Part 24: Do the Crime, Do the Time, Part 2

Update 24: Do the Crime, Do the Time, Part 2




Finally we reach Nalar's Rib. Yeah, it's that unimposing gravestone-looking rock over on the right, functionally indistinguishable from Prank's Stone, really, but this time the joke isn't on the party if they use it.



And yes, of course there's one last ambush before we get to do so. Assholes.




The answer can only be yes. Why would it ever be anything other than yes?


So that's obviously fucking cool, but what actually happened?





Check it out, dead guys.
Hm, curious, we haven't passed this way.
Judging by the burns... the way his eyeballs have exploded... yeah, the Rib did this. The Rib totally did this. We should've brought more emeralds.

So, what the Rib does is... remember those 98 enemies around Sar-Sargoth? It fucking kills them all. Stone. Fucking. Dead. Which totally rules and is an excellent war crime since it kills them without damaging anything they're carrying and thus preventing us from profiting off it. This has basically cleared the road all the way to Caern and we can walk north to rejoin it before heading east.





There are just so many corpses, in fact almost all the way until Caern the goons are tripping over dead bodies full of free stuff(mostly poisoned rations and spare change, for some reason).





It feels like a bit of a shame that they didn't use new house models for the Northlands. But then again, the idea that the Moredhel have any sort of homes other than maybe stick huts and temporary war camps is something that isn't brought up until Betrayal in any case. So we don't really have a great canon idea of how they live and what they live in, except occasionally ancient Valheru fortresses and fortifications(which if I recall right Sar-Sargoth is one of).

So what's happening in Caern? Very little, frankly. Most of the homes are abandoned, but the ones that aren't...


Perhaps to everyone's great surprise, the book does not have a scene where Gorath has to literally fend off fangirls with a stick. But the idea of Delekhan stripping the Northlands of people and resources for his mad plan is absolutely in the books. That's all we've got out of Caern, however, and it's time to head down the road towards Raglam and Wyke.





As the road starts to turn south after Caern, there are a few tents off the road to the east which are a hint to head past them into the woods.





THOUGHTS

It's not a very worthwhile chest, in terms of loot, just a tier 1 and tier 3 sword which any player would be well past by this point, but it's the principle of the thing, no puzzle left behind.




I didn't know Moredhel got that big.
Those aren't Moredhel, they're giants!




They beat us on init and this Witch Hag promptly blasts Gorath with a Fetters of Rime. That sucks. I have Owyn blast her with an Evil Seek to prevent any more shenanigans, but what are the giants going to do?



Thankfully they don't go for Owyn and instead stand there hurling rocks at Gorath while I pop Skin of the Dragon on Owyn and have him scarf down a Fadamor's Formula for +10 Strength for the fight.

...
Hey Gorath, don't say anything if I can keep all the loot from now on.




Then he goes to town on those big chunky fucks. When one of them tries to run, he roasts it with a Flamecast before it gets away. Giants are somewhat rare, but a nice bit of variety and, while they have tons of health, are otherwise not too dangerous.





Shortly after we approach the easternmost bridge towards Raglam and... there sure are a lot of dickheads hanging around there.


Yeah, we're not allowed to exit in this direction towards Raglam and Northwarden for reasons. So we're headed south instead, towards Wyke and Highcastle, we've gotta get out of here before something turns bad.

Yeah, the charm of the Northlands kind of passed once all those Moredhel we roasted with Nalar's Rib started decomposing.
Kids these days, back in my day we liked the smell of our enemies rotting in the sun.





The blue fella in the middle is another type of Ogre, the Highland Ogre, which is an Ogre spellcaster. If he didn't get annihilated by a single Evil Seek, he would be more dangerous than a Witch Hag on grounds of having close to twice the hit points and thus able to cast twice the spells before needing to take a nap. I think the blue is meant to be like... woad paint? Tattoos? I don't know.





This trap a bit further down the road is actually a bit clever. If you don't think about it, you just rush to shove that crystal up because rods gotta be disabled by blasters... except that's wrong. You need to just go left around the first blaster and up the field. See, an ACTIVE zap line knocks Blaster projectiles out of the air! It's a neat little trick which I totally fell for and Gorath had to eat a Blaster shot to free the two.





So, what's happening down in Wyke?


Aside from that, there's a single store, and the party can slip further south out of town.




Surprise, though, this road is blocked as well. The Inclindel Gap south of Harlech and Armengar is in fact our only way out of the Northlands.




I'm tired. Are we there yet?
No.
My feet hurt, can we take a break?
No.
I'm thirsty, can we stop for a drink?
N- actually, we might be in the right area...






Wonder why those guys were guarding a well, maybe we should have asked them before we killed them.
They weren't guarding the well.


The house is, of course, special.




So wait, they were guarding her?

Your husband has at last returned.

Husband? How so? Clan leader? By what right? Upon a time you held all those titles with dignity and honor. Around you, the Clan Ardanien was curled like a golden dragon, ready to rise up at your word and crush whatever lay in your path. Where is that dragon now? Why does it sleep?

Cullich...is that all you dream of beneath your strange stars? A dead past? What value in all Murmandamus' speeches did we gain but to learn that we are weak? What spirit did we discover in defeat except that we corrupt from within? The time has come to blunt our blades and look to our own, to put down the monsters that we have become.

What destiny would you have of the moredhel, Gorath? Should we bend our heads to the earth once more, enslave ourselves to the will of the Eledhel who live in Elvandar much as we trembled beneath the Valheru in black centuries past? Their Queen Aglaranna will not accept us back into the fold as family, but instead as slaves. You've seen our brethren that have returned to them. What are they but gelded bulls in elven servitude?

I know not whether they rejoice or weep under their midnight stars, but their children grow to great ages, they trade freely under the Kingdom sun. We must fight for so little as a loaf of bread and kill our cousins lest they steal our kits from their dreaming. It is time we became more than savages.

Why have you come here, Gorath? Surely not to debate a love that between us is dead.

No...I need your help but for a short time longer and then I will be away and leave you to your own. So much I ask from my former wife. You then may be free to do as you see fit.

In the name of one I loved once, I listen and I will do as I can. Speak, Gorath.

[SCRYING]

We need of you a scrying. What road will lead us to safety?

I needn't consult the stars for your answer, for I have looked upon it for days since you left. Delekhan masses on the Kingdom's borders, the banners of the Clans Krieda, Dargelas, and Oeirdu flutter on the fields near Raglam. I would seek no passage south through the Teeth that leads by the Kingdom fortresses of Northwarden or Highcastle; doubtless Narab shall be at their head.

Narab has turned on the old wolf. Sar-Sargoth is encircled with his clan. He shall not trouble us.

Nonetheless, the armies are gathering and you will find none among them friends. Neither may you pass across the Great Northern Mountains through Moraelin. Moraeulf works with The Six to ensure that none of the former clans of the Green Heart may escape through the fringes of Elvandar.

Lims-Kragma feast on his soul! He believes if we cannot run, we will join his accursed march?!

Again, your only means of escape lies along the Inclindel. For whatever reason, the Six have allowed the snows to lift. Perhaps they are otherwise occupied focusing their magics.

Moraelin is a location of note from Silverthorn, being where the Moredhel conceal the only known Silverthorn cure(more Silverthorn...) to lure Arutha and his companions there for an ambush. Of course, the ambush is foiled largely because Jimmy the Hand is a genius who defeats every trap laid by hundreds-of-years-old experienced moredhel tacticians and planners.

[THE SIX]

These Six who now serve Delekhan, from what clan do they arise? Perhaps their loyalties may be reversed.

They are mighty in their arts, husband, far beyond even my powers. They claim the ancient title of Spellweavers, though they are vastly different from those of our magical cousins in Elvandar. Some suspect they hail of the serpent people, but long it has been since I touched the mind of those folk in the Northlands.

Human magic in Midkemia is generally very "pew pew, fireballs" or hedge magic, meanwhile elf magic, whether moredhel or eledhel, is generally incredibly vague, packed in dozens of layers of elven claims that their magic is too mysterious, innate and complex to explain in human terms. What it actually seems to translate into, though, is that the Eledhel can lay down a few magic traps in the woods and the Moredhel can get high off Valheru fumes. In the book Cullich also mentions attempting to scry on the Six and getting knocked on her ass for several days by the magical backlash when she ran into their defensive spells.

[ESCAPE]

I thank you for saving our lives. Without your assistance my companion and I would have perished under Delekhan's hand.

I would not wish your death, but I am not to thank for your recent escape. Why would you think me a part of it?

Magic was involved. While we were captive, someone released us from our bonds. I had assumed you were responsible.

Someone else acts in your favor, Gorath. It was not I. I should question who it is and what their motives for doing so would be.

[ILLUSION]

If we are to slip undetected through the Inclindel, we may require your skills of illusion. One such as you summoned when I first escaped Delekhan's men.

You know not what you ask... That spell was great in its fashioning and left of my power nothing for a month! I cannot follow where you go for I believe yours is a coward's path!


Cullich literally gets so tired of Owyn standing around that she blasts his brain with another 15 points of Accuracy: Casting, knocking him up to a full hundred, the first completely maxed skill we come across.

[MORAEULF]

If we should encounter Moraeulf and The Six, I should like to be better prepared to meet him.

There is a spell I crafted once that I may teach the boy. It is an illusion which bends the perceptions of those nearby in such a way that they cannot see you for who you truly are. Instead, you are seen as a resident of the area which you wish to enter. It has been specifically tailored for the town of Harlech, perhaps of use to you when you deal with Moraeulf. If you have 800 silver I may teach it to Owyn, or an equal sum in gold that I might buy the silver I require.

You would charge us for this?

While I would be within my rights to do so, I require silver because it is needed for the fashioning of the spell. Do you have the coin?

[YES]

The money is yours. Do what must be done.

Very well.

Owyn, please come here for a moment.

I'm not going to end up unconscious on the floor again, am I?

You shall remain on your feet throughout the whole lesson. We shall begin.


This teaches Owyn the spell "AND THE LIGHT SHALL LIE" which briefly makes him and Gorath appear as generic moredhel. This only functions in one place in the Northlands, where it temporarily allows them to escape several "endless" battles that would otherwise re-occur with every step and boot them back where they started. She can also teach Owyn "Unfortunate Flux" for 300 gold if he doesn't already know it, but he does.


There's no goodbye quote, but in the book they have a final exchange that I rather liked, where Gorath and Cullich declare their marriage formally ended, as they've grown too far apart, after a debate about whether or not its possible for them to live peacefully alongside humans except in situations where those humans are slaves or mercenaries.




We couldn't have stayed the night or something? I think I'm going to lose some toes if we keep going.
Hacking off your frostbitten toes would be less awkward than crashing with my ex.





Thankfully, just around the corner from Cullich's, a group of goblins are guarding several cozy tents. Owyn and Gorath evict them and now have a warm and comfy place to stay for the night aaaaaand...



One of the tents has a surprise! It's one of the only three places in the game to acquire Wrath of Killian which is a spell of... dubious use. What it does is establish a "trap square" that deals its damage over and over every round until the battle ends, and anyone standing on the square also can't use crossbows or cast spells. The main problem is that the square is unmarked, so your characters can accidentally walk on to it, too, but if you were lacking better caster-disrupting spells it could be good, or if a particularly beefy enemy is in a fight with another character, a Wrath under their feet might accelerate wearing them down.

Still, 19 times out of 20 we will have much better things to cast.

I'm not going to move for another 24 hours. I think your ex gave me a concussion.
It should throw any surviving pursuers off our scent, when your head stops ringing, we'll make for Harlech and then the Kingdom.

Next update: Snow, fumes and LORE.