Part 11

"Looks like we're clear for the moment… I'm all for a sea voyage."

"I hear that they're also good for your complexion."



"I've never been, but I hear that it's lovely this time of year."

"Most importantly, it's not Luskan."




"Picturesque. Although you'd think the whole volcano thing would worry people a bit more."



"Fgh. Definitely a seaside town."



"That's okay… d'you think that I could make a pot? I've always wanted to do pottery, and they can keep it if they want."



"I think that counts as a no."





"Meteorite ore, you said? I think we need to investigate this before we go back to Neverwinter."

"You just want a magic sword instead of a magic mace… not that I can blame you."



"How many times do you have to get that question before you put a sign on the front door?"



"We came here by a boat… you mean that doesn't make us count as seafarers?"

"I think he means habitual seafarers, not occasional ones."



"Hopefully this goes better than when we tried to seek justice from the High Captains."






"That sounds like us!"



"Well, this isn't ominous at all…although I"ve got to say, that castle has got some style to it."



"Maybe, but I expected something a good bit more impressive from the doorway."



"Huh. When I read this story it was bears that were still in the house, not pirates."

"There's something kind of bear sized in the back, but I'm pretty sure that we're not going to find a little blond haired girl in here."



Meet the fire giant! It's a lot like a hill giant, only bigger, meaner, and fierier. They actually use metal equipment and are quite dangerous… but they also take double damage from the Sword of Icewind Dale. One isn't a particularly big deal, but we will see more of them.



"Anybody want to make a bet about that little girl now?"

"D'you mean for or against? Because that doesn't sound like a girl to me…"





"I claim that armor for being right about him not being a girl."



"You know, these guys are dressed awfully warmly for being on a volcanic island."

"I guess they compromised by cutting off the sleeves and opting for shorts?"



Small packs of these guys roam the island. They're significantly tougher than the pirates and even some of the Zhentarim captains we've fought against. Unfortunately, other than that they're completely unremarkable.



"Are those what I think they are?"

"It's a proven fact that anywhere a pile of trash lies still long enough, it'll spontaneously generate an otyugh."



Still creepy, still a waste of time. They are, however, often between us and more interesting things like...



"Hey, calm down man! I haven't even told you my wish yet!"



Efreeti are fire-elemental genies from the corresponding elemental plane that are usually summoned by wizards, which makes you wonder what they're doing here. They're supposedly made from basalt, bronze, and solid fire, but are still vulnerable to normal weapons.



"Okay, this is absolutely ridiculous. People should really clean up after themselves."



"Feel free to give them a lecture."

"Dammit fireball, what good are you to me now?"



Salamanders are another set of denizens from the elemental plane of fire, and are a bit more difficult to kill than efreeti since they can only be damaged by magical weapons. At this point that's a large potion of our party, but they're still fairly tough.



"I guess some people really want to get away from the hustle and bustle of a small town… although this is taking it to an extreme."



"Not extreme enough, considering that it's these guys. I wish they'd taken it a bit further into a lava flow."



For some reason, the Kraken didn't bother bringing these guys back to their headquarters for defense despite the fact that they're much tougher than any of the troops they had there. I don't know why they went with awl pikes as the weapon of choice, but I guess it's as good a choice as any.



"Those marks over the western half would have been a lot more useful before we went there."

"And of course the area with the question mark is also the only place we haven't been to yet."



"Poor scrag-dudes… this is not a comfortable place for a water creature to live."

"I guess in that sense we're about to do them a mercy."



"Somebody liked a lot of headroom in their doors… I hope."



"That's… not a friendly greeting, is it?"

"It would be a lot simpler if it was and they were just going to hand over some ore to us."

One short fight later...



"Everybody here just seems so friendly… at first."



Luckily it's only two, but you definitely want to close in on the one off to the side so he can't keep back and throw rocks at you. For a reward...



"Soooo… can we go back to Neverwinter now?"



"Evidently that's not one of the options, but we're definitely not going back to Luskan."



"This is actually kind of nice.. I can see why you travel so much, Vermunt."

"Usually I'm not on the run from an entire city full of thugs, murderers, pirates, and evil wizards."




"You guys can keep your boats, if you ask me… nothing beats solid ground. And there's probably a lot more to do here than in Tuern, too."

Character Snapshot





With all the fun of Tuern Galen and Kedzie both picked up levels (two of them, in Kedzie's case) and we've gotten yet more excellent equipment. Galen's armor is essentially plate mail +1 that protects against fire damage, which makes it lighter and gives him a full range of movement.

Next update: Princess and Plots