Part 33

We pick up in Luskan again, in a tiny room just off of one of the docks about to leave.



"Okay, I'm offended. You recognize Redleg and not us?"

"In all fairness, we haven't left any witnesses the last couple of times we passed through Luskan."



"If you keep talking like that, we might even let you borrow a sword."

"I have to go now. It is up to me to save Ruathym and stop the blockade of Waterdeep. I am forever in your debt. Farewell!"



"...What just happened there?"

"I don't even know. Leaving now…wait, what's this?"



"I think that they're being wildly optimistic here… does the person writing this not know how many of their other schemes we've already ruined?"



"Wait… is that who I think it is?"

"I think it is. This is what, the third time this has happened to her?"






"Shall we join forces once again?"

"I think that's the only way you can keep you from being captured again."



"I see that they also let you keep your equipment… that completely throws our latest theory out the window."

"Would you like to be the one who tried to take that axe away from her?"



Evidently being kidnapped results in a massive experience award, as Jagaerda has shot up several levels since we last saw her. She's pretty well caught up with the party at this point, and should soon be passing us after a couple more kidnappings.




"Umm… if you guys are having a moment here we can let you talk it out and come back."

"Hey Zanros, I think I'm seeing your future here."

"I can live with some arguments, but I really hope our future doesn't involve a band of adventurers showing up to kill us."



Two groups of enemies, pretty well spread out. There's another sorceress outside of the upper left corner of the screen, so this has a pretty good chance of turning into a mess of lightning bolts if you don't take them out quickly.



"Well, that lasted all of about an hour."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? There'll be plenty of Luskans there."

"Unfortunately our business takes us to Mirabar, so we'll be seeing you next time you're abducted in the islands."



"To Mirabar!"

"Wait! Port Llast is just south of us, and we haven't been there in months!"

"He has a point. It's probably full of people who need their asses kicked."



Port Llast isn't a necessary stop, but there's a few quests here and it's a good way to pick up some experience and items. It's also more screwing around and not addressing the plot, which is always the right course of action in an RPG.



"This is new… but what do they mean by credit?"



"I don't remember this place even having intersections a few months ago, much less areas designated as shipping and residential."

"Well, nothing to it but to go knocking on doors and see who answers."



"Somehow I think that having giants move in can't be any good for property values."



"Especially since they were too cheap to hire exterminators."



"I ain't afraid of the dark, and I ain't afraid of no ghosts."



"Of course you had to say that."

"Bugger this, we'll take our chances with the docks."

"I wouldn't be using that word out at the docks."



"Is there some kind of requirement in the building code that each building has to include a certain number of secret doors?"

"Only if the carpenters union had a hand in writing the codes… so probably."



"Am I imagining things, or did a bunch of spiders just operate a secret door?"

"You're not… we definitely can't let this infestation spread, or else they'll be letting themselves into houses next."



"Maybe the golem opened the door for them?"

"That leaves us with an iron golem that can open doors on its own, which is not much of an improvement. They don't even need doors, since they can just smash through walls."



This fight is actually the reason I left Port Llast for last. You still need +3 or better weapons to hit this guy, and previously our only option was Galen's +3 sword from the last game. Now we have the option of having Alaric switch out his longsword for the Bloodaxe, and Kedzie can pull out the bastard sword we found earlier. This is really necessary, since a second golem joins the battle after a couple of rounds. Of course, shortly after that we get into another battle without a chance to even capture the splash screen.



It's a pretty sizable group of pirates and mages, but simple encounters like this are pretty boilerplate. There's nothing here a fireball or two won't fix.



"Wow, for a temple this place has definitely seen better days."

"Isn't Tymora the goddess of luck? That would mean that this couldn't have been an accident."






"You should probably see about rebuilding. We've taken care of them, so they won't be burning up anybody's temple for a while."

"I think they must have burned this temple to cover their tracks… there's a secret door in the back."



"I think they might have brought their bad luck on themselves by not taking out the garbage."

"I think they might have just forgotten about it… but it looks like there's more."



"You won't get away with th… what are you doing, anyway?"

"Well, it's not a tea party that's for sure."



So for some reason, this guy has a bunch of giant zombies with him. He's also a new humanoid enemy that we'll be seeing a lot of leading up to the endgame, and he's capable of casting hold person and slay living. He's also packing a +3 flail, which makes a handy present for Vermunt.



"Wait, did we remember to untie those people that spy was using magic on?"

"Eh, they'll be fine. This sounds more interesting."



"Weren't these the same waters that the pirates were attacking people in?"




"I think we need to hire this guy for the next time we have to go somewhere by boat."

"Unfortunately, it seems that they only do short cruises around Port Llast. I don't think this business will catch on, all things considered."



"And to answer your question Kedzie, yes, yes they are."



"Stand by to repel boarders!"

"You guys are taking every opportunity to finally say the lines you've always dreamt of using, aren't you?"



"I think even the captain has decided that he's not going down with this particular ship."



"And we aren't either, even if we have to steal a pirate ship to do it."



This battle is nothing more or less than shitload of pirates. This isn't even all of them. There's probably about 20, but they're nothing more than weak fighters who are incredibly easy to take down. In some ways it makes me think of the battle at the beginning of the original Final Fantasy.



"Looks like it's not sinking anymore either… wait, does this mean we own this boat now?"

"From what I understand of maritime salvage laws, that is a possibility. At the very least we could probably claim some kind of reward."






"Hmm… if we wanted to keep the ship, we probably should have taken it somewhere else. Oh well, at least there's a reward in it for us."



"You'd actually have had to realize that we were in town first, but that's okay. Just go ahead with what you're doing."



"Another suit of plate armor… that's… wonderful."

"Are you sure we can't just have the boat instead?"

Character Snapshot





The promise of the levels from last update has been fulfilled, and we've made some improvements to our equipment. All of our front-liners are working with +3 weapons or better now, although Kedzie and Alaric both had to trade some AC for damage. They can go back if they need to, however, and -6 is still plenty to avoid most attacks.

Next update: To Mirabar!