Part 18: Part 2: Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it's off to work we go...

Note: This update is a bit choppy, but I had to to keep it down to a reasonable size. Otherwise the Cloakwood mines would've gone across 2 and a half updates and really: Considering that most of the fights are with respawning hobgoblins, it wasn't that interesting.

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Update 15 Part 2: Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it's off to work we go...


I was very happy to discover that Sleep still works on some guards and some Hobgoblins



Not that we really needed it, but hey! Another way to deal with an annoyingly large group of monsters. This will become very useful later on.



This level was the living quaters of all the guards here. Imoen snuck around and pinched whatever she could get her hands on.



And delivered a few backstabs when necessary.



Once the coast was clear, Imoen lead us into the armory which was filled with basic weapons. Two Hobgoblins spotted Viconia and rather stupidly followed her into the armory. They certainly dont breed 'em smart. After a brief but intense discussion with our blades, they realised the error of their ways and died.



Imoen snuck ahead and found a decently guarded room.



She acted as bait to draw the Hobgoblins out and the battle ended with predictable results.



As much as mages like to throw fireballs, they certainly cant take 'em.



We went back to the room where the Hobgoblins came from and killed everything inside. I'm glad I never started a kill tally for Hobgoblins because I'd be in the hundreds by now.



Imoen hid in the shadows and then snuck ahead to see what was in the next room. Once again: More hobgoblins than are really necessary.



One fireball was all that was necessary. You have no idea how satisfying it is to lob a ball of flaming death into a room, hear a few dozen suprised screams and then walk in to find Ted Bundy's graveyard with a little bit of pyromania thrown in.



This Ogre Mage was apparantly a Priest. His god didn't help him.



This guard didn't really think this through. If we are talking to him, it means we've fought through 2 levels of other guards. What makes him so special?



The correct answer is Cyric, but then he wouldn't attack us. Where's the fun in that?



Just before the entrance to the last level of the mines we found this smithy. This explains why the bandits weapons never broke, they were using good Iron from this mine and making their own.



We now entered the lowest level of the mines



Jaheira should really shut up every now and then.



Then again: The guards really should know better by now.



I sent Imoen ahead to check for traps. Sure enough there were 3 big nasties here.



Imoen carefully disarmed them succesfully, allowing us to proceed.



We found Davaeorn. He was the one in charge of this Cloakwood operation. It's time to avenge the Surgeon. Imoen raised her sword and backstabbed him expertly which caught his attention



I like how he says "my affront to YOUR morality". Baldur's Gate is one of the first games that try to have a moral choice instead of a game-over screen if you do something wrong. Even though it's strictly black and white, this peice of dialogue shows that moral issues were a concern when writing this game.



This is what makes fighting Davaeorn so annoying. He starts off with a myriad of protections and the moment he sees you, he teleports away. I sent Imoen ahead to sneak up behind him each time to try to land a few backstabs and it worked once or twice, which is what inspired him to retreat via teleportation.



However, he eventually runs out of teleportation spells. At which point, we charged the Mage. Viconia successfully cast Dispel Magic, removing half of his protections



His mobility and protections removed, he met a gruesome end at Minsc's two-handed Sword. The Surgeon was avenged, the Cloakwood mine operation was now crippled and the Iron Throne was VERY pissed off. Why cant I stop grinning every time I make the Iron Throne angry?



Stephan was Davaeorn's apprentice. Davaeorn was another (albiet glorified) Mulahey and was taking orders from somebody else. However, since his orders came from the Iron Throne directly, it seems we were starting to find an end to this little trail of breadcrumbs.



We returned to the top level and gave the miner the key. We noticed that the majority of the slaves had managed to escape with Rill and Yeslick. This in mind, we gave the okay to flood the mines.



Anybody left in these mines soon found themselves in a deep and very watery grave.



It was done. Cloakwood was shut down and the Iron Throne was left without resources. We knew who was behind these schemes so there was nothing else for us to do.

It was time to go to Baldur's Gate.