Part 108: Chapter CV - But which mother would cast an eye on her daughter's loved one herself...What a mess life is...

Chapter CV - But which mother would cast an eye on her daughter's loved one herself...What a mess life is...

We've got a lot of ground to cover today so let's just get started.



First up is the De'Arnise Hold.



We meet up with Nalia, she'll fill the empty spot in our party.



We follow her advice and enter the keep through the secret passage.



We arrive too late to save the servants, I hope Daleson's okay.



I love how Nalia's noble background shines through here despite her pretensions.



We head for the courtyard to gather some dogmeat.



We also lower the drawbridge while we're at it.



The guards bail just as we enter the keep, cowards!



Yummy.



We head upstairs to the second floor.



After dealing with this mage we head to the roof through the entrance that's behind him.



While exploring the roof Sandrah talks to us about our future. What is it with castles that prompt these kinds of talks?



Not now, Chloe. Anomen's not here.



'Do not have an advantage' my ass, Sandrah is by far the most OP character in the game.



Oh boy, here it comes.



Christ, she's insufferable.



We enter the inner sanctum through some hidden doors.



Nothing Sandrah's dispel magic won't fix.



It took way too many playthroughs before I realised this had a peaceful option, I'm an idiot.



We take care of the golems so we can pick up yet another flail head.



After finding the third flail head near the forge one of the better weapons in the game is ours.



Once in the basement I put down the dog stew to lure the Umber Hulks away, not that it's strictly necessary.



Our jaunt through the castle ends with a fight with the troll leader.



While we're dealing with him we spot Nalia's father who seems to have fallen victim to the trolls.



I think Nalia could use some fresh air.



Wait, another stronghold?



Yep, we're actually doing this.



Oh God, not again.



Good riddance.

Anyway, time for some R&R.



Yes, it's another one of those encounters. You might want to skip these next few images.





Christ, this one was particularly bad.



She suspects nothing. NOTHING.

Let's get some actual rest before moving on.





I'd complain further about this but I'll assume Bioware's Valygar romance would be a better written version of this.

I can't showcase the skill you get from this because it doesn't seem to actually do anything.



While we're making good progress let's keep it going by heading for Trademeet next.





They seem to be having their own set of problems. Let's head straight for the mayor's house.



Trademeet is one of my favourite areas in the game and the architecture plays a big role in this.



We're greeted by the guildmistress but she doesn't have anything to offer just yet.



The High Merchant lets us know what we're dealing with her and points us to the dungeons.



Ah, Cernd. An NPC whose most defining feature, besides his class, is being a deadbeat husband.



No harm in letting him joins us, though. For some reason he's a kitless druid instead of a shapeshifter.



We've seen all of Valygar's Sandrah content so we'll have to say goodbye to him here.



What a weird-looking cat.



That fountain looks like a great place for some statues.

...What's that commotion nearby?



It's Rasaad! He runs away before we can talk to him.



At least we can annoy the Sun Soul Monks.

...Is that who I think it is?



We give him the letter that we received ages ago and he saddles us with yet another quest. Are we ever going to get to Spellhold?



Rasaad comes back and approaches us.



We'll deal with his quest later, I actually quite like him in BG2.



Before ToB came out people must've been so confused by this.



The innkeeper doesn't want to deal with us but we're able to buy Mironda's requested ale from him.



Let's head for the Druid Grove so we can end these animal attacks.



Ah, the Nalia romance. From what I can remember it was never finished.



Faldorn? Why does that name sound familiar?



I actually enjoyed this talk. Cernd might not have been as bad as I remembered.



...Christ.



I always like to let this fight play out so I can easily deal with whoever's left.



To think that I used to have a lot of problems with this fight.



There's that name again, where have I heard it before?



Oh God, it's her! We can't actually deal with her like we normally would so Cernd is just going to have to duel her.



A fair fight as far as I'm conCernd.



With that out of the way we might as well head ba-



...What is it with you and Anomen!?



While resting outside of the grove we get ambushed by some losers. After Jaheira breaks free they're quickly dispatched. After the fight...





This moment is nice and all but wasn't Jaheira supposed to address us? Did we run into one of many bugs associated with her romance?



Oh, false alarm. Turns out one of the gang was hiding out in this corner.



Jaheira's adorable.



We're summoned to the Harper hideout immediately afterwards. Let's take care of business in Trademeet first though.





I don't recall only being able to start this quest after dealing with the druids but oh well, might as well take care of it now...

...After we've rested up at the inn, that is.



Sandrah's banters are rarely good but I *really* hate this one.



That was quick, we'll deal with the harpers later.



Let's talk to the genies first.



Sounds easy enough, especially since I know where to go.



I don't know why I passed this house on my initial run through this place.



Let's not spend any more time here than we need to.



Done and done.





Reading these just makes me feel uncomfortable, I don't know if it's intentional or not.





Looks like celebrations are in order!



I love this moment, it's nice to get recognized as the heroes we know we are.

On that triumphant note I leave you guys for today. There are some odds and ends in Trademeet we've yet to deal with but I'm saving that for next time.