Part 13: Dungeons but no Dragons

Update 11: Dungeons but no Dragons



Now that we had some money, we needed to get a bit stronger. I had read about the school of Ulcaster in Candlekeep and it was undoubtedly a great place for a mage like me to learn some new tricks. We left the Friendly Arm Inn and headed off for Ulcaster.



Surrounding Ulcaster were some ruins, infested with the Undead. It's strange, the map says Ulcaster is right where these ruins...



...oh. Well that's helpful. Surely there must be something we can learn here though. Ulcaster was a huge place and surely it's not ALL destroyed.



We searched the ruins and found this local. He was not a very friendly local.



The deranged local attacked. He was quite a strong foe, but once again: Magic Missile saves the day.



A ghost drifted past us. I approached the ghost hoping to find out what happened here.






Like all ghosts, this one was painfully cryptic. As far as I can tell, there's a book of some sort still in the ruins that the ghost needs so it can rest. This gives us an excuse to delve into the Ulcaster ruins and maybe, we'll find something.

I'm almost willing to settle for an Identify scroll at this point in time.



Without a second thought, we entered the underground ruins and began our search.



We searched in the Eastern rooms and found only jellies.



In the Western rooms, we found a few potions.



In the center room: We found a group of spiders. Lovely. This is why I avoid dungeons.



In the southern rooms, we found a pair of wolves. I want to know what the hell wolves are doing in a dungeon. Shouldn't they be outside killing something OTHER than me?



In this final room we found a scroll or two and some more potions. At least this dungeon crawl hasn't been ENTIRELY useless.



A Vampiric wolf attacked us. This explains what all the other wolves are doing down here, but there haven't been any corpses for this Vampire to feed on.

Come to think of it, there's only been ONE corpse in this entire dungeon. Not even many skeletons. Have the wolves been that efficient?



Erm...not...really. This corpse-pile reached the roof. Be very greatful that you do not have to smell that. Imoen spotted a book amongst the corpses and grabbed it. This must be what the ghost wanted.



We returned the book to the ghost and he seemed happier. He still wandered the ruins, but at least we found something.



We went East to the small (no pun intended) Halfling Village of Gullykin to rest and recuperate.



A child halfling approached us and asked us to clear the evil in the Firewine Ruins. We had just brushed the dust off us from Ulcaster, and now we're asked to go into firewine?

I asked for a little...uh...small...I mean...tiny...wait...MINIMAL fee since I really didn't feel like pillaging another dungeon so soon after our last. He agreed to give us what little he had spare.
Note: Because these ruins are basically one big bug, I've taken a few liberties\conveniences here. If you've played you'll understand.



We searched the town to see if we could find any clues. Jenkal seemed nervous in his own burrow, so Minsc was suspicious. His keen ranger nose detected that a higher amount of kobolds had been through this area. Jenkal didn't even bother trying to call Minsc's bluff, he just attacked.



It turned out to be the dumbest thing he could've done, but oh well. Imoen noticed that the book-case was easily moveable



We moved it out the way and found a hidden passage. Most rational people would've just gone to tell Gondalar that they found the root of the problem, but hey: We wouldn't be adventurers if we didn't go in for a stickybeak would we?



Down a set of stairs, we found a strangely eloquent Ogre Mage. He threatened us with death.



I however prefer to PROMISE death. The Ogre Mage fell quickly. Imoen heard something and to the south, she saw a concealed mage casting a spell.



With a shout, she pushed me out of the way of his lightning bolt, taking most of the blow. The lightning bolt bounced off the wall behind me and returned to the sender.
Note: This is the problem with this dungeon. The corridors are too narrow. It makes the pathfinding infuriatingly difficult and as you can see: The AI even struggles with it.



Further down the corridor were a pair of Ogrillons waiting in ambush. Their stifled chuckling echoed down the hall, so we knew they were there. The element of suprise gone rendered their trap useless and we easily dispatched them.



The narrow hallways were infested with Kobold commandos armed with flaming arrows. Imoen and I lead the group as we had ranged attacks and could fight fire with fire. This was working quite nicely up until...



OH GOD NO. A dozen Kobolds, armed with nasty bows and arrows ambushed us in the hub of the ruins. This was NOT going to be easy.



WHY WONT YOU LITTLE BASTARDS DIE?



I love the smell of fire arrows in the morning. I remember a story I read in Candlekeep about how this hill was bombarded with fire arrows for 12 hours. When they went to collect the dead, they couldn't find any. Not one body. This room smells exactly like that hill would've: Like victory.




As we continued to clear out the Kobold menace, we found this undead knight. Minsc shattered its bones with his shield and we claimed the rusted armour it was wearing. It was obvious from its appearance that it was centuries old.



There's nothing else for us in these ruins. We exited them and relished in the ability to be able to move our arms again.



We found Gondalar and told him the good news. He gave us a small (HE SAID IT NOT ME) amount of money and sent us on our way.



However, I still wasn't satisfied with what was left with Ulcaster. I went to speak to him again and he dropped this sword. That'll teach me to be greedy.