also confirms that we're getting close to the top of the food chain. Rieltar and this "Sarevok" apparently still have superiors of their own, but not on the Sword Coast.


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    In one of the rooms to the back, we find Stephan, until recently apprentice to Davaeorn. Take a deep breath, because we are about to get absolutely drowned in exposition.


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    Whew! You got all that? No? Don't worry - CHARNAME wrote it down.


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    CHARNAME is a very quick writer, it appears. This plot dump is good to have, though. It doesn't really contain new information, but it summarizes and collates the evidence we've collected so far, and it's good to have something you can refer to if you put the game down for a few weeks.

    "Stephan Recap." Hee.


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    Nothing left to do down here. We make our way back to the first floor. Rill has evacuated the slaves and Yeslick is with us, so it's time to pull the plug on the Iron Throne. The mines obviously become inaccessible as soon as you do this, so make sure you're done with them before you talk to this guy.


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    The Cloakwood mine becomes a watery grave once again.


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    One of the mines thanks us for freeing them and gives us a bunch of XP, as well as two Reputation points. Nice. The miners are making their way to the city of Baldur's Gate, and this'll be our next stop as well.


    Screenshot

    It's time, at last, to take this fight to the Iron Throne.


    Spoiler: Comparison and commentary
    Show
    This chapter is interesting. It doesn't commit any huge, obvious writing sins. Yeslick is immediately recognisable, and actually works as a character, backstory and all. Okay, Yeslick seems to have lost his spellcasting powers, but so has everyone else. The novel cuts out the Shadow Druids and the wyverns, which is a shame, but the change does rather streamline things. It's sad that we're skipping so much neat stuff, but that probably had to be done to meet the impossible deadline. (This chapter covers 2-3 hours of gameplay, depending on how fast you are. For a first-time player, it could be closer to 5 hours.) No Daveorn means things are much easier for Abdel than they have any right to be, but what else is new? In the book, there are dwarves other than Yeslick left, which changes the context of his backstory, but it's not that destructive a change. I really like the flashback - Athans is perfectly capable of writing good scenes.

    All things said and done, this isn't so bad. Nothing here rates more than three or four points on the "purely female sound" scale. Once you stop to think, though, there's actually a lot to talk about here. To paraphrase Douglas Adams: Normally, the book's fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by its superficial design flaws. Not in chapter seventeen, though.

    First of all, Sarevok. We've established that Sarevok wanted Abdel to investigate the Iron Throne's scheme for some reason or another. He intentionally sent a weak party of assassins after Abdel and Gorion - a very well-calibrated weak party of assassins at that, as they were just strong enough to kill Gorion but not strong enough to kill Abdel. Sarevok then hired Xzar and Montaron to point Abdel towards the mines and make sure the sellsword meets Mulahey. He had the people running the bandit camp replaced with dopplegangers. Abdel has perfectly followed the trail of crumbs left for him to disover. Just according to keikaku.

    This sort of evil mastermind isn't easy to write, but it can work. Irenicus from the sequel is a good example - his scheme relied on CHARNAME coming to Spellhold to save Imoen. In any story of this kind, except for maybe the extremely dark ones, there'll be a moment where the villain's plan starts to go off the rails. The hero is underestimated, discovering some sort of inner strength when the villain expected her to be broken. The inspector asks an outsider exactly the wrong question. The trusted vizier turns out to be less trustworthy than expected. That sort of thing.

    The exact reason doesn't matter that much, but it usually ties in with the themes of the work. The villain is often brought down due to their own hubris, or because they underestimated the power of friendship. Something like that. The point is: At some point, there has to be a small flaw in the scheme that a clever and plucky hero can exploit to bring the whole thing down. Things stop going according to keikau, and the villain has to start improvising as the hero threatens to escape their spider web.

    The bit about Abdel "finding the book" is this novel's turning point, and it works alright until you actually start to think about it.

    So this is the first time something hasn't happened in accordance with Sarevok's scheme. He lured Team Abdel to the bandit camp, with the goal of making Abdel investigate the bandit camp, and succeeded. Sarevok even seems to have replaced the local leaders with doppelgangers to make sure nothing disturbs Abdel's investigation of the bandit camp. Tranzig's odd behaviour implies that the doppelganger was given orders to ride slowly, jsut to make extra sure Abdel can follow him and investigate the bandit camp. And after all this, after the extraordinary pains Sarevok took to make Abdel investigate the bandit camp, he's... surprised that... Abdel investigated the bandit camp?

    Sarevok, buddy, you have a place you badly want the hero to visit and an artifact you definitely don't want the hero to see. So why in the blazes would you keep the book in the place you expected the hero to visit? This is idiotic.

    Abdel, for his part, continues to be a deeply frustrating viewpoint character. He's determined to avoid information at all costs, no matter what. This is such a waste of a potentially interesting plot. Consider this: There's clearly a layer of conspiracies here. Xan, Xzar/Montaron and Khalid/Jaheira all have dropped hints at being in the employ of different shady groups, so there are at least three secret societies meddling in this scheme - four if you count the Iron throne itself. (Five if you count Sarevok and the Iron Throne seperately, but our heroes don't know that yet.) But we can't get a cool plot about a half-dozen schemes wildly misfiring because we're stuck in the head of Nimrod here. It wasn't so bad when Xan was around, because he at least took some basic interest in the world around him, but now it's just Abdel and Jaheira. (She never really gets to do anything of consequence, though.)

    Well, there's just over 100 pages left in the book. Let's see how Athans handles the namesake city of Baldur's Gate.

  2. - Top - End - #122
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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    There are three archdruids in the world, total. All druids are members of one of three orders, each of which is headed by one of the archdruids; Jaheira is a member of Seniyad's order. What stands out as odd is 1) that she doesn't attack you if you fight Seniyad, and 2) that you can kill two archdruids without each of them giving you a tougher fight than Sarevok, and Seniyad didn't simply blast Aldeth and his cabin into ash without effort well before you came along.

    Faldorn and Jaheira are an incompatible pair--like the other incompatible pairs (Edwin/Dynaheir, Jaheira/Xzar, Khalid/Xzar, Khalid/Montaron, Yeslick/Kagain, etc.) as long as you have them both in your party, there's a constant random chance they'll turn purple-circled and fight.

    Each dream has a random chance of taking place any time you rest after a chapter is finished. Not connected to inns in any way.

    Peter (/anyone working for the Iron Throne) couldn't be a ranger; rangers are good, and whatever Throne of Bhaal will one day do, in this game it matters.

    You can sell wyvern heads to Thalantyr (or, for some reason, Officer Vai if she's still around).

    Drasus doesn't have a permanent Haste effect--he has Boots of Speed (which you can loot from him).

    I always have Yeslick Dispel Daveorn. He's much less tough then.

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    ... somehow, I never connected Drasus dropping the Boots of Speed with him being a fast bugger. I. Huh. I guess that's actually extremely obvious.

    Yeah, Faldorn and Jaheira will snipe at each other and eventually break, that part's true. They're incompatible, but not mutually exclusive, which is interesting. I don't think her fellow Shadow Druids would consider Faldorn a moderate. ... would they? I don't know.

    All the business about the archdruids is just confusing. It seems very half-baked.

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Sarevok, buddy, you have a place you badly want the hero to visit and an artifact you definitely don't want the hero to see. So why in the blazes would you keep the book in the place you expected the hero to visit? This is idiotic.
    Counting on Abdel not picking up a book maybe?

    Abdel and Jaheira slip by the guards (off-screen)
    That's why I LOVE adventure novels. Adventuring offscreen! The best there is.

    This book always had the habit of skipping ahead and then backfilling exposition
    Not bad in itself imho if it's boring stuff. But his choices to skip things are so random.

    Reiltar
    Is it Reiltar instead of Rieltar in the books? Good thing Abdel didn't meet Elmonster...

    I don't know how I feel about an open flame inside a hollowed-out tree, but I guess the druids would know better.
    You can treat wood to not be flammable as easily but the chimney is clearly made of stone.

    The game very directly points you to Jaheira and Khalid, though, which makes me think that most people probably take them along during their first playthrough, so most people won't see the "friendly" dialogue.
    I feel the game was supposed to be played pretty interchangable. You drop underperforming dead group members and you change your party composition according to your surroundings. I mean they put a replacement for Jaheira onto the map, they offer you a Rogue for the traps in the Mines. You get offered several mages before entering the Nashkel Mines. And in Baldur's Gate you get bombarded with Thieves (to maybe get stuff from the shops if you lack in cash) and Clerics (to have support for the final battle).

    Davaeorn is a mid-level mage, and a highly dangerous opponent. He's the sort of person who casts Protection from Normal Missiles and Mirror Image on himself first thing in the morning, so he won't have to waste the first round of combat on buffing.
    Oh man, Davaeorn. With Daelan my Halforc Berserker being pretty set on decimating the Iron Throne, I haven't done many side quests. Davaeorn was a fight in an of himself. Of course he got the Boots of Speed and Ring of Fire Protection so the Benny Hill Show a serious act in comparison. He died the death of any major mage in the game. Hurling most spells on the thick head of a determined orc and then dying to the Smashy end of his Warhammers.

    After that I killed his apprentice though. Innocent or not he is too dangerous with what he knows. Did I mention I feel the darker ends of the alignment table scratching on my neutrality?

    Abdel and Jaheira hide in a tree
    K.I.S.S.I.N.G. Sorry, couldn't resist.

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by Khay View Post
    ... somehow, I never connected Drasus dropping the Boots of Speed with him being a fast bugger. I. Huh. I guess that's actually extremely obvious.

    Yeah, Faldorn and Jaheira will snipe at each other and eventually break, that part's true. They're incompatible, but not mutually exclusive, which is interesting. I don't think her fellow Shadow Druids would consider Faldorn a moderate. ... would they? I don't know.

    All the business about the archdruids is just confusing. It seems very half-baked.
    The archdruid thing is a relic from 1st and 2nd edition where you could only have so many druids above X level in a world. Like, you would literally just stop gaining experience as a druid until you hunted one down and dueled him for the right to be that level. The winner would advance to the higher level, while the loser would drop to the beginning of the lower level.
    “Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    I've played under a DM who's 'style' was kinda like this book, skips over pretty much everything or paraphrases it, unless it's combat in which case it is unavoidable, or plot, in which case it's explained poorly or leaves out vital information. In short, very tedious and unrewarding.
    ~ZA

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    There are no mutually exclusive, you-can't-have-them-together-in-the-party-at-all, pairs in BG. Even Edwin, who openly asks you to kill Dynaheir if you approach him without her, will offer to join you "to keep an eye on her" if you have her in the party when you first talk to him (though he's likely to attack her after they've been traveling together for a while).

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by ZeltArruin View Post
    I've played under a DM who's 'style' was kinda like this book, skips over pretty much everything or paraphrases it, unless it's combat in which case it is unavoidable, or plot, in which case it's explained poorly or leaves out vital information. In short, very tedious and unrewarding.
    Me too, actually. This should be part of the "bad DM" taxonomy - the one who runs his campaign like a bad FPS from the '00s.

    Interestingly, Chapter 18 is one of the few chapters in this book that subvert this pattern. Even Abdel's backstory suddenly becomes relevant again. This update is a liiittle bit early, but I'm trying to get ahead of schedule this weekend.

    Spoiler: The game
    Show
    Fun fact: We can go back inside the building even after flooding the mine. The area transition is gone, though, so you can't return to the mine proper.


    Screenshot

    There's nothing else left to do here, so it's finally time for us to leave the Cloakwood. Our next destination is the city of Baldur's Gate, but we should turn in Coran's quest first.


    Screenshot


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    Even at this stage of the game, 2000 GP is a nice bit of cash.


    Screenshot

    Our way out, we encounter a somewhat common bug - NPCs tend to get confused about their personal quests. Some of the later patches (partially) fixed this, as did the Enhanced Edition, but... such are the tribulations of playing historical versions.


    Screenshot

    Now we'll head to Baldur's Gate. The city is present on the world map from the very start of the game, just to tease the player - it's inaccessible until this chapter. (Unless you cheat through that one farmland area, but that's not a good idea, since it breaks the game.)

    We can't fast-travel to the city yet, so our next stop is that little farm icon.


    Screenshot

    A short way into the map, we encounter Ajantis, another potential companion.


    Screenshot

    You can theoretically meat Ajantis much earlier than this. Thus, his dialogue refers to the bandit problem, although we've already resolved that.

    We swap Yeslick out for Ajantis. Yeslick is a good character - I tend to use him during most of my playthroughs - but Ajantis is worth showing off.


    Screenshot


    Screenshot

    Ajantis Ilvastarr is a paladin and only mildly annoying about it. He has good front-line fighter stats, and has one of the higher CHA scores in the game. If your CHARNAME isn't particularly charming, Ajantis makes for a good party leader. Also, his bio name-checks Keldorn, whom we'll meet in the sequel.

    The paladin abilities are quite nice to have, too. Lay on Hands is a good ability, as additional healing is always nice to have. The game's main bad guys are generally evil-aligned, so Protection from Evil is good too. Detect Evil is more of a flavor thing, but it can also work as an enemy-detection radar. All in all, I like Ajantis.


    Screenshot

    One notable thing about this area is that it's absolutely crawling with ankhegs, huge burrowing insects with a powerful long-range attack. If you go here earlier than intended, the ankhegs are the game's way of letting you know you're not supposed to be there yet.

    We can dispatch the ankhegs without too much trouble, though fighting two at once still requires supporting fire from Xan. (Horror works nicely.) Each ankheg drops a shell. You can sell these to Taerom for 500 gold apiece, though they are very heavy, so you probably won't be able to carry too many of them at the same time. You can also get a cool set of armor for 4000 gold plus ten days of waiting.


    Screenshot

    In case you're wondering what the ankhegs are doing here, Gerde has the explanation.


    Screenshot

    A little further on, we find a farmhouse and a farmer in peril.

    You know, given the local ankheg population, I think I know what happened to your cattle.


    Screenshot

    This seems like a plausible starting point for our investigation.


    Screenshot

    This hole leads to a small dungeon normally known as the "ankheg cave" - for obvious reasons.


    Screenshot

    We find Nathan's body in a small niche in the eastern half of the cave. He was equipped well - Wand of Fire, Chain Mail +1, Dagger +1, Dart of Stunning, Dart of Wounding, some potions and spell scrolls - but apparently not well enough. We'll put his Wand of Fire to good use, though.


    Screenshot

    We deliver the bad news to Brun. Poor guy. If only there was somthing else we could do to help...

    Actually, there is. You can talk to Brun a second time:


    Screenshot

    It isn't easy to say how much 100 GP really is for a farmer. I can't find much information on AD&D specifically, but there are breakdowns for later editions, like this one. If we assume the "5gp per week for an untrained laborer" figure is accurate, that should be quite enough for a hireling.

    We're almost done with this map, but there's another group of locals in need of our help:


    Screenshot

    This time, it's a small group of fishermen.


    Screenshot

    Upsetting (a servant of) the sea goddess Umberlee isn't exactly what you want to happen if you're trying to make a living as a fisherman. Let's see if we can help these fellows.


    Screenshot

    We find Tenya to the north. While we're here, let's show off some of these special paladin abilities. As a servant of Umberlee, Tenya is Evil-algined.


    Screenshot

    You can try talking to her, but no matter what you say, she tells you off. The second time you try, she attacks you.


    Screenshot

    Inflict some damage, and she surrenders, finally providing an explanation as to what's going on here. She is calling the wrath of Umberlee on Sonner and company, but only because they murdered her mother and stole her sacred summoning bowl.


    Screenshot

    We agree to investigate. Note that we're calling Tenya "child" for a reason - according to one of CHARNAME's journal entries, she's meant to be twelve years old. We're not going to murder a twelve-year-old.


    Screenshot

    We confront Sonner about this. For a poor fisherman, he sure seems eager to bribe us away.


    Screenshot

    Turns out that they did murder Tenya's mother, but at the command of a cleric of Talos, and only because they couldn't afford Umberlee's ever-increasing tribute.

    Sonner gives up as soon as we start asking less nicely, and hands over the bowl.


    Screenshot

    CHARNAME writes down a few grumbly words about this in their journal. (You can just barely see the bit about the "child of 12" at the top.)


    Screenshot

    "Troubled child." CHARNAME, you are the king queen non-gender-specific monarch of understatement.


    Screenshot

    After these warm words, Tenya teleports away, leaving us to wonder if we've done the right thing. I guess there can't really be a winner when you're dealing with a rapidly escalating feud between two Chaotic Evil gods.

    Still, Tenya is just a child. Umberlee's demands were endangering the livelihood of the fishermen, but Sonner and friends ultimately initiated the violence. They were clearly willing to steal, torture and murder over this, and they can't have been that poor if they can just offer random adventurers a Flail +1 and 100 gold. They may not show up as glowy red on paladin-o-vision, but I'm confident calling them the villains in this one.


    Screenshot

    Now that this is out of the way, we can finally move on to Baldur's Gate. (Technically Taniya's shack is on the same map as the bridge, but this ordering flows better.)


    Screenshot

    Wyrm's Crossing here is the only (legitimate) way to enter Baldur's Gate. Everything up to this point can theoretically be accessed the minute you leave Candlekeep, but Wyrm's Crossing itself is blocked until this chapter.


    Screenshot

    The Flaming Fist guard collects the entrance tax and demands to know our point of origin. It doesn't really matter what you answer here. (Given option #4, CHARNAME seem to know the answer won't be recorded.)

    The mercenary tells us to hang on for a moment, his superior wants to talk to us.


    Screenshot

    His superior is Scar, second in command of the Flaming Fist. Scar wants to know if we happen to be the heroes of Nashkel. We can tell him off here, in which case he asks us to see him at the Flaming Fist compound, but let's not waste everyone's time.


    Screenshot

    Scar has some exposition and a job offer for us. The leadership of the Seven Suns trading coster has been acting strangely, but their boss, Jhasso, won't let the Flaming Fist start an official investigation. Scar needs freelancers, and that's where we come in.


    Screenshot

    We can warn him about the Iron Throne, but the Seven Suns investigation takes priority. 2000 GP is a healthy chunk of cash, and it's probably good to get the Flaming Fist on our good side if we want to go after the Iron Throne, so... sure, why not!


    Screenshot

    There's one more notable NPC here: Quayle. The gnome is a potential companion, but he's annoying enough and weak enough that I probably won't get around to showing him off. Cleric/Mage isn't a great class combination, particularly in Baldur's Gate 1, which has a very low XP cap. Given how bad his WIS is, Quayle would be far better off as a regular specialist mage, or perhaps a Thief/Illusionist. Invisibility is nice enough as a special ability, but it doesn't make up for everything else. So... pass.


    Screenshot

    At last, we make it into Baldur's Gate proper. The city is far too large to be contained in a single map, and thus it is split up into (unlabelled) districts. You can kinda tell what's where by looking at the map, thankfully.


    Screenshot

    Just like every other major location, Baldur's Gate gets a CGI intro.

    An old friend is waiting for us inside.


    Screenshot


    Screenshot


    Screenshot

    Elminster is here to drop some dark hints about the future, noting that we have "bad blood." Hmm.


    Screenshot

    The wizard does have some valuable information for us, though. He considers Scar and Duke Eltan to be trustworthy, so working with Scar is probably a good idea.

    (Baldur's Gate is a city of spies - normally, part of that plot is figuring out who can be trusted on which issues to what extent. Elminster telling us we can rely on Scar and Eltan removes some of that, which I think is a shame. Assuming you consider Elminster himself trustworthy, that is. We'll still get our fill of politics later on, don't worry.)

    With that, Elminster leaves. We are now free to explore Baldur's Gate at our leisure.

    First of all: Flavour text!


    Screenshot

    Aww yeah, that's the ticket. NPC banter.


    Screenshot

    A new chapter and a new location means all the Commoners (and Nobles) get new lines. Most of these don't provide a lot of new information, but it helps us get a feel for the mood of the place.


    Screenshot

    Also: We're famous! Nice.

    Now, it's going to take quite some time to explore Baldur's Gate, as there's a lot to discover here. We'll be doing plenty of that in the coming weeks. For now, though... I don't know about you, but all this business about fighting ankhegs and transporting magic water bowls has made me rather thirsty.


    Screenshot

    The Elfsong is a famous tavern, conveniently located near the centre of this map.

    It's quite a large tavern, too. The ground floor is probably as large as that of the Friendly Arms, if not larger, and it's full of people. We'll stay the night, but before we do, let's have a quick chat with the Sword Coast's most verbose quest-giver.


    Screenshot

    He has very clearly never done this before, so let's give him the full mercenary-hiring experience.


    Screenshot

    TL;DR: He wants us to steal a telescope from the Hall of Wonders.


    Screenshot


    Screenshot


    Screenshot


    Screenshot

    Brevlik, really, I know it's your first time as a quest-giver, but you're coming across as a little too eager here.

    We were going to check out the Hall of Wonders anyway, so we might as well make some coin while we do that. I've actually never done that sidequest before, so this'll be exciting.

    We're about ready to turn in for the night. Let's have a quick chat with the owner before we go. There's this odd tension in the air...


    Screenshot


    Screenshot

    Hmm. This is interesting. I suppose it's a bad sign when the house spirit starts hiding.

    We'll end the update here, to keep things synchronised with the novel. Up next: The Gate.


    Spoiler: The book
    Show
    Our heroes are currently approaching Baldur's Gate on a chartered ferry, with the aim of checking out the Seven Suns cartel, as their logo was on some of the supplies they found in the Iron Throne's mine. They (plus an ox) are the only passengers, so they have some privacy.

    Jaheira is still quietly mourning their dead companions. Abdel doesn't really find it in him to mourn, but since Gorion's death he hasn't enjoyed killing as much. It's not much, as far as introspection goes, but... baby steps. Abdel starts to feel a little bit weird, so he drops the line of thought and focuses on the view instead.

    Abdel had never thought to ask if Jaheira had ever been as far north as this, but when she first caught sight of the city, sprawled over the north bank of the mile-wide river, she could do little but stare in awe. There was something about the look on the beautiful half-elf’s face that warmed Abdel’s heart.
    While Jaheira is marvelling at the view, Abdel goes through a few quick comedy bits with the old ferryman. (I had to slightly alter this quot so as not to upset the obscenity filter.)

    “Ferryman,” he said again, and this time the old man shot him an annoyed look.
    “We’ll get there, we’ll get there,” he croaked. “What d’ya think we are, a bunch of golems?”
    “Do you need a hand, old man?” Abdel offered.
    “I’m fine, kid,” the old man spat out. “I’m just old, my knee ‘urts, and I don’t give a [excrement] no more.”
    Abdel laughed, and the old man looked offended for a heartbeat or two, then laughed along with Abdel. Ending in a spasm of phlegmy coughs, the ferryman stepped aside and let Abdel take the tiller.
    The journey itself uneventful, but Baldur's Gate itself is described with a surprising degree of detail.

    Few of the buildings in the city were taller than two stories, most of them shops with apartments above. There were houses, and cramped row houses. The air over the city was thick with smoke from countless fireplaces. Years of smoke had stained the once pale waddle and daub a dark gray.
    The sea of squat structures was occasionally punctuated by the odd unusual edifice. Even though it sat far back in the city’s northernmost district, Abdel could see the tops of three of the seven towers of the High Hall, the city’s ducal palace. The steeply arched roof of the temple of Gond — the so called High House of Wonders — blocked the other four towers.
    That sort of thing - the paragraph goes on for a while. I actually quite like it. This gives us a sense of place this book so often lacks.

    Abdel starts fantasizing about the sort of big city amendments you can't find in mudholes like Nashkel. Jaheira, always on task, asks the ferryman if he knows which pier or warehouse belongs to the Seven Suns, but he's pointedly unhelpful. Our heroes disembark, making their way to- oh, hang on, almost forgot:

    A set of crumbling stone steps led up to the quay, and when Abdel made to disembark the old man put up a hand to hold him back — a comic sight in itself.
    “Easy there, big fella,” he said, “I want that fart-smelling cow off here first.”
    Jaheira looked at the old man like she was going to kill him, then blushed when she realized he was talking about the ox.
    There. We were way below our dunking-on-Jaheira quota. Just to make sure, one of the locals spits at Jaheira, since she looks Amnian. She takes it in stride.

    Abdel decides to take Jaheira to one of his favourite haunts, the Elfsong Tavern.

    Abdel stood in the entryway and just breathed in the smell of it, savoring the tangible sense of community and familiarity until he noticed that Jaheira was looking at him strangely. “It’s good to be here,” he told her, “you’ll see.”
    (...)
    “We need to eat,” he said. “I’ll send for my friend, and we can wait for him over stew, fresh baked bread, and the best ale on the Sword Coast—well, the second best.” There was the Friendly Arms, after all.
    Jaheira forced a smile and squeezed his hand with a casual familiarity that made Abdel’s heart race and ache at the same time.
    Abdel explains that his friend, Scar, will be able to tell them all about the Seven Suns trading coster if they do indeed operate in the Gate. (And that "the Gate" is a local nickname for the city.)

    They order some food and drink while they wait for Scar. Jaheira makes another spirited attempt to explain the reason behind this whole mess. As always, the universe interrupts her at the last moment.

    “Abdel, I...” Jaheira blushed, and when Abdel put the back of his hand gently to her cheek she leaned in to the touch and smiled. “Khalid and I are... were—“
    She stopped when Abdel put a hand to her mouth. She stopped more from surprise than anything, then she realized the general tenor of the place had changed. It was almost dead quiet, save for the rattling of a shutter in the wind, and a woman’s singing.
    The singer turns out to be the ghostly woman for whom the Elfsong is named.

    The voice was the most beautiful sound Jaheira had ever heard. It was a lone woman, singing a tune that played not with notes and sound but with the rhythms of heart and soul.
    (...)
    Surely this unseen woman — ghost, if that’s what she was — couldn’t know Jaheira, but the song had Khalid in it, the way he looked at her when they’d first met, the words he’d spoken to her on their wedding night, and the sad times too, the affairs and the lies and the subtle humiliations. A tear ran down Jaheira’s cheek, then another, and Abdel wiped each away in turn with a big, gentle, callused fingertip.
    I've said it before: Athans is perfectly capable of writing good scenes. This sketch of Jaheira's and Khalid's relationship works well, and it certainly hits the right emotional tones. This portrayal of the Elfsong Tavern fits in with D&D canon, too.

    [The bartender] offered the glass to Jaheira with a knowing smile, glanced pointedly at her ears and said, “A tallglass of elverquisst, on the house.”
    Abdel nodded to the bartender, and Jaheira just reached out and took hold of the glass. She looked at it, letting the tears come as they may.
    “It’s a tradition,” Abdel said, “when an elf hears the lady sing for the first time.”
    “I’m only—“ she said, stopping herself with a loud sniff.
    “It doesn’t matter,” Abdel told her as she sipped the sweet elven wine.
    I'm not sure if this scene is genuinely good or if it's just the contrast with the rest of the novel that does it, but I like it, dangit.

    Several tallglasses of elverquisst and a few bowls of stew later, Abdel's friend arrives.

    He and Abdel embraced, and though when he entered Jaheira thought Scar was an enormous, imposing man, next to Abdel, he was merely a man. Scar seemed happy to see Abdel, happy and relieved.
    Scar and Abdel hit it off right away. They take a moment to catch up, and Scar expresses his condolences for Gorion's death. Abdel makes sure to mark his territory.

    “Been travelling long?” Scar asked facetiously, eyeing the mess instead of sitting.
    “A lifetime,” Abdel answered. “Jaheira, this is my good friend, who goes by the name Scar. If he asks you if you want to see what gave him that name, please refuse, or he won’t be my friend anymore.” It was Abdel’s ham-handed way of telling Scar that Jaheira was more than a travelling companion or fellow soldier.
    The group then retires upstairs to discuss business.

    “This Iron Throne,” Abdel picked up, “is sabotaging the iron mines at Nashkel and other places, and Jaheira and the Harpers think they mean to start a war.”
    Jaheira looked at him sharply, and he returned her look with a confident smile. He’d been around awhile and knew a Harper when he fell in love with one.
    Yep. That's the payoff for eighteen chapters of Athans playing coy with us. Abdel, a man inattentive enough to somehow think of Montaron as trustworthy, has retroactively figured out that Jaheira is a Harper. Ż\_(ツ)_/Ż

    Scar explains that he's never heard of the Iron Throne, but confirms that the Seven Suns is a local trading cartel and thus a major power broker. Well, they used to be - not as much, now, after a long string of terrible business decisions.

    “The Seven Suns are the same as any merchant company either of us has ever been hired to guard, my friend. They’re in it — whatever it might be today — for the gold. That doesn’t make them terribly altruistic, but it certainly makes them predictable. Over the last... well, I’m not really sure how long... they’ve been neglecting too many of their usual trade ventures—routes that always gave them steady profits. We’ve asked them, through proper channels and all very up front, if anything’s wrong. Jhasso — that’s the man behind the Seven Suns and a well known local — told us, in no uncertain terms, to mind our own business.”
    Scar asks if they have actual proof that ties the Seven Suns to the ore poisonings, but they don't. Without Jhasso's permission, and without any hard evidence, Scar's hands are tied. He then suggests they take a less... official approach. Jaheira expresses concern that the Flaming Fist will thrown them behind bars if they step on Jhasso’s toes, and, well...

    Abdel laughed, and Scar just looked embarrassed.
    “The Flaming Fist,” Abdel said to Jaheira, “is a mercenary company with a long and well-respected history. They’ve taken on the role of... well, everything in the Gate: city watch, army... jailers.”
    “And?” Jaheira prompted.
    “And,” Abdel said, gesturing to Scar, “meet their second-in-command.”
    On that note, the chapter ends. I swear the chapter boundaries in this book were chosen at random.


    Spoiler: Comparison and commentary
    Show
    For much of this thread, the "comparison" section has been home mostly to stream-of-consciousness rants about the quality of writing in the novel. Not this time, though! We have something interesting to comment on this time.

    This chapter reads a lot like a "coming home" scene. Baldur's Gate, it seems, is much more Abdel's home than Candlekeep ever was. Abdel clearly thinks fondly of the city, and he can't wait to show Jaheira the sights. This makes sense, given Abdel's changed backstory, and for once we're shown rather than told.

    It'll be interesting to see how the later chapters are changed. In the game, the return trip to Candlekeep is a real emotional roller coaster, and a big turning point in the plot, but Abdel isn't nearly as attached to Candlekeep as CHARNAME. On the other hand, Abdel is very attached to Baldur's Gate, and could thus be expected to react strongly to the threat of the Gate falling into the hands of Sarevok. We'll have to wait and see how this one develops.

    Second, there's the scene with Scar. The content of the scenes is almost the same - Novel!Scar's dialogue is a direct paraphrase of Game!Scar's dialogue - but the context is entirely different.

    In the game, CHARNAME is a newly-famous adventurer whom Scar hires because he needs a vaguely trustworthy outsider. CHARNAME has little reason to trust Scar, except for the word of Elminster, and Scar has little reason to trust CHARNAME, except for reputation (and perhaps also word of Elminster). In the book, on the other hand, Abdel and Scar are old friends. Our hero has reason to expect that Scar will protect Team Abdel if they step on the toes of someone as powerful as Jhasso, which suggests a very close friendship indeed. In the game, Scar was probably just waiting for someone to come along who can do the Seven Suns investigation. In the novel, investigating the Seven Suns is originally Jaheira's idea, because she saw the Seven Suns logo on a crate of supplies in the Cloakwood mine. Scar just confirms there's shady stuff going on. This is one of very few examples where Team Abdel has more initiative than Team CHARNAME.

    On the overall, I like the changes. It's a different plot, of course, but it works well. It'll be interesting to see if and how Athans sticks with it.

    That said, I do have a few quibbles here.

    One thing that strikes me as weird is that Scar seems to be Abdel's only friend, in addition to being Abdel's only professional contact. The other acquaintances of Abdel we meet are Eagus and Kamon, and they both die in the first chapter. Surely Abdel, who is not on contract with any established mercenary company, would need to do some networking to survive as a freelance sellsword. In the first few chapters, Abdel notes that he's been going through lean times, but he never seems to think about hitting up some of his old contacts for work. The closest he ever comes is a half-formed plan to hang out at the Friendly Arm Inn and see if anything floats his way. Notably, he never thinks of Scar before this chapter.

    Outside of this chapter, Abdel often acts like CHARNAME, who really does know nothing of the outside world (and to whom Baldur's Gate would likely be an overwhelming blur of noise and people). Abdel's backstory as an experienced mercenary really does come and go. It really is a shame - written consistently, he could at the very least be an interesting contrast to CHARNAME, as this chapter shows.

    This chapter also provides another example of how malleable Jaheira's personality can be. As part of Abdel's big "coming home" scene, he needs an audience to show his city to, and as Team Abdel is down to one non-Abdel person, this person needs to be Jaheira. Therefore, Jaheira - who is a Harper, from Amn, on an important mission - has never seen a city as big as Baldur's Gate and knows absolutely nothing of local customs. So it goes.

    It is a little odd that Jaheira would admire the view of the Gate, as druids are generally not fond of massive, sprawling, smoke-blackened cities. The Jaheira of the games is no exception. Remember that, even in Baldur's Gate 1, your party members will occasionally pipe up to provide colour commentary. This is one of Jaheira's idle-lines:

    (Area; town) "This city is a blight on nature! 'Tis better that it grow wild!"
    Still, the scene in question is written rather sweetly, and I guess it's nice that Jaheira wasn't given the standard-issue "annoying tree-hugger" druid personality. (She does later describe the city as "rank," and complains about the lack of fortifications, but it doesn't seem to be her initial reaction.)

    This really makes me think it was a mistake to not have Abdel travel with a full party. Jaheira needs to be his foil for everything, which means she has to switch between personalities at a moment's notice.

    In sum, though, I quite like this chapter. We occasionally get glimpses of a better version of this book, and these are always the most interesting chapters to write about.

  9. - Top - End - #129
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Jun 2013

    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Fun fact: This update was written a few days in advance because I am currently on vacation in Amsterdam. Well, when I say currently, I mean at the time of posting. This paragraph too was written pre-vacation, and you're probably reading it sometime in the future, when- you know what, nevermind.

    Here's Chapter Nineteen, in which we investigate the Seven Suns company. The book is increasingly starting to compress the plot, so expect long game sections from now on. This is not a completionist playthrough, but I do want to show off at least some interesting tidbits, so there'll be a lot of faffing about as well. If you want to skip the sidequesting, the plot content here starts near the phrase "Flaming Fist compound".

    Spoiler: The book
    Show
    Abdel and Jaheira are currently observing the Seven Suns warehouse from across the street, having settled on a plan of sorts.

    Their conversation, their planning, consisted mostly of Jaheira trying to talk Abdel out of simply storming the place.
    This is going to end well.

    The Seven Suns warehouse was built onto a long, wide stone pier and was only one of a dozen similar buildings, though by all accounts it was the biggest. The mark Jaheira recognized was emblazoned in red paint on the short end of the roughly rectangular brick structure. The sigil was eight feet tall, and Abdel couldn’t help being a bit embarrassed that they’d had to ask Scar where to find the place. The Iron Throne may have been some kind of secret organization, but the Seven Suns trading coster certainly wasn’t.
    Yeah, this sounds like it'd be hard to miss. Curious that the ferryman didn't know about this place. I suppose he probably did know and just likes being a douchebag.

    Note also that the Iron Throne is confirmed to be "some kind of secret organization," rather than a trading company.

    Jaheira and Abdel shoot the breeze for a while, waiting for night to fall so they can start nosing around.

    “What do you think we’ll find in there?” she asked.
    “Carts and crates full of iron ore,” he offered. “Maybe some of that iron-weakening potion...”
    Jaheira allowed herself her first real laugh in days and said, “Yes, with huge labels that say: Iron-Weakening Potion, Made in Baldur’s Gate by the Iron Throne...”
    “... for all your iron-weakening needs,” Abdel finished, and they shared a laugh.
    That sort of thing. Our heroes do a little people-watching, and discuss whether this technically qualifies as a burglary, since they're not planning to steal anything. (They settle on espionage.) Once again, I rather like it - we needed more character-building moments like these in the book.

    Eventually, the sun sets and the workers go home. Abdel breaks open a side door, and they slip into the building.

    He smiled at Jaheira, who could see his white teeth in the darkness and said, “Abdel Adrian, Master Thief.”
    He almost laughed, but froze instead. She used that name: Abdel Adrian. The only other time he’d heard that was when he met Khalid in the Friendly Arms, what seemed like a lifetime ago. He hadn’t thought anything of it then, but hearing it again now, after all that had happened, for some reason filled him with a nameless, undefined dread, like his heart was suddenly mired in mud.
    That paragraph right there? We call that a "Notice This" in the business. Especially since the "Adrian" didn't draw that reaction back in the Inn.

    Jaheira puts her low-light vision to good use, and the two take a circuitous route through the unlit warehouse, evading all kinds of unseen obstacles. After a while, Jaheira suddenly stops, shushing Abdel.

    When he did, he heard the noise. It was so faint at first he’d assumed it was coming from outside, from the nearly empty street. Voices, deep and resonant male voices, muffled by some intervening structure, echoed in the darkness.
    There is an office of sorts, adjacent to the warehouse, and our heroes have stopped next to its door. Abdel peers through the keyhole. Two men are inside, talking, but Abdel can't hear what they're saying or make them out clearly.

    The two figures conversed a bit more, and Abdel still couldn’t tell what they were saying. The side of the figure he saw blurred, and Abdel blinked. The strain of peering through the little keyhole was obviously affecting his eyesight. When he pulled away he heard the scuffle of feet, and Jaheira put a hand on his shoulder, and he could feel her tense next to him. (...) The footsteps were receding, and there was something about the pattern Abdel couldn’t quite put his finger on.
    Hmm. Interesting.

    Jaheira and Abdel wait for the steps to recede before continuing their exploration. So far, they're doing alright with this whole stealth thing, but their luck doesn't last.

    He stood slowly and put one hand on the middle of Jaheira’s back. He drew her in to whisper into her ear, but her head wasn’t turned to the side as he’d expected it to be and their noses touched.
    She gasped and leaned a minute fraction of an inch toward him, and he forgot where he was, what he was doing, and kissed her.
    Her lips were warm and soft and welcoming, and lights danced behind Abdel’s closed eyelids. He felt her hand on his chest, and he held her tighter, and her mouth opened just a little more— and a bright light blazed in the darkness, and a gruff voice grunted, “Pretty.”
    ... see, I knew they were going to mess up the investigation somehow, but I would never have guessed it'd go... quite... like this. Abdel is a very loud kisser, apparently.

    The two lovebirds are surrounded by a group of men with improvised clubs. Abdel mentally refers to them as "wharf rats" - all torn blouses, bandanas and bad tattoos. That makes me think they're harbour workers, not guards.

    Abdel pushed Jaheira away and drew his sword in the space of time it took the half-elf woman to blink once and close her mouth.
    Abdel swings his sword wildly and hits one of the workers, mostly by accident. Jaheira drags him through the office door and slams the door shut, then casts her third spell - a mere six chapters after the second one.

    Jaheira sighed, then began mumbling the words to another prayer. Abdel stared at her, feeling the pressure of each second as they passed by like hours. The men outside pounded, then leaned against the door trying to push it in. Jaheira looked concerned, but continued her chanting, then closed her eyes. Abdel could hear a creaking noise, faint at first, then a loud cry of warping wood.
    This seems like Warp Wood to me. The 2nd edition description notes that Warp Wood can be used to spring a door open, so it can probably be used to jam one shut. The updated description for 3.5 confirms this. There is also Hold Portal, but that's a Wizard spell, so... yeah, I'm pretty sure this is Warp Wood.

    Anyway, even magically reinforced, it's a flimsy door. The workers start making Strength checks, and our heroes flee down the corridor. They don't make it far.

    “I warped the door closed, but—“ Jaheira started to say when they ran right into a strange humanoid creature that was so unnaturally featureless, with smooth gray skin and big, dead eyes, the woman screamed at the sight of it. The creature hissed [and] Abdel brought his sword up[.]
    It's interesting that the doppelgangers would be hanging out in their natural forms next to a warehouse full of humans, but so it goes. Abdel slashes at the creature, drawing blood but failing to kill it. The shapeshifter assumes the likeness of a Flaming Fist mercenary, then runs away, and the guards finally break through the door.

    The first wharf rat fell onto Abdel’s sword and let out a thin, gurgling whimper as he slid down the length of the blade, stopping only at the polished brass hand guard. Blood poured over Abdel’s hands, and he pushed forward to try to clear his blade. “Abdel!” Jaheira shouted from down the corridor. “There’s too many of them!”
    Abdel ignores Jaheira, and tries to stand his ground, which is complicated a little by the fact that his sword is quite stuck. While he's distracted, another doppelganger appears from the darkness. It gets the jump on him, and that's that.

    This one lifted a thin, gray-skinned hand, and Abdel saw the flash of gold — it was wearing a ring — and the thing touched its cold fingertips to Abdel’s temple. The sell-sword distinctly heard the creature whisper a single word: “Sizzle.”
    A pain like Abdel had never felt before exploded in his head, and he was conscious of his elbows jerking up with sufficient force to rip the dead wharf rat from gut to shoulder blade, and then there was only darkness, the scuffle of feet, echoing voices, and hands all over him.
    Yeah, that didn't go so well.

    That looks like another spell to me. Greater Doppelgangers have spellcasting abilities, so why not? Some sort of extra-painful Ghoul Touch variant, perhaps? It has a range of Touch (duh) and incapacitates the target. Could be Cause Serious Wounds, too, but used to inflict nonlethal damage. No idea if the AD&D rules would support anything like that, but it's fun to think about.

    Some time later, Abdel re-awakens. He is in a catastrophic amount of pain, but alive. It takes him a few tries, but eventually, he manages to open his eyes.

    Abdel opened his eyes, and this time the pain was less intense. He’d felt this way before, after long nights of ale and other spirits, but this was worse. Much worse. There was light coming in through a tiny window, a square maybe a foot on a side, so Abdel had enough light to survey his surroundings.
    “Damn,” he breathed when he realized he was in a cell. He was locked up like an animal.
    This is pretty much what a migraine feels like. The worst hangover of your life, and any tiny amount of light feels like staring directly into the sun. I don't know if it's possible to inflict nonlethal damage with Cause Wounds spells, but if it is, this is probably what the result looks like.

    Abdel takes stock of the situation once he gets his limbs to work. His equipment is gone, and he's locked in a small room containing nothing but a bit of hay and a bucket. Note that Abdel was, apparently, wearing his chainmail tunic and his stompy combat boots to a stealth mission. Nice.

    Jaheira is locked up next door. No word on how she was captured. Interestingly, the third cell is also occupied - there's a stranger with them.

    “Abdel,” Jaheira called, apparently from another cell, “say something.”
    “I’m thirsty,” he said loudly, and the strange man laughed.
    “Tell me about it,” he said, “these doppelgangers are lousy hosts.”
    “Doppelgangers?” Jaheira asked.
    Abdel had heard of these vile, shapeshifting beasts. From what he’d heard, the city of Waterdeep was all but ruled by them. Some were convinced that nearly every city and realm on Faerun had at least one doppelganger in its political structure.
    I'd guess that Jaheira and Abdel would've figured things out by now, having seen a doppelganger in the corridor, but just in case, the stranger spells it out. It's kind of odd that Jaheira hasn't heard of them. If indeed the city of Waterdeep has doppelgangers in its political structure - well, this seems like the sort of thing the Harpers would be keeping an eye on.

    Anyway. Who is this mystery prisoner?

    “Who are you?” Abdel asked.
    “The name’s Jhasso. I used to run this place.”
    Oh. Well... mission partially accomplished, I suppose.


    Spoiler: The game
    Show
    Now that we're all rested up, it's time to resume our exploration of the Gate.

    First up: Shopping!


    Screenshot

    Sorcerous Sundries is to High Hedge as Wall Street is to a guy selling produce out of the back of his van. You can find lots and lots of spell scrolls here, as well as some basic magic weapons and ammo. We'll be leaving quite a bit of money here.


    Screenshot

    Hey, what's this?


    Screenshot

    Ahh, Dimension Door. This is a spell that only causes problems. As a single-target short-range teleport spell that requires line of sight, it isn't particularly useful, certainly not enough to justify expending a 4th-level spell slot. However, under the right circumstances, you can use it to skip past impassable chasms, plot-locked doors and event triggers, which enables sequence breaking. It's gone in BG 2, and for good reason. (I think it was actually dummied out of BG 1 with one of the later patches, as I don't think I ever saw it before, but I could be misremembering.)


    Screenshot

    We can go upstairs for some scintillating dialogue and an optional combat encounter. Niemain and his mage friends Oulam, Wheber Ott and William Garst are actually Zhentarim. If Xzar is still in your party, you get a very interesting conversation:

    NIEMAIN: Mmm... Xzar has spoken highly of you in his reports.
    CHARNAME: Xzar is an addled fool.
    NIEMAIN: Yes, but a necessary one and a useful tool, wouldn't you agree? Like yourselves, we are no friends of the Iron Throne. I have instructed Xzar to accompany you to the Iron Throne tower in the west end of the city. Even madness has its place, yes?
    CHARNAME: Xzar, Montaron, yourself, these men around you... Who am I dealing with, here?
    NIEMAIN: Has Xzar not told you? Perhaps I have spoken too soon. We are the Zhentarim and I am Xzar's superior. He has been making regular reports to me about your party and the progress of your investigations into the iron crisis. Your work has been exemplary and of great service to our cause. Now go, purge this city of the Iron Throne's presence. They have become more than a nuisance to us... They have become a threat.
    If you have Montaron but not Xzar, the conversation is different:

    NIEMAIN: I see Montaron is with you but what of Xzar? By all that is dark, this does not bode well for our plans.
    CHARNAME: What plans?
    NIEMAIN: Xzar did not have time to tell you, then... The Iron Throne has many enemies. I am one of them. Xzar was another. He had been making regular reports to me about your party and the progress of your investigations into the present crisis. When the last few reports didn't come, I assumed that the messengers had been forced to take a more lengthy route due to the bandit activity. But this, this is far worse. Alone, Montaranˢᶦᶜ is of little use to us and you... I do not know if you can be trusted... Please, leave us be. It is time for us to revise our thinking on this entire matter.
    This is a rather significant conversation, confirming that the Zhentarim have no ties to the Iron Throne, and implying that Xzar is more than he appears to be. Sadly, most players probably won't see it - there's little reason to keep Xzar and Montaron in your party, even if you're going evil.


    Screenshot

    Time to resume our exploration of the city. Unlocking diferent areas works much like wilderness travel - you need to reach an area the hard way to make it accessible for fast travel. As the city is spread over different maps, not all of them unlock at the same time.

    The map is certainly not to scale, but it's good that Baldur’s Gate is zoomed in, as you can make out landmarks on the world map. In this case: The Hall of Wonders.


    Screenshot

    It's still daytime, so trying to steal the telescope now would be a terrible idea. Still, let's check out the place. Maybe we'll learn something interesting.


    Screenshot

    A tour! Well, why not? Let's spring for the full tourist experience.


    Screenshot

    Nothing here matters to the game itself, strictly speaking, but there's some delicious flavour text to be had.


    Screenshot

    The steam engine was invented many times throughout history. It just didn't kick off an industrial revolution until the circumstances were right. The way Brathlen describes the steam dragon suggests that it sees some practical use, though the Gondians seem to be underestimating its potential.

    Take note, dear reader; your homebrew steampunk setting is canon.


    Screenshot

    This seems to be a type of treadle pump, or perhaps one of its historical predecessors. Cool.


    Screenshot

    Not quite sure if the Everlight is a reference to an actual historical invention, but it's neat all the same. Perhaps it's meant to be a huge Argand lamp? That one did use a gravity feed.


    Screenshot

    At last, the Farseer. The naming here is a bit of an in-joke, as the word "telescope," like many scientific terms, is the result of mashing two Ancient Greek words together. In this case, τῆλε (tele, "far") and σκοπεῖν (skopein, "to look or see").

    The history of the telescope is quite fascinating. It didn't take long for quality telescopes to appear once the "perspective glass" was invented by Dutch eyeglass makers in the late 1500s. The first patent for a 3x magnification scope was registered in 1608. Hearing of the design, Galileo started improving on it starting in 1609, eventually achieving 9x magnification.

    The item's description notes that the Gondians understand the physics behind the telescope, but the lens-grinders of Baldur's Gate kind of suck. I don't think there was ever a time when primitive spyglassees were widespread but quality telescopes didn't really exist, but I'm not sure.

    This concludes our tour. We can chat with Brathlen a little longer, but won't learn anything of importance.


    Screenshot

    This is interesting, though. The Gondians roughly know how the wonders work, but they lack the engineering prowess to mass-produce them, and it takes a year just to build a flawed copy of one. A shame.

    It's afternoon by now, so we have some time to kill. We loiter outside the Hall of Wonders for a while. Maybe something interesting will happen.


    Screenshot

    We do not have to wait for long. A matter of life and death? Lead on, Varci!

    Varci takes us to the home of Tremain Belde'ar, Lord Priest of Tymora.


    Screenshot

    Tremain seems caught up in a philosophical conundrum.


    Screenshot

    Man, the Umberlants are douchebags. Trespassing isn't cool, but does that really deserve the death penalty?

    We ask Tremain why he needs outside help, and he elaborates about the philosophical problem.


    Screenshot

    This is part of what makes this sidequest worth showing off: It confirms that resurrection powers do exist, beyond being a gameplay convenience. Unfortunately, that also creates a plot hole - why can we take Casson's corpse to a priest, but not Gorion's? Bah.


    Screenshot

    Tremain offers us the Shield of the Falling Stars as payment, and we accept. It's one of the best shields in the game, and, well, we're nice people, so let's help Tremain out here. The Umberlants owe us a favour anyway.


    Screenshot

    The Temple of Umberlee is, obviously, located near the docks. As soon as we enter the area, we are hailed by a strange mage.


    Screenshot

    Entillis Fulsom is a Harper and friend of Jaheira and Khalid, who are hereby confirmed to also be Harpers. Our actions so far have been compatible with the Harpers' goals, and Jaheira is with us. Thus, his greeting is warm and friendly, and he provides some helpful information.


    Screenshot

    Entillis re-confirms that Scar and Eltan are trustworthy. Or possibly in the employ of the Harpers. If you're going up against an evil conspiracy, it's nice to have a good (if vaguely shady) conspiracy backing you up.


    Screenshot

    CHARNAME takes this revelation in stride.

    We make it about halfway to the temple before we are interrupted by another conversation.


    Screenshot

    This one's just flavour text, but interesting nonetheless.


    Screenshot

    Maztica and the Amnian colony of Helmsport are occasionally mentioned throughout the games, but it's just worldbuilding - the events in Maztica are of no importance to the Bhaalspawn crisis. This confused the heck out of me at age twelve, but in hindsight, I kinda like it.


    Screenshot

    The WaterQueen's House is not difficult to find.


    Screenshot

    The locals aren't especially helpful. You can ask for Tenya or the high priestess Jalantha Mistmyr. Or fight your way through the temple, if you feel so inclined. Calling Tenya is the option that doesn't involve spending money or spilling blood, so Tenya it is.


    Screenshot

    Glad to see you too, Tenya. Say, is there some kind of requirement that a worshipper of Umberlee has to be a complete douchebag in addition to being evil? Because I'm sensing a theme here.

    At least she does fork over Casson's body free of charge. If you didn't help Tenya, you have to fight your way through the temple, or buy the corpse off Jalantha Mistmyr at a total cost of 2050 gold. (50 for an audience, 2k for the body.)


    Screenshot

    We take the body back to Tremain, who has prepared the ritual.


    Screenshot

    The whole thing is very anticlimactic - Casson just pops into existence. Tremain spends some time chewing out his son, but is clearly very relieved to have him back.


    Screenshot

    Casson, for his part, seems rather drained. Makes sense - he had no experience level to lose and thus took a CON penalty. Still, better than being dead. (In case you're wondering, Casson is Neutral Good, so at least he didn't spend a day in hell.)


    Screenshot

    Varci gives us our reward and bids us good-bye. It can't hurt to have Tymora smile at us - as adventurers, we are ever at the mercy of the RNG.


    Screenshot

    Right. Night has fallen, so it's time to hit the Hall of Wonders now.

    In case you were expecting to sneak past guards, find gaps in patrol routes and such... yeah, no. The hall is unlocked and empty at night.


    Screenshot

    Well, not quite empty. Who are you?


    Screenshot

    Oh, a fellow rogue! Seems we weren't the only ones to have this idea.


    Screenshot

    The halfling shows us around the place while we stand watch. As you can probably tell, she has a very sunny attitude, and quickly grows to like us.


    Screenshot

    Sure, why not. Welcome aboard, Alora! Since you're a rogue, we'll swap out Coran for you.


    Screenshot


    Screenshot

    Alora, sadly, falls into the "why bother" category of recruitable NPCs. She's one of the last characters to become available, so you've probably settled on a party by now, and single-class thieves get overshadowed at higher levels. Alora's a good-aligned thief with excellent DEX, but Imoen sort of occupies that niche. They have basically the same personality, too. Alora has higher DEX than Imoen, but Imoen can be dual-classed into a mage, which is probably better.

    The halfling does come with a custom item with a unique effect (+2 Luck), but it's not entirely clear if the effect even works in vanilla BG. So... eh. That said, I've never used Alora before, so I'll give her a go.


    Screenshot

    Right. Time to nick the telescope and get out of here. A Flaming Fist guard spawns as soon as you touch the telescope, but it's not difficult to evade him - especially if you give your thief the Boots of Speed first.


    Screenshot

    Time to collect our reward!


    Screenshot

    Brevlik gives us 500 gold, as well as a Wand of Lightning and a good chunk of XP. Nice. We rest at the Elfsong, again failing to trigger a Bhaal dream.


    Screenshot

    Let's get this investigation back on track. The headquarters of the Seven Suns are located in SW Baldur's Gate, near the Flaming Fist compound.

    Here we go. We've wasted enough time. Nothing can keep us from our goal of- hey, don't we know that guy?


    Screenshot

    It's Aldeth! You know, from the Cloakwood. Hello, Aldeth.


    Screenshot

    Aldeth is once again in need of our aid. Sure, we can spare a moment to listen. What troubles the nobility of this fine city?


    Screenshot


    Screenshot

    Oh. This all sounds... rather familiar. This is roughly what Scar told us happened to the Seven Suns. That makes two major trading companies whose owners suddenly changed personality and lost all ability to run a business. You know what? Let's take a look. Maybe this'll turn out to be related to the Seven Suns thing.

    The Merchants League estate is quite lush. Three floors of carpet and marble; clearly Aldeth was running a successful business. Let's chat to Irlentree and Zorl first.


    Screenshot


    Screenshot

    They're both... a little bit creepy, but you know how nobles are. Irlentree just keeps going on about some anniversary party on the third floor. Zorl asks us if we know Dabron. The correct answer is yes, as Dabron is Aldeth's brother, so if you show you don't know Dabron, it looks suspicious.


    Screenshot


    Screenshot

    The locals confirm that Zorl and Irlentree have been acting strangely, and point us to Brandilar, the head of the household guard.


    Screenshot

    He has seen through our rather weak cover story. We decide to be honest with him.


    Screenshot

    Brandilar here is essentially Diet Scar, having suspicions but not being allowed to act on them.


    Screenshot

    We decide to break into the second floor office, mostly because the desk is locked. Maybe we can find some interesting inside - evidence that Zorl and/or Irlentree have been bribed, or something.


    Screenshot


    Screenshot


    Screenshot

    ... ah. Well, this is rather damning. Either this Shalak character has killed and replaced Zorl, or... no, actually, that's the only explanation I can think of.


    Screenshot

    Also, it isn't actually Aldeth's anniversary, which... wow, not even slightly as suspicious as the letters, but I guess that adds to the evidence.


    Screenshot

    We take the letters to Brandilar as suggested.

    As soon as you blow their disguise, Zorl, Irlentree and some of the merchants drop their disguises and attack. These are doppelgangers - monstrous humanoids with a natural ability to change their shape and appearance to mimic other humanoid creatures.

    The word for these creatures comes from the German "Doppelgänger" (literally "double-goer" or "twice-walker"). The game refers to them as "doppleganger" while the novel uses "doppelganger." I'll be going with the latter, as it's closer to the German word.


    Screenshot

    Individual doppelgangers aren't all that dangerous. Yes, they have a decent amount of HP and hit fairly hard, but they don't have any special tricks up their sleeves. Actually, they don't even have sleeves. Anyway, all the doppelgangers have turned hostile, so we have to kill them all.

    Let's do the downstairs area first, to clear a path for Aldeth and Brandilar.


    Screenshot

    There are more doppelgangers down here. Not enough to matter, though.


    Screenshot

    The party area upstairs, unfortunately, does have enough doppelgangers to matter. Like I said, one doppelganger isn't a problem, but they have enough HP and deal enough damage to be troublesome in large numbers.


    Screenshot

    They also have decent saving throws, so Xan can't just outright end the encounter with a single casting of Horror. Xan even has to use a third-level spell slot (Slow).


    Screenshot

    Still, the doppelgangers fall, and we loot their bodies.

    Supposedly, there's some way to confront Zorl without going through Brandilar, which would involve going to this party before everyone turns into doppelgangers. There's some dialogue in the game assets where he confirms he's in the employ of the Iron Throne.

    Before you die, primates, I have been instructed to give you a message from our employer, Reiltar. He wishes you to know how much fun it's been, matching wits with you. (StrRef:1284)
    No idea how to trigger these, though. I'll be honest: This quest glitched out on me a few times.


    Screenshot

    Aldeth thanks us profusely, and gives us a sword. Specifically: Kondar +1, +3 vs. shapeshifters. This would've been more useful a few minutes ago, but... sure. Most of the high-end weapons in Baldur's Gate have a +2 bonus, so having access to something that is situationally a +3 weapon is quite nice. I do wonder why Aldeth wasn't alarmed when the blade grew warm in the presence of Zorl and Irlentree, but hey.


    Screenshot

    Alright, now it's time to hit up the Seven Suns. I think I have an idea as to what awaits us.


    Screenshot

    Yep. Looks to be more doppelgangers. Let's see if we can confirm our suspicions before we start swording people.


    Screenshot

    If you keep teasing the "merchant" by talking about how few friends you have and how easy it would be to impersonate you, the doppelganger is overcome by hunger and attacks. If you don't, you can have a slightly longer conversation that tells you a little more about the doppelgangers.

    MERCHANT: So you have come to visit the Seven Suns, have you...? Yes, I've got your face now but not your name...
    CHARNAME: We are the party of <CHARNAME>, though I don't know why it might interest you.
    MERCHANT: Yes, indeed, how... interesting. And what of these people about you? Do they know you well?
    CHARNAME: We are all fellow adventurers, our hearts brought into close contact by the narrowness of the road.
    MERCHANT: A pity, that.

    <End conversation>

    <Talk to Merchant>

    MERCHANT: Still you pester us! Do you have no shame! Explain yourself!
    CHARNAME: If you be merchants as you say you are, would you not then be eager to sell your wares?
    MERCHANT: We sell to those who have the money to buy, not adventuring paupers such as yourself. Move on, and we'll forgive your impertinence.

    <End conversation>

    <Talk to Merchant>

    MERCHANT: Do you seek the truth so earnestly that you would lose everything?
    CHARNAME: I will risk everything but I shall not lose it. You are no merchants and I am no fool. Now show your true faces that I might know them!
    MERCHANT: Nay, you are wrong on both counts. You are fools even to be here, for we are indeed merchants, though not of wares you would be familiar with: We are merchants of faces and names, merchants of identities, merchants of skin even when the flesh it contains is so much rubbish. We are doppelgangers and, for a skin pittance, we sell fools their deaths.

    <End conversation>
    Still, the result is the same:


    Screenshot


    Screenshot

    The doppelgangers drop their disguises and attack. This seems foolish. We outnumber the ones on the ground floor three-to-one, and we are heavily armed. I don't know what they were expecting. Small numbers of doppelgangers just aren't much of a threat at this point.

    The basement is more interesting, containing a makeshift prison guarded by one more doppelganger... as well as one actual human.


    Screenshot


    Screenshot

    Yeah, this sounds like roughly what happened to the Merchants League. Doppelgangers have infiltrated the trading coster, gradually replacing the leadership, and then started making deliberately terrible decisions in an attempt to tank the business.

    Jhasso gets the hell out of Dodge. Nothing left for us to do but report to Scar.


    Screenshot

    Ah. Well, we kinda already killed all of them, so...


    Screenshot

    We receive a lot of gold and XP for rescuing Jhasso and killing the shapshifters, and earn Scar's trust. He's not quite ready to pull the trigger on the Iron Throne, though. There is another matter that needs our attention.


    Screenshot

    People have been going missing throughout the city, leaving nothing but drag marks leading to sewer grates. The Flaming Fist is reluctant to investigate. Ahh yes, the sewer level. I was wondering when that would come up.

    Sure, Scar, we'll do you another favour. But after that, we really should get around to stopping that world-threatening plot we've been talking about.

    We'll leave that for next time, though. The novel and the game are starting to desync again, but I don't want CHARNAME to run too far ahead of Abdel or vice versa. (Also, wow, this is a massive wall of an update.)


    Spoiler: Comparison and commentary
    Show
    This is another chapter that provides easy side-by-side comparison fodder. In the game, the investigation of the Seven Suns is successful - the doppelgangers are discovered and eliminated, and Jhasso is freed. In the book, Abdel and Jaheira are caught snooping and arrested alongside Jhasso.

    This is an interesting twist, actually. It's really the first meaningful plot development you wouldn't have seen coming as someone who played the game. On a meta-level, we the readers know that Abdel can't be killed, but he can be detained, and Bad Things could happen to the city itself. This a good way to create some actual tension, as deviating from the game like this leaves us in (relatively) uncharted territory.

    Still, I think this chapter could've been improved. We've known about the doppelgangers since Chapter Twelve, including the fact that they're active in the Gate, but Team Abdel didn't know about them going in. Abdel and Jaheira learn about them in this chapter, but... not in a way where the presence of the doppelgangers actually matters. Yes, one of them knocks out Abdel, but that could've just as easily been a rando with a cudgel. You've got a city full of shapeshifting monsters, and this is how you use them? What a waste.

    Moving into fix fic territory for a second: There was no actual need to have this chapter be about a warehouse espionage-burglary. Abdel and Jaheira could've tried to visit the offices of the trading company first, act as customers, try to gather information that way... that sort of thing. The game kinda does that, but the doppelgangers give themselves up a little too easily.

    Why not expand on that foundation? It would've been excellent paranoia fuel for us readers, as we know some of the traders are impostors, but not which ones. This would've been a good opportunity for a fakeout, too. Once you know that this plot contains shapeshifters, it really is extremely obvious that Jhasso has been replaced with an impostor, even if you haven't played the game. What if it turned out that Jhasso hasn't been replaced, but the trusted lieutenant has, and Jhasso's strange behavior is due to being fed bad information? This seems like a waste of a potentially good plot, is what I'm trying to say.

    That said, some of the same problems exist in the games, and the book will still end up doing something interesting with the shapeshifters. The subplot will continue in chapters 19 and 20, so I'll leave the rest of the commentary for the update after the next one. Let's see where Athans goes with this.

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    So, while my knowledge of AD&D forgotten realms isn't perfect, I'm reasonably certain that Waterdeep isn't actually ruled by dopplegangers at that time, and they usually only hang around in their real forms in their lairs, so it makes a bit of sense that Abdel and Jahira don't recognize them on sight, especially since they tend to be city/dungeon monsters more than forest monsters.
    “Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Abdel is actually growing on me. I know being unable to resist your primal urges is unprofessional - especially during a "spy situation" - but him going "Pretty" after just touching his girlfriend is weird. But I think a confused erection would've ruined the scene, as much as it would've been more realistic.

    As for the planning. Even though he has no wisdom, Abdel knows his strengths and these are not espionage. Everything went right when Xan did spy by himself. Just because you're a main character doesn't mean you have to be in EVERY scene. The book is called "Baldur's Gate" not "Abdel bumbles about the largest crisis in the entire region of Baldur's Gate".

    With only Jaheira, Athans could've provided Team Abdel (and the reader) with much more believable information. If Jaheira is a capable Harper spy she should be able to do that. But maybe this would be too empowering of her character and she would have to run from the doppelgangers screaming to enforces her status as arm candy.

    As for the doppelganger monster: When did this thing pop up as a shapeshifting monster? I know the thought of someone showing up and taking your place in society while you are imprisoned or away is not new to literature and film. I know Grimm's Wörterbuch - a dictionary - has defined Doppelgänger as someone who looks exactly like you and takes your place but I don't know of any Grimm's fairytale that uses a Doppelganger. Did D&D just put the stories into a monster?

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sporeegg View Post
    I know Grimm's Wörterbuch - a dictionary - has defined Doppelgänger as someone who looks exactly like you and takes your place but I don't know of any Grimm's fairytale that uses a Doppelganger. Did D&D just put the stories into a monster?
    Probably - possibly taking inspiration from sci-fi as well as fantasy - "Kill/Capture & Replace" was very common in science fiction, and the D&D monsters look rather like "Greys" "Roswell Aliens" etc.
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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    As well as in the horror genre. Good point.

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by Keltest View Post
    So, while my knowledge of AD&D forgotten realms isn't perfect, I'm reasonably certain that Waterdeep isn't actually ruled by dopplegangers at that time, and they usually only hang around in their real forms in their lairs, so it makes a bit of sense that Abdel and Jahira don't recognize them on sight, especially since they tend to be city/dungeon monsters more than forest monsters.
    That makes sense. It can be hard to tell whether information is supposed to be a reliable, but on second reading, I suppose this does sound like an example of being incorrect in-universe.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sporeegg View Post
    As for the doppelganger monster: When did this thing pop up as a shapeshifting monster? I know the thought of someone showing up and taking your place in society while you are imprisoned or away is not new to literature and film. I know Grimm's Wörterbuch - a dictionary - has defined Doppelgänger as someone who looks exactly like you and takes your place but I don't know of any Grimm's fairytale that uses a Doppelganger. Did D&D just put the stories into a monster?
    Quote Originally Posted by hamishspence View Post
    Probably - possibly taking inspiration from sci-fi as well as fantasy - "Kill/Capture & Replace" was very common in science fiction, and the D&D monsters look rather like "Greys" "Roswell Aliens" etc.
    Doppelgangers and changelings have a long history in folklore, yeah. Fiction, too - for some reason the doppelganger invasion plot was a real trend in the 1950s. Think Invasion of the Body Snatchers. D&D mined (and continues to mine) both folklore and popular culture for material, and this is no exception.

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Your source cited quotes changelings to revert to their original form from being hurt. Maybe that's the route the game devs went for blowing their cover?

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sporeegg View Post
    Your source cited quotes changelings to revert to their original form from being hurt. Maybe that's the route the game devs went for blowing their cover?
    based on the dialogue, I'm pretty sure the dopplegangers were just all idiots. Make them mildly unhappy with you and they blow their cover to try and eat you.
    “Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sporeegg View Post
    Your source cited quotes changelings to revert to their original form from being hurt. Maybe that's the route the game devs went for blowing their cover?
    Come again? Nowhere in BG is there a doppelganger who turns to its natural form upon taking damage.

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sporeegg View Post
    Your source cited quotes changelings to revert to their original form from being hurt. Maybe that's the route the game devs went for blowing their cover?
    Quote Originally Posted by Kish View Post
    Come again? Nowhere in BG is there a doppelganger who turns to its natural form upon taking damage.
    You hurt their feelings.

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by Khay View Post
    Fiction, too - for some reason the doppelganger invasion plot was a real trend in the 1950s. Think Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
    It was because of the Cold War. Invasion of the Body Snatchers and other works similar to that nature was a metaphor for Communists. Remember back then, people were pretty paranoid that anyone could be a secret commie in disguise.

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by Khay View Post
    For sure. I'm not enough of a munchkin to just drop CHA to 3, but I'm very unlikely to play a character with Charisma 15 or higher. The stat just isn't all that important to what I want to do, mechanically speaking, and you can easily find items to fix a CHA deficiency if you really want to. I should probably try a high-CHA playthrough one of these days.
    You never attempted a paladin playthrough? Their minimum CHA in 2e is 17.
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    Mango:you sick, twisted bastard <3
    Quote Originally Posted by Gryffon View Post
    I think Krade is protesting the use of the word mad in in the phrase mad scientist as it promotes ambiguity. Are they angry? Are they crazy? Some of both? Not to mention, it also often connotates some degree of evilness. In the future we should be more careful to use proper classification.

    Mango is a dastardly irate unhinged scientist, for realz.
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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by JadedDM View Post
    It was because of the Cold War. Invasion of the Body Snatchers and other works similar to that nature was a metaphor for Communists. Remember back then, people were pretty paranoid that anyone could be a secret commie in disguise.
    It's a weird thought that back then some people thought Communism is comparable to a disease and transmittable or spread through "agents". But then again, much of today doesn't make sense either. I shall drop the term "anti-vaxxer" and leave the premises.

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Slightly off-beat considering when the Abdel/Jaheira glorified slashfic started, but I've been replaying Neverwinter Nights recently and, well...
    I made a selfless, compassionate and virtuous paladin, so obviously I did the right thing and redeemed lady Aribeth. And suddenly, out my basic concern for her eventual second guessing on that whole redemption thing considering she's doing it pending execution in a jail cell, the game script tells me "F*** whatever character arc you thought you were having as a fellow paladin horrified by but not involved enough in the injustice that made her fall, now you love her. Or you're actualy an a-hole. Your choice." And it killed the mood. I'm not sure I'm going to finish that playthrough now and I'm basicaly one steamroller walk away from the end boss.

    ...I'm not against the option existing. But I'd really like it to be a little less forced down my throat by surprise.
    Like when I faced the corrupted Bastilla in KotOR. You basically have three options : "it's sad, but I guess I pretty much have to kill you now", "what the hell, what you're doing is wrong on so many levels and doesn't even make sense", and "but I loooove youuuuuu". Guess wich one works. No, it's not the one that happens to be consistent with how you behaved with Bastilla up until now.
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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by mangosta71 View Post
    You never attempted a paladin playthrough? Their minimum CHA in 2e is 17.
    I have not, in fact, attempted a paladin playthrough. Fighter classes and Lawful alignments always seemed pretty boring to me. It's still on my list of things to try someday, alongside the kobold bard solo playthrough. I did make a funky monstrous humanoid paladin (with 6 INT but 18 WIS) for a pen-and-paper game once, but I never actually got to play him.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cazero View Post
    I'm not against the option existing. But I'd really like it to be a little less forced down my throat by surprise.
    Yeahhhhh. I never did play the original NWN, but I definitely remember being upset about Bastilla. The BioWare romance is infamous for a reason. It'll be fun to look at the Jaheira/CHARNAME romance in the sequel. I think it's one of the better-written ones, but that may be because I hate Aerie and Anomen with the fury of a thousand suns.

    ---

    Chapter Twenty is awkward in terms of commentary, as the novel and the game have diverged for the moment. Some interesting content nonetheless! I hope.

    Spoiler: The book
    Show
    As our heroes are currently occupied, we take a moment to check in with a side character: Harold Loggerson of Bowshot.

    Harold Loggerson of Bowshot cut himself playing with his father’s best axe at the age of nine. He couldn’t sit down for the three weeks it took the cut to heal, and it left a long, ragged scar, a scar that few had ever seen, but that gave him a name more fitting for a leader of mercenaries than Harold.
    The "more fitting name," of course, is Scar. The mercenary leader is in a sort of melancholic mood, and finds his thoughts turning to the past.

    Scar had avoided axes. He wasn’t afraid of them so much as embarrassed by the sight of them. Two years ago, he killed a Zhentarim soldier while protecting a caravan bringing apples (and raw gold mined in the Serpent Hills hidden under the fruit) from Soubar to Baldur’s Gate. The Zhent attacked him with a solid, heavy mithral axe decorated with gold that flew farther, straighter, and faster when thrown than any weapon Scar had ever seen. It took him a long time to kill the Zhent, and he almost died trying, but in the end Scar took the axe. (...)
    When he sliced it through the air it seemed to sing, or was that the air itself screaming at being cut? Scar smiled at the sound, but the smile was tinged with sadness. His father had fallen to heartstop long before he could have seen this wonderful axe in his son’s hand. (...)
    His father lived to be almost fifty years old, and had never been more than half a day’s walk from the two-mule hamlet of Bowshot.
    This is a lot of backstory - more, I think, than any other character in these books has received. Among other things, we learn that Scar calls himself "Scar" in his head. He thinks of Harold as essentially a different person. It's some pretty nice writing.

    Scar starts to feel homesick, and puts the axe back in the box where he keeps it, resolving to visit Bowshot one of these years. His thoughts are interrupted by an urgent knock on the door.

    “Abdel,” a familiar voice said from the other side of the door. “I have Jaheira with me. We need to talk.”
    “Coming,” Scar said, then slid the iron box under his bed, replaced the hanging edge of the quilt his mother had given him years before, and stood. He crossed the room quickly and pulled back the heavy steel bolt. He opened the door to see Abdel, clean and no worse for wear. The young sellsword’s face was expectant, almost nervous.
    “Come in, lad,” Scar said. “I didn’t expect to see you until morning.”
    Abdel and Jaheira enter, but refuse Scar's invitation to sit down. The chamber is described as comfortable but utilitarian, containing little more than a chest with his belongings, a bed, a table, chairs and a fireplace.

    “We’ve been to the Seven Suns,” Abdel said.
    “Indeed,” Scar replied, “let’s have it. Did you see Jhasso?”
    “Yes,” Jaheira’s voice came from behind him. He hadn’t noticed her circling him. “Yes, we did.”
    Scar’s eyes narrowed, and he turned to follow Jaheira as she continued to wander slowly around the room on stiff, halting legs. “And?”
    “And he means no evil,” Abdel said from behind him. Scar turned to look at Abdel, and Jaheira stopped, just at the edge of his vision. Scar took a step back, instinctively.
    The behaviour of his guests alarms Scar. That makes sense - I don't think Abdel even knows the word "flanking."

    Scar asks what they found. He receives an Intimidate roll rather than an answer.

    “What did you expect to find, old man?” Jaheira asked him, her voice full of ominous import.
    A sweat broke out on Scar’s forehead. He was unarmed, dressed only in thin wool trousers and a cotton blouse. He felt naked.
    “What is this, Abdel?” he asked, and before he got the name out he realized: “You’re not Abdel.”
    (...)
    There was the screech of steel on steel and Scar knew it was Jaheira drawing her long sword.
    Scar ducks, and Abdel's slash hits Jaheira instead. Jaheira blocks the slash with her own sword, which breaks. That doppelganger really should've known better than to take the form of a female character in this book.

    Scar swallowed loudly and said, “Kill me, then, if that’s what you came for.”
    “Oh, that is indeed what we came for, fool,” Jaheira hissed, “but we were asked to find something out first.”
    “And you thought I’d tell you anything?” Scar asked, his voice dripping with incredulity[.]
    Jaheira and Abdel make the usual villainous offer of a quick death instead of a slow one, and Scar declines. The brawl continues for a while. Scar gets knocked around pretty badly, and suffers a cut above his eyebrow, but eventually manages to get Jaheira in between himself and Abdel. He trips Jaheira, then dives for the axe and slashes at the approaching Abdel.

    He slashed down in a wide arc and caught the impostor Abdel in the groin. (...) Abdel hit the ground quivering, and when the impostor’s head lolled over on its lifeless neck, the face changed. Scar was face to face with some inhuman thing. It had a wide oval head with impossibly large, soulless eyes and smooth gray skin the color of old ash.
    The melee has taken too much of a toll on Scar, however. Jaheira wrestles the axe from him, and that's the end of the line for the mercenary leader.

    He was going to say something—some last words, but he didn’t have time. The air was smashed from his lungs, and he fell back hard. The impostor Jaheira drove the big battle-axe deeply into Scar’s chest, then out the other side, pinning the man to the wood floor. Scar felt the blood bubble in his throat and saw the demonic gleam in the woman’s eyes as her face became his own, then there was only blackness and eternity.
    Well, that was exciting.

    And now it's time for something completely different!

    Julius stared straight ahead and mouthed the word “corporal” three times, then offered the empty corridor a self-satisfied smile. “Stop that grinning, corporal,” Sergeant Maerik grumbled. Julius jumped, and his face flushed.
    Yes, it really is that sudden, and no, we haven't seen Julius and Maerik before. Well, not this Julius, and not this Maerik, but... trust me, you know the type.

    “Where are you, son?” the sergeant asked quietly.
    “Sir,” Julius began, then paused to force down a swallow in a dry throat. “Sir, in the ducal palace, sir.”
    “Where in the ducal palace, corporal?”
    “Sir, in the residence wing, sir.”
    “Do you mean the place where the grand dukes live?”
    “Sir, yes, sir.”
    “Where Grand Duke Eltan lives?”
    “Sir, yes, sir.”
    “The Grand Duke Eltan who’s facing a ducal election?”
    “Sir, yes, sir.”
    “The Grand Duke Eltan who has more enemies than any one man in the Gate?”
    “Sir yes, s—“
    “Then wake up, you idiot,” the sergeant shouted.
    Julius tensed his abdomen, concentrating on holding his bladder. “S-sir,” he stammered, “y-yes, sir.”
    “As you weren’t, corporal.” Maerik scoffed, then turned down the corridor and off a side passage, his boots making no sound on the cold marble floor.
    As far as obvious exposition dumps go... well, I rather like this one, actually.

    Julius has just been promoted to this duty, and is anxious to prove himself. He isn't particularly worried about assassins, since his post is quite deep in the ducal palace. He is worried about looking bad in the eyes of his superiors, though, because they have a real knack for catching him at inopportune moments. Such as this one:

    “Heads up, soldier.” The man was instantly familiar to Julius.
    (...)
    “C-captain Scar,” Julius said, standing as straight as he could. “I—uh—I wasn’t told . . .”
    Scar scowled at him and said, “Why would you be?”
    “I—“ Julius started to say. Scar held up a hand to stop him.
    “Go to the stables and ready the grand duke’s steed,” Scar ordered casually, “I’m getting him out of here before dawn.”
    (...)
    Not on my watch, Julius thought, why on my watch?
    “Are we unclear on something, corporal?”
    “N-no, sir, I just—“
    “Move your ass, kid.” Scar said, and the look in his eye was enough to propel Julius down the corridor as fast as his shaking knees would take him.
    Julius runs off in a random direction, quietly praying to Tymora for help. Tymora is as Tymora does, and helps him runs smack into Sergeant Maerik. Julius stutters some panicked nonsense, tripping over his own words, and Maerik smacks the corporal to shut him up.

    “This is hardly the time to leave your post, you butt-sniffing dolt,” the sergeant shouted. “Captain Scar’s been murdered, and the whole company’s being called up.”
    “But I just saw him,” Julius blurted.
    “Saw who, you tick?”
    “Scar,” Julius said, scrambling to his feet. “It was Captain Scar who told me to go to the stables and get Grand Duke Eltan’s horse—“
    “Scar was here?” Maerik asked, his eyes wide. “This night?”
    “Sir,” Julius said, straightening his blood-dripped tabard and scanning for his fallen polearm, “not half an hour ago, sir. He was going into the grand duke’s residence.”
    Maerik went pale and grabbed Julius roughly, dragging him down the corridor at a run.
    “Not on my watch!” the sergeant cursed. “Why does it always have to be my watch!”
    Julius and Maerik run to Eltan's private chambers, arriving just a little bit too late. It turns out they needn't have worried, however.

    The grand duke stepped out of his chambers holding a huge battle-axe the likes of which Julius had never seen— or even dreamed of. The man was dressed in a long nightgown that was soaked with blood. His eyes and hands were steady. His broad, serious face was also smeared with blood, and some of it dripped from the tip of his long handlebar mustache.
    (...)
    “M’lord,” Maerik said, “I—“
    “Captain Scar has been murdered,” the grand duke said simply. Maerik stood, and Eltan reached back to push the tall door open. On the richly-carpeted floor inside lay the gray body of some inhuman thing, still leaking blood on the expensive wool.
    “Aye, m’lord,” Maerik breathed. “He was found in his chamber.”
    Julius gagged at the sight of the dead thing’s eyes.
    Eltan’s strong, aging features were grave. “Have the captain’s body taken to the High House of Wonders,” he said, his voice low and full of import. “I will dress and meet you there.”
    This'll be fun to discuss.


    Spoiler: The game
    Show
    The book and the game have diverged a fair bit at this point, which makes for awkward stopping points. I want to do the Iron Throne investigation all in one update, so we can re-synchronise the book and the game at the end of the next chapter. This update will thus end up being rather short.

    Last time, Scar told us that citizens of the eastern part of the Gate have gone missing at night, and that we should investigate the sewers. So let's do that!

    Along the way, we are stopped by a talkative local.


    Screenshot

    Sure, why not? We're already doing the tourist thing, might as well spring for a tour.


    Screenshot

    Nikolai's speech takes a while. We can interrupt him if we wish, but eh, we already paid the 15 gold.


    Screenshot

    Uh-huh.


    Screenshot

    Are you getting all that?


    Screenshot

    There'll be a test after the update.


    Screenshot

    Right! That was neat.

    If you were paying attention, there are actually several plot hooks in there. Balduran's last voyage is covered in Tales of the Sword Coast, while the current political situation in the Gate is more immediately relevant.


    Screenshot

    Scar said that people were going missing to the east. The city is divided into nine districts, so he was talking specifically about this map.


    Screenshot

    It's still day, but the weather's lousy. Let's just do some shopping.


    Screenshot

    We are a little overloaded on frontline fighters right now, and nobody is currently using the Dead Shot. We can probably repurpose Khalid as an archer, but we need to pick up some ammo first. Sorcerous Sundries sells magic arrows, including the slightly broken Arrows of Detonation.

    There's one specific arrow I want to show off here:


    Screenshot

    The Arrow of Slaying is weird. It has a -15 THAC0 bonus, exists in stacks of 1, costs a small fortune, and instantly kills Ogre Mages. You'd think there'd be different variants of this arrow around, but no, it's just Ogre Mages. If you're having trouble with an Ogre Mage, the Arrow of Slaying is there for you. I guess.

    We rest at the Elfsong until evening. Scar did say the disappearances happened at night.


    Screenshot

    The sewer entrances can be easy to miss - they're pretty small, and Baldur's Gate 1 doesn't offer any niceties like highlighting area exits. To make matters worse, some grates are purely decorative. If you never happen to mouseover one that can be entered, well, sucks to be you.


    Screenshot

    The sewers get their own CGI intro, which is kinda neat.


    Screenshot

    That said, this is a sewer level. It's a maze of twisty passages full of annoying monsters. You know the drill. At least the Phase Spiders give decent XP, and Abdel and Khalid both hit level 6.


    Screenshot

    There are some Carrion Crawlers as well, which we haven't seen yet. They actually are kind of dangerous in groups - they can inflict paralysis and have a high attack speed. But they are vulnerable to Sleep, so unless we get Xan paralysed, we needn't worry.

    Scar did mention there were strange animal tracks. These were probably left by the Crawlers. Interesting.


    Screenshot

    We explore the sewers for a while. Eventually, the tunnels open into a large chamber containing a dozen Crawlers. We fall back and kill the ones closest to us. After we do, their master hails us.


    Screenshot

    He confesses that the disappearances are his fault, and kindly explains the reason as well. Basically, the Cralwers are his pets, and he's been using them to steal valuables. I don't think it's a great idea to commit a murder to cover up a robbery, but then again, I'm not an ogre mage living in a sewer.

    Hm. An ogre mage...


    Screenshot

    Sure, let's use the arrow.


    Screenshot

    Well, that was anticlimactic.


    Screenshot

    The ogre carries some basic treasure, including a Bastard Sword +1 (eh) and an unusual ring. We'll pawn the sword at the first opportunity, but let's hang on to that ring.


    Screenshot

    Further down the tunnel, we find what remains of the ogre's most recent victims. There's nothing we can do for them, sadly. We take their stuff and leave the bodies for the Flaming Fist to recover.


    Screenshot

    There's an area transition at the end of the tunnel, but we'll cover that later.


    Screenshot

    We exit the sewers via a ladder in the ogre's chamber, emerging right behind the magic shop.


    Screenshot

    Time to present our findings to Scar! (After another rest, that is. The Flaming Fist has been nice to us so far, we don't want to upset them by making their HQ smell like sewer.)


    Screenshot

    We killed the ogre mage, saw his victims and heard his little speech, so we get to resolve this quest properly. As always, the longest dialogue option is the best one.


    Screenshot

    We'll also return the signet ring we found. The bonus is more than we'd get for selling it, and Aldeth Sashenstar is our buddy, so let's be nice.

    This concludes Scar's little chain of sidequests, and he asks us to meet outside to discuss the Iron Throne investigation. You can skip the sidequests if you really want to, but as you can see, they pay very well.


    Screenshot

    An audience with Grand Duke Eltan himself! We really are moving up in the world.

    I'm not sure why we had to go outside for this chat. It's probably to provide a clean break point or something. This isn't a point of no return, though the game kind of makes it look like one.

    Scar takes us back inside the compound and to Duke Eltan's upstairs room.


    Screenshot

    Duke Eltan opens with a rhetorical question. We oblige, and he gives us a little expository speech.


    Screenshot

    TL;DR: The Iron Crisis has the full attention of the dukes. The Iron Throne has done a good job planting clues that point at the Zhentarim, but Eltan isn't falling for it. He doesn't currently have a good reason to move against the Iron Throne, so he wants us to find one.


    Screenshot

    Sure thing. We were planning to visit the headquarters of the Iron Throne anyway - doing so with the (inofficial) backing of a duke should make things a lot easier for us.

    For the record, you can't actually decline the quest. There is an option to reject the offer, but it just leads to a nonstandard game over:


    Screenshot

    It's a strange way to handle a but thou must situation - nowadays, a game probably just wouldn't give you the snippy dialogue option.


    Screenshot

    The headquarters of the Iron Throne are located near the docks, which makes sense. We're ready to rumble. It's time to take the fight to our enemies!

    ... next week, that is, so we can sync up with the novel again.


    Spoiler: Comparison and commentary
    Show
    In the game, our investigation of the Seven Suns was successful, and Duke Eltan himself gives us his blessing to move against the Iron Throne. In the book, the investigation failed, and the Iron Throne moved against Duke Eltan, leading to Scar's death and the unmasking of the doppelgangers. This divergence, and the resulting plot developments, should be quite interesting to discuss.

    That said, this chapter in particular is a little... awkward. We can't really do a post-mortem of the "doppelgangers in the Gate" plot yet, as it will continue in chapter 21 and the first half of chapter 22, and I don't want to split the discussion over three weeks. I've said before that the chapters boundaries seem to be placed at random, and this stretch of book is especially bad about that.

    There's a lot to unpack here, but it'll have to wait. Here's what we'll do: Next week, we'll cover chapter 21, plus the first part of chapter 22. The week after that, we'll cover the second part of chapter 22, and then it's back to our regular schedule.

    So what can we talk about today? The NPCs, I guess - this is their chapter, after all. Scar, Julius and Maerik are all essentially stock characters, as you could probably tell. Scar is the no-nonsense police chief, Maerik is the foulmouthed hardass drill sergeant and Julius is the anxious newbie. Nothing fancy, but the inclusion of Julius and Maerik does succeed in putting a face to the Flaming Fist mercenaries, which is nice to see in a book like this.

    I won't lie: I actually kind of like the Flaming Fist characters. We live in a cynical age, so it's kind of amazing to see Cop Clichés being played this straight - feel free to make your own comparisons to the CPPD. The overall tone of this novel is a little too serious for Julius and Maerik - they'd be more at home in Order of the Stick or a Discworld ripoff - but they're written competently. As stock characters, they have clear motivations and well-defined roles, so that's nice. Let's see what, if anything, Athans ends up doing with the two.

    There is one more thing to discuss here, and that's the 1987/1993 Forgotten Realms Campaign Set. Scar and Eltan were both D&D canon characters. (Fun fact: So are all the other dukes of Baldur's Gate, the Seven Suns, the Merchant's League, and many other minor characters from the Gate.)

    I can't seem to dig up the 1993 edition, but I did find a PDF version of the initial 1987 release. Here's Duke Eltan's profile, along with some information about the Flaming Fist itself, and here's Scar's. Much of this information didn't really make it into the game. Eltan and Scar are "essential" characters, which means they don't really have meaningful stats or equipment, which is a shame because some of that magical stuff sure could've been useful. I don't think the game has anything that outright contradicts the information given in the sourcebook.

    The Scar from the novels (described as an "enormous, imposing man") does resemble the Scar from the sourcebook, minus most of the magical items. I strongly doubt that two doppelgangers would be able to defeat a 14th level fighter, but the novel doesn't keep too closely to D&D mechanics, so... fair enough. Scar's real name is completely different, though, and so is the placement of the scar. I wonder if this was changed in the 199X editions, or if Athans just didn't do his research. That said, it's not all that important. I mostly brought up the sourcebook because it's interesting background information.

    That concludes this update. We're kinda treading water this week, but next week should be interesting.

  24. - Top - End - #144
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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    There was the screech of steel on steel and Scar knew it was Jaheira drawing her long sword.
    I just wanted to point out the sheer ridiculousness of this line.
    Delightfully abrasive in more ways than one
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    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Mango:you sick, twisted bastard <3
    Quote Originally Posted by Gryffon View Post
    I think Krade is protesting the use of the word mad in in the phrase mad scientist as it promotes ambiguity. Are they angry? Are they crazy? Some of both? Not to mention, it also often connotates some degree of evilness. In the future we should be more careful to use proper classification.

    Mango is a dastardly irate unhinged scientist, for realz.
    Quote Originally Posted by Sartharina View Post
    Evil's awesome because of the art.

    Avatar by Kwark_Pudding

  25. - Top - End - #145
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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    These chapters seem to reenact a B movie about body snatchers in a fantasy setting and I love it. Plus, my favorite inside joke was done this update

    Jaheira blocks the slash with her own sword, which breaks. That doppelganger really should've known better than to take the form of a female character in this book.
    Maybe the iron poison is concentrated estrogen?

    I feel a guy like Scar shouldn't be defeated by two Doppelgangers, at least not in an open fight. He is a seasoned mercenary CAPTAIN. I know that in reality holding yourself against two attackers is an extremely difficult thing. But this is a D&D novel. The medium where cheating dark elves with impossible fighting styles are able to kill dozens of Orcs. Realism should be the least of our concerns. Now if their weapons were poisoned or Doppel-Jaheira would've gone for a backstab I would have accepted this even without class features and in depth explanations. But the lack of an armor is certainly no reason.

  26. - Top - End - #146
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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Oh no, the guy whom was barely mentioned so far died because he dared to think of his hometown.

    I can't really blame the author too much for this because it *is* a common trope... but it's still a bad trope. If you're gonna kill someone off, you need to think real hard about why you're killing them off, what emotional impact you're expecting, and if it is the desired emotional impact.

    In this case, it just makes everyone seem incompetent. Scar for getting himself killed by clumsy assassins. The company for sloppy protection of the Grand Duke. And the assassins for getting killed by the one they're supposed to kill.

    And nothing really changed. Scar, named character, is dead. But who cares. We didn't really know him. The plot failed and the doppleganger hand is tipped. It just... feels very unsatisfying.

  27. - Top - End - #147
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    AssassinGuy

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by Maryring View Post
    Oh no, the guy whom was barely mentioned so far died because he dared to think of his hometown.

    I can't really blame the author too much for this because it *is* a common trope... but it's still a bad trope. If you're gonna kill someone off, you need to think real hard about why you're killing them off, what emotional impact you're expecting, and if it is the desired emotional impact.

    In this case, it just makes everyone seem incompetent. Scar for getting himself killed by clumsy assassins. The company for sloppy protection of the Grand Duke. And the assassins for getting killed by the one they're supposed to kill.

    And nothing really changed. Scar, named character, is dead. But who cares. We didn't really know him. The plot failed and the doppleganger hand is tipped. It just... feels very unsatisfying.
    It's a major plot point in the game that dramatically affects you later on. Killing Scar and taking out the Grand Duke is an important part in Sarevok's plan.
    “Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    In the game, sure. But in the story here it is pointless. It involves one-shot characters whom we have no personal stake in.

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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by Maryring View Post
    In the game, sure. But in the story here it is pointless. It involves one-shot characters whom we have no personal stake in.
    Of course not, but we haven't reached the part of the book where the consequences of those deaths and incapacitations will show up yet.
    “Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

  30. - Top - End - #150
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    Default Re: Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

    Quote Originally Posted by Keltest View Post
    Of course not, but we haven't reached the part of the book where the consequences of those deaths and incapacitations will show up yet.
    Oh, I am so looking forward to that part...

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