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[Blackraven]

Isadora, Halfling Swashbuckler, BG1 update 2

Isa encountered the Nashkel Mines infested with Kobolds. The Halfling, unwilling to expend resources on the overgrown, scaly rats, kept to the shadows during her reconaissance of the mines until she tracked down their commander, Mulahey, a Half-Orc priest, in his den. Two snares at the entrance of the den ensured that six summoned Kobolds immediatel fell when hostilities broke out. Mulahey himself did his 'What!? What are you doing here?' speech twice,

Spoiler

before he understood that less talk, more fight was required of him. Either way, Greenstone and Ring of Free Action-protected Isa had the Half-Orc on his kness soon enough, and awarded him no mercy when he begged for it. Remaining Skeletons were fairly easily dispatched as well.

Spoiler

Back in Nashkel, the local military dealt with an assassin that had wanted to kill her.

Spoiler

(Unlike in my BGT install, Nimbul dropped no potions of invisibility. Maybe that's SCS v30 50% potion breakage working differently than the SCS v21 variant.)

 

There were clues suggesting that the iron crisis and the rampant bandity, issues that didn't really intrigue her much, had not only been related but also orchestrated by people that wanted her dead. On the corpse of a wizard henchman she eliminated at Feldepost's Inn,

Spoiler

Isa found a map with the location of the bandit camp, in the Wood of Sharp Teeth. There was a moment of excitement with this Tranzig, when he sent a Dire Charm her way while she considered herself safely hidden in shadows. The stairs were too far to escape the spell, but a potion of magic blocking quaffed in the nick of time kept her safe.

 

The Halfling didn't immediately seek out the bandits. She first returned to the Nashkel Mine exit area, to loot three tombs and to slay an evil wizard (Greenstone plus frost dart). On the North Coast she finished a treacherous Nereid with her frost dart, and in Beregost an equally treacherous thespian, Silke (Greenstone Amulet, frost dart, melee).

Spoiler

Three innocent men she would have had to kill for Silke, thanked her with a potion of defense, after they had already unknowingly parted with three more of such potions.

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Isa also helped a Half-Elf Wild Mage when she was attacked by Thayvians.

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The Half-Elf, Neera thanked Isa for her interference on her behalf with a gem bag. (And nearly tempted Isa to continue her adventure together with the wizard.)

 

On her way to the Wood of Sharp Teeth Isa got waylaid by four amazons. She quickly activated her Greenstone Amulet, and distanced herself from her pursuers. When they followed her she threw a Necklace of Missiles fireball at them.

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She ended up successfully meleeing the four, much to her satisfaction.

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It pleased the lass that her swordplay skills had evolved so, although she realized part of her success was thanks to her quality gear.

 

At the bandit camp, Greenstone protection and a potion of defense helped Isa overcome a group of acting bandit leaders.

Spoiler

(First time in several playthroughs that no fireballs were used here.) She was never in danger against her enemies, but she endangered herself afterwards when she opened a trapped chest. It let off a lightning bolt that severely injured her. Ender Sai, a prisoner she had just released and who had disclosed to her the Cloakwood location of an Iron Throne base (the evil behind the iron crisis and the bandits), didn't even survive the bolt.

Spoiler

(I had taken a break from playing and I mistakenly assumed the chest had been detrapped when I resumed playing.)

 

Isa traveled to Cloakwood to search for the Iron Throne base and was again waylaid on her way there. This time four males attempted to take her life. Isa recognized a Gnome wizard amongst them. His presence made her quaff a potion of magic blocking, as she feared her Greenstone Amulet protection might not activate fast enough to keep her safe from his rapidly cast spells. As with the amazons, she ended up besting her foes in close combat, though she retreated a few times to heal with potions.

Spoiler

In Cloakwood Isa procured a Cloak of Non-Detection from a pack of Tasloi, slew a group of murderous Druids that had been out to kill a hunter, and protected from poison, she dispatched several Spiders. (Centeol's Spiders prompted Isa to gulp a potion of invisibility. They were a bit too much to handle.) 

 

Isa reached the level cap here, something I had hoped for, because I wanted to see how level 10 Isadora would fare against Kysus' and Rezdan's Remove Magics.

 

When she found the Iron Throne base, Isa first explored the surroundings, and slew a number of guards. Near the entrance she scouted four more, menacing-looking guards, including two wizards. Rather than engaging them, the patient rogue decided to wait, hoping they would be gone in a day. In the meantime she laid several snares just outside the complex. After a day she returned and found the guards still there. She protected herself with her Greenstone amulet (great item of course, and quite fitting in this playthrough because in her portrait, you can see Isa actually wearing an amulet with a green stone, an emerald).
She quaffed an oil of speed and retreated when a lightning fast warrior attacked her. Thankfully a Remove Magic from one of the wizards did not affect her. Isa knew where she had placed her traps and lured the hasted warrior into them.

Spoiler

The secret of the warrior's pace had been a pair of Boots of Speed. She gladly equipped them, and proceeded her hunt. The first of the remaining guards she ran into was a wizard (Kysus). He somehow sensed she was Greenstone protected and attacked with damage spells. A Fireball's damage was mitigated with a potion of fire protection, but a Skull Trap dealt some serious damage.

Spoiler

It caused the lass to retreat and heal before she finished her foe with her frost dart.

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The other wizard was less of a threat and fell soon after, and the second warrior proved to be the inferior crack shot.

 

Inside the Cloakwood Mine, Isa orchestrated the liberation of slave miners. She found the master of the mines, Davaeorn, on the fourth and deepest level. He had trapped his lair, but Isa deftly disarmed all but one of them. The last trap was a skull trap. Protected from magic, and doubly hasted she rushed toward Davaeorn so that the skull would explode in his face. It only injured a Battle Horror though.

Spoiler

Besides two Battle Horrors, Davaeorn had a host of guards that came to his aid. They included Black Talon snipers. Isa quaffed a potion of defense in response. She repeatedly used her Necklace of Missiles and battled the guards (swapping the Golden Girdle and the Girdle of Piercing depending on who she was facing) until they were all down.

Spoiler

As the Battle Horrors had disappeared for some reason, Isa could then simply pelt Davaeorn until he fell.

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Isa took what valuables she could carry (which weren't many because her inventory already contained several items she didn't want to part with), flooded the mine, and left for Baldur's Gate.

[corey_russell]

Looks good Blackraven - perhaps Isadora can share an ale in the Copper Coronet (if she gets that far) with her fellow halfling, Corthief VIII and share thief stories.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Congrats Grond0

[Borco]

Anomandra, halfling Priest of Helm, says "Hi!"

 

It has been fun reading all of your entries and I'm happy to be back on track with a fresh install.

 

I decided not to re-play the previous contestant - the late sorceress Cimorene - for the time being. Instead, I'd like to introduce a new persona into the challenge (halflings are sure thriving here these days...).

 

 

Anomandra has been on my bucket list for a long time so I'm pretty confident that it will be an entertaining run. She's a warrior jurist - a priest and a legal scholar, an advocate of order and reason longing for pilgrimage and significance who lacks her skill in calculus.

 

Her relationship with the diety of Helm is somewhat complicated by her natural skepticism, supported by the perception of absence of comprehensible evidence of the god's ends in the universe. The powers are real, of course, but she understands these as flowing from her own consciousness and not from some particular member of a pantheon. Rather than an object of worship, Helm is a symbol of knowledge, of the universal truth to be continuously pursued, the ultimate anti-pole of ignorance. There's the paradoxical conflict between heresy towards her own god and a complete devotion to what it represents.  

 

 

Anyway, Anomandra is not a solo character and so she'll keep a limited number of companions during her adventure, starting with Imoen in BG1. 

 

Cheers,

 

B.

 

Setup: BGT, Fixpack v10, SCS v30

[realmuzzy]

@Blackraven Go,go Isa. As expected a thrilling update from you.

 

@Borco Nice character idea! Helm often gets slated as the boring deity, I'm sure Anomandra will be anything but.

[Alesia_BH]

Best of luck, Borco!

 

I love halflings. And I love Bergman. And I love the American pragmatist take on religion (William James, etc).

 

I'm looking forward to Anomandra's run!

 

Good hunting! 

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Alikae Dominica: The Black Hand, Shadow Assassin, Dark Moon Monk- Introduction

 

Legends are made, not born. You hear that bon mot often in sawdust restaurants and cheap hotels. It masquerades as wisdom amongst lesser lights. But the truth is different. The truth is that destiny plays favorites: the dice are loaded. Some of us are chosen for greatness- chosen by fate, by the gods, by circumstance. Greatness pulls some of us like gravity: we can't resist it- it's inescapable. It's a blessing, but also a curse. Because the truth about greatness is that it paves the way to doom. 

 

 

I am Alikae Dominica: The Black Hand, Shadow Assassin, Dark Moon Monk. I am one of the chosen. This is my story.

 

Ever since I was a child I've been fascinated with physics, with speed, with force. Movement, to me, is poetry- the only true poetry. To master movement is to master the relationship between self and reality- it is to master the negotiation of space and time. Movement is truth. Movement is beauty. Movement is my art. You can keep your quills. 

 

I've been studying the martial arts for as long as I can remember. My supposed mentor, Gorion, told me that I would have to defend myself one day. That may be true. And that day may be coming. But the martial arts, to me, are not about self defense. Combat is an arena, a proving ground- a place to test one's mastery of space and time- one's mastery of movement. I seek victory, because only through victory can I pefect my art. Combat is my meditation. Victory is my prayer.

 

Gorion approves of my studies. But he doesn't know about all of them. He doesn't know that I am in discourse with Shar. He doesn't know that I play the Shadow Weave. It is only logical, to me. Movement is founded on perception. Shar promises to tip the balances of perception in my favor. Devotion is not a word I would use. I know what I want from Shar. I fear the day when she will want something from me. This is the truth about gods.

 

I am done spilling words. Night is falling. It is time for me to awaken.

 

Gaming Notes: I've decided to start a new run with a freshly rolled Alikae. I'll be RPing this run, gunning for a comic book villian/anti-hero vibe a la Catwoman. My intention is to slow down and try to enjoy BG1. I'll be playing with more restrictions than usual. We'll see how that goes. If the new Alikae's falls, I may continue her narrative using the original Alikae's save. The original Alikae is approaching the ToB level cap and is well positioned to complete the adventure.

 

Mods: Enhanced Edition, SCS v30, ATweaks

 

Starting Character Record:

 

Spoiler

 

 

Best,

 

A.

[Blackraven]

Lovin' it so far Alesia, great intro!

[ussnorway]

@Borco, good luck mate.

 

@Alesia, Nice you look good in black!

 

@corey, I used the ground 'Cloudkill' scroll allready but the D-tower may be an option... I normally just grab the wisdom and sometimes the +2 sword from the roof... is it hard to get to?

[corey_russell]

@Borco, good luck mate.

 

@Alesia, Nice you look good in black!

 

@corey, I used the ground 'Cloudkill' scroll allready but the D-tower may be an option... I normally just grab the wisdom and sometimes the +2 sword from the roof... is it hard to get to?

No, you go down to the small level with the ghasts and stinking cloud trap - then you go down one more with Pride, Fear and such it's on that level. I think it's on the right side of the area - Greater Dopplegangers room perhaps? Not sure.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Congrats once again, Grond0, with part one success. Keep focus in Amn!

 

Looking good, Blackraven. Keep on it!

 

Safe travels to Anomandra!

 

Back in Black, huh, Alesia? Looking forward to follow your RP run! Hope you'll enjoy your prolonged stay in ToSC.

[realmuzzy]

@Alesia Great stuff!

[realmuzzy]

I'm not ready to give up the druids yet so meet Erenor:

 

Spoiler

 

He is an intense and charismatic young man, who spends most of his time in the wilds studying the forces of nature. He's popular with the monks of Candlekeep as they appreciate his passion and his ability to relate to them in spite of their differences. They would be surprised to find out that Erenor is secretly a member of a heretical sect of druids of Silvanus who believe arcane magic is dangerous and unnatural and must be purged from the Realms along with all of its practitioners. He sees himself as a crusader of sorts, working for the good of mankind, but his beliefs are fundamentally incompatible with the cause of goodness.

 

(Some motivation: avenger for the slightly different gameplay to the totemic, evil because avengers play evil in my mind and I want some items that I can't justify getting with non-evil chars. Druid again because they are fun )

[realmuzzy]

Erenor argued with Gorion so many times about magic. Why would he not see the truth and abandon the evil practice? Arcane magic never leads to anything good, and when their lives are threatened it failed to save Gorion as Erenor knew it would.

 

Now he's wandering the Sword Coast, enjoying the unspoiled nature he so rarely had the chance to visit while he was at Candlekeep. The forest animals are his friends and his followers, he has a way with all creatures

 

Spoiler

 

even though sometimes he has to put them down for the benefit of the woods

 

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He encounters some hunters along the way who cannot be persuaded to live in harmony with nature, and the weather itself responds to his cries for justice

 

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He is there to help the good folk, like the woman whose child is lost in the woods or the people who lost their items in the woods but respect nature too much to go reclaim them on their own. So it's with surprise he finds out there are assassins after him. He has only pain in store for such evil people. Immobilizing webs into lightning from the sky kill all of them.

 

Spoiler

[realmuzzy]

Erenor is doing a lot of good in the Beregost-Nashkel area. He saved a guard captain gone mad under the influence of a magical sword, helped an archeologist with his excavations, fought bandits that threaten the peace of the woods, killed the sirene "queen" who was leading sirenes away from their natural solitary lifestyles. He can feel his good reputation with the people growing.

 

Spoiler

 

He even eliminated a powerful cleric and undead summoner Bassilus. There is nothing the Leaflord hates more than the undead. He pounced from the shadows, little spiders immobilizing the skeleton army before anyone could even notice. The cleric on the other hand was resistant to being slowed or held. He chased Erenor, who used the terrain to his advantage to call thunderstorms against Bassilus and rest as necessary. A wand of flame strike kept the cleric from healing and ended his life.

 

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Most importantly he purged many wizards. He doesn't let them talk, what can a wizard say in his defense if you catch him surrounded by pet basilisks and stone statues

 

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He hopes Silvanus will be pleased with his work.

[ussnorway]

Bl-scs30 update 1.6, 

 

Tenuous steps in the dark {P1};

 

Hear text as mp3,

 

Turns out the Iron Throne leaders were innocent so we left them alone and popped upstairs to visit dads old room but we still got arrested then escaped without too much effort. The loot under candlekeep is very nice but the catacombs themselves had little that could challenge us until we ran into a guy named Prat… he lived up to his name and I'm happy to be the one that finished him off.

 

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We stopped by D-tower before returning to the city {thanks corey} because we wanted another scroll or two. For a place with d-towers rep I was expecting a much tougher time reaching the library however Imoen scared me when she triggered a trapped bookcase… just a minor trap, nothing to worry about.

 

We stopped the mermaid inn assassins with direct fire to avoid collateral damage and gave Cythandria no hope of fair odds… then the palace fight glitched when the last one of the doppelgangers refused to drop despite being very dead?

 

{I considered this to be a bug and allowed Puk to redo the fight guys}

[corey_russell]

Based on your description, that does sound like a bug USSNorway. And you're welcome about the scroll - was I in fact correct? Were the scrolls in the Greater Dopplegangers room on the Pride/Fear level?

[ussnorway]

Almost, the scroll is in the room just before that 1 (see screenshot under spoiler tags) so I didn't need to fight any thing on that level just cross the fire trap and turn... actually I think there was one spider.

[realmuzzy]

The source of the iron plague is unnatural, that much is clear. Erenor believes that the Nashkel mine holds all the answers. He dreads going there though, mines are a plague on the landscape and he vows to destroy it one day. For now he assumes his wyvern form and starts his descent into the depths of the mine, killing the sleeping kobold guards on the way.

 

Spoiler

 

At the lowest level he finds the man in charge. Subterranean spiders paralyze everyone in the room while Erenor declares his judgement in the name of Silvanus. The man's armor and shield break under the force of nature's doom (*mmmm yeah about that*)

 

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after which he is defenseless and easily killed. His minions, still paralyzed, follow suit

 

Spoiler

 

Back in Nashkel a mage assassin tries to kill Erenor but he is well trained by his order for such confrontations. He asks for combat invisibility, clears his mind of all thought, and then turns into a venomous spider since mages with their low stamina fear poison. The assassin chokes and dies in front of him, not prepared enough for an avenger of Silvanus. The same happens to the mage Tranzig.

 

Spoiler

 

Erenor's next stop is the bandit camp in Cloakwood forest. On the way, he gets ambushed in short succession by two groups of mercenaries. No doubt hired by people wanting to stop his investigation. Their ambushes are in vain because he is always ready to slip into the shadows and from there summon the forces of the forest to protect him. Improved invisibility, chaotic commands and several webs later every assassin falls to him.

 

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Now he is even more determined to reach the bandit camp. He finds it easily and sneaks in using his spider form to escape attention. Inside he finds a wizard, which enrages him. He is certain that the wizard must be the evil influence behind the entire operation and lunges for him changing form mid air, while spiders are crawling out of every opening. After killing the wizard he kills the other bandits, who share in their commander's guilt, and saves the hostage

 

Spoiler

[Grimwald the Wise]

@ USS Norway

 

Durlag's Tower is not that bad, unless you have mods that make it so, though if you solve all of the dwarves' riddles, you have to know what you are doing.

 

My tactics cause them to fight each other.

[realmuzzy]

Eranor the avenger made good progress through the cloakwood. He helped the local druids deal with a defiler who had the nerve to ask Eranor for help and he helped a local man deal with a wizardly abomination who was disrupting the balance of the local community.

 

In the heart of the forest he found a mine. He could not believe the violation right in front of his eyes. Scouting invisibly he discovered a powerful group of adventurers guarding the entrance. He prepared and then charmed one of the fighters and killed the other. As he got dispelled he had to rest and refocus.

 

Spoiler

 

That night he engaged the wizard he found on his own. The wizard dispelled him even though he got poisoned (*a fast acting poison even grumble, grumble*) and Eranor started to run away to rebuff when he bumped into the other wizard who was standing invisible there until he started casting spook. That was the end of Eranor.

 

Spoiler

 

Back to the drawing board. My favorite moment is definitely Mulahey's armor and shield breaking from the mighty doom spell.

[Blackraven]

Finish strong USSNorway, and condolences RealMuzzy. I've had a few runs end at the hands of Kysus/Rezdan myself...

Isadora, Halfling Swashbuckler, BG1 update 3 (final)

Baldur's Gate is always a treat for my rogues, and Isadora was no exception. Having said that, we were quite dismayed by the fact that the stores in the south-east quadrant of the city sold mundane weaponry rather than magical potions as they do in my BGT install.
Isa did some burgling for the Thieves Guild, acquired the Helm of Balduran (and sold it as she can't use it and preferred to find the Claw of Kazagoroth should she ever be forced to escape from a bizarre dungeon in Athkatla), purloined the Cloak of Balduran from a courtesan, plundered Ramazith's tower including an Int tome but left the wizard alone, picked up a Dex tome at the Thieves Guild, and read a Wis tome she was supposed to exchange with Umberlant Jalantha Mistmyr for a geas removal scroll in order to find the antidote to a poison she had been afflicted with. With difficulty Isa managed to release the priestess of the scroll without having to fight her.

Spoiler

Potions of Defense and Absorption allowed Isa to best Larze the Ogre in a melee duel. Marek, her poisoner, and an Ogre Mage in the sewers required Greenstone charges before they fell.

 

The Halfling was given a Flaming Fist mandate to investigate the Iron Throne building. She discovered the local leaders weren't there and found that the acting managers weren't very forthcoming with information as to where their superiors were to be found. They recognized her and attacked. But with a green scroll of magic protection, a potion of defense, and an oil of speed, Isa was well in control of the battlefield. The only risks were two backstabbing Shennaras and a warrior named Zhalimar Cloudwulfe who befittingly quaffed a cloud giant strength potion that turned him into too strong an opponent for melee dueling. Isa's frost dart did him in nicely though.

Spoiler

(Only Naaman escaped death, as he stayed undispellably hidden while Isa was PfMagic.)

 

One peaceful Iron Throne associate revealed to Isa that the leaders of the Baldur's Gate branch were in Candlekeep. Isa knew there was little she could do except apprise Duke and Flaming Fist leader Eltan of her findings. However, before doing so, Isa traveled to the FAI, where she got permission from Bentley Mirrorshade to store some of her possessions in one of the Gnome's chests. This courtesy was a remarkable one because she got busted repeatedly while stealing possessions from the inn's guests. Her reputation dropped a bit and saw a rather steep decline during the days that followed, when she hung out with Dorn, the Half-Orc Blackguard she had previously helped, and two Drow exiles, Viconia the priestess and Baeloth the Sorcerer. 

 

Duke Eltan could hardly believe his eyes when he saw Isa with her rag-tag company. He nevertheless sent them to Candlekeep with a tome of great value. A group of Ogre Magi put Dorn (level 4) to Sleep, but the quartet managed to enter the citadel anyway.

Spoiler

They rested at Winthrop's and Isa woke up the next day with a nice Bhaalscream ability. (I almost decided not to bother, but yes, eventually I went out of my way again to have Isa obtain aTweaks' Divine Wrath Bhaalpowers without killing innocents. DUHM is nice offensively and could be useful against CON drain, but the Divine Wrath's AoE damage has an offensive purpose as well, and its knockback effect might be a lifesaver.)

 

Isa's companions didn't stay in Candlekeep; they returned to the FAI. The Halfling didn't spend much more time at her former home. She had barely entered the library or the Gatewarden unjustly arrested her for killing the Iron Throne leaders. This had been a ploy of Sarevok whom she now understood to be Gorion's killer and her brother. With the help of Tethtoril she escaped, looting catacombs and stalking through caves until she found a way to the surface.

She returned to the FAI where she got some loot identified, picked up her gear from Bentley's chest and met with her Half-Orc and Drow outcast friends for drinks. After a restless night she thanked Bhaal the next morning for another Divine Wrath ability. She said goodbye to her friends, and returned to Baldur's Gate as an outlaw.

In order to restore her reputation somewhat, she decided to try and foil Sarevok's plan of getting the Grand Dukes killed, by stopping the assassins Slythe and Krystin that he had hired for that purpose. This was easier said than done though. Slythe's backstabs were devastating.

Spoiler

Isa used invisbility potions whenever Slythe did, to heal, to stay safe and to detect the assassin's whereabouts. She eventually gained the upper hand and finished her foe with her Divine Wrath. Thankfully it was only then and not before that Krystin with her detection spells arrived at the scene.

Spoiler

Isa left the woman to mourn the loss of her hubby.

 

She used an invitation and an incriminating letter from Sarevok she had found on Slythe's body to enter the Ducal Palace, where Sarevok was about to be coronated as new Grand Duke. She prepared thoroughly for her impending confrontation with her nemesis: green scroll of PfM, violet potion, fortitude, agility, mind focusing x2, defense, speed, power, regeneration. (I don't normally consider green scrolls of PfM necessary, but this was my first SCS v30 Ducal Palace experience, and I wasn't sure what to expect.) However it soon turned out that she wouldn't be fighting Sarevok but a sextet of Greater Doppelgangers, including two casters.
In spite of being non-proficient in bows, Isa tried to dispel the Doppelgangers' buffs with arrows of dispelling, Bracers of Archery, and an Eagle Bow she had kept in her pack. As such this wasn't a bad strategy, as her buffs had converted her into a more than competent archer. She accomplished two successful dispels. The problem however, was that Doppelganger Assassins were stabbing away at her. She healed and decided to fight with both her scimitars, something she had never done before, at least not in battle. She coated her blades in poison from a phial she had bought at the Thieves' Guild. She happily slew one Doppelganger with her right hand,

Spoiler

but was even more content to see her decision to dual-wield pay off extremely well, with two off-hand criticals finishing two more Doppelgangers.

Spoiler

Lately, Isa had been training herself in a two weapon fighting style (1st pip at level 8). She decided there and then that she would continue working on her dual-wielding skills. The Doppelganger Mage survived the longest. It distracted some Flaming Fist Enforcers with summoned Phase Spiders, but not Isa. With yet another off-hander she finished the last of the Doppelgangers.

Spoiler

Both Dukes survived the fighting, but then Sarevok decided to take matters into his own hands and struck down Duchess Liia Janneth. He didn't get to kill Duke Belt though, as he got teleported away by a henchman.

Spoiler

 

Isa followed Sarevok into a Temple of Bhaal in the Undercity below Baldur's Gate. This is buffed Isa's endgame inventory:

Spoiler

(Mod items: Deep Red Ioun Stone with +1 Dex, Safeguard Buckler +3 with once/day Sanctuary ability, Returning Frost Dart +1, +1 Cold.)

Isa's PfMagic and most of her buffs were still intact but that didn't stop mages Angelo and Semaj from wasting their most dangerous spells on the Halfling.

Spoiler

This was actually a step backwards from previous SCS versions, where Semaj would remain undispellably invisible and Angelo would focus on melee for as long as PfMagic was in effect. 

Isa tried to dispel Sarevok's Haste but even when she hit him, he would not slacken his pace, which could be considered a step forward from previous SCS versions. It meant that Isa had to run around a lot until she decided to hide to get rid of Sarevok for a while. She then dispelled Angelo's buffs (twice) and slew the battlemage with arrows of dispelling and her returning forst dart respectively. Diarmid the archer and Semaj were also pelted with darts. The former took relatively long in falling as he had numerous extra healing potions. Tazok succumbed to a combination of range and melee attacks.

Spoiler

Isa then finished a group of Skeleton Warriors so that she could fight Sarevok in style, that is in a melee duel. She's a duelist after all. 

Her AC including slashing modifier was -19, so she successfully dodged and parried many of her opponent's blows. But the times he did hit her, the damage he inflicted was significant. She had to quaff several extra healing potions in order to keep going. This could become a challenge for Isa further down the road. As impressive as her AC may become, there'll always be critical hits to deal with, and there's only a limited number of Stoneskin and PfMW scrolls. 
Anyhow, after plenty of heavy blows had been exchanged, it was not Sarevok, but Isa who was still standing.

Below are four screenshots that give a good impression of the duel:

Spoiler

[Alesia_BH]

Alikae Dominica: The Black Hand, Shadow Assassin, Dark Moon Monk

 

Episode 1: What I Need 

 

The dawn is cruel: it sears, it simplifies, it reveals.

 

It reveals secrets. And longings. And failures.

 

But the night. The night offers refuge. And mystery. And redemption.

 

A space to practice my art.

 

They came in force, the assailants: two ogres, two bandits, a cleric and an armored brute. We were no match. Gorion was slaughtered. I ran.

 

Gorion's failure is his. He owns that for eternity. My failure is mine. But it is only temporary. I know what I am. I know what I will become. 

 

What I need is practice.

 

What my assailants will need are coffins. 

 

 

I could say I'll sleep better when it happens. But that would be a lie. I don't really sleep.

 

I dwell in night because night is a layered reality: a multiverse of the senses. Reality is the intersection of perception and physics. What we can't perceive, we can't know, and what we can't know does not exist to us. A shadow is like a doorway to another world: a place where one reality ends and another begins. To master destiny, to master space and time, one must master multiple realities, multiple truths. Night is my home, night is my study, but night is also a metaphor for the nature of being. Shar has taught me this. And for once she's right.  

 

I am here. On the road. Some would say I am free. But I am not free. I am a prisoner of my own limits. Freedom is the power to choose one's path, and the power to shape the paths of others. Mastery is freedom. Control is freedom. Domination is freedom. I'm not free. I'm just alone- beyond the power of others, in my isolation, but powerless myself. This will not stand. I will live on my terms. I will perfect my art.

 

What I need is practice. And a lot of gold. The night awaits.

 

 

Best,

 

A.  

 

Area Explored: Lion's Way

Notable Enemies Slain: Xzar, Montaron

Notable Items Acquired: Belt of Antipode, Wand of Magic Missiles, Oil of Speed (2), Potion of Healing (5)

[corey_russell]

I like your cropped pictures Alesia - some people play with such a massive resolution, I can't tell what's going on (except fireballs I suppose) - with your screenshots the details are crystal clear.

[realmuzzy]

@Blackraven Great job and gl in Amn to Isa! I love that buckler in your screenshot, +3, permanent bless and sanctuary - yes please.

 

@Alesia Way to make great pictures to follow the story. Looking forward to more.