Part 27: They seem to be rusty

Update 23: They seem to be rusty


So after we finished with Varci, we met up with Scar. According to him, the Grand Duke wanted to see us. We were either in big trouble or about to get a big reward.



Not sure which side of the fence to play, Khalid tried to play dumb at first. The Duke already knew what was going on so there was no point playing that facade.




Khalid said it best. "2000 Gold?!? Consider us hired!"



Besides; It was going to be VERY good taking down the Iron Throne from the inside.



This is it. We were inside the Iron Throne headquaters. To hell with being in the Lion's Den, this is stepping right into the jaws.



The lower merchants were freaked out by magic being cast on the upper floor. We have been here for exactly 2 seconds and we already have suggestions of evil-doing. Minsc's foot was itching.



One guard approached us, but Imoen was able to lie her way out of it. What can I say? She learned from the best.



Right, so we have scary magic and dopplegangers. Why not just paint "EVIL" on the front door and be done with it? Still, we need evidence that all this has happened and that they are the cause. We really need some documents or a witness that we can use.



Minsc thought he'd try this lying game and got caught out.



Fortunately, he was lying more for the sake of the guard than himself. We hid the body behind the stairs and continued our investigation.



Hello, this is interesting. Reiltar is Sarevok's father and Sarevok seems to be trying to make a grab for power underneath Reiltar's nose.



For the record? I was very careful not to call either Viconia or Minsc moron or brainless. I dont think they'd get the joke and for some reason: calling Jahiera\Khalid moron\brainless seemed to be more fitting.



As I suspected: The Iron Throne was controlling the Seven Suns and the Merchants League for their own gain. I wonder what ever happened to the results of our investigation of the Seven Suns or if that was kept between Scar, Eltan and myself.




Well if people thought we were Emmissary Tar, why go and spoil that illusion?



I smelled a rat. There were two staircases up to the sixth floor. Minsc, Jaheira and myself went up the north set, while Imoen, Viconia and Khalid went up the South.



And I was right. We walked quite nicely into a trap. These Sarevok fanatics weren't going to stop for anybody. Also I highly doubt that is the REAL Emissary Tar.



First things first: I dispelled the illusions\protections while the others ran in. Imoen focused her attacks on the leader of the group who was armed with a Halbred that'd dwarf Minsc. Viconia summoned some skeletons to help us out.



Emissary Tar revealed herself to be a Doppleganger and joined in the fight. Two of their numbers fell, but Jaheira and Viconia were dangerously close to being incapacitated.



They fell, but it inspired Minsc and Khalid. They cut through the remaining 4 mages at the back as Viconia finished off the Doppleganger. I summoned some Gnolls and we surrounded Cloudwulfe



I held him with a spell and got everybody to retreat while the spell was in effect. 1 Fireball later, Cloudwulfe lay still.



This was a extremely difficult fight. We had to summon creatures to come to our aid and even THEN Jaheira and Viconia fell. Minsc and Khalid picked up their remains and agreed to take them to the nearest temple so that they could be ressurected. Meanwhile, Cloudwulfe's body smoldered ominously on the floor.



On Cloudwulfe's corpse was this letter from Sarevok. No bounty anymore. It seems we're invaluable.



In this back room we found Emissary Tar's corpse. No determined cause of death. Unfortunately that leaves us with no incriminating evidence against the Iron Throne. These bastards had covered their tracks quite nicely.



Thaldorn here was VERY helpful on the other hand!



We searched to find out where Reiltar and his group had gone. This letter stated that they were back at...

Candlekeep. My old home.

Oh glorious fate.



It seems a big Iron Throne conference is happening back at Candlekeep. How dare those bastards defile my hometown?



Anyways, outside the Iron Throne, we were summoned by the Duke and Scar. They wanted to know what we had found out.



We have no other quests to do in Baldur's Gate, so we went to see them.



We told the Duke what happened. He decided we should continue our investigations.

In Candlekeep.

My home.

I'm going home. After all this time in shady inns, dealing with freaks, killing Ogre Mages, Kobolds and morons. I'm actually going home.



Right now: I seriously didn't give a drat that the Iron Throne was there.