Part 22

Leaving Llorkh behind we get a brief hint to a new addition to overland travel: weather. Snow and rain slow the party and make random encounters more likely, although it's entirely possible that you'll play through the game and never really notice a difference other than some interesting flavor text.



Any way you slice it, however, our next stop is going to have to be Loudwater in order to get out of this little corner of the Savage Frontier and on to the rest of the game proper. That's not to say that there aren't a few interesting things to see in the town.



"Seriously, again? We just cleaned out that part of the city about a month ago!"

"Evidently not… but without Percy breathing down our neck, maybe we should do a more thorough job this time?"



"It's… it's harpies. We JUST went over this yesterday in Llorkh. Are all men idiots, or just this set?"

"I think it's all… no, I think most men are idiots. But it's still safer to assume they are until proven wrong."





"So the city guard fought a heroic battle against the entire two Zhentarim that were left after we wiped out all of their patrols?"

"We didn't even fight in the northern portion of the city, but as long as they want to blame the fire on the bad guys…"



"This splitting pain in my head… is this what an aneurysm feels like?"



"And this time, you're going to stay dead!"

"The more disturbing possibility is that these are completely new undead that have been raised in the past month… perhaps there's a necromancy problem in the city?"

"Hmm… can you just turn around and reanimate an undead creature that's just been a bit dinged up?"



"I think they just need to move the damned cemetery. This place is unwholesome."



"How disgusting… and you said that you've done this before?"

"It's not really that bad. They're mostly just hungry."



New images for undead… they look a lot more like the artwork you see with some of the encounter screens, like so:



"Man, how many dead people do they have in this cemetery? I think we might have killed more people than they've actually buried."



"Hmmph. True nobility would have their own private tomb and not be buried amongst the rabble."



This encounter adds wraiths, which have that nasty level draining property that any classic D&D player dreads more than anything else. Death is a small risk compared to losing a level. It was about this time that I realized another change: turned undead no longer give experience in this game. It's a bit disappointing, but we can still clear out the more dangerous undead with group spells as you can see here.



"I'm having some serious deja vu right now."

"Well, that's the last of them. Maybe we should do some poking around in the other ratholes we found around the city to see what's moved in to them."



"Ooh, Kraken!"

"But… we're miles from the sea!"





"This would be a lot easier to decipher without all the blood stains."

"Hey, I enjoy my work, okay?"



"Wait, what would lizard people want with your sisters?"

"We probably don't want to know… but we can't give them time to do whatever it is!"

"C'mon Alaric, what are we waiting for? There's people in trouble!"

"Something seems out of place here, but I can't quite put my finger on it."



"Ma'am, I hate to be uncomplimentary to your sisters, but I think even the lizard people aren't that hard up."

"I'd hate to say I told you so, but… wait, no I don't hate it. I freakin' told you so!"



Meet the greenhag, a fairly dangerous pest that likes to get ahold of humanoids through trickery and cunning lures… or taking advantage of suckers. You can paint the picture however you'd like.



For some reason they'll change shape in the middle of battle, but this doesn't change anything about their combat stats. That -2 AC is a bit higher than we're used to dealing with, so they can take a while to kill. I guess that if you somehow lost track of your characters and they were shapeshifted into an identical icon it could provoke a mistake, but they always change back after a round so I have no answers.



"Why is nobody ever happy to see us?"

"In this case, because they're squid worshipping weirdos. And I am in every way qualified to call them that."





"Soo… what are the chances that they're doing something at Daggerford and the Way Inn?"

"Getting better all the time."



"That would be a neat explanation for how they're sneaking in here, if the answer weren't clearly that the guards are a pack of idiots. On the bright side, I think we're done here."



After all this, we're finally at our intended destination: the little stopping point of Secomber, where Amanitas makes his strange lair.



"I'm glad that our enemies go through so much trouble to make themselves stick out for our convenience."



"You know, I think we'd have more luck finding these guys by asking local carpenters who had somebody hire them to build a secret door."

"You're assuming that they didn't do the logical thing by killing the carpenters and hiding them in an unmarked grave somewhere."

"Wait, what do you mean by logical?"

"Er.. diabolical! That's it! I sometimes make… uh.. small mistakes in words since common is not my first language… eh heh…"



"Wait, how'd they get the giants in here? That was a human sized secret door."



This is the first in a number of similar fights that include members of the Luskan Host Tower, the Krakens, and the Zhentarim all in the same place. There's a bit of a gimmick to these fights, as the first person you kill will drop a crystal while every other character in the fight will break a crystal they're carrying. Even the ones who are magically paralyzed or otherwise incapacitated. This means that in future battles we're going to have to try and make a member of a different group our first kill. The Host Tower Sorceresses are just the easiest to take down. What do these crystals do? Well...



"Wait, it does something funny to the papers when you hold it over them!"



"Aww man, I'm terrible at hangman!"

"It looks like we need about two more of these crystals, if they all work the same way."



"Somehow I think these gentlemen are unlikely to have one… but we still shouldn't leave them to run about loose."



"Or these guys… although really, they'll let just anybody get a house here in Secomber."

"You'd expect the neighbors to complain about the smell… and the noise from the otyughs."



Both of whom have received a makeover for the new game. I'm not sure if the ogres look better or worse, and it's impossible for an otyugh to look better. As a note, all of the encounters in Secomber take place on a street that was quite literally not there in the last game.



"Wait… how do you know what Amanitas' house would look like?"

"Having traveled with you all for the last few days, I just looked for the strangest one on the street… in a good way."



"He didn't have the bird last time… it's not an improvement."





"I can't imagine how."



"I think those merchants know Erek a bit better than he would care to admit."



"Welcome, adventurers! It is good that you have come, for I have learned more news that may guide you on your mission!"

"You mean the one we never asked for, or accepted, and that you sent us on without any king of warning? That mission?"



"They will stop in Leilon and await you at the Tavern of the Rutting Buck. They will need your protection on the final leg of their journey south of Waterdeep."

"Well, I can't argue with a mission that sends us to a tavern on duty… wait, Leilon?"

"We won't be able to use those papers we found to figure out what they're up to there, but we can just kick the ass of everyone who looks like they might be involved until we solve the problem."



"Are you ready to take on the burden of carrying a magical item of great power?"

"If we're the best options you have, I'm sorry for that."



"Uh-oh… when mages start making magical crowns, it's usually only a short step to the cackling phase."

"This is the crown of Amanitas. Oh, dear, that's my name… oh well, no time to change it. If you wear it while you are encamped its powers will be activated. When the crown is worn, you and I will be able to speak with each other as if I were with you, even if you are thousands of miles away."

"What do you mean no time to change it? It's not the Crown of Fireside Chatting. See how easy that was?"

"I like the idea of "The Crown of Not Having to Walk Halfway across the Savage Frontier."

"Speaking of which, the sooner we get moving the longer we'll be waiting at that tavern and I don't see a problem with that."

Character Snapshot

I… uh… kind of forgot to take these since I did this all in a marathon session. Galen gained a level, I guess? That's about all. Further updates will be rolled into the end of the next update, which will be fairly considerable.