Part 6

My intention was to go hunt down some giants for leveling money, but Erek foiled that plan since he refuses to leave this area. You can still leave, but Erek will leave your party.



Barges? A big flat boat with lots of people to do the work sounds like a better option for our next trip."

"They're also expensive. We can't even afford our own training, much less a barge."



"This town definitely wins for classiest town square. That fountain is a nice touch."



"Oh come now, I know this is the frontier but have you no guards or lawmen?"



"Looks like they have leatherworkers instead. Do you think I could get a sweet poncho?"





"I don't know, but given that entire list of plagues I have a feeling that if we found out we might be obligated to burn this place to the ground. We'd try to save the fountain, of course."

"I like where this is going. But do we really need a reason? The evidence is pretty clear that they might have done something awful."



"There's a definite theme going on here. This place really isn't going to be around for long if it keeps getting cleaned out like this."



"Kind of puzzling that they missed this stash if they were coming in here and raiding."



"That's because Goldilocks is still here. Or Goldignoll, if you prefer."



Hyena humanoids who are as stupid as they are easy to kill. They're kind of ridiculous in concept, honestly.

Outside walking in the streets...



"Well, the anhkheg has been replaced in my nightmares…"



Stirges are essentially mosquitos with two foot wingspans who do 1-3 damage just impaling their victims and then will suck out 1d4 HP worth of blood per round until they drain 12 points worth and are full. That's more than enough to kill an ordinary human or a child, so living on the frontier puts you in constant danger of being killed by overgrown mosquitos. Lovely.



"That… that doesn't sound like a horse eating to me."



"Close, though. A horse WAS involved."



They got initiative, so I had to get the screenshot after the owlbears had begun to move. They're big brutes who are the result of magical experimentation, and are often put into place by wizards as guard beasts.



"The fact that you keep being the one to find these makes me ashamed of myself as a half-elf."

"I would feel bad if I were actually making an effort."



"We could be under the river right now. Far out."



"How many owlbears do they have in this place? Those things are a pretty big investment."

"Then we're definitely putting a dent in someone's bottom line."



Same fight as the last one, only with the addition of a moderately high level fighter in the background. He's actually the first one to go down, though, since Hold Person is a thing now. Stinking cloud is also a good way to neutralize the owlbears.



These fights do burn through spells, though, so a nearby building provides free shelter.



"And this makes six…and although I have no idea who this guy is, I'm against tearing another wizard's arms on general principle."

Same fight as the last one, with just one additional fighter. This fight does give up a couple of gems and a piece of jewelry, which will come in handy later.



It's so sweet to see a couple reunited."

"I don't know if it's like tha…"

"Shhh. Let me have my moment."








"You're not going to tell us how to use this thing, are you?"



"See, I told you."

"I guess it takes all kinds."



"Who the hell are these Kraken guys, anyway? I've never heard of them and I haven't seen any tentacles to justify the name."

Exiting the hidden compound and exploring the city...



"That sounds terrible. Guys, is there anything else we want to do in this city now that we found that wizard?"

"Nothing involving random undead creatures that have nothing to do with our goal, no."



"Divide by 6, carry the… that's more money than I've ever seen in my life!"

So much for our issues with affording training.



With nothing but cryptic clues, our best option at this point is to go back to Yartar and see what Amanitas was going on about. First stop...





"You are in a difficult position, aren't you? Don't worry… we've got this."

"Sounds like it's time for a party."



"You weren't kidding, were you?"

"A perfect place to hide when nobody feels like celebrating."



"You're supposed to welcome guests with tea and cake!"



A full five of these guys isn't terribly threatening, but it at least lets you know you're in sort of the right place. Once you clear them out of the main room going left or right leads to..



Evidently all of them aren't little guys in robes.



This is a bit more seriously, especially with what looks like a 3rd or 4th level fighter along for the ride. Hold person is your friend, as is sleep. One thing of interest is that the main Kraken troops have some thief in them, since they will try to backstab you if given the opportunity. This is the first fight where we've dealt with enough that they actually had a chance to try.

"Well, that wasn't so bad. I don't know why the Waterbaron couldn't handle it with his own troops."

"I suppose that at this point we have no choice but to go and report our success to Amanitas and see if he's able to give us a more precise location on those statues."



"It's always a wheel that breaks, too. I bet he's got three spare axles and a wagon tongue in there, but no wheels. We might be stuck until he finds someone to trade with."



"Something's not right here…"



"Unhand me, you villains!"





"Snrk. Vaalgamon.. I bet that he made that up himself."

"Yeah, his real name's probably something like Percy."



"They didn't even bother to take our weapons or armor. They must be really confident."

"All things considered, I don't think that's where the smart money goes. I'd bet on really stupid instead."

"And stupidity is right at the top of my list of punishable offenses."

Character Snapshot





So, obviously due to the staggering sum we got from the sale of that piece of jewelry everybody can finally go up a level. Krevish even gets to go up two, since he was pretty close to his next one. Unfortunately it turns out that the game won't let you mess with the classes of NPC characters, so he has to stay a substandard fighter. Right now he's still useful for plinking away at enemies with his bow, and he'll often kill off sleeping of held enemies for you. Kedzie's our big winner here, almost doubling her HP, but everybody else is making progress. Unfortunately it'll be a bit before our wizards get their next set of level ups… they need to reach 22,500 experience.

Next update: Breaking out, heading south, and then heading north.